Babe Ruth Home Run Award
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The Babe Ruth Home Run Award[note 1] was an annual award presented to the previous season's leading home run hitter in Major League Baseball (MLB).[3] The award was named after the legendary Babe Ruth, who led the American League in homers 12 times.[4] It was first awarded to Mark McGwire after his record-setting 1998 season. The award was a 21-pound (9.5 kg), 20-inch-high (51 cm) bronze statue of Ruth based on a 1920 photo of him following through on a tremendous swing.[5][6]
| Awarded for | Home run leader in Major League Baseball |
|---|---|
| Presented by | Sullivan Artworks |
| History | |
| First award | 1998 |
| Final award | 2009 |
The Babe Ruth Home Run Award was developed by brothers Jim and Brian Sullivan. Jim was the sculptor, while Brian focused on the marketing of the award. The Sullivans originally wanted to create a life-size statue of Ruth as a tourist attraction similar to the Michael Jordan statue. Unable to secure a sponsor, they created the award to honor Ruth.[4][5][6] The trophy was estimated to cost around $4,000 as of 2006, and it was funded by the Sullivans and given on behalf of their company, Sullivan Artworks based in Weymouth, Massachusetts.[4][7] MLB was not interested in sponsoring the award; the American League already honored its home run champion with a nameless award, and the National League offered the Mel Ott Award. Both the awards received little publicity.[8] The Babe Ruth Home Run Award was usually presented to the recipient by Ruth's daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, or her son, Tom Stevens.[7][9][10]
Key
| Year | Year the award was earned. The award is presented the following season. |
|---|---|
| Player (#) | Name of winner (# times won if repeat winner) |
| Team | The player's team when he won the award |
| HR | Number of home runs |
| ^ | Indicates multiple award winners in the same year |
List of winners
| Year | Player | Team | HR[11] | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Mark McGwire | St. Louis Cardinals | 70 | [6] |
| 1999 | Not awarded due to lack of sponsor | [6] | ||
| 2000 | Sammy Sosa | Chicago Cubs | 50 | [8] |
| 2001 | Barry Bonds | San Francisco Giants | 73 | [1] |
| 2002 | Alex Rodriguez | Texas Rangers | 57 | [12] |
| 2003^ | Alex Rodriguez (2) | Texas Rangers | 47 | [2] |
| Jim Thome | Philadelphia Phillies | 47 | [13] | |
| 2004 | Adrian Beltre | Los Angeles Dodgers | 48 | [14] |
| 2005 | Andruw Jones | Atlanta Braves | 51 | [15] |
| 2006 | Ryan Howard | Philadelphia Phillies | 58 | [4] |
| 2007 | Alex Rodriguez (3) | New York Yankees | 54 | [16] |
| 2008 | Ryan Howard (2) | Philadelphia Phillies | 48 | [17] |
| 2009 | Albert Pujols | St. Louis Cardinals | 47 | [18] |
See also
- List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
- Baseball awards § U.S. major leagues: Awards by organizations other than MLB
- Josh Gibson Legacy Award, major league home run award from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
- Joe Bauman Home Run Award, minor league baseball home run award
Notes
- Some sources refer to it as the Babe Ruth Award,[1][2] not to be confused with the Major League Baseball postseason award also named the Babe Ruth Award.