Bautista’s second Hank Aaron Award sweeter than his first

Congratulations to Jose Bautista on winning his second-straight Hank Aaron Award earlier today for being voted as the American League’s best hitter. This meant that he received the most votes from not only fans, but a committee consisting of Aaron himself and former Hall of Famers like Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Roberto Alomar.

While winning the award for the first time last year must have been important to Bautista, one would think that winning it again this year has to be even more special, no?

After his breakout 2010 campaign, Bautista inked his five-year, $64 million contract and talks erupted soon after about whether he’d be able to live up to the contract and prove 2010 was no fluke.

Well he certainly did just that, to the tune of a .302 average, 1.056 OPS, 132 walks, and a Major League-high 43 home runs. Any way you look at, it was another monster season that was not only enjoyable to watch as a Jays fan, but satisfying to see Bautista answer his critics in such emphatic fashion.

So congratulations to Jose once again, and it will be interesting to see if there’s an MVP award waiting for him as well.

-JM

Like what you read and want to stay informed on all updates here at Jays Journal? Follow us on Twitter (@JaysJournal), “Like” our Facebook page, or grab our RSS feed!