One of the best parts about end-of-season awards columns is that they often come up with entertaining ways of handing out their honors.
ESPN's Jeff Passan certainly did just that. He unveiled his list on Tuesday, and it includes the award for Badonkadonk of the Year. He gave it to Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.
Here's how Passan explained the award and its honoree:
"Ball knowers understood who Raleigh was entering the 2025 season: the best catcher in MLB, a switch-hitting, Platinum Glove-winning, home-run-punishing hero with the most appropriate (and inappropriate) nickname in baseball -- the Big Dumper, for his lower half putting the maximus in gluteus.
"This, though? A superstar turn in which the Seattle Mariners' best player passes Hall of Famers such as Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr. in the record books? A season-long run in which he keeps pace with Aaron Judge, the best hitter in the world still at the peak of his powers, in the American League MVP race? A legitimate shot at becoming only the seventh player in MLB history to hit 60 or more home runs in a season."
Raleigh and Judge appear truly neck-and-neck in the MVP race. Betting websites have them with the same odds entering this final week of the regular season.
In Seattle, Raleigh has been the catalyst for a special season.
"The confluence of it all in Raleigh's age-28 season has thrust the Mariners to the precipice of their first AL West title since 2001 and put Raleigh on a pedestal alongside Judge," Passan writes. "Raleigh's case for MVP is strong. He has got the numbers to back up the narrative, which could be very compelling for voters: the game's 2025 home run king, playing its most important position, carries the franchise with whom he signed a long-term extension to the postseason while the star in the Bronx, already a two-time AL MVP winner, doesn't do anything different than he typically does."
Raleigh earned his nickname as he ascended through the minors from former top prospect Jarred Kelenic, who was apparently very amused by the catcher's backside. The Big Dumper has stuck around, while Kelenic never panned out.
And now, Raleigh is at the peak of his powers.
"The case of the best badonkadonk is open and shut," Passan writes. "From the city that gave the world Sir Mix-A-Lot comes version 2.0: bigger, better, dumpier."
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