Trout adds to awards haul with GIBBY
American League MVP honored as Everyday Player of the Year
ANAHEIM -- Mike Trout, a unanimous choice for the American League's Most Valuable Player Award in mid-November, garnered another trophy on Saturday night, winning MLB.com's Greatness In Baseball Yearly Award for Everyday Player of the Year.
The awards, also known as the GIBBYs, were announced live on MLB Network and MLB.com.
Trout barely lost out to Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw for Most Valuable Major Leaguer, which counted performances in the regular season and postseason. Kershaw amassed 35 percent of the vote, while Giants ace Madison Bumgarner got 34.4 percent and the Angels' superstar finished third with 30.6 percent.
Winners of the GIBBY Awards were chosen based on votes by broadcasters, reporters, front-office personnel, MLB alumni, fans at MLB.com and the Society for American Baseball Research.
This year's GIBBYs featured winners in 25 categories.
Individual honors went to the Most Valuable Major Leaguer and the postseason MVP, in addition to the regular season's best starting pitcher, everyday player, closer, setup man, rookie, breakout everyday player, breakout pitcher, bounceback player, defensive player, manager and executive.
GIBBYs were also awarded for the year's top regular-season play, outfield throw, storyline, hitting performance, pitching performance, oddity, walk-off, Cut4 Topic, regular-season moment, postseason storyline, postseason walk-off and postseason play.
Over the past few years, fans have cast millions of votes across the GIBBY categories, none of which is restricted to individual league affiliation. All 30 clubs were represented among the award candidates.
This is Trout's fourth career GIBBY. In 2012, the 23-year-old center fielder won for Rookie of the Year and Play of the Year, after robbing J.J. Hardy of a home run with an improbable catch in Baltimore. In 2013, he got the GIBBY for Hitting Performance of the Year after becoming the youngest player in AL history to hit for the cycle.
Trout led the Majors in Wins Above Replacement for the third straight season in 2014. He posted a .287/.377/.561 slash line, hit a career-high 36 homers, led the AL in RBIs (111) and runs scored (115), and paced the Majors in total bases (338) and extra-base hits (84). In the process, he became the first player in history with at least 300 runs, 75 homers and 75 steals in his first 400 games.
"I felt good," Trout previously said of his season. "The strikeouts were obviously up there, but I had a career high in RBIs, I got to drive in a lot more runs, the power was up. Just happy that I got to get to the playoffs. That's a big thing, just to get a taste of it, and it's definitely going to help me out throughout my career."