Awards Season puts a bow on historic 2016

When we think of the 2016 Major League Baseball season, we think of a World Series going the extra mile — and an extra inning — to deliver history.

We think of Big Papi’s final ride, Max Scherzer’s 20-strikeout game, Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter, Ichiro Suzuki’s 3,000th hit and so much more to celebrate on the field.

We think of the heartbreaking loss of one of the sport’s iconic young talents, Jose Fernandez, off of it.

And when it’s all said and done, after Spring Training, the grind of the 162-game regular season and the stirring month of October and beyond, we honor the greats of our great game.

Awards Season came to a rollicking and poignant conclusion Friday night with the announcement of the many Esurance MLB Awards, and with that hardware now having been dispensed, it’s a wrap on 2016.

Here’s how it all went down:

Baseball Writers’ Association (BBWAA) Awards

Most Valuable Player Awards: The youth movement of baseball was well-served again. Mike Trout of the Angels and Kris Bryant of the Cubs both played in their age-24 seasons in 2016, and both added to their already-significant legacies by nailing down the American League and National League MVP Award honors.

Trout led MLB in on-base percentage (.441), runs scored (123) and walks (116). He also finished second in the AL in OPS (.991) and stole 30 bases while hitting 29 homers and driving in 100 runs. He took home his second AL MVP Award despite his team having a losing record, and he’s finished in the top two in the voting in all five of his big league seasons.

Bryant, who led the Cubs in home runs (39), runs (121), hits (176) and OPS (.939), followed his unanimous NL Rookie of the Year Award campaign in 2016 with a near-unanimous MVP vote, getting 29 of 30 first-place tallies.

Not a bad year for the kids, huh?

“It means a lot to the game,” Trout said. “There’s a bunch of young guys in the league that are making the game good for the fans and exciting. It’s great for baseball.”

Cy Young Awards: Rick Porcello of the Red Sox and Scherzer of the Nationals were once Detroit Tigers teammates. Now they have another thing in common: They’re the 2016 Cy Young Award winners.

Porcello rode impeccable control to a 22-4 record and a 3.15 ERA. He also beat out another former member of that Tigers rotation — Justin Verlander, who’s still in Detroit — by the slim margin of 137 points to 132.

Scherzer went 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA and led the NL in innings (228 1/3) and strikeouts (284). He tied the Major League record with 20 strikeouts against the Tigers on May 11, and the body …

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