In an announcement that surprised nobody, the Bryce Harper and Josh Donaldson were named Most Valuable Players in National League and American League, respectively. Harper took all 30 first place votes to win the award, while Donaldson had 23 first place votes to beat out Trout, who finished with the other seven. Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain was third. The Washington slugger put behind his injury-plagued past and put up huge numbers, becoming the youngest unanimous MVP victor in baseball history when he captured the NL honor Thursday. He had a. 649 slugging percentage and a. 460 on-base average, which led the majors.
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Harper is the third youngest player to win the National League MVP, behind Johnny Bench and Stan Musial.
Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt finished second in the voting and Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto was third.
Harper turned 23 on October 16, after the post-season had already started. It’s flattering to be recognized, not as much for me but for all the people who are part of this team, my teammates, coaches, trainers, clubhouse staff, scouts and player development, our fans and so many more. So definitely excited about the up-and-coming years and very excited to further my career as a National. “He’s a guy I’ve seen play forever, it seems – since he was 14”.
Flutie won two of his record six awards in his only two seasons in Toronto, leading the CFL in passing yards, completions and TD passes.
“All I wanted to do this year was stay healthy and be on the field every single day that I could”, Harper said.
Donaldson brought a gritty attitude to a club that had hovered on the edges or relevance for years before rallying late this season to win the AL East. Donaldson’s reckless abandon was exemplified by the sensational catch he made while diving into the stands pursuing a foul pop in June, one of the highlight plays of the season for the elite defender.
In the wake of Bryce Harper’s tremendous accomplishment, professional Baseball shortstop Ian Desmond predicted many more accomplishments for Harper in the future and said, “Don’t be surprised if he wins the triple crown and the MVP next year and takes the team to the World Series”. All are Hall of Famers: Babe Ruth (who did it nine times), Lou Gehrig (three), Jimmie Foxx (three), Mickey Mantle (two) and Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams and Hack Wilson (once each). The 29-year-old thrived in his new hitter-friendly home this season, batting.297/.371/.568 over 158 games while playing excellent defense at third base. “I definitely think that helped”, Donaldson said.
In one of the season’s more celebrated plays, Donaldson launched himself into the stands down the third base line at Tropicana Field to make an incredible catch of a foul ball during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Donaldson led the majors in walk-off hits (4) and walk-off home runs (3).
