New York Mets starter R.A. Dickey won the NL Cy Young Award. The 38-year-old Dickey became the first pitcher who relied predominantly on a knuckleball to win the Cy Young Award. Dickey is more than a one-year wonder, averaging 205 2/3 innings with a 2.95 ERA over the past three seasons.

Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price won the AL Cy Young Award. Price went 20-5 to tie Jered Weaver for the American League lead in victories and winning percentage. The 27-year-old lefty had the lowest ERA at 2.56 and finished sixth in strikeouts with 205.

Giants catcher Buster Posey (2010 NL Rookie of the Year) was the overwhelming choice for NL MVP, was named the NL's Comeback Player of the Year and received the NL Hank Aaron Award as the league's best offensive player. Posey led the league with a .336 BA and was in the NL's top 10 in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, RBI, multiple-hit games, total bases, hits, doubles, walks and sacrifice flies. Oh yeah, and his team won the World Series title.

Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, who turned 21 on Aug. 7, became the youngest AL Rookie of the Year ever and the eighth unanimous AL pick. Trout, who hit .326 with 30 homers and 83 RBI also won a Silver Slugger award and finished second to Miguel Cabrera in AL MVP voting.

Tigers slugging third baseman Miguel Cabrera won AL MVP Award. He also won the AL Triple Crown, becoming the first player since 1967 to achieve that feat. He led the AL in average/HR/RBI (.330/44/139). The Triple Crown goes to a player who leads the league in batting average, home runs and RBI.

The 28-year-old shocked the NASCAR world with his consistent and stellar string of finishes in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. In his third full season of competition at the elite level, Keselowski not only made the title-determining field, but earned two wins with eight top-10 finishes in the final segment to snare his first Sprint Cup title.

The team owner has a string of titles and trophies to his credit, but the Sprint Cup has eluded him for years. He’s come close to snagging it and had a slate of top drivers in his equipment. But it wasn’t until Brad Keselowski’s stellar run in 2012 that he hoisted his dream trophy by winning the Sprint Cup title.
 

Always a factor when he makes the Chase, Bowyer was a virtual afterthought when the season started. Joining Michael Waltrip Racing this year and partnering with crew chief Brian Pattie, he found the perfect formula for success. Bowyer finished a career-best second in the Cup standings this year.
 

Kahne made his much-anticipated move to Hendrick Motorsports this season – and he did not disappoint. The popular driver earned a pair of wins before making the Chase and climbing to fourth in the final standings.
 

In the heart of the title race until the closing laps of the season, Johnson showed grace and determination as he overcame setbacks and continued to challenge future champion Brad Keselowski into the final moments of the season. Briefly his sixth title seemed within his grasp before fate intervened and left Johnson a still admirable third in the standings.
 

How's this for valuable? LeBron led the Heat in points, assists and rebounds last season and was voted an All-NBA first-team defender. He put Miami on his back in the playoffs, carrying the team past the Knicks, Pacers, Celtics and Thunder en route to the championship, his first since entering the league in 2003. For good measure, he helped Team USA go all the way in London, meaning he finished his year with a third MVP award, first Finals MVP award and second gold medal.

He's only 24 years old, so Durant has the potential to get better before he hits his basketball prime. But how much better can he get? With three scoring titles already under his belt, Oklahoma City's precocious small forward is busy improving the entirety of his game: rebounding, passing and defense. After leading the Thunder to the NBA Finals last season, a championship only seems like a matter of time.

Two summers ago, the Lakers thought they'd traded for Chris Paul before the NBA nixed the deal. Instead, he went to LA's other team and helped execute a stunning turnaround for one of the worst franchises in professional sports. Paul completely changed the culture of the Clippers, led them to the second round of the playoffs and finished third in MVP voting. This season the Clips are again among the league's best teams and are doing far better than the star-studded but dysfunctional Lakers, thanks mainly to the point guard's steady leadership.

Kobe entered the NBA in 1996 and started making buckets. Now in his 17th season, he hasn't stopped. Bryant, 34, is leading the league at 29.3 points per game one season after finishing a close second to Kevin Durant in the scoring race. He recently became the fifth player in NBA history to reach 30,000 points, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.

Tim Duncan's little sidekick for a decade has become San Antonio's main man the past two seasons. And he's handled the responsibilities beautifully while keeping the Spurs among the NBA's elite teams. Parker averaged 18.3 points and 7.7 assists last season and finished fifth in MVP voting. This season he's averaging 19.2 points and 7.2 assists.

