Aaron Judge Has Glowing Cal Raleigh Message After Tight MVP Race

It's hard to remember a more hotly-debated race for Most Valuable Player, and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh simply got the short end of the stick.

On Thursday night, Raleigh was announced as the second-place finisher behind New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who is now a three-time American League MVP. Judge got 17 of the 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, while Raleigh got the other 13.

It's hard to provide consolation after getting snubbed for MVP honors in the wake of a 60-homer season, something no catcher has done before, and might never do again. But Judge had some immensely kind words for Raleigh later on Thursday night at the All-MLB Awards in Las Vegas.

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Judge speaks on Raleigh's season, describes encounter

Specifically, Judge detailed an interaction he had with Raleigh at this summer's All-Star Game in Atlanta, as a way to show what kind of special player he felt the 28-year-old backstop was.

“We talked for a brief moment, and one of the things said to me is like, 'Hey, at some point over this whole kind of week, I want to connect with you and talk about some leadership stuff -- just how I can be a better leader, to help lead my team.' And for me, that really stood out," Judge said, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. “His main focus wasn't, ‘I made it to an All-Star Game. I'm doing this and that. I won the Home Run Derby. How cool is this?’ He was focused on, 'How can I make my team better? How can I make the guys around me better?’ Like, ‘What tips can you give me?'

“Hearing him say that, and all this craziness that he's going through, man, that really, really stuck out to me, and he really showed me what this guy is all about. He's all about winning and helping his guys. That's the reason why he had the success this year and why he will continue to have success in this league.”

Judge beat out Raleigh in nearly every offensive category but home runs and RBIs, but that won't stop Mariners fans from making an impassioned argument that doing what Raleigh did while catching 121 games was far more impressive.

The reality is that there wasn't going to be a wrong answer in this race, only one of the two players feeling slighted -- and their fan base alongside them.

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