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White Sox' José Abreu Named American League MVP

CHICAGO (CBS) -- White Sox first baseman José Abreu was named American League Most Valuable Player on Thursday.

Abreu became the fourth White Sox player to win the MVP, and the first since Frank Thomas back in 1993 and 1994.

The 33-year-old first baseman was overcome with emotion as he gave a nod to his grandma upon finding out he was the winner.

Abreu pretty easily beat out the Cleveland Indians' Jose Ramirez and the New York Yankees' D.J. LeMahieu. Abreu was in the top three on all 30 ballots.

He led the American League in slugging and is the first player to lead the league in RBI in consecutive seasons in 14 years.

The Sox said Abreu this year led the AL in hits, RBI, slugging percentage, total bases (148), and extra-base hits (34), tied for the lead in multihit efforts (21), and Wins Above Replacement (2.9).

"First and foremost, I want to thank God for this blessing. It is very special to win this award and even more doing it this year with all the adversities and challenges we faced," Abreu said in a White Sox news release. "I feel extremely honored and humbled. I've worked hard for this, and even though I don't focus on winning awards, getting this one just feels like a recognition to all the work, all the effort I've been doing during my whole career to get to this point. Now, my mom can really say that she has an MVP as a son, and she can keep saying that I am her MVP."

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson finished seventh for MVP.

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