A-Rod, Pujols named Aaron Award winners

Pujols led the majors with a .359 average. John Biever

MIAMI (Ticker) -- St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers were honored Wednesday with the Hank Aaron Award, which goes to the top offensive player in each league.

Pujols, a 23-year-old outfielder, had another stellar season in 2003, batting .359 with 43 homers, 124 RBI, a .439 on-base percentage and a .667 slugging percentage. He also had a 30-game hitting streak, the longest in the major leagues this year.

He is the only player ever to hit .300 with 30 home runs, 100 runs scored and 100 RBI in each of his first three seasons. Pujols also led the major leagues in batting average, paced the National League in hits with 212 and was in the top 10 in homers, RBI, on-base and slugging percentage.

"It is a great honor to be here," Pujols said. "I want to thank Hank Aaron for the intensity he has for this game and for this award. ... It is one of the greatest awards I have ever received. I wish I can hit half as many home runs as he hit."

Rodriguez, 28, is among the most potent offensive shortstops ever and this season had 47 home runs, 118 RBI, 124 runs scored, a .600 slugging percentage and 87 walks. He has won the award each of the last three seasons.

He is just the third player to hit 40 homers in six straight seasons and led the American League in homers, runs scored and slugging percentage. Rodriguez also was among the leaders in RBI, total bases (364) and walks.

"I guess anytime you are mentioned with Hank Aaron, it is the ultimate compliment, not only as a hitter, but obviously, the great ballplayer that he was," Rodriguez said.

"This is the third year Alex has won it," Aaron said. "This is Pujols' first year, but I also want to congratulate him."

The Hank Aaron Award was introduced in 1999 and is the first major award to be introduced in more than 30 years.

In 1999, winners were determined by assigning a pre-determined number of points for each hit, home run and RBI. From 2000-2002, play-by-play broadcasters and color analysts from club radio and television rightsholders voted for the winners.

This season, fan balloting comprised 30 percent of the overall vote, while votes from the play-by-play broadcasters accounted for the remaining 70 percent.

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