The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) announced Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. as the overall winner of the 2024 Heart and Hustle Award.
The award celebrates active players who demonstrate passion for the game of baseball and best embody the values, spirit and tradition of the game. The award is voted on by former players.
The MLBPAA formed 30 committees comprised of Alumni players with established relationships to each team. Fans and all MLB Alumni voted to select the final winner from 30 team winners. Witt Jr. joins a distinguished list of past winners who have demonstrated unparalleled passion and effort in their careers.
The previous overall winners are David Eckstein (2005), Craig Biggio (2006, 2007), Grady Sizemore (2008), Albert Pujols (2009), Roy Halladay (2010), Torii Hunter (2011), Mike Trout (2012), Dustin Pedroia (2013), Josh Harrison (2014), Anthony Rizzo (2015), Todd Frazier (2016), Brett Gardner (2017), Mookie Betts (2018), Howie Kendrick (2019), Ozzie Albies (2021), Paul Goldschmidt (2022) and Marcus Semien (2023). No award was presented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.