Not bad for a freshman. In his one season as a starter at Texas A&M, Johnny Football led the squad to a 10-2 record, and a 6-2 conference mark in the Aggies' first season in the SEC and. Manziel's greatest moments were his epic upset of Alabama, in which he made the Crimson Tide defense look incapable of stopping an eighth-grader, and becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. The future is very bright for this signal caller, and also, for the Aggies.

In what may be remembered as the year that Kansas State and nice-guy Klein got oh so close to the BCS Championship Game, the senior QB put an impressive cap on his fantastic career in Manhattan, Kan. Always dependable, and a serious threat to run or pass, Klein led Kansas State to a 11-1 record, a Big 12 championship and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl vs. Oregon, which may end up as the most exciting bowl game of the year.

Te'o has helped lead the resurgence of Notre Dame in 2012 and is one victory away from a national championship. During the season, Te'o lost both his grandmother and girlfriend to illnesses and has played like a man possessed, recording seven picks after not intercepting one pass in his previous three seasons with the Irish.

In his second year as a starter, Miller led the Buckeyes to an undefeated season, with big wins over Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan. While Ohio State will miss the postseason, the 2013 buzz is already underway in Columbus. If Miller can continue to develop as a passer under Urban Meyer, the QB and Ohio State will have many happy days ahead.

Lee, by far and away the best receiver in college, has a bright NFL future ahead of him in 2014. Despite a tough season for USC after so many high preseason expectations, Lee still set several school records, and gave fits to every defensive coordinator in the Pac-12. It's a shame Lee wasn't named a Heisman finalist in 2012, but with the speedster returning next year for the Trojans, USC can right the ship and get back to winning games.

Baylor's Brittney Griner established herself as the most dominant player in women's college basketball, earning Player of the Year and Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors while leading Baylor to a perfect season.
 

Davis (left) was surrounded by top talent on the 2011-12 Kentucky Wildcats, but the 6-foot-10 freshman distinguished himself as the most valuable performer as the Wildcats captured the NCAA National Championship trophy. Davis was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, on top of Player of the Year, and selected with the top pick in the NBA Draft.
 

Robinson led Kansas to the 2012 NCAA championship game on the strength of a superb season in which he earned Big 12 Player of the Year honors and was named a First-Team All-American. Robinson was selected fifth overall in the 2012 NBA Draft.

The best player on the nation's best team of the 2012-13 season, Zeller leads the unbeaten Hoosiers in scoring and rebounding while shooting better than 60 percent. In his last game the sophomore center had 19 points and 19 boards in 30 minutes against Central Connecticut State.

No one was more valuable to their team this year — at least for one night — than Grinnell College's Jack Taylor, who shattered the NCAA scoring record with 138 points in a Division III game against Faith Baptist, hoisting a mind-boggling 108 attempts — or one shot every 20 seconds — in eclipsing the previous record by 25 points.

It's been quite a 2012 for Peterson. The Vikings' superstar running back rebounded with flying colors after suffering a seemingly disastrous knee injury at the end of last season. Peterson has not only started every single game for the Vikings this year, but he's leading the league in rushing and is approaching Eric Dickerson's single-season yardage record to boot. He has kept his team in the playoff hunt despite being the Vikings' only consistent performer. Simply amazing.

Smith has frightening athletic ability and is the nightmare of quarterbacks everywhere. In just his second NFL season, Smith is poised to break Michael Strahan's single-season record for sacks and has helped the 49ers' defense become an elite unit. Are we looking at a future Hall of Famer?

Fresh off an MVP season that saw his Packers go 15-1 in 2011, Rodgers has done even more in 2012. He has carried Green Bay's offense despite being handed an injury-riddled receiving corps and a moribund running attack. He will assuredly finish the season with 30-plus touchdown passes again and will have the Packers back in the postseason for another run at a possible Lombardi Trophy.

Brady does what always does: shred opposing defenses and get the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Brady fell short of a fourth ring in his fifth Super Bowl appearance, but his career continues to be nothing short of phenomenal. He's on pace to throw for more than 4,000 yards and 30 touchdown passes yet again. Is Brady the best quarterback of all time?
 

Does he always put up stellar numbers? Ummm, no. But, who cares? Manning secured his second Super Bowl ring in February with a victory over the Patriots and has Big Blue poised for another division crown in 2012. As long as he's under center, the Giants are always a threat to make a run.
 

Who were the best of the best in sports this year? We look at the most valuable competitors of 2012.