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2014 Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger winners announced

Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez honored with his second-career Silver Slugger

Louisville Slugger®, the Official Bat Supplier of Major League Baseball®, proudly announced the 2014 Silver Slugger™ Award winners tonight in a special hour-long telecast exclusively on MLB Network.

Dodger first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was honored with his second-career Silver Slugger, also winning the award in 2011, and became just the third Los Angeles first baseman to take home the award since its inception in 1980, joining Eddie Murray (1990) and Eric Karros (1995). Gonzalez was the only Major Leaguer to win both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in 2014 and becomes just the fourth all-time Dodger to be honored with both awards in the same season, joining Dusty Baker (1981), Russell Martin (2007) and Matt Kemp (2009, 2011). Gonzalez was also previously honored this season with a Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award and as the Dodgers' nominee for the Hank Aaron Award.

"I'm excited to win the Silver Slugger Award, especially with so many deserving first basemen in the National League this year," said Gonzalez. "I'm grateful for the consideration and votes for this prestigious honor."

Gonzalez led the Majors with 116 RBI, the first Dodger to do so since Matt Kemp in 2011, while batting .276 and leading the Dodgers with 41 doubles (3rd, NL) and 27 home runs (6th, NL) in 159 games. The 32-year-old was one of the best clutch hitters in the game, batting .333 with runners in scoring position (62-for-186), the sixth-best mark in the National League.

Gonzalez reached the 20-home run mark for the eighth time in nine full MLB seasons since 2006 and topped 100 RBI for the fifth consecutive season and seventh time in his career. Since joining the Dodgers in 2012, he leads the club in hits (377), doubles (83), home runs (52), RBI (238) and games played (352).

The Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winners were determined by a vote of Major League Baseball managers and coaches who selected the players they felt were the best offensive producers at each position in both the American and National Leagues in 2014. Selections were based on a combination of offensive statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, as well as the managers' and coaches' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value. Managers and coaches were not allowed to vote for players on their own teams. Tabulation of the balloting was verified by the accounting firm of Mountjoy Chilton Medley LLP.

Eight of the 18 team members are first-time Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winners, including American League batting champion Jose Altuve, National League home run leader Giancarlo Stanton, and American League rookie sensation Jose Abreu. Meanwhile, Adrian Beltre landed his fourth Silver Slugger Award, while Jose Bautista, Ian Desmond, Andrew McCutchen, and Mike Trout all won their third.  

Among the teams represented by this year's winners, the Indians, Giants, Nationals, Pirates, and White Sox each had multiple Silver Slugger Award winners. Seven winners in the NL were on teams that made the Postseason, while seven winners in the AL were on teams that did not play in October.

Two Indians, Michael Brantley in the outfield and Yan Gomes at catcher, were first-time winners in the AL, while World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner of the World Champion San Francisco Giants joined Stanton, Neil Walker of the Pirates and Anthony Rendon of the Nationals as first time winners in the NL. Gonzalez, Victor Martinez of the Tigers, Alexei Ramirez of the White Sox, Justin Upton of the Braves, and Buster Posey of the Giants all won their second awards.

Read More: Los Angeles Dodgers