The St. Louis Cardinals have won the World Series and the 2011 baseball season has come to a close. It is now time for Major League Baseball to recognize the standout players from the past season. This year, seven Baseball Factory alumni have been honored, winning a total of eleven awards including a Cy Young Award, two League MVPs, a Rawlings Gold Glove Award, a Hank Aaron Award, and six Louisville Silver Slugger Awards. Baseball Factory would like to congratulate our alumni: Justin Verlander, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Bautista, Prince Fielder, Brian McCann, and Justin Upton for their outstanding efforts this season.

Detroit pitching ace Justin Verlander (Baseball Factory’s Team One Midwest) was unanimously voted American League winner of this year’s Cy Young Award, making him the Tigers' first Cy Young winner since relief great Guillermo Hernandez in 1984. Verlander topped all AL pitchers with 24 wins, a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts, capturing the 12th pitching Triple Crown in the past 50 years. He also led AL pitchers with 251 innings, a .192 opposing batting average and a 0.92 WHIP ratio. With these impressive stats, it’s easy to see why Verlander received every one of the 28 first-place votes to win the 2011 AL Cy Young Award.

In addition to the esteemed Cy Young Award, Verlander was also named the Most Valuable Player for the American League. These two honors make him only the 10th player to win the Cy Young and MVP awards in the same year. Verlander is also the first starting pitcher in a quarter-century to win the AL MVP Award and the first Tiger since 1984. Verlander received 13 of 28 first-place votes. He received more than double the amount of first-place votes as any other player. With a Tigers division title, a no-hitter, an AL pitching Triple Crown, and two prestigious 2011 MLB awards, Verlander is now (deservingly) a part of baseball history.

The National League’s Most Valuable Player Award was presented to Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun (Baseball Factory’s Team One National). Receiving 20 of a possible 32 first-place votes, Braun beat out the Dodger’s Matt Kemp who received 10 first-place votes. This award makes Braun the first Brewer to win a league MVP since Hall of Famer Robin Yount won for the second time in 1989. During the season, Braun hit .332 with 33 home runs, 111 RBIs and 33 stolen bases. He led the Brewers to a franchise-record 96 wins in the regular season and the National League Central crown, their first since 1982.

Braun was also presented with a NL Louisville Silver Slugger Award making him a Silver Slugger recipient for four straight seasons. As a result of Braun’s consistency at the plate, he's the first NL outfielder to win the award four years running since Barry Bonds took five in a row from 2000-04. Teammate Prince Fielder (Baseball Factory’s Team One National) also picked up a NL Silver Slugger award, the second of his career. This marks the second straight season and the fourth time since the Silver Slugger Award debuted in 1980 that the Brewers have multiple winners. Fielder finished the season second in the NL in homers, RBIs, walks (107) and on-base percentage (.415) and was also the only player in the Majors to start all 162 games.

Troy Tulowitzki (Baseball Factory’s Team One National) earned his second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award as the Colorado Rockies shortstop. This recent honor makes him the third Colorado player to receive more than one Gold Glove, joining five-time winner Larry Walker and three-time winner Todd Helton. Tulowitzki is also the recipient of his second consecutive NL Silver Slugger Award. Based on his strong .302 batting average, along with 30 home runs and a career-best 105 RBIs this season, it is no surprise that Tulowitzki is considered the NL’s top hitting shortstop. Tulowitzki is only the third NL shortstop to win both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards in consecutive seasons.

Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista (Baseball Factory’s Team One National) has been voted as the American League's top hitter for 2011. As a result, Bautista was honored with his second straight Hank Aaron Award, making him the third player to win the award in consecutive years since its inception in 1999. Maintaining his success from 2010, Bautista played in 149 games for the Blue Jays and hit .301 with 103 RBIs while posting a Major League-leading 43 home runs and 132 walks. It came as no surprise that Bautista also picked up an AL Silver Slugger Award, making this the second consecutive year he has won the award.
 
Despite an injury early in the season, Brian McCann (Baseball Factory’s Team One National) still earned a NL Silver Slugger making him the first player to win five Silver Slugger Awards while playing for the Braves (Check out what Brian had to say about the Baseball Factory and Team One). The 27-year-old is now the sixth catcher to win at least five Silver Slugger Awards along with Mike Piazza (10), Ivan Rodriguez (seven), Lance Parrish (six), Gary Carter (five) and Jorge Posada (five). Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton (Baseball Factory’s Team One East, South and National) was also presented with a NL Silver Slugger Award, the first of his young career. Upton played in a career-high 159 games this past season and hit .289 with 39 doubles, 31 homers and 88 RBIs.

Baseball Factory would like to congratulate the players who earned awards for their outstanding efforts during the 2011 season.

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