The Hank Aaron Award is given annually to the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) players selected as the top hitter in each league, as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It was introduced in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one ...

's surpassing of

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

's career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

mark of 714 home runs. The award was the first major award to be introduced by Major League Baseball in 19 years. For the 1999 season, a winner was selected using an objective points system. Hits,

s, and

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI) were given certain point values and the winner was the player who had the highest tabulated points total. In 2000, the system was changed to a ballot in which each MLB team's radio and television play-by-play broadcasters and color analysts voted for three players in each league. Their first-place vote receives five points, the second-place vote receives three points, and the third-place vote receives one point. Beginning in 2003, fans were allowed to vote via MLB's official website, MLB.com. Fans' votes account for 30% of the points, while broadcasters' and analysts' votes account for the other 70%. The award is handed out to the winners of both leagues before Game 4 of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

(mostly after Game 2 due to travel to a different venue) each year, with Aaron himself presenting the awards until the 2019 World Series and his death in 2021 (except 2018 when it is handed out in Game 3 and 2019 when it is handed out in Game 2). The first winners of the award were

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican Americans (Dominican Republic), Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played wit ...

and Sammy Sosa in 1999, while the most recent winners are

Aaron Judge Aaron James Judge (born April 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a six-time MLB All-Star and two-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP ...

and Shohei Ohtani.

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...

won the award four times, the most of any player. Ohtani is the first player to win the award in both leagues. The winner with the most hits was Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023,

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

in 2001 had the most home runs, and Manny Ramírez in 1999 had the most RBIs. Players from the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

have won the award five times, the most of any team.

Trophy

The Hank Aaron Award has a maritaca granite base and an antique bat and banner combination on the top. It weighs and sits on a base of cherry wood.

Key

Winners

Multiple-time winners

15 players have won the award multiple times, with

(4 awards) and

(3 awards) being the only players to win more than twice. Shohei Ohtani is the only player to win in both the American and National League.

David Ortiz David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican Americans, Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1997 ...

won two awards 11 years apart (2005 and 2016), the largest gap of any player.

References

;General * * * * ;Specific {{featured list Major League Baseball trophies and awards Awards established in 1999 1999 establishments in the United States Hank Aaron

Trophy

Key

Winners

Multiple-time winners

See also

References