Jose Abreu and Freddie Freeman Win 2020 MVP Awards

Abreu had his best season since 2014, when he won the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award after starring in Cuba. He played all 60 games (like Freeman), and batted .317 with 19 homers, a major league-high 60 runs batted in and a career-best .987 O.P.S. Abreu also led the majors in total bases (148) and led the A.L. in slugging (.617) and hits (76).

Emotion poured out of Abreu after the announcement on MLB Network. He bowed his head for a minute or two, sobbed, and even punched himself. He said the award honored his mother, Daisy Correa, who told him in Cuba to pick an unusual uniform number so he would stand out.

“She is why I do every single thing every day, and she’s my motivation,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “I respect who she is. This is for her, that I am who I am.”

Abreu led the White Sox to a 35-25 record and their first playoff berth in 12 years. But they lost in the best-of-three first round to the Oakland Athletics and fired Manager Rick Renteria, replacing him with the Hall of Famer Tony La Russa, 76. The team has stuck with La Russa despite the revelation that he was arrested in February and charged with driving under the influence in Arizona.

“I cannot question if Tony’s the right person for this club or not; that’s not my call,” Abreu said. “What I can say is that Ricky was a great manager, he was a great person, he helped me a lot, and I was very honored to be part of a team that he managed. At the same time, I’m really excited to have the chance to play for a manager like Tony LaRussa. I think we have to wait and see how this goes.”

Abreu and Freeman become the first winners of the M.V.P. awards since the baseball writers removed its namesake, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, from the trophy. Landis was Major League Baseball’s first commissioner, from 1920 through 1944, and upheld the notorious color barrier.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/sports/baseball/mvp-jose-abreu-freddie-freeman.html