Baseball is Venezuela's leading sport.
Image: Estadiochicocarrasquel
Image: Potros en el Stadium (2005 11 19) 001
The Luis Aparicio Award is given annually to a Venezuelan player in Major League Baseball (MLB) who is judged to have recorded the best individual performance in that year. The winner of the award is determined by a vote conducted by Venezuelan sports journalists and Spanish-language media around the world. It is named after former MLB shortstop Luis Aparicio, who is the only player from Venezuela to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The award was first presented in 2004, and was created in order to honour Aparicio's major league career and to commemorate his father, who died thirteen years before his son was elected into the Hall of Fame.
A bronze statue of Luis Aparicio, the namesake of the award
Miguel Cabrera has won the award five times.
José Altuve is the second player with at least four awards.