COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year | Baseball Almanac

This is the first Comeback Player of the Year Award officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball, which will be presented annually to one player in each League.

The Comeback Player of the Year Award recognizes the players who have re-emerged on the baseball field during a given season. Representatives of Major League Baseball and the editorial staff at MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball select the nominees, six players from each League, for the Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award. Those nominees are then featured on MLB.com where fans of the game can vote for who they believe best deserves the award.

To further engage fans in the selection process during its inaugural year (2005), Pfizer, maker of Viagra ® (sildenafil citrate) introduced an online sweepstakes in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award Presented. As part of the program, one lucky sweepstakes winner threw out a ceremonial first pitch in the 2005 World Series!

"It's (the Comeback Player of the Year Award) not really something you want to have, as far as the things you've had to go through to get it. But it's one that I will cherish forever." - Cincinnati Reds Outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr. on MLB.com (Anthony Castrovince, 10/06/2005)

Comeback Player of the Year Award Comeback Player of the Year Award Official "Viagra" Logo (2005 - 2009) by Major League Baseball
Year	LG	Comeback Player^(Qty)	POS	Team ^{(Franchise Quantity)}
2005	AL	Jason Giambi⁽¹⁾	1B / DH	New York Yankees⁽¹⁾
2005	NL	Ken Griffey, Jr.⁽¹⁾	CF	Cincinnati Reds⁽¹⁾
2006	AL	Jim Thome⁽¹⁾	DH	Chicago White Sox⁽¹⁾
2006	NL	Nomar Garciaparra⁽¹⁾	1B	Los Angeles Dodgers⁽¹⁾
2007	AL	Carlos Pena⁽¹⁾	1B	Tampa Bay Devil Rays⁽¹⁾
2007	NL	Dmitri Young⁽¹⁾	1B	Washington Nationals⁽¹⁾
2008	AL	Cliff Lee⁽¹⁾	SP	Cleveland Indians⁽¹⁾
2008	NL	Brad Lidge⁽¹⁾	RP	Philadelphia Phillies⁽¹⁾
2009	AL	Aaron Hill⁽¹⁾	2B	Toronto Blue Jays⁽¹⁾
2009	NL	Chris Carpenter⁽¹⁾	SP	St. Louis Cardinals⁽¹⁾
2010	AL	Francisco Liriano⁽¹⁾	SP	Minnesota Twins⁽¹⁾
2010	NL	Tim Hudson⁽¹⁾	SP	Atlanta Braves⁽¹⁾
2011	AL	Jacoby Ellsbury⁽¹⁾	OF	Boston Red Sox⁽¹⁾
2011	NL	Lance Berkman⁽¹⁾	OF	St. Louis Cardinals⁽²⁾
2012	AL	Fernando Rodney⁽¹⁾	RP	Tampa Bay Rays⁽²⁾
2012	NL	Buster Posey⁽¹⁾	CA / 1B	San Francisco Giants⁽¹⁾
2013	AL	Mariano Rivera⁽¹⁾	RP	New York Yankees⁽²⁾
2013	NL	Francisco Liriano⁽²⁾	SP	Pittsburgh Pirates⁽¹⁾
2014	AL	Chris Young⁽¹⁾	SP	Seattle Mariners⁽¹⁾
2014	NL	Casey McGehee⁽¹⁾	3B	Miami Marlins⁽¹⁾
2015	AL	Prince Fielder⁽¹⁾	DH	Texas Rangers⁽¹⁾
2015	NL	Matt Harvey⁽¹⁾	SP	New York Mets⁽¹⁾
2016	AL	Mark Trumbo⁽¹⁾	RF	Baltimore Orioles⁽¹⁾
2016	NL	Jose Fernandez⁽¹⁾	SP	Miami Marlins⁽²⁾
2017	AL	Mike Moustakas⁽¹⁾	3B	Kansas City Royals⁽¹⁾
2017	NL	Greg Holland⁽¹⁾	RP	Colorado Rockies⁽¹⁾
2018	AL	David Price⁽¹⁾	SP	Boston Red Sox⁽²⁾
2018	NL	Jonny Venters⁽¹⁾	RP	Atlanta Braves⁽¹⁾
2019	AL	Carlos Carrasco⁽¹⁾	SP / RP	Boston Red Sox⁽³⁾
2019	NL	Josh Donaldson⁽¹⁾	3B	Atlanta Braves⁽²⁾
2020	AL	Salvador Perez⁽¹⁾	C	Kansas City Royals⁽²⁾
2020	NL	Daniel Bard⁽¹⁾	RP	Colorado Rockies⁽²⁾
2021	AL	Trey Mancini⁽¹⁾	1B / DH	Baltimore Orioles⁽²⁾
2021	NL	Buster Posey⁽²⁾	CA	San Francisco Giants⁽²⁾
2022	AL	Justin Verlander⁽¹⁾	RHP	Houston Astros⁽¹⁾
2022	NL	Albert Pujols⁽²⁾	DH / 1B	St. Louis Cardinals⁽³⁾
2023	AL	Not Yet Announced^(x)	--	--
2023	NL	Not Yet Announced^(x)	--	--
Year	LG	Comeback Player^(Qty)	POS	Team ^{(Franchise Quantity)}
Comeback Player of the Year Award \| Baseball Awards

The American League winner of the 2005 Comeback Player of the Year Award, Jason Giambi, said during a phone interview, "I'm speechless. I'm definitely honored. It's been a lot of hard work and a long road. It's definitely been the most challenging season, no doubt about it. Even more than being a rookie, when you don't know what to expect. I didn't know what to expect this year after being sick and everything, because New York is a tough town to come back in. To do this in New York makes it even more special."

Did you know that Francisco Liriano was the first player to ever to win the Comeback Player of the Year Award twice during his Major League career? He is also the first player to ever win it once from each league as he earned it first in 2010, in the National League, then in 2013, in the American League!

This is the first comeback player of the year award officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball and during it's debut season (2005), more than 400,000+ people took part in the voting process. Pfizer, maker of Viagra ® and the official sponsor from 2005 through 2009, gave one lucky sweepstakes winner the opportunity to throw out a ceremonial first pitch prior to a 2005 World Series game.