The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each

position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

in both the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

and the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, as determined by the coaches and managers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

. These voters consider several offensive statistics, including

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player ...

, and

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

, as well as their "general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". They are not permitted to vote for players on their team. The award is a bat-shaped trophy, 3 feet (91 cm) tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is ...

. It is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger bats. Ten Silver Slugger Awards are given each year per league. One each goes to a catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop. Three

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

s receive the award, irrespective of their specific position; for instance, three

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering sy ...

s could win the award in a given year. One award goes to a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

(a player who bats in place of the pitcher) and one to a utility player (a player who can play multiple fielding positions). Pitchers in the National League received a Silver Slugger Award each year until 2019 and in 2021. In the COVID-shortened season, the MLB required National League teams to use a designated hitter, so an NL DH received a Silver Slugger Award for the first time. In 2022, MLB began to require both leagues to use the DH. That year also saw the introduction of the utility player award.

Home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

record-holder Barry Bonds won 12 Silver Slugger Awards, the most of any player, and won the award in five consecutive seasons twice: from 1990 to 1994, and again from 2000 to 2004. Mike Piazza and

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

are tied for second, with ten each. Rodriguez won seven Silver Sluggers as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

and Texas Rangers, and three with the Yankees as a third baseman. Wade Boggs leads third basemen with eight awards; Barry Larkin leads shortstops with nine. Other leaders include Ryne Sandberg (seven wins as a second baseman), Mike Hampton (five wins as a pitcher), and Paul Goldschmidt (five wins as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the major ...

). David Ortiz has won seven awards as a designated hitter, the most at that position. In 2018,

J. D. Martinez Julio Daniel Martinez (born August 21, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, a ...

collected two Silver Slugger Awards: one as a designated hitter and the other as an outfielder, becoming the only player to win twice in one year. In 2021, Max Fried became the final pitcher to win a Silver Slugger Award.

Key

American League winners

Source:

National League winners

Source: (^) = A universal

rule was implemented temporarily during the MLB season and was fully implemented starting in ; the National League awarded its first Silver Slugger for DH in 2020. No award for pitchers was given.

References

External links

All-time winners
at MLB.combr>Silver Slugger Awards
at slugger.com via

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and s ...

{{featured list Batting (baseball) Awards established in 1980

Key

American League winners

National League winners

See also

References

External links