Major League Baseball Players Announce Finalists for 2014 Players Choice Awards

  New York, NY, October 1, 2014 /3BL Media/ - Major League baseball players today announced the finalists for their highest honors – the Players Choice Awards – in which the players themselves recognize excellence on and off the field. Vying for top honor as 2014 Player of the Year are Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim   For the fourth consecutive year, Players Choice Award winners will be announced exclusively on MLB Network, Monday, November 3, from 8 PM – 9 PM ET. MLB Network’s local channel listings are available at www.FindMLBNetwork.com.   The Players Choice Awards on MLB Network, presented by PlayStation, makers of the popular MLB The Show video game franchise, benefit the Major League Baseball Players Trust, the charitable foundation created and run by the players themselves.   Leading the voting for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year award, named in honor of the MLBPA’s first executive director and given annually to the player who inspires others through his on-field performances and contributions to his community, are Adam LaRoche of the Washington Nationals, Kershaw and Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs. LaRoche focuses much of his off-field attention on the Wounded Warrior Project at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he regularly visits vets during their rehab and recovery. First inspired by their relationship with a malnourished, HIV-infected girl in Lusaka, Zambia named Hope, Clayton and his wife, Ellen, began Kershaw’s Challenge in 2011. The Challenge is to use whatever you have been blessed with – talent, passion or purpose – to give back to others. A survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for which he underwent six months of chemotherapy as a Class A player in 2008, Rizzo founded the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation to support cancer research and families fighting the disease.   Players Choice Awards have been presented each year since 1992, when Major Leaguers selected Dennis Eckersley and Barry Bonds as the AL & NL Outstanding Players, respectively. Today, the players annually honor the outstanding player, rookie, pitcher and comeback player in each league, while the Player of the Year and Man of the Year awards bestow top honors without regard to league. Balloting for the 2014 Players Choice Awards was conducted in all Major League clubhouses on September 16, under the supervision of accounting firm KPMG.   2014 Players Choice Award winners in all categories will designate charities to receive grants totaling $260,000 from the Major League Baseball Players Trust. The Players Trust raises funds and attention for issues affecting the needy and promotes community involvement. Since 1992, the Players Trust has recognized the outstanding on-field and off-field performances of Players Choice Awards winners by contributing more than $3.5 million to charities around the world. For additional information, please visit http://playerstrust.org/programs/players-choice-awards/.   Majestic Athletic is a proud sponsor of the 2014 Players Choice Awards on MLB Network. Below please find the complete list of 2014 Players Choice Awards finalists.   2014 Players Choice Awards Finalists:   American League: Outstanding Player: Jose Altuve (Houston), Victor Martinez (Detroit), Mike Trout (LA Angels of Anaheim) Outstanding Pitcher: Felix Hernandez (Seattle), Corey Kluber (Cleveland), Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox) Outstanding Rookie: Jose Abreu (Chicago White Sox), Danny Santana (Minnesota), Matt Shoemaker (Angels) Comeback Player: J.D. Martinez (Detroit), Victor Martinez (Detroit), Chris Young (Seattle)   National League: Outstanding Player: Josh Harrison (Pittsburgh), Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers), Giancarlo Stanton (Miami) Outstanding Pitcher: Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati), Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers), Adam Wainwright (St. Louis) Outstanding Rookie: Jacob deGrom (NY Mets), Billy Hamilton (Cincinnati), David Peralta (Arizona) Comeback Player: Tim Hudson (San Francisco), Casey McGehee (Miami), Edinson Volquez (Pittsburgh)   Either League: Player of Year: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles), Giancarlo Stanton (Miami), Mike Trout (LA Angels of Anaheim) Man of the Year: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles), Adam Laroche (Washington), Anthony Rizzo (Chicago Cubs)     Twitter Key   American League: Jose Abreu: @79JoseAbreu; Jose Altuve: @JoseAltuve27; Felix Hernandez: @RealKingFelix; Corey Kluber: @CKluber; J.D. Martinez: @JDMartinez14; Danny Santana: @DannySantana39; Matt Shoemaker: @MattShoemaker33; Mike Trout: @Trouty20   National League: Johnny Cueto: @JohnnyCueto; Jacob deGrom: @JdeGrom19; Billy Hamilton: @BillyHamilton; Josh Harrison: @jhay_da_man; Clayton Kershaw: @ClaytonKersh22; Adam Laroche: @e3laroche; Anthony Rizzo: @ARizzo44; Giancarlo Stanton: @Giancarlo818; Adam Wainwright: @UncleCharlie50   For more information on the Players Choice Awards, please click here: http://playerstrust.org/programs/players-choice-awards/ For the complete list of previous winners, please click here: http://playerstrust.org/cms-page/playerschoiceawards/     About the MLBPA The Major League Baseball Players Association (www.MLBPLAYERS.com) is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the thirty Major League Baseball teams and serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for commercial and licensing activities involving active Major League baseball players. On behalf of its members, it operates the Players Choice licensing program and Players Choice Awards, which benefit the needy through the Major League Baseball Players Trust (www.PlayersTrust.org ), a charitable foundation established and run entirely by Major League baseball players. Follow: @MLB_Players; @MLBPlayersTrust; @MLBPAClubhouse.   About MLB Network: MLB Network is the ultimate television destination for baseball fans, featuring the multiple Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight, live regular season and Postseason game telecasts, original programming, highlights, and insights and analysis from the best in the business, including Bob Costas, Peter Gammons, Jim Kaat, Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds. MLB Network debuted on January 1, 2009 in a record-setting 50 million homes and is currently distributed in approximately 70 million homes throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information and to find MLB Network in your area, go to www.MLBNetwork.com.   – end –   Contacts: Greg Bouris, MLBPA, 212/826-0808; gbouris@mlbpa.org Lorraine Fisher, MLB Network, 201/520-2895; lorraine.fisher@mlb.com