2019 MLBoyfriend Of The Year & Award Winners

For the first time, I'm naming an MLBoyfriend of the Year. And the winner is... Minnesota Twins Manager, Rocco Baldelli.

You may be surprised that the winner is not one of my MLBoyfriends of the week from this season or even a player. I had been looking for a chance to name Baldelli my MLBoyfriend all season. From the start, it was clear the rookie manager had made a huge impact on the Twins. Baldelli led the Twins through an amazing season with his supportive "millenial" style. He deservedly won the American League Manager of the Year award.

The icing on the cake is that Rocco Baldelli is a stone cold fox. His eyes alone could have won him the MLBoyfriend of the Year award.

It was a great night at Target Field when I got Rocco's baseball card as the give-away.

View this post on Instagram

As a gay, I have to say that the give-away at the #TwinsGame tonight might be better than the great cap I got at #TwinsPrideNight. #TwinsPic #BaseballZaddy #MLBoyfriend

A post shared by Koko Hogan (@koko_hogan) on Aug 6, 2019 at 5:29pm PDT

Rocco Baldelli is also, apparently, a good guy. Being nice to kids is a great way to earn points in my book.

we met Rocco Baldelli tonight at dinner. he could not have been nicer and my 7yo baseball loving dude is over the moon. pic.twitter.com/eoI3CP62z0

— Zach (@floyding) October 13, 2019

Congratulations, Rocco Baldelli! You my MLBoyfriend of the Year. I couldn't be happier with my selection for the first winner of this prestigious award.

Several of my 2019 MLBoyfriends won MLB awards. Let's close out the year by taking one last look at those winners.

Pete Alonso*: National League Rookie of the Year

José Altuve: American League Conference Series MVP

Cody Bellinger: National League MVP; NL Golden Glove, Right Field

Nelson Cruz: AL Silver Slugger, Designated Hitter

Howie Kendrick: National League Conference Series MVP

Anthony Rendon: NL Silver Slugger, 3rd Base

Kolten Wong: NL Golden Glove, 2nd Base

Christian Yelich: NL Hank Aaron Award; NL Silver Slugger, Outfield

Congratulations to the MLB award winners and all my MLBoyfriends. Thanks for another great season. See you in 2020.

*Okay, technically, Pete Alonso was never my MLBoyfriend this season; however, I did have a lot of very nice things to say about him in my All-Star Break post. Also, I couldn't pass up the chance to post about Pete Alonso participating in my favorite new celebration in baseball, players losing their shirts after a walk-off. This video seems like the perfect way to end my last post of 2019.

Postseason, Week 3: José Altuve

José Altuve might be the obvious choice for my MLBoyfriend this week, but still, he's the right  one. The American League Conference Series MVP and two-time MLBoyfriend was a powerhouse and a joy to watch in the series.

Altuve hit .348 in the ALCS, with three RBIs and two home runs. It was the second of those home runs--the one the won the series for the Houston Astros--that clinched his status as the MVP. His teammates were literally jumping for joy as he rounded the bases.

Speaking of his the Astros home-run celebration, Altuve kept his teammates from ripping off his jersey, a recent MLB "tradition" that I wholly support. He ended up rounding third in this adorable manner:

Week 3: José Altuve

I can't believe it's been almost three years since the last time I named José Altuve my MLBoyfrined. He is, after all, a very good baseball player. Plus, he has many other qualities that catch my eye when I'm considering who to pick (see picture below).

Altuve has been off to a great start this season, and he had a monster week last week. He had a .400 average, 1.527 OPS, with  8 runs, 10 RBIs and 6 home runs. To put those 6 homers in perspective, the rest of the Houston Astros roster combined hit 5 home runs--and they are a very good team.

Altuve is the first player this season to hit a home run in 5 consecutive games.

2016 MLBoyfriend Award Winners

Congratulations to my MLBoyfriends who won MLB awards for the 2016. Of course, no award is more coveted than that of MLBoyfriend, but the seven of you picked up some pretty nice things for your trophy cases.

Kris Bryant: National League MVP and the Hank Aaron Award (NL).

Mike Trout: American League MVP and a Silver Slugger Award.

Max Scherzer: National League Cy Young Award.

José Altuve: Silver Slugger Award and Player of the Year (Sporting News Players Choice Award).

Anthony Rizzo: Defensive Player of the Year (First Base), Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards.

Josh Donaldson: In addition to being the only player named as my MLBoyfriend twice, Silver Slugger Award.

Buster Posey: Gold Glove Award.

CONGRATS TO YOU ALL AGAIN! You all had great seasons in 2016. Don't rest on your laurels though. 2017 will be a tabula rasa for both MLB awards and my MLBoyfriend.

Week 16: José Altuve

José Altuve hit two home runs and had six RBIs yesterday, which was the perfect end to a great week in which he had an amazing .560 batting average and equally impressive 1.513 OPS.

The ESPN Player Rater currently has him rated as the most valuable player in fantasy baseball this season. While that is not necessary a perfect metric it is a pretty good one. In any case, it's undeniable that Altuve is "coming up big in every way" for the Houston Astros. His performance this season has definitely put him on the MVP list.

On June 25th, Altuve almost hit for the cycle, but he tripped on his own helmet rounding second trying for his triple. He had to settle for just a single, a home run and two doubles in one game. He was a good sport about it and was already laughing it off when he went back on his belly to tag second.