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Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols win the 2009 Sharp Presents Hank Aaron Award

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced today that Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees and Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals have been selected by the fans as the winners of the 2009 Sharp Presents Hank Aaron Award. This is the seventh consecutive year that Major League Baseball fans have had a voice in selecting the Sharp Presents Hank Aaron Award winners.

Throughout two rounds of voting – - first among 90 nominees (three from each Club), and then among 30 finalists (one from each Club) – - Major League Baseball fans cast more than 1.6 million votes in online balloting at sharpMLB.com. The Sharp Presents Hank Aaron Award, officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball, recognizes the most outstanding offensive performer in each League.

“For the last ten years, Major League Baseball has paid tribute to the spectacular career of one of our greatest players, Hank Aaron, through the Sharp Presents the Hank Aaron Award,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “I congratulate Derek and Albert for their wonderful seasons which led to winning this prestigious award. And I thank our valued partner Sharp Electronics for joining MLB in recognizing these players and celebrating the greatness of Hank Aaron.” “It is truly an honor that my name is in the award that for the past ten years has recognized the most outstanding offensive performer in each League,” said Hank Aaron. “Derek and Albert will surely join me one day in the Hall of Fame, and their tremendous seasons this year remind me of my own playing days and the wonderful and diverse talent in the game today.” “With the presentation of this award, we are honored to help recognize one of the greatest players in the history of the game, Hank Aaron,” said Daisuke “Doug” Koshima, Chairman and CEO, Sharp Electronics Corporation. “We extend our congratulations to Derek and Albert, two of today’s most outstanding offensive threats on the field.”

Jeter hit .334 with 107 runs scored, 27 doubles, one triple, 18 home runs, 66 RBI and 30 stolen bases in 153 games in 2009. This season marked his 11th season with at least a .300 average, surpassing Bill Dickey and Joe DiMaggio (10) for the third-most .300 seasons in club history behind Lou Gehrig (12) and Babe Ruth (13). Derek also reached the 200-hit plateau for the seventh time in his career (one shy of Gehrig’s club record), extending his Major League record for most 200-hit seasons by a shortstop. The 35-year-old surpassed Gehrig (2,721) for most hits in franchise history on September 11th, and also broke Luis Aparicio’s record (2,673) for hits by a shortstop on August 16th. The 1996 A.L. Rookie of the Year finished second in the Majors in hits, third in multi-hit games (66) and fourth in batting average, and ranked third in the A.L. in on-base percentage (.406) and tied for fourth in runs scored. Jeter, who leads all active players with 242 career games of three hits or more had 21 such games in 2009, the highest total of his career and the third-most in the Majors. The 10-time A.L. All-Star was the A.L.’s top overall vote-getter for the 2009 All-Star Game, garnering 4,851,889 votes to earn his sixth career All-Star start.

Pujols batted .327 with a career-high 47 home runs, 135 RBI, 124 runs scored, 45 doubles, one triple and a team-high 16 stolen bases this season. The 29-year-old first baseman led the Majors in home runs, runs, on-base percentage (.443) and slugging percentage (.658), and ranked third in RBI. He also was second in the N.L. in doubles and third in batting average. Albert batted .588 (10-for-17) with the bases loaded, and set club records with five single-season grand slams and 11 career grand slams. Pujols also set the Major League record for a right-handed hitter with 44 intentional walks. He became just the second player in Major League history to have 100 RBI in each of his first nine seasons, joining Hall of Famer Al Simmons (11). The eight-time N.L. All-Star was the top overall vote-getter for the 80th All-Star Game in St. Louis after receiving 5,397,374 votes, the second-highest vote total in history behind Ken Griffey Jr., who had six million votes in 1994. The two-time N.L. MVP completed the season as the N.L’s triple crown winner for the decade, leading in batting average (.334), home runs (366) and RBI (1,112), despite playing in only nine of the 10 seasons after winning the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award in 2001.

Past winners of the Sharp Presents the Hank Aaron Award include: Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa (1999); Carlos Delgado and Todd Helton (2000); Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds (2001, 2002); Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols (2003); Manny Ramirez and Barry Bonds (2004); David Ortiz and Andruw Jones (2005); Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard (2006); Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder (2007); and Aramis Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis (2008).

The Sharp Presents the Hank Aaron Award was introduced in 1999 to honor the 25th Anniversary of Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record, and, at that time, was the first major award introduced by Major League Baseball in more than 25 years.

Source: Major League Baseball

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