This Year in Baseball Awards

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This Year in Baseball Awards, initiated by Major League Baseball in 2002, are honors given annually to the most extraordinary baseball performances, players, and managers. Nominees for the awards are selected by baseball fans via the online voting system on the official website of Major League Baseball.

[edit] System

In the online program, fans can begin by choosing their five favorite nominees for each award. After the nomination, fans can select the most significant of the five chosen in every award. The one that receives the most votes is chosen as the winner for the award.

In the first year, there were six categories of awards. They were Blooper of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Play of the Year, Player of the Year, and Setup Man of the Year.

Awards were added for Individual Performance of the Year, Manager of the Year, and Rookie of the Year in 2003. The Blooper of the Year was renamed Bizarre Play of the Year, but it was reversed back to Blooper of the Year in 2004. In that year, two more categories were added: Closer of the Year, and Hitter of the Year. The Starting Pitcher of the Year replaced the Pitcher of the Year award, and the Player of the Year award was dropped.