Angels and Dodgers unveil joint billboard highlighting MVPs
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers jointly unveiled a new billboard today celebrating the 2014 Most Valuable Player Awards of Angels center fielder Mike Trout and Dodgers left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Located on the corner of Highland and Wilshire in Los Angeles, the billboard features the faces of Trout and Kershaw with the script "Is Your MVP Red Or Blue."
2014 represented just the 11th occurrence in the 83-year history of the BBWAA MVP awards in which players from the same market captured their league's respective honors (see chart below). Trout and Kershaw are the first duo to accomplish the feat since the 2002 season when Oakland's Miguel Tejada and San Francisco's Barry Bonds were tabbed as MVP's, and it is just the third such occurrence in the last 55 years.
Beginning today, the Angels and Dodgers are inviting fans to celebrate the Los Angeles clubs sweeping the MVP awards via social media. Fans can show their support by utilizing the hashtags #MVPTrout and #MVPKersh over a six week period leading up to the annual "Freeway Series", which takes place at Angel Stadium April 2nd and 3rd and Dodger Stadium April 4th.
Trout completed the 2014 campaign batting .287 (173/602) with 115 runs scored, 39 doubles, nine triples, 36 home runs and 111 RBI. The Halos center fielder set career highs in home runs (T4th in A.L.), RBI (1st in A.L.) and extra base hits (84, 1st in A.L.) and matched his career bests in doubles (6th in A.L.) and triples (3rd in A.L.). At 23 years and 52 days old at the end of the season, Trout is the third youngest A.L. player ever to win the award behind only Oakland's Vida Blue (22 years, 64 days) and Baltimore's Cal Ripken Jr. (23 years, 39 days) - ELIAS.
Kershaw, 26, led the Majors with 21 wins, going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA (198.1 IP - 39 ER) and 239 strikeouts in his 27 starts. The southpaw also led the Majors with a 0.86 WHIP and six complete games, while ranking among the N.L. leaders in strikeouts (3rd), opponents' batting average (.196, 2nd), shutouts (2, T3rd) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.71, 1st). The Dodgers posted a 23-4 record in Kershaw's 27 starts, including a 14-1 mark in his 15 starts of 8.0 or more innings. Kershaw was the first National League pitcher to be honored as MVP since St. Louis' Bob Gibson in 1968 and just the fourth N.L. pitcher in the Cy Young era (since 1956) to win the award.
Since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and the Angels' inception in 1961, the two clubs have combined to produce eight Most Valuable Players, the second-most by teams in the same metropolitan area (SF/OAK - 17).
MVP WINNERS FROM THE SAME MARKET
SEASON CLUBS A.L. MVP N.L. MVP
2014 LAA/LAD Mike Trout Clayton Kershaw
2002 OAK/SF Miguel Tejada Barry Bonds
2000 OAK/SF Jason Giambi Jeff Kent
1959 CWS/CHC Nellie Fox Ernie Banks
1956 NYY/BRO Mickey Mantle Don Newcombe
1955 NYY/BRO Yogi Berra Roy Campanella
1954 NYY/NYG Yogi Berra Willie Mays
1951 NYY/BRO Yogi Berra Roy Campanella
1941 NYY/BRO Joe DiMaggio Dolph Camilli
1936 NYY/NYG Lou Gehrig Carl Hubbell
1932 PHA/PHI Jimmie Foxx Chuck Klein