NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts was voted the Babe Ruth Award winner as postseason MVP by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge won his fourth Sid Mercer/Dick Young New York Player of the Year Award.
Betts batted .290 with four homers, 16 RBIs, five doubles, 11 walks and a .952 OPS in 16 postseason games, helping the Dodgers beat the Yankees in five games for the World Series title.
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers and 144 RBIs while hitting .322 as the Yankees reached the World Series for the first time since 2009. He also won the award in 2017, 2021 and 2022.
Judge will receive the award along with his second AL MVP award at the chapter's 100th dinner on Jan. 25.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman and his family will receive the Arthur and Milton Richman You Gotta Have Heart Award. Freeman's 3-year-old son Maximus spent eight days in a pediatric intensive care unit last summer being treated for Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder.
Freeman sprained his right ankle on Sept. 26 and was slowed for the Dodgers' first two postseason rounds, then won the World Series opener with the first walk-off grand slam in Series history. He homered in each of the first four games, tied a Series record with 12 RBIs and was selected Series MVP.
The 2024 “OMG” New York Mets will receive the Joe DiMaggio Toast of the Town Award. The song by Mets infielder Jose Iglesias was released on streaming platforms in June and became the anthem of a team that reached the National League Championship Series.
Former Yankees teammates Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield will receive the Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award, commemorating the 1984 AL batting race. Winfield led .341 to .339 going into the season’s final day but Mattingly went 4 for 5 against Detroit and won at .343, while Winfield was 1 for 4 and finished at .340.
Pat Kelly will be presented the Casey Stengel You Could Look It Up Award for his go-ahead, two-run homer in the ninth inning off Tony Castillo at Toronto on Sept. 29, 1995, that moved New York to the verge of its first playoff berth since 1981.
New York Yankees radio broadcasters John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman will receive the William J. Slocum/Jack Lang Award for Long and Meritorious Service. Sterling, 86, is retiring after 36 seasons with the team.
Yankees utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera will get the Joan Payson/Shannon Forde Award for Community Service for assisting Covenant House New Jersey and Ma Deuce Deuce, which raises awareness of suicide among veterans.
Mets pitcher Sean Manaea will receive the Ben Epstein/Dan Castellano Good Guy Award for helping reporters do their jobs.
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The Associated Press
