Learning Corner: Regular Season Awards
With its season having come to an end, the baseball world is abuzz with who won which regular-season award and who may have been overlooked. So what are these awards and who decides on them? Here’s a quick rundown:
Who votes?
These awards don’t show up out of nowhere. Active members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote on each award. Basically, two writers from each city in the American League and National League submit ballots with whom they believe are the top players and managers in each category. They submit their ballots before the postseason begins, and the awards are announced in November.
Annual Awards
Each of these awards goes to one player from the American League and one player from the National League.
MVP: The Most Valuable Player Award is pretty self explanatory – it goes to the player that had the best season in the league.
This year’s winners:
American League: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
National League: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
Rookie of the Year: This award goes to the first-year player that had the most impressive season out of all of the rookies in the majors.
This year’s winners:
American League: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
National League: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
Cy Young: The Cy Young Award goes to the best pitchers in the Majors. The award, which was first introduced in 1956, was named after Hall of Famer Cy Young, who passed away in 1955.
This year’s winners:
American League: David Price, Tampa Bay Rays
National League: R.A. Dickey, New York Mets
Manager of the Year: This award goes to the best managers in the majors, but that does not guarantee that the manager will have led his team to the World Series.
This year’s winners:
American League: Bob Melvin, Oakland Athletics
National League: Davey Johnson, Washington Nationals
