Trout and Harper win Rookie of the Year awards
The American League and the National League have finally chosen their Rookie of the Year award recipients for the season. The American League winner was almost a no-brainer, but the National League had a tougher decision to make.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America chose Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper for MVP of the National League. The recently turned 20-year-old is the second-youngest player to win the Rookie of the Year award. Harper hit .270 with 22 HR, 59 RBI, 98 runs scored and 18 stolen bases.
“I was sitting in the chair; my heart was beating a little bit. I found out the way everybody else did,” Harper said during a conference call. “It was a great moment for me and my family. … It was a great moment for D.C. It was a lot of fun to see that and bring that in.”
The American League Rookie of the Year winner was Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout. Trout received all of the first place votes (only 7 other people have done so before). He was also the first rookie ever to register at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season.
His final statistics for the season stand at 30 homers, 125 runs and 45 stolen bases in a season. Trout was never aiming for an award, but instead just wanted to be the best player he could be.
“When I made the All-Star team, that was a really a big moment of my career, and that’s when all the rookie-of-the-year talk started. It really came on fast. I was having so much fun during the year, I didn’t really think of the awards or the individual stuff. I was just trying to help the team win,” said Trout
There are talks that Trout may be in the running for MVP as well.
“Coming into the year, my goal was to be the best player and to make the most impact on the field,” Trout said on a conference call. “To be in the MVP talk with guys like Cabrera, it’s an incredible feeling, a hard one to explain.”
