Nationals' Bryce Harper named youngest unanimous MVP in history
NEW YORK -- Bryce Harper has become the youngest unanimous MVP winner in baseball history, capturing the NL award during a season in which his Washington Nationals missed the playoffs.
Harper turned 23 on Oct. 16, after the postseason had already started.
Harper got all 30 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America in results announced Thursday.
The 2012 NL Rookie of the Year led the majors in slugging percentage and on-base average. The outfielder hit .330 with 42 home runs and 99 RBIs.
Harper began this season with one personal goal -- and it had nothing to do with homers, RBIs or awards.
"All I wanted to do was stay healthy and stay on the field every day," he said.
Harper did that, and a lot more.
Harper became the first player from a Washington franchise to win an MVP -- no one on the original or expansion Senators or Nats had done it.
Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was second in the voting and Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto was third.
Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson took the AL MVP after helping to boost the Blue Jays back into the postseason for the first time since 1993.
"We tore down a lot of thresholds this organization has had," he said.
Harper put aside his injury problems from recent seasons and put up huge numbers. The injury-plagued Nationals didn't do nearly so well, starting the season as World Series favorites and finishing out of contention.
Harper missed a lot of games in 2013 after a pair of run-ins with walls, then was sidelined for much of 2014 following a headfirst slide that hurt his thumb.
This year, Harper reported to spring training with one goal - the only number he focused on was games played.
Harper finished with a .649 slugging percentage and a .460 on-base average. He went into the final day of the regular season with a chance to win the NL batting title - Miami's Dee Gordon edged him - and scored a league-leading 118 runs.
The three-time All-Star also continued to draw fans in the Washington area and beyond. His constantly changing hairstyles are always getting attention and the selfie he took in the outfielder before a game at Nationals Park this season boosted his popularity even more.
His hitting, though, is what makes him so special.
"You could see throughout the season what this guy meant to this ballclub. And don't forget, this guy carried us throughout the whole season," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said this week.
"Every team that we played circled his name and said, 'This guy's not going to beat us.' And with that said, he beat a lot of teams. So it was a remarkable season. As we said at this time last year, I thought that 'Harp' was just scratching the surface of what he can be."
Donaldson received 23 first-place votes. Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout got the other first-place votes and finished second for the third time -- he won the award last year.
Kansas City outfielder Lorenzo Cain was third.
"You know going into a season that if you're ultimately going to win an MVP, you've got to put up better numbers than Mike," Donaldson said.
Donaldson led the AL with 123 RBIs and topped the majors by scoring 122 runs. He hit 41 home runs and batted .297. Trout also hit 41 homers, batting .299 with 90 RBIs and 104 runs.
Traded from Oakland to Toronto last offseason, Donaldson joined a power-packed lineup that included Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
The Blue Jays battered their way to the AL East title and topped the majors in runs and homers, with Donaldson leading the way. Voting was completed before the playoffs began.
"For us to come out on top ... I definitely think that helped," Donaldson said.
Donaldson joined George Bell (1987) as the only Toronto players to win the MVP.