| Hank Aaron Award | |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| League: | Major League Baseball |
| Description: | Top hitter in the American League and National League |
| Presenter: | Major League Baseball |
| Year: | 1999 |
| Holder: | Shohei Ohtani (AL) Ronald Acuña Jr. (NL) |
The Hank Aaron Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players selected as the top hitter in each league, as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It was introduced in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron's surpassing of Babe Ruth's career home run mark of 714 home runs. The award was the first major award to be introduced by Major League Baseball in 19 years.
For the 1999 season, a winner was selected using an objective points system. Hits, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) were given certain point values and the winner was the player who had the highest tabulated points total.[1]
In 2000, the system was changed to a ballot in which each MLB team's radio and television play-by-play broadcasters and color analysts voted for three players in each league. Their first-place vote receives five points, the second-place vote receives three points, and the third-place vote receives one point. Beginning in 2003, fans were allowed to vote via MLB's official website, MLB.com. Fans' votes account for 30% of the points, while broadcasters' and analysts' votes account for the other 70%.[2]
The award is handed out to the winners of both leagues before Game 4 of the World Series (mostly after Game 2 due to travel to a different venue) each year, with Aaron himself presenting the awards until the 2019 World Series and his death in 2021 (except 2018 when it is handed out in Game 3 and 2019 when it is handed out in Game 2). The first winners of the award were Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa in 1999, while the most recent winners are Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. Alex Rodriguez won the award four times, the most of any player. The winner with the most hits was Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023, Barry Bonds in 2001 had the most home runs, and Manny Ramírez in 1999 had the most RBIs. Players from the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays have won the award five times, the most of any team.
The Hank Aaron Award has a maritaca granite base and an antique bat and banner combination on the top. It weighs 12lb and sits on a base of cherry wood.
| Year | Links to the corresponding Major League Baseball season | |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Denotes winning player and number of times they had won the award at that point | |
| HR | Home runs | |
| RBI | Runs batted in | |
| Also named Most Valuable Player |