Mike Trout was the 10th unanimous winner of the AL award. The others: Hank Greenberg, Al Rosen, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Denny McLain, Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco, Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. There have been six unanimous winners in the National League.
Trout was the second player to win the award after having been the runner-up the previous two years. The other was Mantle, the 1962 AL winner who placed second to New York Yankees teammate Roger Maris in 1960 and ’61. Other MVP winners who ran second the year before they won in the AL were Phil Rizzuto in 1950, Yogi Berra in 1954, Boog Powell in 1970 and Alex Rodriguez in 2003. NL MVP winners who were the runners-up the previous year were Chuck Klein in 1932, George Foster in 1977 and Barry Bonds in 1992 and 2001.
Trout, who was the only player named to every ballot, was the third Angels player honored. The others were Don Baylor in 1979 and Vladimir Guerrero in 2004.
Trout was the third youngest winner of the AL award and the fifth youngest overall. He turned 23 Aug. 7. Cal Ripken Jr. turned 23 Aug. 24 when he won the award in 1983. Johnny Bench was 22 when he won the NL MVP Award in 1970 and turned 23 Dec. 7 that year.
Ballots from two writers in each league city prior to postseason play are tabulated on a system that rewards 14 points for first place, nine for second, eight for third on down to one for 10th.
2014 AL MVP
Player, Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Trout, Angels | 30 | 420 | |||||||||
Victor Martinez, Tigers | 16 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 229 | ||||
Michael Brantley, Indians | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 191 | ||
Jose Abreu, White Sox | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 145 | |
Robinson Cano, Mariners | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 124 | |
Jose Bautista, Blue Jays | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 122 | ||
Nelson Cruz, Orioles | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 102 | |||
Josh Donaldson, Athletics | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 96 | ||
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 82 | ||
Felix Hernandez, Mariners | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48 | ||
Corey Kluber, Indians | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 45 | ||||
Alex Gordon, Royals | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 44 | |||
Jose Altuve, Astros | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 41 | |||||
Adam Jones, Orioles | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 34 | ||||
Adrian Beltre, Rangers | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 22 | ||||||
Greg Holland, Royals | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |||||||
Albert Pujols, Angels | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
Howie Kendrick, Angels | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
James Shields, Royals | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
Kyle Seager, Mariners | 1 | 1 |