Victor Martinez was named the 2014 Tiger of the Year by a vote of the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

The results were announced Tuesday, with Martinez receiving 17 of 21 first-place votes.

Martinez becomes the first designated hitter to win the award, and the first player not named Miguel Cabrera (four times) or Justin Verlander (twice) to win it since Magglio Ordonez did in 2007.

Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, J.D. Martinez and Max Scherzer received one first-place vote each.

The award will be commemorated by a plaque given to Martinez next season.

Later in the day, Martinez was named as one of three finalists for the American League Most Valuable player award, as voted on by the BBWAA national membership. The other two finalists were Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Indians outfielder Michael Brantley. Martinez is the first player to be finish in the top three while primarily playing designated hitter since 'Big Papi' David Ortiz did it in 2006.

There were no other Tigers finalists for the major BBWAA awards — Cy Young, Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year — the winners for which will be announced next week.

Here are the past winners of the Tiger of the Year award:
Previous winners:

1965 – Don Wert
1966 – Al Kaline
1967 – Bill Freehan
1968 – Denny McLain
1969 – Denny McLain
1970 – Tom Timmerman 
1971 – Mickey Lolich
1972 – Ed Brinkman 
1973 – John Hiller
1974 – Al Kaline
1975 – Willie Horton
1976 – Mark Fidrych 
1977 – Ron LeFlore 
1978 – Ron LeFlore
1979 – Steve Kemp
1980 – Alan Trammell
1981 – Kirk Gibson 
1982 – Lance Parrish
1983 – Lou Whitaker
1984 – Willie Hernandez 
1985 – Darrell Evans
1986 – Jack Morris 
1987 – Alan Trammell 
1988 – Alan Trammell
1989 – Lou Whitaker

1990 – Cecil Fielder 

1991 – Cecil Fielder 

1992 – Cecil Fielder 

1993 – Tony Phillips 

1994 – Kirk Gibson 

1995 – Travis Fryman

1996 – Travis Fryman 

1997 – Tony Clark and Bobby Higginson (tie) 

1998 – Damion Easley 

1999 – Dean Palmer 

2000 – Bobby Higginson

2001 – Steve Sparks

2002 – Randall Simon 

2003 – Dmitri Young 

2004 – Ivan Rodriguez 

2005 – Placido Polanco

2006 – Carlos Guillen 

2007 – Magglio Ordonez 

2008 – Miguel Cabrera

2009 – Justin Verlander 

2010 – Miguel Cabrera

2011 – Justin Verlander

2012 – Miguel Cabrera 

2013 – Miguel Cabrera