2018 MLB Award Winners

It's time for the traditional final MLBoyfriend post of the year. All the MLB Awards have been announced, so let's see how my picks matched up with theirs.

Ronald Acuña Jr.: National League Rookie of the Year

Mookie Betts; American League Most Valuable Player, Golden Glove, Silver Slugger, Defensive Player of the Year (right field), & Player Choice Award for Outstanding Player (American League)

Paul Goldschmidt: Silver Slugger

Dallas Keuchel: Golden Glove

J.D. Martinez: American League Hank Aaron Award, two Silver Sluggers, & Players Choice Award for Player of the Year
UPDATE 3/26/19: I wrote this before J.D. Martinez posted something very problematic on social media that is in direct opposition to my values. He has a right to express political opinions, but words have consequences. In this case the consequence is that I no longer think he's hot--in fact, he's the opposite of hot. NRA propaganda is deal breaker for me.

Shohei Ohtani: American League Rookie of the Year

Anthony Rizzo: Golden Glove

Trevor Story: Silver Slugger

Mike Trout: Silver Slugger

Christian Yelich: National League Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, & Players Choice Award for Outstanding Player (National League)

Congratulations to all my MLBoyfriends who won MLB Awards! 

2018 World Series: Joc Pederson & Ian Kinsler

Joc Pederson, Los Angeles Dodgers & Ian Kinsler, Boston Red Sox

On Saturday, October 27, I woke up, turned on some cooking shows and blogged about Max Muncy, my MLBoyfriend for the epic Game 3 of the World Series. Then, I turned on the news and suddenly felt a bit bad about posting about a cute baseball player. It was a feeling I had been struggling with throughout the week as the World Series competed for attention against so much terrible news of shootings and pipe bombs. This little blog seemed frivolous in the face of some much hate and violence. However, I remembered that I named an MLBoyfriend the day after the Pulse Nightclub Shooting. If those who try to spread fear keep us from enjoying things that bring us happiness, they've won. There is also precedence for me choosing an MLBoyfriend based his stance on a social issue such as LBGTQ+ rights or gun control. So....

I'm naming the two Jews who played in the World Series as my last MLBoyfriends of 2018 as my small but heartfelt statement against anti-semitism.

I don't catch Dodgers games that often, but every time I do I always think Joc Pederson has real MLBoyfriend potential.

Pederson has some pretty impressive career stats. He's hits some impressive home runs including four home runs in his six World Series starts in the past two years. His solo homer was the first run scored in the epic Game 3 this year.

Joc Pederson is also totally adorable.

My feelings towards Ian Kinsler are a bit more complicated. In his twelve seasons in the majors, he has spent seven with teams I hate, six with the Texas Rangers and this one with the Boston Red Sox.

Kinsler's stats are good--you don't last that long in baseball without putting up decent numbers.

Kinsler did have a costly error the infamous Game 3 of this World Series. Even when I'm cheering for the other team, I always feel a little bad for players who have the bad luck of having an error at the worst moment. So, Kinsler gets sympathy points. Plus he looked really good in his post-game interview discussing his role in Boston's loss.

Ian Kinsler has always been goodlooking, and, like a fine wine, he's getting better looking with age.

Congratulations, Joc Pederson! You are my 2018 World Series MLBoyfriend.

Congratulations, Ian Kinsler! You are also my 2018 World Series MLBoyfriend.

You two also have the honor of being the final MLBoyfriends of 2018, As with all my picks, I hate to see you go, but I love to see you walk away.

Speaking of other MLBoyfriends, here's a special bonus butt: Alex Bregman, another hot, Jewish baseball player.

World Series, Game 3: Max Muncy

Since Game 3 of the World Series was the longest postseason game in history*, I figured it deserved special attention. So, this is really more of a MLB One-Night-Stand than an MLBoyfriend--but 7 hours and 20 minutes is very good for a hook-up. Who better to win the title than the man who brought the game to completion, Max Muncy? His walk-off home run in the 18th inning won the game for the Dodgers.



Of course, there were lots of crazy things that happened in such a marathon game. However, the fact that Max Muncy was the hero may be the craziest. Deadspin summed it up best in their headline of my favorite write-up of the game: Fucking Max Muncy Won The Longest World Series Game In History.

Also... What an incredible Cinderella story!

League Championship Series: Christian Yelich & Justin Verlander

I kept putting off naming both Christian Yelich and Justin Verlander my MLBoyfriend this season because I figured I'd always have another chance. With both the Brewers and the Astros eliminated from the postseason last week, it's now or never.

Christian Yelich is very likely to be the National League MVP and has clearly had several great weeks this season. He's also cute as a button.

Yet, somehow, I never selected Yelich as my MLBoyfriend.

