New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt have won the American League and National League Most Valuable Player awards, respectively, both taking home their league's top honor for the first time in each of their historic careers during MLB Network's live broadcast Thursday (November 17) night.
Judge -- who had previously finished second in AL MVP voting in 2017 and fourth in 2021 -- led the American League in two of the three Triple Crown categories, setting an AL single-season record of 62 home runs, while also hitting a league-best 131 RBIs.
"It's tough to put into words, it's an incredible moment," Judge said during his virtual acceptance speech alongside his family after being announced as the winner by Yankees teammate Giancarlo Stanton. "A lot of hard work throughout the years to get to this point."
Judge received 28 of 30 first-place votes for a total score of 410 voting points, defeating 2021 AL MVP Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels -- who received two first-place votes and 280 points -- and Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, who had 232 points.
Goldschmidt won in a much closer vote, claiming 22 of 30 first-place votes for 380 points. San Diego Padres shortstop Manny Machado received seven first-place votes for 291 points and fellow St. Louis Cardinals star Nolan Arenado received one first-place vote and earned 232 points.
The first baseman hit for a .317 average, 35 home runs and 115 RBIs, having previously finished in the top 3 for MVP voting three times during his previous stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as sixth in 2021.
“I think it was my best season,” Goldschmidt said. “Who know what that means? Other guys had great years, too.
“I had a year or two in Arizona that were really good, but even last year -- 2021 with St. Louis -- I thought that could have been my best year even though those numbers weren’t quite as good as earlier,” Goldschmidt added.
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