Professional baseball player Jorge Soler, Atlanta Braves outfielder, has been named the Hickok Belt® Award winner for November 2021. Voting was conducted by a select panel of members of the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). The voters selected the 29-year-old, nicknamed “Soler Power,” based on his performance that contributed to the Atlanta Braves winning the 2021 World Series against the Houston Astros. Soler was the first player to hit a home run the first time at bat in a World Series. In the seventh inning of Game 3, he hit a pinch-hit home run to give the Braves a 3-2 advantage which led to the Braves win. He hit a 446-foot home run to give the Braves a 3-0 lead and an eventual win in Game 6, and a 4-2 game win of the World Series. He was only the third designated hitter to win the World Series MVP in professional Major League baseball history. Soler is known for a home run average of 423 feet, the longest home run average in all of the Major League.
Other finalists for the month of November in order of how the NSMA ranked them included: Jonathan Taylor (football), Max Fried (baseball), Kevin Durant (basketball), Kyle Larson (auto racing), Alex Ovechkin (hockey), Kirk Cousins (football), Leon Draisaitl (hockey), Cooper Kupp (football), and Jack Campbell (hockey).
His selection as the Hickok Belt® Award winner for the month of November 2021 recognizes Jorge Soler as the “best of the best” in professional sports for the month and makes him the eleventh candidate eligible to receive the overall Hickok Belt® Award for 2021, joining Eddie Rosario, Emma Raducanu, Athing Mu, Caleb Dressel, Shohei Ohtani, Phil Mickelson, Hideki Matsuyama, Luke Doncic, Naomi Osaka and Patrick Mahomes.
The Hickok Belt® Award was originally presented annually from 1950 to 1976. Past recipients include a list of the 20th century’s elite athletes including the likes of Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Jim Brown, and others who defined their sports. To learn more about the history of the Hickok Belt® Award and keep up with all the news surrounding the award in 2021, visit hickokbelt.com.
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