Babe Ruth Award

This article is about the postseason performance award. For the home run award, see Babe Ruth Home Run Award.

The Babe Ruth Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player with the best performance in the postseason. The award, created by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) in honor of Babe Ruth, was first awarded in 1949 to the MVP of the World Series, one year after Ruth's death. The award continued to be awarded exclusively for performances in the World Series until 2007, when the New York chapter of the BBWAA changed the award to cover the entire postseason. Though it precedes the World Series Most Valuable Player Award, which was not created until 1955, the Babe Ruth Award is considered less prestigious, as it is not sanctioned by MLB and is awarded several weeks after the World Series.

MLB expanded its postseason to include the League Championship Series (LCS) in 1969, the League Division Series (LDS) in 1995, and the Wild Card round in 2012. The Wild Card round is a one-game playoff, the LDS follows a best-of-five playoff format, and the LCS and World Series follow a best-of-seven playoff format. The most recent World Series champions are the San Francisco Giants, who won in 2014. Madison Bumgarner, the most recent recipient of the Babe Ruth Award, also won the National League Championship Series MVP and World Series MVP awards that season.

Ruth was a noted slugger who batted .326 with 15 home runs and three wins in three games started as a pitcher during World Series play. However, the Babe Ruth Award does not only go to sluggers or pitchers. Dick Green won the award for the 1974 World Series, in which he batted 0-for-13, but helped the Oakland Athletics win the series with his defense.

Joe Page of the New York Yankees was the first winner of the Babe Ruth Award, and Jonathan Papelbon of the Boston Red Sox was the first winner since the award criteria changed to cover the entire postseason. In all, members of the Yankees have won the award sixteen times. Luis Tiant is the only winner of the Babe Ruth Award to play for the World Series-losing team. Two players, Sandy Koufax and Jack Morris, have won the award twice.

Key

Year	Links to the article about that corresponding World Series
Player (X)	Denotes winning player and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
^	Indicates multiple award winners in the same year
*	Indicates year where player did not win the World Series Most Valuable Player Award (1955–present)
	Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
	Denotes player who is still active
§	Indicates losing team in the series

Winners

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, a two-time winner

Reggie Jackson won the award in 1977.

Orel Hershiser won the award in 1988.

Derek Jeter (left) won the award in 2000, while Dave Winfield (right) won the award in 1992.

Paul Molitor won the award in 1993.

Tom Glavine won the award in 1995

Cole Hamels won the award in 2008.

Tim Lincecum won the award in 2010.

