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Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters ...
is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...
(AL) and the
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
(NL), as determined by the coaches and managers of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
(MLB). These voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, in addition to "coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". Managers and coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980 and is given by
Hillerich & Bradsby Hillerich & Bradsby Company (H&B) is an American manufacturing company located in Louisville, Kentucky that produces baseball bats for Wilson Sporting Goods, which commercializes them under the "Louisville Slugger" brand. The company also oper ...
, the manufacturer of
Louisville Slugger Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
bats. The award is a bat-shaped trophy, 3 feet (91 cm) tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver. Among second basemen, Ryne Sandberg, who played 15 seasons with the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
in his 16-year career, owns the most Silver Sluggers with seven wins, including five consecutive from 1988 to 1992. Three other National League players have won the award four times. Jeff Kent (2000–2002, 2005) won three consecutive awards with the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...
, before adding a fourth with the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...
; Craig Biggio, who played his entire career with the
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...
, won the award four times as a second baseman (1994–1995, 1997–1998) after winning another as a
catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...
. Chase Utley followed Kent's last win by capturing four consecutive awards (2006–2009). In the American League, José Altuve has won six Silver Slugger awards. Altuve won five consecutive awards (2014–2018), all with the Astros, and won a sixth in 2022. Altuve's six Silver Slugger awards are second-most all-time for a second baseman and first among American League winners, ahead of
Robinson Canó Robinson José Canó Mercedes (; born October 22, 1982) is a Dominican-American professional baseball second baseman who is currently a free agent. He previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, San ...
who is a five-time winner. Roberto Alomar won the award at the same position with three different teams (
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
,
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
,
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...
). Julio Franco won four consecutive awards (1988–1991) with two different teams, and Lou Whitaker won four awards in five years (1983–1985, 1987) with the
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
. DJ LeMahieu holds the record for the highest batting average and slugging percentage in a second baseman's Silver Slugger-winning season with the respective .364 and .590 marks he set in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. In the National League, Daniel Murphy's .347 batting average in 2016 ranks first. Willie Randolph, who won the inaugural award in the 1980 season, set a record for on-base percentage (.427) that has not yet been broken.
Chuck Knoblauch Edward Charles Knoblauch (; born July 7, 1968) is an American former professional baseball player. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1991 through 2002, for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. He p ...
is second behind Randolph in the American League with a .424 on-base percentage, a mark that was tied by Jeff Kent in 2000 to set the National League record. That year, Kent also set the record among second basemen for highest slugging percentage (.596) and the National League record for
runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the b ...
(125). Bret Boone is the overall leader in runs batted in (141); this record was established in 2001. Marcus Semien hit 45
home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s in 2021, the most ever by a second baseman in a winning season, while Sandberg set the National League mark with 40 in 1990.


Key


American League winners


National League winners


See also

*
List of Gold Glove Award winners at second base The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the Nati ...


Notes


References

* ;Inline citations


External links


Louisville Slugger – The Silver Slugger Award
{{featured list Silver Slugger Award Awards established in 1980