The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball (MLB). These voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, in addition to "coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". Managers and coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980 and is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger bats. The award is a bat-shaped trophy, 3 feet (91 cm) tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver.
Among third basemen, Wade Boggs has won the most Silver Slugger Awards, winning eight times with the rival Boston Red Sox (six) and New York Yankees (two). In the National League, Mike Schmidt leads with six wins; Schmidt won the first five National League Silver Slugger Awards at third base from 1980, when he led the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series, until 1984 when his streak was broken by Tim Wallach. Nolan Arenado collected four National League Silver Sluggers at third base with the Colorado Rockies from 2015 to 2018, and a fifth with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022. José Ramírez also collected six Silver Sluggers at third baseman, all with the Cleveland Indians/Guardians franchise (2017–2018, 2020, 2022, 2024–2025). Adrián Beltré and Matt Williams each won four Silver Slugger Awards; Beltre won one with the National League's Los Angeles Dodgers (2004) and three with the American League's Boston Red Sox (2010) and Texas Rangers (2011; 2014), and Williams won three National League awards with the San Francisco Giants (1990; 1993–1994) and one American League award with the Cleveland Indians (1997). Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has won three American League Silver Sluggers at the position, and has ten wins in his career as he accumulated seven wins at shortstop with the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. Miguel Cabrera won three Silver Slugger Awards at third base with the National League's Florida Marlins (2006) and American League's Detroit Tigers (2012–2013), to go along with three first base Silver Slugger Awards with the Tigers. In the National League, Vinny Castilla won three awards in four years for the Colorado Rockies (1995, 1997–1998). Manny Machado also won three awards, all with the San Diego Padres (2020, 2024–2025). José Ramírez and Manny Machado are the most recent winners.
George Brett hit .390 for the Kansas City Royals in the award's inaugural season, the highest average by a third baseman in the Silver Slugger era. Cabrera holds the National League batting average record for a third baseman (.339 in 2006). However, overall leader Boggs accumulated five winning seasons with a higher batting average than Cabrera's record. Boggs holds the record for the highest on-base percentage in a third baseman's winning season, with .476 in 1988; Chipper Jones' National League record is .441, achieved in 1999. Brett also holds the record for highest slugging percentage (.664 in 1980), followed by National League record-holder Schmidt (.644 in 1981). Schmidt's 48 home runs are tied with Beltré for most in the National League during an award-winning season. Despite this, Rodriguez holds the Major League record, with 54 home runs in 2007. Rodriguez batted in 156 runs during the 2007 season; the National League record is held by Castilla (144 runs batted in during 1998).
Key Year Links to the corresponding Major League Baseball season AVG Batting average OBP On-base percentage SLG Slugging percentage HR Home runs RBI Runs batted in Ref References * Winner of the most Silver Sluggers in Major League Baseball as a third baseman † Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
American League winners
