Fan voting begins today on a new baseball awards platform: the 2015 Esurance MLB Awards

Online fan voting at MLB.com and the official Club sites begins today for the 2015 Esurance MLB Awards, an expanded awards program that recognizes Major League players, baseball fans and memorable moments in unique categories and not limited by league affiliation. The 2015 Esurance MLB Awards are officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball and its voting will culminate with a first-of-its-kind multi-platform special, The 2015 Esurance MLB Awards Show, airing Friday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m. ET exclusively on MLB Network and MLB.com.

The 2015 Esurance MLB Awards represents a comprehensive award-balloting process based on nearly two months of voting, encompassing the entire awards season. The five different groups of voters - fans, members of the baseball media, club front-office personnel, former MLB players and Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) members - each count for 20% of the winner selection. Winners in each category will receive the trophy known as the GIBBY (Greatness in Baseball).

Featuring 24 award categories, supplemental to the traditional awards and built in part from the MLB.com GIBBY Awards and the MLB Network Social Media Awards, the 2015 Esurance MLB Awards include such performance-based categories as Best Major Leaguer, Best Bounceback Player and Best Breakout Player. The awards also feature a number of categories outside the field of play, such as Best Social Media Personality, Best Fan Catch, Best Video Board Moment, Best Interview and Best Celebrity Fan. Fans can vote exclusively at MLB.com/awards and the 30 Club websites across computers, smartphones and tablets. Online fan voting for all awards will end Friday, November 13 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Nominees for each of the 24 award categories will be revealed over the remainder of the 2015 Championship Season and Postseason, beginning today with Best Major Leaguer, Best Everyday Player, Best Starting Pitcher and Best Rookie. During the course of voting, additional contenders may emerge in any respective category and could be added to the ballot. Visit MLB.com/awards for the complete list of nominees in each category.

In the four categories where online fan voting begins today, the GIBBY trophy winners over the past three years were:

     Best Major Leaguer: Clayton Kershaw (2014); Miguel Cabrera (2013); Cabrera (2012)

     Best Everyday Player: Mike Trout (2014); Miguel Cabrera (2013); Cabrera (2012)

     Best Starting Pitcher: Kershaw (2014); Kershaw (2013); R.A. Dickey (2012)

     Best Rookie: Jose Abreu (2014); Jose Fernandez (2013); Trout (2012)

The majority of the 2015 Esurance MLB Awards winners will be announced during the multi-platform special hosted by Brian Kenny and Dan Plesac from MLB Network's Studio 21 on Friday, November 20. Six winners will be revealed separately from the telecast: four will be announced on MLB.com, the MLB.com At Bat mobile app, and on official MLB social media accounts including Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook that same day, while the awards for Best Manager and Best Executive will be announced and presented in-person to the winners on MLB Network and MLB.com from the 2015 Winter Meetings in December.

"The Esurance MLB Awards will recognize the ways today's Major League players make an impact both on the field and through fan engagement," said Noah Garden, MLB Executive Vice President, Business. "This awards platform with Esurance takes a fun look at how fans consume, enjoy and appreciate baseball in 2015."

"Our partnership with Major League Baseball gives us an amazing opportunity to connect with fans both on and off the field through a shared passion for baseball," said Alan Gellman, Chief Marketing Officer at Esurance. "The Esurance MLB Awards is a true collaboration between MLB and Esurance to bring fans an all-digital awards experience with a new website to serve as a content hub, discussion forum, and voting platform for fans to engage with each other and be a part of the awards season like never before."

Esurance is also sponsoring the Esurance #AwardWorthy Sweepstakes¹, a sweepstakes to encourage fan voting. When fans vote for the 2015 Esurance MLB Awards, they have the opportunity to enter the national sweepstakes for a chance to win prizes. The grand prize winner will receive a pair of 2016 season tickets to their favorite baseball team and a trip to the MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville on December. 8. Winners will be announced shortly after the 2015 Esurance MLB Awards voting closes.

Earlier this season, Esurance partnered with MLB to become the exclusive auto insurance partner for Major League Baseball as well as the title sponsor of the first-ever all-digital Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot and the Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote, each of which set all-time records for fan voting.

1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Sweepstakes starts September 15, 2015 at 8:00 am Eastern Time ("ET") and ends November 13, 2015 at 11:59 pm ET. Open to legal residents of any one (1) of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia who are of legal age of majority in their jurisdiction (and at least 18 years of age) at the time of entry. One (1) grand prize and twenty-four (24) secondary prizes will be awarded. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Enter online at mlb.mlb.com/awards, submit a ballot, select the box to enter the sweeps, and submit. Limit 30 entries per person. Void where prohibited. See Official Rules, which govern, for complete details. Sponsor: Esurance Insurance Services, Inc., 650 Davis Street, San Francisco, CA 94111.