New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was named as a nominee for the 2011 Hank Aaron Award, by Major League Baseball and MLB Advanced Media. Fans interested in voting for the All-Star can head to MLB.com, as well as the 30 Club sites.
There will also be a special panel of Hall of Fame players, led by Aaron himself-joining fans in the voting for the prestigious award; which recognized the most outstanding offensive performer in each league.
Reyes, became the first Mets player to win a batting title at 28 years old, finished the year with a NL-best .337 average (181-537). He also tied the MLB lead in triples (16) and the NL lead with 57 multi-hit games. Jose appeared in 126 games this season, finishing with 101 runs, 44 RBI, 39 stolen bases, 31 doubles and seven homers.
“It is an honor to be nominated for the Hank Aaron Award,” Reyes said. “He is an all-time great whom all the players look up too, no matter where you grew up. He was, and continues to be, a true gentleman of the game-and I think everyone should try to be like him on and off the field.”
Starting today and continuing through Sunday, October 9, fans will have the opportunity to select one American League and one National League recipient.
Here is the list of candidates for the 2011 Hank Aaron Award:
|
American League |
National League |
||
| Baltimore Orioles | J.J. Hardy | Arizona Diamondbacks | Justin Upton |
| Boston Red Sox | Adrian Gonzalez | Atlanta Braves | Brian McCann |
| Chicago White Sox | Paul Konerko | Chicago Cubs | Aramis Ramirez |
| Cleveland Indians | Asdrubal Cabrera | Cincinnati Reds | Joey Votto |
| Detroit Tigers | Miguel Cabrera | Colorado Rockies | Troy Tulowitzki |
| Kansas City Royals | Alex Gordon | Florida Marlins | Mike Stanton |
| LA Angels of Anaheim | Mark Trumbo | Houston Astros | Carlos Lee |
| Minnesota Twins | Michael Cuddyer | Los Angeles Dodgers | Matt Kemp |
| New York Yankees | Curtis Granderson | Milwaukee Brewers | Ryan Braun |
| Oakland Athletics | Josh Willingham | New York Mets | Jose Reyes |
| Seattle Mariners | Dustin Ackley | Philadelphia Phillies | Ryan Howard |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Evan Longoria | Pittsburgh Pirates | Andrew McCutchen |
| Texas Rangers | Michael Young | St. Louis Cardinals | Albert Pujols |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Jose Bautista | San Diego Padres | Cameron Maybin |
| San Francisco Giants | Pablo Sandoval | ||
| Washington Nationals | Michael Morse | ||
The Award was introduced in 1999 to honor the 25th Anniversary of Aaron’s breaking Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record, and, at the time, was the first major award introduced by MLB in more than 25 years.
Written on October 3, 2011