Cuban José Dariel Abreu is the Most Valuable Player of the American League

November 18, 2020

The Cienfuegos native José Dariel Abreu received the award for Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the American League, for his formidable offensive season. In total he obtained 374 votes, 71 more than the second-place finisher, Dominican José Ramírez, of the Cleveland Indians.

Rookie of the Year in 2014, "Pito" Abreu, of the Chicago White Sox, was now the leader in total bases (148) and runs batted in of the tournament with 60, the identical number of games for his team and for him in the regular season, shortened by Covid-19.

Also, among other departments, the Cienfuegos native led the American League in hits (76) and slugging (617), was second in home runs (19), third in runs scored (43) and fourth in batting average (317). All these numbers also allowed him to obtain his third Silver Bat.

Before Abreu, two Cubans, Zoilo Versalles and José Canseco, won the MVP, also in the American League, in 1965 and 1988, with the uniforms of the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics, respectively.

In the National League, the MVP was received by Fredie Freeman, of the Atlanta Braves. This player led all batters in the Major Leagues in doubles (23) and runs scored (51), in addition to other modern indicators about this sport.

During the regular campaign, he who was also a finalist on three previous occasions for this award connected 13 home runs and drove in 53 runs, the second highest figure in the National League.

Both Abreu and Freeman helped their respective teams advance to the atypical postseason, in which the Los Angeles Dodgers were crowned after dominating the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.