Year	Player	Team	Position	Selected statistics	Ref
1949	Joe Page	New York Yankees	Pitcher	1–0 record and 1 save in 3 appearances 2 earned runs allowed over 9 innings pitched 8 strikeouts
1950	Jerry Coleman	New York Yankees	Second baseman	.286 batting average 4 hits 3 runs batted in
1951	Phil Rizzuto	New York Yankees	Shortstop	.320 batting average 1 home run 3 runs batted in
1952	Johnny Mize	New York Yankees	First baseman	.400 batting average 3 home runs 6 runs batted in
1953	Billy Martin	New York Yankees	Second baseman	.500 batting average 12 hits 8 runs batted in
1954	Dusty Rhodes	New York Giants	Outfielder	4 hits in 6 at bats 2 pinch hit home runs 7 runs batted in
1955	Johnny Podres	Brooklyn Dodgers	Pitcher	2–0 record in 2 games started; both were complete games; 1 shutout 2 earned runs allowed over 18 innings pitched 10 strikeouts
1956	Don Larsen	New York Yankees	Pitcher	1–0 record in 2 games started; one perfect game 7 strikeouts Pitched first no-hitter in World Series history
1957	Lew Burdette	Milwaukee Braves	Pitcher	3–0 record in 3 games started; all were complete games; 2 shutouts 2 earned runs allowed over 27 innings pitched 13 strikeouts
1958*	Elston Howard	New York Yankees	Catcher	.222 batting average Series-winning single in 8th inning of Game 7 4 runs scored
1959	Larry Sherry	Los Angeles Dodgers	Pitcher	2–0 record and 2 saves in 4 appearances 1 earned run allowed over 12 ​2⁄3 innings pitched 5 strikeouts
1960*	Bill Mazeroski	Pittsburgh Pirates	Second baseman	.320 batting average Series-winning walk-off home run in 9th inning of Game 7 5 runs batted in
1961	Whitey Ford	New York Yankees	Pitcher	2–0 record in 2 games started; one shutout 14 scoreless innings pitched 7 strikeouts
1962	Ralph Terry	New York Yankees	Pitcher	2–1 record in 3 games started; two complete games; 1 shutout 5 earned runs allowed over 25 innings pitched 16 strikeouts
1963	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers	Pitcher	2–0 record in 2 games started; both complete games 3 earned runs allowed over 18 innings pitched 23 strikeouts
1964	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals	Pitcher	2–1 record in 3 games started; 2 complete games 27 innings pitched 31 strikeouts
1965	Sandy Koufax (2)	Los Angeles Dodgers	Pitcher	2–1 record in 3 games started; two shutouts 1 earned run allowed over 24 innings pitched 29 strikeouts
1966	Frank Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	Outfielder	.286 batting average 2 home runs 3 runs batted in
1967*	Lou Brock	St. Louis Cardinals	Outfielder	.414 batting average 8 runs scored 7 stolen bases
1968	Mickey Lolich	Detroit Tigers	Pitcher	3–0 record in 3 games started; all were complete games 5 earned runs allowed over 27 innings pitched 21 strikeouts
1969*	Al Weis	New York Mets	Second baseman	.455 batting average 1 home run 3 runs batted in
1970	Brooks Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	Third baseman	.429 batting average 9 hits 6 runs batted in
1971	Roberto Clemente	Pittsburgh Pirates	Outfielder	.414 batting average 12 hits 4 runs batted in
1972	Gene Tenace	Oakland Athletics	Catcher	.348 batting average 4 home runs 9 runs batted in
1973*	Bert Campaneris	Oakland Athletics	Shortstop	.290 batting average Series-winning home run in 3rd inning of Game 7 3 stolen bases in 3 attempts
1974*	Dick Green	Oakland Athletics	Second baseman	0 hits in 13 at bats 1 run batted in and 1 run scored Participated in 6 double plays defensively in 5 games; Single-game record (tie) 3 double plays in Game 3
1975*	Luis Tiant	Boston Red Sox§	Pitcher	2–0 record in 3 games started; 2 complete games; 1 shutout 25 innings pitched 12 strikeouts
1976	Johnny Bench	Cincinnati Reds	Catcher	.533 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in
1977	Reggie Jackson	New York Yankees	Outfielder	.450 batting average 5 home runs 8 runs batted in
1978	Bucky Dent	New York Yankees	Shortstop	.417 batting average 10 hits 7 runs batted in
1979	Willie Stargell	Pittsburgh Pirates	First baseman	.400 batting average 7 extra-base hits 7 runs batted in
1980*	Tug McGraw	Philadelphia Phillies	Pitcher	1–1 record and 2 saves in 4 appearances 1 earned run allowed over 7 ​2⁄3 innings pitched 10 strikeouts
1981	Ron Cey	Los Angeles Dodgers	Third baseman	.350 batting average 1 home run 6 runs batted in
1982*	Bruce Sutter	St. Louis Cardinals	Pitcher	1–0 record and 2 saves in 4 appearances 7 ​2⁄3 innings pitched 6 strikeouts
1983	Rick Dempsey	Baltimore Orioles	Catcher	.385 batting average 4 doubles 2 runs batted in
