Chicago Cubs' Bryant near-unanimous MVP
This article has been updated to include 1972 Chicago White Sox AL MVP Dick Allen.
Kris Bryant is on some kind of roll.
The 24-year-old third baseman of the Chicago Cubs added to his fast-growing resume Thursday by handily winning the Most Valuable Player Award in the National League.
Bryant received 29 of the possible 30 first-place votes, and 1 second-place vote, for a total of 415 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers Assocation of America. Daniel Murphy of the Washington Nationals placed second with 245 points and the other first-place vote.
Rookie of the Year Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers was third, and Bryant's teammate, Anthony Rizzo, placed fourth.
Bryant was the 2015 Rookie of the Year. In 2014, he was the minor-league player of the year as named by Baseball America and USA Today. During his final season at the University of San Diego in 2013, he was named the Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year.
This season Bryant helped the Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908.
During the regular season, on which MVP voting is based, Bryant had a batting line of .292/.385/.554 with 39 home runs and 102 RBI. He also cut his strikeouts from a league-leading 199 in 2015 to 154 this year.
According to FanGraphs, he led the National League in wins above replacement (WAR), at 8.4. He did it all while playing multiple positions in the field.
So what does Bryant do for an encore?
"I don't know," he said with a laugh during a conference call with reporters. "I always want to continue to get better, win more World Series. It's all downhill from here. This year has certainly been one of the best years of my life, winning the World Series and now this.
"It's just icing on the cake. I look forward to kind of really enjoying this whole off-season because I don't know if this whole year will ever happen again."
Bryant was the Cubs' first-round draft choice (second overall pick) in 2013. He came up the big leagues on April 17, 2015, and hasn't looked back. During his Rookie of the Year season, he had a line of .275/.369/.488 with 26 homers and 99 RBI.
He also has performed with grace and humility off the field.
"I think it's a combination of a lot of things in my life, first off being my parents," he said. "I feel like good guys finish first. Going out there and being humble and being a good role model for kids out there, that's something I strive for more than putting up good numbers on the field or any of my individual goals.
"I don't want to be that person where people look and they say he's too cocky or any of that. I just want to go out there and do my job and put smiles on people's faces and win a lot of games along the way. This year was the perfect way to kind of illustrate that."
Bryant becomes the 11th MVP honoree in Cubs history, the ninth since the BBWAA began voting for the award in 1931 and the first Cub to win since Sammy Sosa in 1998. He joins Andre Dawson (1987), Ryne Sandberg (1984), Ernie Banks (1958 and 1959), Hank Sauer (1952), Phil Cavarretta (1945) and Gabby Hartnett (1935) as BBWAA winners.
Rogers Hornsby won the League Award in 1929, and Frank Schulte earned the Chalmers Award in 1911. Bryant is the youngest MVP in franchise history. He also has become the first player in franchise history to win both Rookie of the Year and the MVP at any point with the Cubs.
Two days after the World Series ended, he got to enjoy a World Series parade and rally with 5 million of his closest friends in Chicago.
"I guess one thing that sticks out is the parade in Chicago," he said. "You really got a chance to see just how huge this win was for the city and the fans and the people who have been waiting so long for it."
Bryant fielded the final out of Game 7 of the World Series, grabbing a little tapper, having his foot slip but being able to throw to Rizzo to get batter Michael Martinez to set off the celebration of an 8-7, 10-inning victory over the Cleveland Indians.
What does Bryant think after seeing the replays?
"Looking at it, it's scary watching it," he said. "I've seen it a lot, seeing my foot slipped. Just the circumstances going into that play will kind of get your blood pressure up. It was one of the tougher plays for me.
"Thankfully, I was playing in on the grass knowing that he's a pretty quick runner, and I got to it pretty quick. But I made a good throw. Thankfully, the slip didn't really affect too much of it."
• Follow Bruce's Cubs and baseball reports on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.
Joining the MVP club
Here's how Kris Bryant's hitting line (.292 batting avg. / .385 on-base pct. / .554 slugging pct.) in the 2016 season compares to previous MVP award winners:
2015 - Bryce Harper, Nationals: 153 G .330/.460/.649
2014 - Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: 21-3, 1.77, 239 SO
2013 - Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: 157 G .317/.404/.508
2012 - Buster Posey, Giants: 148 G .336/.408/.549
2011 - Ryan Braun, Brewers: 150 G .332/.397/.597
<b>Chicago baseball MVPs</b>1998 - Sammy Sosa, Cubs: 159 G .308/.377/.647
1994 - Frank Thomas, White Sox: 113 G .353/.487/.729
1993 - Frank Thomas, White Sox: 153 G .317/.426/.607
1987 - Andre Dawson, Cubs: 153 G .287/.328/.568
1984 - Ryne Sandberg, Cubs: 156 G .314/.367/.520
1972 - Dick Allen, White 148G .308/.420/.603.
1959 - Ernie Banks, Cubs: 155 G .304/.374/.596
1959 - Nellie Fox, White Sox: 156 G .306/.380/.389
1958 - Ernie Banks, Cubs: 154 G .313/.366/.614
1952 - Hank Sauer, Cubs: 151 G .270/.361/.531
1945 - Phil Cavarretta, Cubs: 132 G .355/.449/.500
1935 - Gabby Hartnett, Cubs: 116 G .344/.404/.545
1929 - Rogers Hornsby, Cubs: 156 G .380/.459/.679
1911 - Frank Schulte, Cubs: 154 G .300/.384/.534
Source: baseball-reference.com