ESPY 2014 Winners: Full Award Results and Most Surprising Outcomes

The ESPYs may not be the most prestigious awards for athletes, but in terms of concentrated star power, no event can match the annual midsummer showcase.  

The collision between sports and entertainment provided plenty of lighthearted laughs, highlighted by Drake's opening monologue, as well as serious and inspiring speeches from Michael Sam and Stuart Scott.

Ultimately, though, the awards ceremony is about recognizing the most important moments from the past 12 months in sports.  Inevitably, there will be players, games and teams that get jilted in any vote where fans effectively stage a popularity contest.

Though losing an ESPY is no grave matter, it still reflects how some worthy winners did not quite reach the full glare of the mainstream spotlight.  Looking back, here are some of the most surprising victors from Wednesday night's proceedings.

Award	Winner	Award	Winner
Male Athlete	Kevin Durant	Jockey	Victor Espinoza
Female Athlete	Ronda Rousey	MLS Player	Tim Cahill
Moment	USMNT vs. Ghana	Male U.S. Olympian	Sage Kotsenburg
Team	Seattle Seahawks	Female U.S. Olympian	Jamie Anderson
Comeback Athlete	Russell Westbrook	International Athlete	Cristiano Ronaldo
Breakthrough Athlete	Richard Sherman	WNBA Player	Maya Moore
Championship Performance	Kawhi Leonard	Male Golfer	Bubba Watson
Game	Auburn vs. Alabama	Female Golfer	Michelle Wie
Upset	Mercer over Duke	Male Tennis Player	Rafael Nadal
NFL Player	Peyton Manning	Female Tennis Player	Maria Sharapova
NBA Player	Kevin Durant	Male College Athlete	Doug McDermott
MLB Player	Miguel Cabrera	Female College Athlete	Breanna Stewart
NHL Player	Sidney Crosby	Male Athlete with a Disability	Declan Farmer
Driver	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Female Athlete with a Disability	Jamie Whitmore
Coach/Manager	Gregg Popovich	Male Action Sports Athlete	Nyjah Huston
Fighter	Floyd Mayweather	Female Action Sports Athlete	Jamie Anderson
Bowler	Pete Weber	Play	Chris Davis in Iron Bowl
Pat Tillman Award	Josh Sweeney	Record-Breaking Performance	Peyton Manning
Arthur Ashe Award	Michael Sam	Jimmy V Award	Stuart Scott

Best Breakthrough Athlete: Richard Sherman

Sherman is not only the most loquacious cornerback in the NFL but also likely the best.  Thus, many were scratching their heads after Sherman won an award that serves as the equivalent to a "Most Improved Player" type of honor:

There's little doubting that Sherman was already a premier defensive star headed into last season.  In 2012, he was Pro Football Focus' second-rated corner based on its widely cited play-by-play grading metrics (subscription required).  He also made his first All-Pro team that year, a feat he repeated this season.

Conversely, Nick Foles went from a backup to the best quarterback in the league by certain advanced metrics (Peyton Manning's record-breaking season notwithstanding).  Damian Lillard made his first All-Star and All-NBA team while hitting the most iconic shot of the season.  Masahiro Tanaka's season took an unfortunate turn with his elbow injury, but he was virtually single-handedly keeping the New York Yankees' playoff hopes afloat.

Sherman is the best player of that bunch, and he already was headed into 2014.  He may have won the award due to his vastly superior visibility among fans, but he really did not fit the criteria for the nomination in the first place.

Best Comeback Athlete: Russell Westbrook

Westbrook was at the center of one of Drake's best jokes of the night:

However, he then took part in one of the ceremony's most puzzling moments when he won the Comeback Athlete award.  In this case, there was a heinous oversight of the inspiring story of New York Rangers forward Dominic Moore.  Predictably, there was social media backlash at the lack of recognition for Moore:

One can't really blame Westbrook except for his wardrobe.  However, we could also evaluate this from a basketball standpoint and see that Westbrook's points, assists, three-point shooting percentage and win shares all decreased from last season, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Westbrook deserves plenty of credit for coming back from multiple knee surgeries to post a season that was still extremely productive.  Nonetheless, this award belonged to Moore, who likely would have received it had he played a sport more visible than hockey.

Best MLB Player: Miguel Cabrera

When Mike Trout won the All-Star Game MVP, some joked that Miguel Cabrera would snatch that away from the Angels outfielder after finishing ahead of him in each of the past two AL MVP races:

While Cabrera versus Trout has been labeled as "Traditionalists versus Statheads," the truth is that Trout is a better player by nearly every stretch.  That includes hitting this season as well; per Fangraphs.com, Trout has delivered a higher slugging percentage, isolated power and overall offensive value.  That says nothing of his superior baserunning or defense, which has him on a historic pace for wins above replacement:

Look, there is no arguing that Cabrera is a future Hall of Famer and one of the best pure hitters in recent history.  His Triple Crown-winning 2012 season will stand out in the history books, and it would have been wrong for Cabrera to emerge from this historic stretch of excellence without a single MVP award.

Nevertheless, Trout has taken the mantle as the face of baseball.  Cabrera may have snatched one more award, but the most important baseball hardware will belong to Trout soon.