Bumgarner is SI's Sportsman of the Year

MEDIA

Sports Illustrated recently named Madison Bumgarner its Sportsman of the Year for 2014 following the pitcher’s masterful and gritty performances throughout the MLB playoffs and World Series.

Since its beginnings in 1954, SI has awarded the annual honor to 16 Major League ballplayers and one team, the 2004 Red Sox. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and then Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were co-recipients in 1998 and 2001, respectively.

Dale Murphy shared the honor in 1987 with a handful of athletes from other sports. In 1979, Willie Stargell and Terry Bradshaw split the award in a Pittsburgh “We-Are-Family” fashion.

As SI’s Tom Verducci writes in his cover story, Bumgarner, 25, is the third youngest baseball player to be named Sportsman of the Year, behind only Johnny Podres (1955) and Tom Seaver (1969).

Here is the complete list of MLB players to receive SI’s Sportsman of the Year award:

Johnny Podres, 1955; Stan Musial, 1957; Sandy Koufax, 1965; Carl Yastrzemski, 1967; Tom Seaver, 1969; Peter Rose, 1975; Willie Stargell (and Terry Bradshaw), 1979; Dale Murphy (and four athletes from other sports); Orel Hershiser, 1988; Cal Ripken Jr., 1995; Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, 1998; Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, 2001; Boston Red Sox, 2004; Derek Jeter, 2009; and Madison Bumgarner, 2014.

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