DONALDSON BEST OF BEST
Jays’ infielder named AL’s MVP
For the 47,000 Toronto Blue Jays fans who watched in person and millions more who enjoyed it on TV, the last home game of the regular season produced a perfect ending.
Josh Donaldson, so often the highlight-reel hero during the team’s banner year, drilled a walk off homer to beat Tampa Bay. The delirious towel-waving crowd continued to stand and cheer well after the mob scene at home plate disbanded.
On Thursday evening, Donaldson enjoyed another perfect ending, winning the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award in the annual vote conducted by the Baseball Writers of America.
Donaldson collected 23 firstplace votes. Last year’s winner, Mike Trout of the Anaheim Angels, received the other seven first-place votes. Donaldson ranked first or second on all 30 ballots.
Earlier, Bryce Harper became the youngest unanimous MVP winner in baseball history, capturing the National League award during a season in which his Washington Nationals missed the playoffs. Harper, who turned 23 in midOctober, led the majors in slugging percentage and on-base average. He hit .330 with 42 home runs and 99 RBIs.”Our team was just so great,” Donaldson said during an interview on MLB.TV. “I was very blessed to be in the situation that I was put in. I’m very thankful. And I felt like I was able to take advantage of a lot of the opportunities.”
The MVP award capped a historic season for the Jays’ third baseman. After helping lead the team to its first playoff berth since 1993, he was named the top player in a poll of major league players. He also was named player of the year by the Sporting News following a vote of 347 MLB players. And he won the AL’s Hank Aaron Award as the league’s top offensive player in a vote involving fans and a panel of Hall of Fame players.
Donaldson and outfielder George Bell in 1987 are the only Blue Jays to win MVP honours. Donaldson also became the first player since Willie Hernandez in 1984 to win the award in the season after he was traded. He was acquired from the Oakland A’s last off-season.
“I’m just continually trying to grow as a player and learn more and more about myself,” he said in his TV interview. “One of my biggest phrases that I still stand by is, ‘if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.’ And so I continually try to find ways to make myself better. I’ve just had a better understanding of the type of player I want to be.”
The trade that made Donaldson a Blue Jay was a surprise, and for Donaldson, it came as a shock. A late bloomer, he had played only two full seasons in Oakland, earning all-star honours in both years. At 29, he seemed poised to anchor the A’s lineup well into his 30s.
But last Nov. 28, Toronto landed him in a deal that sent third baseman Brett Lawrie and three prospects to Oakland. Donaldson said last week that he wanted to make sure the A’s missed him. It’s a safe bet they did.
Donaldson’s spectacular performance featured remarkable consistency, both on and off the field. His renowned intensity and fun-loving persona made him a key member of the Jays’ new leadership group. Offensively, he delivered 41 homers, 184 hits, 123 RBI, a .297 average and a .939 OPS. He also sparkled on defence while playing a key role in the Jays’ playoff surge.
The fact the Jays made the postseason might very well have tipped the scales favouring Donaldson over Trout, whose Angels sagged in the second half.
For Donaldson, the key to personal success was the team’s success, he said.
“That’s how I feel like you end up winning awards, by not focusing on individual stats,” he said. “You go out there and you play to win the game.”