Judge wins LA Most Valuable Player Award

Judge edged out Japanese two-way player Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Cuban slugger Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros in the journalists’ voting.

With Judge, 13 Yankees representatives have received 23 MVP trophies, but the right fielder is the first since Dominican Alex Rodriguez in 2007. Babe Ruth, in 1923, was the first member of the Bronx Bombers to be recognized with the trophy.

In his final season with the Yankees before becoming a free agent, Judge led the American League in bWAR (10.6), home runs (62), runs scored (133), RBIs (131), innings (111), OBP (.425), OPS (.686), OPS+ (211) and total bases (391). He finished second in the batting title race, which prevented him from winning the Triple Crown.

During his ruthless attack on opposing pitchers, “The Judge” broke a 61-year-old league home run mark (Roger Maris, 61 in 1961) and won the lead by 22 in his circuit (Mike Trout was second with 40) and by 15 in MLB (Kyle Schwarber led the National League with 46), helping the Yankees pile up 99 wins and win the Eastern Division pennant.

The difference in the lead is the widest in a league since Babe (54) had 27 more than teammate Loug Gehrig (27) in 1928. Gehrig, in 1927 and 1936, was the second Yankee to win the MVP award.