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The Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award is given to contributors in the field of baseball who have in some way served to raise the bar within the sport, as determined by the current Commissioner of Major League Baseball. There have been nine winners since the award’s inaugural year which this article will discuss in detail.
Tony Gwynn, in 2001, won for outstanding career accomplishments, including becoming a 15-time All-Star in his 20 years on the field with the San Diego Padres, winning five Gold Glove Awards, being a hitter .338 career batting average, having 3,141 career hits and going 8-for-16 in .500 in the 1998 World Series, including three runs and a home run.
All of the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who had lost Alex Rodriguez, their superstar shortstop, to another team after the previous season, but managed to make 2001 their best season yet, winning 116 games and setting the new record for most wins in a single season. within the American League. They broke the New York Yankees’ record of 114 in 1998 and tied the Chicago Cubs’ 1906 season for the major league record for most wins in a season.
Continuing the remarkable baseball year of 2001, Cal “Iron Man” Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles won by surpassing Lou “Iron Horse” Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games played, originally set in 1939. He played 2,632 consecutive games by the end of the 2001 season, although he officially broke Gehrig’s record in 1995, he nonetheless played his 2,131st game that season.
In 2002, Barry Bonds won the award for outstanding and unprecedented achievements during the 2001 season with the San Francisco Giants, including breaking Mark McGwire’s incredible record of 70 home runs in a single season (which had been a record for three years). seasons, since 1998). ). Bonds’ season that year ended with 73 home runs, as well as breaking two of Babe Ruth’s records: most walks in a single season, with 177, and highest slugging percentage in a single season, with .863. Among other notable feats that year for Barry Bonds were a .328 batting average, 137 RBIs, 411 total bases, 107 extra-base hits, and a .515 on-base percentage.
Rickey Henderson, also in 2002, received the award in recognition of his incredible career that lasted into his 40s, from 1979 to 2003 playing for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, New Mets York, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. Major achievements throughout his career that were recognized with the Commissioners’ Historic Achievement Award included setting the still-standing Major League Baseball records for the record for most stolen bases in a career, with 1,406; the most steals in a season, with 130 in 1982; the most runs scored in his career, with 2,295; most home runs to start a game, with 81; and the most walks of his career, with 2,190, although this final record was broken by Barry Bonds in 2004.
Roger Clemens was awarded the prestigious sports award in 2004, for his outstanding professional achievements (with the Boston Red Sox, from 1984-1996; the Toronto Blue Jays, from 1997-1998; and the New York Yankees, from 1999-2003), including more than With 354 career wins, six 20-win seasons, over 4,000 strikeouts, two 20-strikeout games, and a 3-0 record and 1.90 ERA in seven World Series championship games, he remained a force on the field. at age 40 and was (at the time) the only MLB pitcher in history to win six Cy Young Awards (ending his career with a total of seven). From 2004 to 2006, he played for the Houston Astros and in 2007 he returned to the Yankees for his final season.
In 2005, Ichiro Suzuki got it for breaking the single-season hit record during the 2004 season, with 262 hits surpassing St. Louis Browns player George Sisler’s record of 257, set in 1920. That season, he also had the best times at bat. in the league, with 704; the most plate appearances in the league that season, with 762; and the most intentional walks in the league that season, with 19.
Roberto Clemente, in 2006, as the only posthumous honoree, received the award for his spectacular achievements in the field of baseball statistics throughout his 17-season career with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1972, as well as for his humanitarian efforts within the society at large, since most of his off-season time had been devoted to charity work.
And finally, Rachel Robinson was awarded the sports award. She is the wife of Jackie Robinson, founder of the Jackie Robinson Memorial Foundation in 1973, which awards educational scholarships to students in need, and the first woman to be honored with the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award, given to she. in 2007 at the 60th Jackie Robinson Day Celebration.