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Jose Abreu is a right-handed hitter in the American League, and Freddie Freeman is a left-handed hitter in the National League. Otherwise, the two might as well be the same player.
Both play first base and have formed three All-Star teams since 2014, when Abreu joined the Chicago White Sox after leaving Cuba. The two played for only one major league team – Freeman for the Atlanta Braves – but never reached the World Series. The two reside in the same statistical district: Abreu has a career average of .294 and a base percentage over 870 slugging, Freeman .295 and .892.
“He’s what I try to be, he’s that guy you can count on and never have to worry about – and Jose Abreu is that guy for the White Sox,” Freeman said. Thursday. “All you want to do as a Big League player is be consistent, and he’s been consistent from the day he came into the Big League. Ultimate producer. The year he has had is absolutely amazing.
Freeman was also dominant, and now he will be linked in history with Abreu as the Most Valuable Player of the 2020 season. Abreu received 21 of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s 30 first-place votes in the total announced Thursday, while Freeman collected 28 of 30.
Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians was second in the American League, with DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees third. In the Netherlands, Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers was second, and Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres was third.
The former top ranking in the prize vote for Abreu and Freeman was fourth place, and they are past the age of most of the winners. Abreu, 33, and Freeman, 31, become the first players to turn 30 on the opening day of their MVP season since Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees in 2007.
Understandably, a season that was truncated to just 60 games because of the coronavirus could have done less physical damage than a normal schedule.
“It feels like 60 games were 162,” Freeman said in October, as the Braves moved to Game 7 of the NL Championship Series before losing to the Dodgers. “But it’s all worth it.”
Freeman has had particularly acute challenges due to his battle with the coronavirus. He tested positive on July 3 after experiencing pain throughout his body and a fever, which reached 104.5 degrees.
“I said a little prayer that night; I’ve never been this hot before, ”Freeman told reporters later. “My body was really hot. So I said, ‘Please don’t take me.’ I was not ready.
Freeman recovered in time for the Braves’ opener on July 24, but struggled to regain his strength. In 13 games, he reached .190.
“I was just extremely tired,” Freeman said Thursday. “It caught the wind walking just across the house.”
Freeman said he made sure to conserve his energy and stayed mostly indoors before games, instead of training on the pitch, for more than half of the season. Feeling strong and hydrated around the time of the game helped him play better than ever, he said.
“At first I would jump out of the bag holding a runner and get tired,” Freeman said. “So I had to save my balls and how I felt. I tried to stay away from batting practice as we started at the end of July and Atlanta is pretty hot at the end of July.
Freeman finished with career highs on average (0.341), base percentage (0.462) and slugging percentage (0.640) while hitting 13 home runs, leading in 53 points and leading the majors in points scored (51) and duplicate (23).
Abreu has had his best season since 2014, when he won the AL Rookie of the Year award after playing in Cuba. He’s been in all 60 games (as Freeman) and hit .317 with 19 home runs, a major league record 60 points and a career best .987 OPS Abreu also led the majors in total bases (148) and has led the AL in slugging (.617) and hits (76).
Emotion came out of Abreu after the announcement on MLB Network. He lowered 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 choose an unusual uniform number to make him stand out.
“That’s why I do everything every day, and that’s my motivation,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “I respect who she is. It is for her that I am who I am.
Abreu led the White Sox to a 35-25 record and their first playoff spot in 12 years. But they lost in the best of the first three rounds to Oakland Athletics and fired manager Rick Renteria, replacing him with Hall of Famer Tony La Russa, 76. The team remained with La Russa despite the revelation that he was arrested in February and charged with driving under the influence in Arizona.
“I can’t ask myself if Tony is the right person for this club or not; it is not my call, ”said Abreu. “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 he was leading. At the same time, I’m really delighted to have the chance to play for a manager like Tony LaRussa. I think we have to wait and see how it goes.
Abreu and Freeman become the first MVP award winners since baseball writers removed his namesake, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, from the trophy. Landis was the first commissioner of Major League Baseball, from 1920 to 1944, and maintained the famous color barrier.
Past winners – including Barry Larkin, Terry Pendleton and Mike Schmidt – had endorsed the idea of removing Landis’ name from the award, and the writers then voted to do so. As of yet, the MVP doesn’t have a namesake, but Freeman has come up with an idea.
“It’s really about time the name was taken off the MVP trophy,” Freeman said of Landis. “I’ve been trying to reflect the last few days on who would be a big name to put on it, and the guy who won MVP in the AL and NL, Frank Robinson, I think that would be a perfect name on the MVP trophy. “
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