Even more shocking, in the three years of this blog, Verlander has never made the cut. He's one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he was especially strong in the first half of this season. He also cuts a fine figure.

Although, to be fair to myself, I have expressed my fondness for Justin Verlander elsewhere.

Congratulations, Christian Yelich! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Congratulations, Justin Verlander! You are also my MLBoyfriend of the week.

All I can say to both of you is: Better late than never.

ALDS: George Springer

Oh, hey there, George Springer. Welcome back to MLBoyfriend. I forgot how good you are in the postseason.

Today, Spinger was definitely in his October form. He may have struck out at your first two at bats, but he more than made up for it with two home runs.



Springer now has the most postseason home runs in the Astros franchise history.

Week 27: Joe Mauer

Since this may well be my last chance to name Joe Mauer my MLBoyfriend, I'm going to take it. 

Joe had a very good week at the plate with a .379 average, .903 OPS, two RBIs and nine runs. On Tuesday, September 25, he reached base for the 3,073rd time breaking Harmon Killebrews on-base record for the Twins.

But, of course, it was Joe's emotion final game of the season--and, quite likely, career--that won him the MLBoyfriend title. If it was, indeed, his last game, the Twins and their fans gave him the perfect send off including a brief return to the catcher's position.



You may have noticed that I've been calling him "Joe" rather than by his last name which is my usual practice in this blog. That's because Joe and I have a real history together. He was my MLBoyfriend once during the first year of this blog and again this year.  He also shared the title with the rest of the Twins starting line up after they had an incredible game that I got to witness in person last year.

Week 26: Tyler O'Neill

This should be the most exciting time in baseball with lots of teams fighting to get into the postseason. Unfortunately, there aren't that many exciting races this year. That's why it's fun to watch teams that are in the hunt for one of the few spots left open. The St. Louis Cardinals are one of those teams and they have been having a great run. On Saturday, September 22, Tyler O'Neill gave the Cards a much needed win with a walk-off home run, and it is a joy to watch.



Wait a minute. Is O'Neill shirtless at the end of that clip? I believe he was. Is there a better look at what happened? Why, yes, there is.

Tyler O’Unit with the #walkoff.

You’re going to want to watch to the end. 😉 pic.twitter.com/8pEGN6uRD0

— MLB (@MLB) September 22, 2018

How does O'Neill feel about having his jersey and undershirt ripped off by his teammates? Fortunately, at least two news outlets thought to interview him about just that after the game. And, they both included more footage of the event.





Anyone who follows this blog knows that O'Neill gets bonus points for being Canadian. He gets double bonus points for having a father who named Mr. Canada.

Week 25: Trevor Williams

To be honest, I had never heard of this week's MLBoyfriend before Saturday. My fantasy baseball team was in a tight race in the first round of post-season play. I needed to pull off a win to go to the leagues championship round. My only hope of pulling off a win was to have a lot of great pitching on Sunday, September 17. I only had one pitcher scheduled to start--so I picked up two more. All three of them had great outings and took my team to the finals. I could have chosen Luis Castillo or Mike Minor, but Trevor Williams had an even better game than they did--so he wins the prize.

In six complete innings, Williams struck out seven batters and gave up just two hits, two walks and no earned runs. He ended the game with a 0.67 WHIP, a 0.00 ERA, a quality start and a win.



It's a little embarrassing that I'd never heard of Williams before. He's been excellent in the second half of the season.

Week 24: Trevor Story

Hey, Trevor Story. It's been a minute.

Trevor Story was the first ever MLBoyfriend, and it was high time for for him to win the title again. In honor of his return, I'm going to kick it old school and keep the text to a minimum and include lots of pictures.

Last week, Trevor Story had a decent .292 average and a very good 1.237 OPS. He had five runs and nine RBIs--also very respectable for one week.

The big news was that Story had five home runs last week. Three of those were in one game on Wednesday, September 5. One of those three was a monster 505 foot blast--the longest homer since Statcast started measuring them in 2015.

Oh yeah, Story also had three stolen bases--and I feel like I don't talk about stolen bases enough here at MLBoyfriend.

Week 23: Alex Bregman

In the midst of a very good season, Alex Bregman had a very, very good week. He had six runs, three home runs, nine RBIs, a .444 batting average, and a 1.389 OPS.

Bregman was named the MVP at the 2018 All-Star Game, and now there's talk of him being a strong dark horse candidate for the 2018 American League MVP.

However, it's not just what Bregman does on the field that caught my eye. How he celebrates in the dugout is pretty great. After getting high-fives from his teammates, Bregman looks right into the camera and gives his best Blue Steel. This has become know as the "Bregman Stare".

Recently, Alex and the rest of the Houston Astros have taken the Bregman Stare to a whole new level.