George Bell Marquee

In 1987 he hit 47 home runs, drove in 134 to lead the league and had 188 hits, and won the Most Valuable Player award with 16 first-place votes. Toronto won 96 games, lost its last seven, and finished second by two. He is the first Dominican player to win the award.

Twelve seasons gave him 1,702 hits, 265 home runs, 1,002 runs batted in and a .278 average, with three Silver Sluggers and three All-Star selections. Nine of the seasons were in Toronto, where he was taken from Philadelphia in the 1980 Rule 5 draft, which is among the best pieces of business that club has done.

He refused to be made a designated hitter in 1988 and said so publicly through spring training, which is the other thing his name brings up. He signed with the Cubs as a free agent after 1990 and was traded across the city a year later, to the White Sox, for Sammy Sosa. The 1999 ballot gave him six votes of 497.