David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox has won The Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award for the third consecutive season.
Ortiz appeared in 150 games as a designated hitter, batting .297 while leading all qualifiers with 43 home runs and 141 runs batted in. Ortiz also posted a .602 slugging percentage with 336 total bases and 39 doubles as a designated hitter. In his second career All-Star season, Ortiz led all A.L. hitters with 148 RBI and finished second with 47 home runs. He also led the American League with 88 extra-base hits while collecting a career-high 102 walks. Ortiz took home the 2005 A.L. Hank Aaron Award for offensive excellence and finished second to New York’s Alex Rodriguez in A.L. M.V.P. voting by the B.B.W.A.A.

The win by Ortiz marks the first time that a player has won in three consecutive seasons since the award’s inception in 1973. Ortiz joins Kansas City’s Hal McRae and Seattle’s Edgar Martinez, the five-time winner for whom the award is named, as the only three-time Outstanding DH Award winners. Previous Red Sox winners include Don Baylor, who won the award in 1986, and Jim Rice, the 1977 recipient.

Ortiz secured 75 of the 78 first-place votes cast by club beat writers, broadcasters, and American League public relations departments. Nominees included all players with a minimum of 100 at-bats as a designated hitter. Travis Hafner of the Cleveland Indians finished second with a .305 batting average, 32 home runs and 106 runs batted in as a designated hitter. Hafner was the only other player besides Ortiz to receive either a first-place or second-place vote.

The Outstanding Designated Hitter Award has been presented annually since 1973. In 2004 the award was renamed in honor of the retiring Martinez, the winner of the ODH honors in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001. In an 18-year career with the Seattle Mariners, primarily as a designated hitter, Martinez batted .312 with 309 career home runs and 1,261 runs batted in.

Previous Winners

2005 - David Ortiz, Boston
2004 - David Ortiz, Boston
2003 - David Ortiz, Boston
2002 - Ellis Burks, Cleveland
2001 - Edgar Martinez, Seattle
2000 - Edgar Martinez, Seattle
1999 - Rafael Palmeiro, Texas
1998 - Edgar Martinez, Seattle
1997 - Edgar Martinez, Seattle
1996 - Paul Molitor, Minnesota
1995 - Edgar Martinez, Seattle
1994 - (Not awarded)
1993 - Paul Molitor, Toronto
1992 - Dave Winfield, Toronto
1991 - Chili Davis, Minnesota
1990 - Dave Parker, Milwaukee
1989 - Dave Parker, Oakland
1988 - Harold Baines, Chicago
1987 - Harold Baines, Chicago
1986 - Don Baylor, Boston
1985 - Don Baylor, New York
1984 - Dave Kingman, Oakland
1983 - Greg Luzinski, Chicago
1982 - Hal McRae, Kansas City
1981 - Greg Luzinski, Chicago
1980 - Hal McRae, Kansas City
1979 - Willie Horton, Seattle
1978 - Rusty Staub, Detroit
1977 - Jim Rice, Boston
1976 - Hal McRae, Kansas City
1975 - Willie Horton, Seattle
1974 - Tommy Davis, Baltimore
1973 - Orlando Cepeda, Boston