
José Abreu of the Chicago White Sox and Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves have been selected as the American League and National League winners of the 2020 Hank Aaron Awards, Major League Baseball announced today. The winners were announced on MLB Network during a live one-hour show presentation featuring Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr., Freeman and Abreu.
The Hank Aaron Awards are officially sanctioned by MLB and recognize the most outstanding offensive performers in each League. Each club nominated one player and a panel of MLB.com writers determined seven finalists for each league from the list of club nominees. Fans voted for the recipients on MLB.com, along with Hank Aaron and a special panel of Hall of Fame players including Roberto Alomar, Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio, Ken Griffey Jr., Eddie Murray and Robin Yount. Freeman and Abreu combined for 64% of the fan vote.
Abreu, 33, is the first White Sox player and first Cuban-born player to earn the Hank Aaron Award. In his seventh season, the 2020 American League Most Valuable Player played in all 60 games and led the AL in RBI (60), slugging percentage (.617), hits (76) and total bases (148) and placed second in home runs (19). By leading the AL in hits and RBI, he became just the fourth player in history to accomplish the feat and the first since Hall of Famer Jim Rice of the Red Sox in 1978. In addition, Abreu became the first player to lead the AL in RBI in consecutive seasons since Boston’s David Ortiz in 2005-06. Joining Mike Trout, Abreu is the second player in MLB history to earn an AL MVP award, AL All-Star appearance, Silver Slugger Award, AL Rookie of the Year Award and Hank Aaron Award. Abreu won the July-August Player of the Month Award, and during that span, he recorded six home runs in a three-game series tying the Major League record.
Freeman, 31, is the second Braves player to earn a Hank Aaron Award, joining Andruw Jones (2005). In his 11th Major League season, Freeman led the National League in runs (51) and doubles (23) and ranked second in the NL in batting average (.341), OBP (.462), slugging percentage (.640) and OPS (1.102) en route to being named the 2020 NL Most Valuable Player. Freeman joins Lou Gehrig as the only players in the Major Leagues to finish top four in hits, runs, doubles and walks since 1920 when RBI became an official stat. Freeman was named the NL Player of the Month in September after slashing .375/.496/.750. He posted a Major League-best 33-game on-base streak from August 11th-September 18th, marking the second-longest such streak of his career. Freeman hit .403 with eight homers and 36 RBI during the stretch and also compiled an 18-game hitting streak from August 14th-September 4th, which was the longest in the NL and second-longest in the Majors in 2020.
Past winners of the Aaron Awards include Mike Trout and Christian Yelich (2019); J.D. Martinez and Christian Yelich (2018); Jose Altuve and Giancarlo Stanton (2017); Kris Bryant and David Ortiz (2016); Josh Donaldson and Bryce Harper (2015); Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout (2014); Miguel Cabrera and Paul Goldschmidt (2013); Miguel Cabrera and Buster Posey (2012); José Bautista and Matt Kemp (2011); José Bautista and Joey Votto (2010); Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols (2009); Aramis Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis (2008); Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder (2007); Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard (2006); David Ortiz and Andruw Jones (2005); Manny Ramirez and Barry Bonds (2004); Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols (2003); Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds (2001-02); Carlos Delgado and Todd Helton (2000); and Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa (1999).
