St. Louis Cardinals award winners and league leaders completed decade since the League Award was given except in the 1950s. MLB baseball introduced this award in 1999 to recognize the top hitter in each league. The World Series Most Valuable Player has been awarded since 1955. Starting in 1977, MLB created the NLCS Most Valuable Player Award to recognize the top player of that season's NLCS. Introduced in 2011 by Rawlings, the Platinum Glove is fan-voted award conferred annually to single out the top-fielding player from all Gold Glove winners in each league." Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger baseball bats, first awarded the Silver Slugger
Louisville, Kentucky experienced significant residential, tourist and retail growth, including the addition of major sports complexes KFC Yum! Center and Louisville Slugger Field, conversion of waterfront industrial sites into Waterfront Park, openings of varied museums (see Museums, galleries and interpretive centers below), and the refurbishing of the former Galleria into the bustling entertainment complex Fourth Street Live!, which opened in 2004. Louisville and Jefferson County have a combined area of , of which is land and (4.33%) is covered by water. Louisville is southeasterly situated along the border between Kentucky and Indiana, the Ohio River, in north-central Kentucky at the Falls of