The Luis Aparicio Award is given annually to a
Venezuelan player in
Major League Baseball (MLB) who is judged to have recorded the best individual performance in that year. The winner of the award is determined by a vote conducted by Venezuelan sports journalists and
Spanish-language media around the world.[1] It is named after former MLB
shortstopLuis Aparicio,[1] who is the only player from Venezuela to be inducted into the
National Baseball Hall of Fame.[2] The award was first presented in 2004, and was created in order to honour Aparicio's major league career and to commemorate his father, who died thirteen years before his son was elected into the Hall of Fame.[3]
Johan Santana,
José Altuve,
Miguel Cabrera, and
Ronald Acuña Jr. are the only players to win the Luis Aparicio Award more than once, with Cabrera having won the award five times.[4] Cabrera won the
MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award and
Hank Aaron Award alongside the Luis Aparicio Award in 2012 and 2013,[5][6] becoming the first Venezuelan to win the MLB MVP Award.[7][8] Santana, the 2004 and 2006 recipient, also won the
Cy Young Award in those two years,[5] winning by a unanimous vote on each occasion.[9] Altuve is the only player to win the Luis Aparicio Award, the MVP award, and become a
World Series champion in the same season in 2017.[10] He has also won a batting title in three of his four award seasons. Santana (2006) and Cabrera (2012) are the only award winners to also earn the pitching and batting
Triple Crown respectively in the same season.[11] In accomplishing the feat, Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to achieve a Triple Crown in batting since
Carl Yastrzemski in 1967,[12] while Santana became the first pitcher since
Dwight Gooden in 1985 to secure a "Major League Triple Crown" by leading all of MLB in
wins,
earned run average and
strikeouts.[13]Francisco Rodríguez compiled a major league record of 62
saves in a single season in 2008 and went on to win the
Rolaids Relief Man Award in the same year as the Luis Aparicio Award.[14][15][16] Five winners – Cabrera, Altuve,
Magglio Ordóñez,
Carlos González, and Arráez – were
batting champions in their respective leagues in the same year they won the award.[17]
The award is presented annually before a baseball game hosted by the local team,
Águilas del Zulia, on November 18 in Aparicio's hometown of
Maracaibo,
Zulia.[4] The date marks both the feast of the
Virgin of Chiquinquirá – the patron saint of Zulia[18] – and the anniversary of Aparicio's professional debut.[3] As of 2023[update], the most recent recipient of the award is
Ronald Acuña Jr. of the
Atlanta Braves.
Winners
Key
Year
Links to the article about the corresponding baseball year
Player(X)
Denotes winning player and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
Team
The player's team at the time he won the award
Position
The player's
position at the time he won the award
"Luis Aparicio Award". Baseball-Almanac.com. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
Specific
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ab"Going To The Big Time". The Miami Herald. October 26, 2005. Retrieved November 13, 2012. Miguel Cabrera...was named winner of the Luis Aparicio players award, presented to the top Venezuelan in the major leagues. [He] edged Minnesota pitcher Johan Santana and Angels' closer Francisco Rodriguez in a vote of 100 journalists from the Venezuelan and international Spanish-language media.(subscription required)
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ab"Rockies bench slump-ridden center fielder". Star Tribune. Minneapolis–Saint Paul. October 28, 2007. Archived from
the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2012. Twins pitcher Johan Santana was the first winner in 2004 and again in 2006.