Thursday, November 19, 2015

Baseball Players with the Greatest Collection of Awards

One of the things I found so interesting about Albert Pujols's career is the breadth of the awards he won in his career.  He's collected almost all of the major ones.

Rookie of the Year
MVP (3 times)
All Star (10 times)
Gold Glove (2 times)
NLCS MVP
Silver Slugger (6 times)
Hank Aaron Award
Robert Clemente Award

about the only random awards I can think he hasn't won (discounting pitching awards of course) are

World Series MVP
All Star MVP
Home Run Derby Champion

So it got me wondering, have there been any other players in MLB history that have collected such a diverse set of awards?  Here's the list of players I found that have won such a diverse list.  I began my search by looking at Rookie of the Year winners, because that's the hardest award to get (you only get one shot).  Then they had to win atleast two of an MVP, Cy Young award, or a Gold Glove for me to look into them further.  The players I list below must have won atleast one additional something beyond these for me to list below.

Willie Mays - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, All Star MVP, Roberto Clemente

Frank Robinson - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, All Star MVP

Pete Rose - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, World Series MVP, Roberto Clemente

Johnny Bench - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, World Series MVP

Fred Lynn - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, All Star MVP, ALCS MVP

Andre Dawson - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, Home Run Derby

Fernando Valenzuela - ROY, Cy Young, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

Cal Ripken Jr. - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, All Star MVP, Silver Slugger, Home Run Derby

Jeff Bagwell - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

Albert Pujols - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, NLCS MVP, Silver Slugger, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron

Ichiro Suzuki - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, All Star MVP, Silver Slugger

Dustin Pedroia - ROY, MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

I'm a bit surprised how well Albert Pujols did on this list.  I had expected someone in baseball history to have accumulated far more awards, but Pujols is around the top of this list.  Cal Ripken Jr. appears to be his closest competitor. 

A few interesting players on this list are Fred Lynn and Ichiro Suzuki, who both got the ROY, MVP, and Gold Gloves in their rookie year.  Ichiro also checked off a Silver Slugger in his rookie year.  Fernando Valuenzela checked off his ROY, Cy Young, and Silver Slugger in his rookie year too, although he got the Gold Glove later on.

As for players we will mostly likely see on this list in the future?  Buster Posey is the most likely, as he's already got ROY, MVP, and Silver Sluger wrapped up.  As Yadier Molina gets older, it's perhaps inevitable for Posey to get a Gold Glove (and some other elite catcher doesn't come along the way).

Mike Trout is the other player that may make this list.  But his road may be a bit trickier.  There may be too many standout center fielders in his way to collect a Gold Glove.  Likewise with Bryce Harper.

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