Tag: hank aaron

Red Sox’ Rafael Devers named finalist for Hank Aaron Award

Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers has been named a finalist for the 2022 Hank Aaron Award, Major League Baseball announced on Monday.

Since 1999, the Hank Aaron Award has been presented to the player voted as the most outstanding regular-season offensive performer from each league. There are 16 finalists in total.

From the American League, Devers will be joined on ballots by the likes of Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez, Houston’s Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez, Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, New York’s Aaron Judge, and Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez.

National League nominees include Atlanta’s Austin Riley, Los Angeles’ Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, New York’s Pete Alonso, Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber, St. Louis’ Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, and San Diego’s Manny Machado.

The winners from each league will be determined by a combination of fan votes and the votes from a panel made up of Hall of Famers like Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Pedro Martínez, John Smoltz, Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio, Eddie Murray and Robin Yount.

Voting began on Monday and runs through October 24. Fans can vote for who they believe should receive the award from each league by heading over to MLB.com/aaron.

Devers will be looking to become the fifth Red Sox player to win the Hank Aaron Award since its inception 23 years ago. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz went back-to-back in 2004 and 2005. Kevin Youkilis took home the award in 2008 before Ortiz did so again in 2016. J.D. Martinez won it after becoming the first player to collect two Silver Slugger Awards in the same season in 2018.

In 141 games for the Red Sox this season, Devers batted .295/.358/.521 with 42 doubles, one triple, 27 home runs, 88 RBIs, 84 runs scored, three stolen bases, 50 walks, and 114 strikeouts over 614 plate appearances. The left-handed hitter earned his second straight All-Star selection, but he was hampered by a right hamstring injury during the second half that resulted in his production taking a dip.

Still, among qualified American League hitters, Devers ranked fourth in doubles, tied for third in extra-base hits (70), fourth in slugging percentage, fourth in OPS (.879), seventh in isolated power (.225), and eighth in wRC+ (140), per FanGraphs.

Devers, who turns 25 next week, can become eligible for free agency after the 2023 season. He is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn $16.9 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility.

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

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That Time Hank Aaron Nearly Began His Major-League Career When the Braves Were Still in Boston

Over the course of his 23-year major-league career, Hall of Famer Hank Aaron is most notoriously known for his contributions to the game of baseball in the cities of Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Milwaukee again.

Despite being a legend in those two cities though, it’s worth mentioning that the 25-time All-Star begin his professional career with the city of Boston more than likely on his mind.

That being the case because as an 18-year-old who had just led the Indianapolis Clowns to a Negro League World Series title in 1952, Aaron had two major-league offers on the table from two northeast teams in the Boston Braves and New York Giants.

Since the Braves were offering a larger monthly salary than the Giants were, Aaron decided to sign with Boston and his contract was immediately purchased from Indianapolis in June 1952.

The Alabama native was assigned to Boston’s Class-C minor-league affiliate in Eau Claire, Wisc. shortly thereafter, where he promptly posted a .336 batting average and .493 slugging percentage to go along with nine home runs and 19 doubles over 87 games with the Bears.

As it turned out though, 1952 wound wind up being the last year the Braves called the city of Boston home.

At the major-league level, the Braves had struggled significantly since reaching the World Series in 1948. And that overall poor performance was met with dwindling attendance numbers at Braves Field.

Those two factors, along with the fact that the neighboring Red Sox had been gaining more and more popularity in the city, led club owner Lou Perini to make the decision to move the team to Milwaukee, the home of the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate at the time.

After Perini’s proposal was met with unanimous approval from the other National League owners, the Braves’ move to Milwaukee was made official on March 18th, 1953 while the club was still in spring training, much to the dismay of fans in Boston.

That April, the Braves opened the home portion of their 1953 schedule with a 3-2 walk-off win over the St. Louis Cardinals at brand-new Milwaukee County Stadium.

The newly-anointed Milwaukee Braves would go on to finish their first season in Wisconsin with a final record of 92-62, all while Aaron was still developing at the Class-A level in Jacksonville, where he mashed 22 home runs in 137 games for the Braves.

The following spring, Aaron broke camp by making his first career major-league Opening Day roster as Milwaukee’s starting left fielder.

At just 20 years old, he slashed .280/.322/.447 with 13 home runs and 69 RBI over his first 122 games in the majors and later finished fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting. The Braves’ win total went down from the season prior, yet they led the NL in attendance for a second straight year.

Aaron would go on to have a superb career, winning his first and only MVP award and World Series trophy in 1957, winning two batting titles, three Gold Glove awards, and probably most significantly, breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record with his 715th career homer on April 8th, 1974.

Just five years after retiring from the game in 1975, Aaron was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 after receiving 406 of 421 votes in his first year on the ballot.

Looking at things from a broader perspective, Aaron is without a doubt one of the best outfielders to ever play Major League Baseball. He’s most well-known in Atlanta and Milwaukee, but he was only a few years off from embarking on a legendary career in the city of Boston.

In 12 career games at Fenway Park, Hammerin’ Hank posted a .745 OPS to go along with one home run and three RBI over 49 total plate appearances.