Ramirez Wins NL Aaron Award

In the first ever fan voting for the Hank Aaron Award (the award given to the "most outstanding offensive performers" in each league), Aramis Ramirez won in the NL and Kevin Youkilis (Boston Red Sox) in the AL.

In years past, the award was given to the player with the best offensive stats. This year, fans were able to vote for players on the MLB website. Each team selected one nominee. It is no surprise that two of the league's most rabid fan bases voted their players to victory.

Youkilis had a pretty good year at .312, 29 HR, 115 RBIs, 91 runs, .390 OBP, .569 slugging.

Ramirez also had a decent year, but not his best, at .289, 27 HRs, 111 RBIs, 97 runs, .380 OBP, .518 slugging.

Youkilis is right up there with Ordonez (Miguel Cabrera was the Tigers' nominee and is also worth mentioning), Huff, Hamilton and Morneau. I liked Hamilton myself at .304, 32 HR, 130 RBIs, 98 runs, .371 OBP, .530 slugging, but you can make a case for any of these guys.

Ramiriez, on the other hand, was not even the best at his position. David Wright of the Mets hit .302, 33 HRs, 124 RBIs, 115 runs, .390 OBP, .534 slugging. However, Wright was inexplicably not the nominee for the Mets.

Jose Reyes was the Mets' nominee, boasting a .297 average with 16 HR, 68 RBIs, 113 runs, .358 OBP, .475 slugging. Granted Reyes' 56 stolen bases helped his cause, but I would have still given Wright the nod.

As usual, Berkman was up there with phenomenal stats at .312, 29 HRs, 106 RBIs, 114 runs, .420 OBP, .567 slugging) and Chipper Jones finished with a .364 batting average and an incredible .470 OBP (though incredibly only 75 RBIs). For my money, I can't believe Pujols didn't win at .357, 37 HRs, 116 RBIs, 100 runs, .462 OBP, .653 slugging. I cringe every time he steps in the box to face a Cub pitcher.

I'm not taking anything away from Ramirez. The fans made the selection. He was a formidable hitter throughout the regular season and constantly proved to be a clutch hitter and offensive force for the Cubs (until the great hitting blackout of the 2008 playoffs, of course).