Baseball-Judge unanimous choice for AL Rookie of Year
Nov 13 (The Sports Xchange) - The verdict was a unanimous one as New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was named the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year on Monday.
Judge received all 30 first-place votes in the voting conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi and Baltimore Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini finished second and third, respectively.
The 25-year-old Judge took Major League Baseball by storm in 2017, launching a rookie-record 52 homers to bash Mark McGwire's previous mark set three decades ago.
After winning a spring training competition with Aaron Hicks to earn the starting spot in right field, Judge found himself at the top of the AL in homers, runs (128), walks (127) and, unfortunately for him, strikeouts (208). His 114 RBIs were second best in the AL.
Judge joins Derek Jeter (1996), Dave Righetti (1981), Thurman Munson (1970) and Tony Kubek (1957) as other notable Yankees to win the award.
The 6-foot-7 Judge is also a finalist for the AL MVP award, which will be announced on Thursday night.
