History of Hank Aaron Award in Timeline

The Hank Aaron Award is an annual MLB honor recognizing the best hitters in each league, chosen by a combination of fan and media votes. Established in 1999, it commemorates the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's home run record. This award marked MLB's first major award introduction in nearly two decades, solidifying its significance within the sport.

1999: Inaugural Hank Aaron Award Winners

In 1999, Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa were the first winners of the Hank Aaron Award.

1999: Objective Points System

In 1999, an objective points system was used to select the winner of the Hank Aaron Award, where hits, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) were assigned point values.

1999: Hank Aaron Award Introduction

In 1999, the Hank Aaron Award was introduced by Major League Baseball to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron's surpassing of Babe Ruth's home run record. This was the first major award introduced by MLB in 19 years.

2000: Voting System Change

In 2000, the selection process for the Hank Aaron Award changed to a ballot system. Each MLB team's radio and television play-by-play broadcasters and color analysts voted for three players in each league.

2001: Most Home Runs Winner

In 2001, Barry Bonds won the Hank Aaron Award with the most home runs.

2003: Fan Voting Introduced

In 2003, fans were allowed to vote for the Hank Aaron Award recipients via MLB's official website, MLB.com. The fan votes account for 30% of the total points.