The Hank Aaron Award is an annual award in Major League Baseball awarded to the top hitter in each league. It was introduced in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron surpassing BabeRuth's career home run mark.
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In 1999, a winner was selected using an objective points system. Hits, home runs and runs batted in were given certain point values and the winner was the player who had the highest tabulated points total. The system was changed in 2000, however, to a ballot system, whereby each club's radio and television play-by-play broadcasters and color analysts were given three player votes for each league. The first place vote receives five points, the second place vote receives three points, and the third place vote receives one point, and again the winner is the player with the highest point total. Beginning in 2003, fans were given the opportunity to vote through the MLB.com website. Fan voting accounted for 30% of the points, with broadcaster and analyst voting accounting for the other 70%.
The "Hank Aaron Award" is the first, and so far only, baseball award commemorating a living player. The award is sponsored by Century 21 Real Estate.
Aaron was so proficient a ballplayer at this young age that before his fifteenth birthday he was playing on a semi-pro team, the Pritchett Athletics, as their shortstop and third baseman.
Aaron defended his decision by saying, "I noticed that they never had a show called 'Singles Derby'." Eddie Mathews led the league in home runs with 46 and Aaron led the league in hitting with a.355 average and finished 3rd in MVP voting.
Aaron tied and then surpassed Babe Ruth for the most home runs by a player with a single team when he homered for the 659th time as a Brave on July 19 against the Pirates' Nelson Briles, and for the 660th on July 25 against the Reds' Wayne Simpson.
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