BBWAA awards handed out in New York City

There were plenty of laughs and some heartfelt tributes at the 97th annual New York Baseball Writers’ Dinner hosted by the New York City chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Saturday. Here were the highlights:

Trout pays respects to Skaggs

Mike Trout mentioned Tyler Skaggs to end his acceptance speech for the AL MVP Award on an emotional note. His close friend and Angels teammate passed away on July 1 last year.

“These last couple years have been very tough emotionally, as tough as I’ve ever faced," Trout said. "It’s hard times like these that you want to slow down and remind yourself of the greatest blessing in life: your family and friends. These last few years have shown just how much a baseball community is like a family."

Alonso wins THREE awards

In addition to receiving the NL Rookie of the Year Award after clubbing a rookie record 53 homers, Pete Alonso also was recognized with the Ben Epstein/Dan Castellano “Good Guy” Award for his accessibility and courtesy to the media, and the Joe DiMaggio “Toast of the Town” Award, the latter of which was presented by iconic comedian and well-known Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld.

“He’s a joy to watch,” Seinfeld said. “He’s someone you can kind of feel the person that he is just as he walks to the plate. He’s just a special person. As a Mets fan, I am just excited to have him on the team.”

Shildt receives … Cy?

By accident, Cardinals skipper Mike Shildt was handed the AL Cy Young Award by presenter and MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal, who mistakenly thought it was Shildt’s NL Manager of the Year Award. Shildt became the first winner of the award to not have played an inning of professional baseball.

“Thank you, Justin,” Shildt quipped in recognition of AL Cy winner Justin Verlander.

• Verlander accepts second Cy Young Award

Pedro presents Cy to deGrom

Back-to-back NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom received his 2019 award from a fellow back-to-back winner in a moment deGrom called “surreal.” Pedro Martinez spent four years with the Mets and won three Cy Young Awards over his 18-year career.

“I don’t think I ever would’ve dreamt that,” deGrom said.

Sterling tips cap to Jeter

Upon accepting the Casey Stengel “You Could Look it Up” Award, John Sterling -- the voice of the Yankees, who called each of Derek Jeter’s 2,747 career games over 20 seasons -- paid tribute to the newly elected Hall of Famer. Jeter received 396 of the 397 votes, one tally shy of joining longtime teammate Mariano Rivera as the only unanimous selections to Cooperstown.

Sterling then said, “99.7, to me, is 100 percent,” while acknowledging Jeter.

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Here’s a full list of the awards and winners from Saturday:

• Sid Mercer/Dick Young “New York Player of the Year” Award: DJ LeMahieu, Yankees

• Babe Ruth Postseason MVP: Juan Soto & Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

• Joe DiMaggio “Toast of the Town” Award: Pete Alonso, Mets

• Willie, Mickey & the Duke: Luis Sojo, Yankees & Al Leiter, Mets & Yankees

• Casey Stengel “You Could Look it Up” Award: John Sterling, Yankees Broadcaster

• William J. Slocum/Jack Lang Award for “Long & Meritorious Service”: CC Sabathia, Yankees

• Arthur & Milton Richman “You Gotta Have Heart” Award: Ron Darling, Mets

• Joan Payson/Shannon Forde “Community Service” Award: Steven Matz

• Ben Epstein/Dan Castellano “Good Guy” Award: Pete Alonso, Mets