Close, but no cigar. Again.
New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge finished fourth in voting for the 2021 American League MVP Award. Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani was the unanimous winner, collecting all 30 first-place votes.
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For Judge, it’s his second top-five finish. He was runner up to Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve in 2017, when he hit an MLB-best 52 home runs.
In 2021, Judge led the Yankees with 39 home runs and 98 RBI. As a result, he picked up three third-place votes, five fourth-place votes, nine fifth-place votes, seven sixth-place votes, five seventh-place votes and one eighth-place votes. That was good for a total of 141 points. Ohtani was the runaway winner with 420 points.
The only other Yankee receiving MVP votes this year was ace Gerrit Cole, who got one eighth-place vote and one tenth-place vote for a total of four points.
On Wednesday, Cole finished second to Toronto Blue Jays ace Robbie Ray in voting for the 2021 American League Cy Young Award. It was Cole’s fifth top-five finish in Cy Young voting and the second time he was runner-up, with Astros teammate Justin Verlander winning the award in 2019.
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Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com.
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