The two-time best man finally found a seat at the table as the main man Thursday night.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout earned the 2014 American League Most Valuable Player Award in a unanimous vote conducted by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Trout received all 30 first-place votes cast.
It is Trout’s first MVP Award after finishing as runner-up to the Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera each of the past two seasons. At age 23, he becomes the fifth youngest winner of an MLB MVP Award.
The National League Most Valuable Player Award went to Los Angeles Dodgers star left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who on Wednesday won his third NL Cy Young Award in the last four years.
Kershaw is the ninth pitcher in history to win both awards in the same season, following closely the Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander, who achieved the rare double in 2011. He is the first National League pitcher to win both since the St. Louis Cardinals’ Hall of Fame right-hander Bob Gibson did it in 1968.
Trout and Kershaw become the fourth and fifth Perfect Game alumni to win Most Valuable Player Awards, joining former National League winners Joey Votto (2010), Buster Posey (2012) and Andrew McCutchen (2013).
TROUT ENJOYED A 2014 SEASON IN WHICH HE LED THE AMERICAN LEAGUE in runs-batted-in with 111, runs scored with 115 – the third straight year he led that category – and total bases with 338, but also in strikeouts with 184.
His .287 batting average was 36 points lower than the .323 he hit in 2013, and his on-base percentage of .377 was 55 points lower than a season ago (.432); he stole 16 bases in 2014 compared to 49 in 2012 and 33 in 2013.
But he led the American League in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for the third straight year (7.9 this season) and his .939 on-base-plus-slugging percentage ranked third. He set or tied career highs in doubles (39), triples (nine), home runs (36) and RBI (111).
“At the end of the year, after the season gets over, you kind of look at your numbers and you think about it a little bit,” Trout told the MLB Network Thursday night. “If you would have told me this before the season started, I would have just laughed at you. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.”
What meant the most to Trout this season was the Angels’ MLB-best 98 regular-season wins and their return to the postseason for the first time since 2009 and first the first time in Trout’s three-year big-league career.
Another highlight of Trout’s 2014 season was being named the Most Valuable Player at the All-Star Game in Minneapolis when he doubled, tripled, drove in two runs and scored another in the American League’s 5-3 win over the National League.
“Chills, goosebumps, you name it,” Trout told MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince when asked what he experienced during his third All-Star Game appearance. “Everything was running through my body.”
Trout, who enjoyed a stellar prep career at Millville (N.J.) High School, played in eight Perfect Game WWBA tournaments in 2007 and 2008 with the Tri-State Arsenal and head coach and program founder Bob Barth. He was at the 2007 and 2008 PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., with Tri-State, appearances that Barth believes sent him off on his the path to greatness.
“I remember the year that Trouty came down here, this was what put him on the map, in my opinion,” Barth told PG late last month from the Roger Dean Stadium Complex in Jupiter. “This is where people started to really stand up and say, ‘Wow! That kid’s special.’”
Other current big-leaguers in attendance at the 2008 PG WWBA World include the Blue Jays’ Marcus Strohman, the Mariners’ Michael Zunino, the Reds’ Billy Hamilton and the Marlins’ Christian Yelich.
Trout had committed to East Carolina University but never made it on campus after the Angels were fortunate to select him with the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2009 MLB amateur draft. Once signed, the “Millville Meteor” rocketed through the minor leagues before making his big-league debut in July 2011 and becoming the AL Rookie of the Year in 2012.
“He’s bigger, he’s faster, he’s stronger and he works just as hard as everybody else,” Angels’ catcher Chris Iannetta told Los Angeles Times reporters Nathan Fenno and Mike Digiovanna in a story published this week. “And he has just the right amount of confidence and poise. Some people just got it. He’s got it.”
Detroit Tigers designated hitter/first baseman Victor Martinez and Cleveland Indians outfielder Michael Brantley finished second and third, respectively, behind Trout in the AL voting. Martinez set career highs with 32 home runs and a .974 OPS – a major league best – while 2004 PG WWBA World Championship alumnus Brantley hit .327 with 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
THE 26-YEAR-OLD KERSHAW WON NL CY YOUNG AWARDS IN 2011 AND 2013 to go with this season’s honor, and was seventh in the 2013 NL Most Valuable Player balloting. This season he finished 21-3 in 27 starts with a 1.77 ERA and 0.857 WHIP, and 239 strikeouts and 31 walks in 198 1/3 innings.
One of his league-high six complete games was a 15-strikeout no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on June 18.
“You never in a million years think you’re going to win an MVP, let alone win a Cy Young Award, let alone, you know, being in the big leagues,” Kershaw told John Schlegel of MLB.com Thursday night. “It’s really amazing. Individual awards aren’t why we play this game, but I definitely don’t take this honor lightly, especially being a pitcher and winning the MVP. It’s pretty awesome.”
Kershaw bested Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen in the voting by BBWAA members. The vote wasn’t especially tight, with Kershaw receiving 18 of the 30 first-place votes, Stanton eight and McCutchen four.
Stanton was enjoying a prolific season with an NL-best 37 home runs and 105 RBI when he suffered multiple facial fractures after being hit by a pitch on Sept. 11. He already received the Hank Aaron Award as the NL’s top offensive player and the Players Choice Award as the NL’s Most Outstanding Player.
McCutchen, the 2013 NL Most Valuable Player, enjoyed a fourth straight All-Star season by hitting .314 with National League-bests of .410 on-base and .952 OPS percentages; he hit 38 doubles, six triples, 25 home runs, drove in 83 runs and scored 89.
He was a standout performer at both the 2004 Perfect Game National Showcase and the 2004 Perfect Game All-American Classic and was at the 2004 PG WWBA World Championship with Kershaw, Brantley and at least 90 others that have since made their major league debuts.