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
Black Betsy his death in 1951. After his wife's death a few years later, it was bequeathed to her cousin and her son, Lester Erwin, who kept the bat on a bookcase for over 40 years. Erwin decided to sell the bat through Ebay in 2001. In a 10-day auction, it gathered two bids. The winner, Rob Mitchell, owner of a marketing company in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, won the bat for $525,100 plus a 10 percent buyer's premium. It was auctioned again at Sotheby's on December 10, 2005. Sporting goods companies Spalding and Hillerich & Bradsby both produced reproductions of the bat for