1984*	Jack Morris	Detroit Tigers	Pitcher	2–0 record in 2 games started; both complete games 4 earned runs allowed over 18 innings pitched 13 strikeouts
1985	Bret Saberhagen	Kansas City Royals	Pitcher	2–0 record in 2 games started; both were complete games; 1 shutout 1 earned run allowed over 18 innings pitched 10 strikeouts
1986	Ray Knight	New York Mets	Third baseman	.391 batting average Series-winning home run in 7th inning of Game 7 5 runs batted in
1987	Frank Viola	Minnesota Twins	Pitcher	2–1 record in 3 games started 8 earned runs allowed over 19 ​1⁄3 innings pitched 16 strikeouts
1988	Orel Hershiser	Los Angeles Dodgers	Pitcher	2–0 record in 2 games started; both were complete games; 1 shutout 2 earned runs allowed over 18 innings pitched 17 strikeouts
1989	Dave Stewart	Oakland Athletics	Pitcher	2–0 record in 2 games started; one shutout 3 earned runs allowed over 16 innings pitched 14 strikeouts
1990*	Billy Hatcher	Cincinnati Reds	Outfielder	.750 batting average 9 hits; 4 doubles 6 runs scored
1991	Jack Morris (2)	Minnesota Twins	Pitcher	2–0 record over 3 games started; 10-inning shutout 3 earned runs allowed over 23 innings pitched 15 strikeouts
1992*	Dave Winfield	Toronto Blue Jays	Outfielder	.227 batting average 5 hits Series-winning 2 run batted in double in 11th inning of Game 6
1993	Paul Molitor	Toronto Blue Jays	Designated hitter	.500 batting average 12 hits; 6 extra-base hits 8 runs batted in
1994	Series cancelled due to the players' strike
1995	Tom Glavine	Atlanta Braves	Pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 2 earned runs allowed over 14 innings pitched 11 strikeouts
1996*	Cecil Fielder	New York Yankees	Designated hitter	.391 batting average 9 hits 2 runs batted in
1997*	Moisés Alou	Florida Marlins	Outfielder	.321 batting average 3 home runs 9 runs batted in
1998	Scott Brosius	New York Yankees	Third baseman	.471 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in
1999	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	Pitcher	1–0 record and 2 saves in 3 appearances 4 ​2⁄3 scoreless innings pitched 3 strikeouts
2000	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	Shortstop	.409 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs scored
2001^	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	Pitcher	3–0 record in 3 appearances (2 starts); one shutout 2 earned runs allowed over 17 ​1⁄3 innings pitched 19 strikeouts
2001^	Curt Schilling	Arizona Diamondbacks	Pitcher	1–0 record in 3 games started 4 earned runs allowed over 21 ​1⁄3 innings pitched 26 strikeouts
2002	Troy Glaus	Anaheim Angels	Third baseman	.385 batting average 3 home runs 8 runs batted in
2003	Josh Beckett	Florida Marlins	Pitcher	1–1 record in 2 games started; one shutout 2 earned runs allowed over 16 ​1⁄3 innings pitched 19 strikeouts
2004*	Keith Foulke	Boston Red Sox	Pitcher	1–0 record and 1 save in 4 appearances 1 earned run allowed over 5 innings pitched 8 strikeouts
2005	Jermaine Dye	Chicago White Sox	Outfielder	.438 batting average Series-winning single in 8th inning of Game 4 3 runs batted in
2006	David Eckstein	St. Louis Cardinals	Shortstop	.364 batting average 8 hits 4 runs batted in
	Award changed to cover performance in full post-season
2007*	Jonathan Papelbon	Boston Red Sox	Pitcher	1–0 record and 4 saves in 7 appearances 10 ​2⁄3 scoreless innings pitched 7 strikeouts
2008	Cole Hamels	Philadelphia Phillies	Pitcher	4–0 record over 5 games started 7 earned runs allowed over 35 innings pitched (1.80 ERA) 30 strikeouts
2009*	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	Third baseman	.365 batting average 6 home runs 18 runs batted in
2010*	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	Pitcher	4–1 record in 6 appearances (5 games started); 1 shutout 10 earned runs allowed over 37 innings pitched 43 strikeouts
2011	David Freese	St. Louis Cardinals	Third baseman	.397 batting average 5 home runs Set postseason records with 50 total bases and 21 runs batted in
2012	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	Third baseman	.364 batting average 6 home runs 13 runs batted in
2013	David Ortiz	Boston Red Sox	First baseman / Designated hitter	.353 batting average 5 home runs 13 runs batted in
2014	Madison Bumgarner	San Francisco Giants	Pitcher	4–1 record and 1 save in 7 appearances (6 games started); 2 shutouts 1.03 ERA on 6 earned runs allowed over 52​2⁄3 innings pitched 45 strikeouts

See also

• List of Major League Baseball awards
• Baseball awards
• Conn Smythe Trophy, the National Hockey League's award for its postseason MVP