The only shame about José Abreu's 2020 season is that it only lasted 60 games.
Everything else about it couldn't be better.
Having already experienced his first winning season and his first postseason while winning his third Silver Slugger, Abreu capped it all off by winning the American League's Most Valuable Player Award.
Abreu became just the fifth White Sox ever to win the MVP, joining Frank Thomas (1993-94), Dick Allen (1972) and Nellie Fox (1959). The counting stats don't quite show it thanks to the truncated season, but the rate stats -- a .317/.370/.617 line that represented career bests in all categories -- reflect the quality of his campaign, not to mention all the ways he topped the leaderboard:
- Games (60)
- Hits (76)
- RBIs (60)
- Slugging percentage (.617)
- Total bases (148)
- bWAR among position players (2.8)
Abreu provided words to the White Sox through a statement ...
“First and foremost, I want to thank God for this blessing. It is very special to win this award and even more doing it this year with all the adversities and challenges we faced. I feel extremely honored and humbled. I’ve worked hard for this, and even though I don’t focus on winning awards, getting this one just feels like a recognition to all the work, all the effort I’ve been doing during my whole career to get to this point. Now, my mom can really say that she has an MVP as a son, and she can keep saying that I am her MVP.
“This award is for my family, for Jerry (Reinsdorf) and the Chicago White Sox organization who gave me the opportunity to play in the big leagues and made my mom’s dream come true. To the fans and to all my coaches, teammates and everyone who has helped me and supported me, this is for you too. Thank you also to all the writers who voted for me.”
... but he struggled to find them on the MLB Network broadcast. He spent most of the first minute with his head on the table, and when he was able to lift it, you'd be hard-pressed to tell he won.
But win it he did, and while José Ramírez tried to make it close with a furious finish to his September, the vote totals show a comfortable margin at the end. Abreu won 21 of 30 first-place votes, with Ramírez taking eight and D.J. LeMahieu the remaining one. Tim Anderson finished seventh, including one third-place vote, and Dallas Keuchel got a 10th-place nod.
