"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. Look hard enough and it makes sense. A season like Raleigh's 2025 necessitates playing every day, which, at a position where 120 games is the norm, is almost impossible."
Passan Awards celebrate enjoyable and unconventional honors beyond traditional MVPs, Cy Youngs and Rookies. Cal Raleigh won Badonkadonk of the Year after an age-28 breakout that combined elite catching, switch-hitting power and rare durability. Raleigh matched or surpassed historic sluggers in record books and kept pace with premier hitters in the American League MVP conversation while threatening a 60-home-run season. He missed only three games, refined his weaker right-handed stroke into a potent weapon and helped propel the Seattle Mariners toward their first AL West title since 2001.
Read at ESPN.com
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