Luis Aparicio Award

Luis Aparicio Award
At U.S. Cellular Field, a bronze statue depicts a baseball player stepping on the base and leaning forward to catch a baseball being flipped to him.
A bronze statue of Luis Aparicio, the namesake of the award
LocationMaracaibo, Zulia
CountryVenezuela
History
First award2004
Most recentRonald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves

The Luis Aparicio Award is given annually to a Venezuelan player in Major League Baseball (MLB) who is judged to have recorded the best individual performance in that year. The winner of the award is determined by a vote conducted by Venezuelan sports journalists and Spanish-language media around the world.[1] It is named after former MLB shortstop Luis Aparicio,[1] who is the only player from Venezuela to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.[2] The award was first presented in 2004, and was created in order to honour Aparicio's major league career and to commemorate his father, who died thirteen years before his son was elected into the Hall of Fame.[3]

Johan Santana, José Altuve, Miguel Cabrera, and Ronald Acuña Jr. are the only players to win the Luis Aparicio Award more than once, with Cabrera having won the award five times.[4] Cabrera won the MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award and Hank Aaron Award alongside the Luis Aparicio Award in 2012 and 2013,[5][6] becoming the first Venezuelan to win the MLB MVP Award.[7][8] Santana, the 2004 and 2006 recipient, also won the Cy Young Award in those two years,[5] winning by a unanimous vote on each occasion.[9] Altuve is the only player to win the Luis Aparicio Award, the MVP award, and become a World Series champion in the same season in 2017.[10] He has also won a batting title in three of his four award seasons. Santana (2006) and Cabrera (2012) are the only award winners to also earn the pitching and batting Triple Crown respectively in the same season.[11] In accomplishing the feat, Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to achieve a Triple Crown in batting since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967,[12] while Santana became the first pitcher since Dwight Gooden in 1985 to secure a "Major League Triple Crown" by leading all of MLB in wins, earned run average and strikeouts.[13] Francisco Rodríguez compiled a major league record of 62 saves in a single season in 2008 and went on to win the Rolaids Relief Man Award in the same year as the Luis Aparicio Award.[14][15][16] Five winners – Cabrera, Altuve, Magglio Ordóñez, Carlos González, and Arráez – were batting champions in their respective leagues in the same year they won the award.[17]

The award is presented annually before a baseball game hosted by the local team, Águilas del Zulia, on November 18 in Aparicio's hometown of Maracaibo, Zulia.[4] The date marks both the feast of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá – the patron saint of Zulia[18] – and the anniversary of Aparicio's professional debut.[3] As of 2023, the most recent recipient of the award is Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves.

  1. ^ a b "Going To The Big Time". The Miami Herald. October 26, 2005. Retrieved November 13, 2012. Miguel Cabrera...was named winner of the Luis Aparicio players award, presented to the top Venezuelan in the major leagues. [He] edged Minnesota pitcher Johan Santana and Angels' closer Francisco Rodriguez in a vote of 100 journalists from the Venezuelan and international Spanish-language media. (subscription required)
  2. ^ van Dyck, Dave (February 9, 2010). "Out of retirement: No. 11 goes to Vizquel". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Landino, Leonte. "Luis Aparicio". The Baseball Biography Project. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Luis Aparicio Award". Baseball-Almanac.com. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  6. ^ "Hank Aaron Award & Branch Rickey Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  7. ^ Beck, Jason (November 15, 2012). "Miggy beats Trout to add AL MVP to collection". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  8. ^ Fine, Larry (November 15, 2012). "Detroit's Cabrera wins AL MVP award". Chicago Tribune. Reuters. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  9. ^ "Santana unanimous choice for AL Cy Young Award". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. November 18, 2006. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  10. ^ "José Altuve gana unánime el Primer Luis Aparicio". espndeportes.espn.com. ESPN. October 25, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  11. ^ "Triple Crown Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  12. ^ Beck, Jason (October 4, 2012). "Miggy secures first Triple Crown since 1967". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  13. ^ Sherman, Joel (June 22, 2012). "Claims to 'Fame' – Work left for Johan, CC before Hall is certainty". New York Post. p. 84. Retrieved April 17, 2014. (subscription required)
  14. ^ "Rookie of the Year Awards & Rolaids Relief Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  15. ^ Spencer, Lyle; Schwartz, Michael (September 14, 2008). "K-Rod nabs single-season saves mark". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  16. ^ "Single-Season Leaders & Records for Saves". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  17. ^ "Yearly League Leaders & Records for Batting Average". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  18. ^ Santoro, Nicholas J. (August 12, 2011). Mary in Our Life: Atlas of the Names and Titles of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Their Place in Marian Devotion. iUniverse. p. 671. ISBN 9781462040223. Retrieved November 12, 2012.