Year Player Team AVG OBP SLG HR RBI Ref † Kansas City Royals .390 .454 .664 24 118 Boston Red Sox .336 .389 .439 4 52 California Angels .301 .369 .548 30 97 *† Boston Red Sox .361 .444 .486 5 74 Texas Rangers .315 .382 .458 11 83 † (2) Kansas City Royals .335 .436 .585 30 112 *† (2) Boston Red Sox .357 .453 .486 8 71 *† (3) Boston Red Sox .363 .461 .588 24 89 *† (4) Boston Red Sox .366 .476 .490 5 58 *† (5) Boston Red Sox .330 .430 .449 3 54 Toronto Blue Jays .274 .330 .512 31 118 *† (6) Boston Red Sox .332 .421 .460 8 51 † Seattle Mariners .343 .404 .544 18 73 *† (7) New York Yankees .302 .378 .363 2 59 *† (8) New York Yankees .342 .433 .489 11 55 Kansas City Royals .261 .329 .518 35 96 † Cleveland Indians .311 .450 .612 38 116 (4) Cleveland Indians .263 .307 .488 32 105 Kansas City Royals .278 .333 .510 34 119 (2) Detroit Tigers .263 .339 .518 38 100 Anaheim Angels .284 .404 .604 47 102 (2) Anaheim Angels .250 .367 .531 41 108 Oakland Athletics .275 .348 .513 34 109 Boston Red Sox .326 .398 .540 19 85 Baltimore Orioles .340 .419 .562 27 104 New York Yankees .321 .421 .610 48 130 Chicago White Sox .283 .323 .506 30 94 (2) New York Yankees .314 .422 .645 54 156 (3) New York Yankees .302 .392 .573 35 103 Tampa Bay Rays .281 .364 .526 33 113 † (2) Boston Red Sox .321 .365 .553 28 102 † (3) Texas Rangers .296 .331 .561 32 105 (2) Detroit Tigers .330 .393 .606 44 139 (3) Detroit Tigers .348 .442 .636 44 137 † (4) Texas Rangers .324 .388 .492 19 77 Toronto Blue Jays .297 .371 .568 41 123 (2) Toronto Blue Jays .284 .404 .549 37 99 Cleveland Indians .318 .374 .583 29 83 (2) Cleveland Indians .270 .387 .552 39 105 Houston Astros .296 .423 .592 41 112 (3) Cleveland Indians .292 .386 .607 17 46 Boston Red Sox .279 .352 .538 38 113 (4) Cleveland Guardians .280 .355 .514 29 126 (2) Boston Red Sox .271 .351 .500 33 100 (5) Cleveland Guardians .279 .335 .537 39 118 (6) Cleveland Guardians .283 .360 .503 30 85
National League winners
Year Player Team AVG OBP SLG HR RBI Ref † Philadelphia Phillies .286 .380 .624 48 121 † (2) Philadelphia Phillies .316 .435 .644 31 91 † (3) Philadelphia Phillies .280 .403 .547 35 87 † (4) Philadelphia Phillies .255 .399 .524 40 109 † (5) Philadelphia Phillies .277 .383 .536 36 106 Montreal Expos .260 .310 .450 22 81 † (6) Philadelphia Phillies .290 .390 .547 37 119 (2) Montreal Expos .298 .343 .514 26 123 Pittsburgh Pirates .274 .366 .476 24 100 New York Mets .287 .369 .559 36 101 San Francisco Giants .277 .319 .488 33 122 (2) New York Mets .259 .342 .535 38 117 San Diego Padres .330 .385 .580 33 100 (2) San Francisco Giants .294 .325 .561 38 110 (3) San Francisco Giants .267 .319 .607 43 96 Colorado Rockies .309 .347 .564 32 90 San Diego Padres .326 .408 .621 40 130 (2) Colorado Rockies .304 .356 .547 40 113 (3) Colorado Rockies .319 .362 .589 46 144 † Atlanta Braves .319 .441 .633 45 110 † (2) Atlanta Braves .311 .404 .566 36 111 St. Louis Cardinals .329 .403 .610 37 130 † Philadelphia PhilliesSt. Louis Cardinals .266 .357 .503 31 110 Florida Marlins .276 .350 .530 32 105 † Los Angeles Dodgers .334 .388 .629 48 121 Houston Astros .283 .388 .557 36 101 Florida Marlins .339 .430 .568 26 114 New York Mets .325 .416 .546 30 107 (2) New York Mets .302 .390 .534 33 124 Washington Nationals .292 .364 .525 33 106 (2) Washington Nationals .307 .388 .510 25 85 Chicago Cubs .306 .361 .510 26 93 San Diego Padres .286 .376 .498 31 115 Pittsburgh Pirates .233 .296 .473 36 100 Washington Nationals .287 .351 .473 21 83 Colorado Rockies .287 .323 .575 42 130 (2) Colorado Rockies .294 .362 .570 41 133 (3) Colorado Rockies .309 .373 .586 37 130 (4) Colorado Rockies .297 .374 .561 38 110 (2) Washington Nationals .319 .412 .598 34 126 San Diego Padres .304 .370 .580 16 47 Atlanta Braves .303 .367 .531 33 107 (5) St. Louis Cardinals .293 .358 .533 30 103 (2) Atlanta Braves .281 .345 .516 37 97 (2) San Diego Padres .275 .325 .472 29 105 (3) San Diego Padres .275 .335 .460 27 95
References
Inline citations
External links Louisville Slugger - The Silver Slugger Award