Bryce Harper presented with MVP award (with video)

In November, Bryce Harper became the youngest unanimous Most Valuable Player winner in baseball history, capturing National League honors for his record-breaking season. In a snowy New York City, the Baseball Writers' Association of America formally presented Harper with the hardware at an awards ceremony on Saturday evening.

At 22 years, 335 days old, Harper became the sixth-youngest player in major league history to hit 40 home runs in a season, behind Mel Ott (1929; 20 years, 203 days), Eddie Mathews, (1953; 21 years, 316 days), Johnny Bench (1970; 22 years, 249 days), Joe DiMaggio (1937; 22 years, 285 days) and Juan Gonzalez (1992; 22 years, 331 days).

Harper smashed 42 homers in 2015, tying Colorado's Nolan Arenado for tops in the league. He led the NL in on-base percentage (.460) and slugging percentage (.649), while his .330 batting average was second-best in the league to Miami's Dee Gordon.

During his acceptance speech, Harper reportedly was emotional, praising his family, teammates and Nationals fans.

"I remember many nights as a young boy, sleeping with my bat and dreaming of being a great ballplayer for a long time," Harper said, according to MLB.com. "One of those dreams came true. I play for a great team and great management, with many great fans."

With the Nationals lineup riddled by injuries all season, coupled with Harper's devastating performance at the plate, pitchers chose to avoid the slugger on many nights. Harper showed patience, setting a new franchise record with 124 walks.

But the Nationals weren't able to ride Harper's historic season into the playoffs, falling woefully short of expectations.

"Although this trophy represents the great year that I had, I'm still not satisfied as a player," Harper said, according to MLB.com "The most important thing about individual accolades is how those accolades can help a great team become the best team in baseball. However, this year wasn't our year."

Following the season, Harper indicated he would like to see the Nationals add another left-handed bat and a "huge right-handed bat to hit behind me or in front of me." General manager Mike Rizzo landed Daniel Murphy and Ben Revere - both solid lefty hitters - this winter. But the Nats missed this week on right-handed slugger Yoenis Cespedes for that protection Harper desires.

So after numerous trips to the disabled list last season, the Nationals must hope that Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman stay healthy in 2016. Bounce-back years from that trio along with the additions of Murphy and Revere will set the table nicely for a repeat performance from Harper in a few months.