Tag: awards

Oakland’s Altuve speeds to SL MVP award

Oakland sparkplug Jose Altuve, the PGBL batting champion who came five hits shy of matching the single-season record, outdistanced the field to win the South League MVP award.

Altuve received five of the 11 first-place votes and totaled 121 points after hitting .345 with 235 hits and a PGBL-leading 56 doubles. He led the SL with 112 runs and 77 stolen bases while helping the Athletes top the PGBL with 116 wins.

Jose Bautista, traded from Memphis to Dublin midseason, received two first-place votes and tied Oakland’s Andrew McCutchen and St. Louis’ Lucas Duda for second with 63 points.

McCutchen and Duda joined Guinness catcher Devin Mesoraco, Las Vegas home run and RBI champ CJ Cron and Clydesdales third baseman Adrian Beltre with one first-place vote apiece.

Altuve is the first second baseman to win the MVP award. He became the third winner for the franchise formerly based in Taiwan, following Manny Ramirez, a midseason acquisition from Tijuana in 2007, and Albert Pujols in 2010.

Voting totals (first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Jose Altuve, Oakland (5) …………….121

2. Jose Bautista, Memphis/Dublin (2) …..63

(tie) Andrew McCutchen, Oakland (1) …..63

(tie) Lucas Duda, St. Louis ……………….63

5. Devin Mesoraco, Dublin (5) …………..59

6. CJ Cron, Las Vegas (1) ………………..54

7. Paul Goldschmidt, Oakland ……………42

8. Starling Marte, Twin City ………………34

9. Oswaldo Arcia, Dublin …………………31

10. Adrian Beltre, St. Louis (1) ………….29

11. Danny Santana, Las Vegas ………….11

(tie) AJ Pollock, Oakland …………………11

13. Johnny Cueto, Memphis …………….10

14. Yasiel Puig, St. Louis ………………….8

15. Carl Crawford, St. Louis ……………….8

16. David Peralta, St. Louis ………………..2

17. Matt Holliday, St. Louis ………………..1

South League Most Valuable Players

2002 – Phil Nevin, Memphis

2003 – Manny Ramirez, Tijuana

2004 – Todd Helton, Louisville

2005 – Jim Edmonds, Key West

2006 – Richie Sexson, Las Vegas

2007 – Manny Ramirez, Tijuana/Taiwan

2008 – Alex Rodriguez, Key West

2009 – Ryan Howard, Louisville

2010 – Albert Pujols, Taiwan

2011 – Joey Votto, St. Louis

2012 – Carlos Beltran, Memphis

2013 – Andrew McCutchen, Louisville

2014 – Hanley Ramirez, St. Louis

2015 – Jose Altuve, Oakland

Cleveland’s Rizzo emerges as NL MVP

Cleveland first baseman Anthony Rizzo has won the North League Most Valuable player for a season that saw him hit 43 home runs and lead the PGBL in on-base percentage and OPS.

The 25-year-old Rizzo, in his third full season with the Tribe, hit .292 with a .390 OBP and a .546 slugging percentage. He scored 108 runs to rank third in the NL and drove in 93.

Rizzo had four first-place votes, one more than Calgary’s Edwin Encarnacion, and totaled 92 points. Six different players topped the 11 submitted ballots.

Encarnacion, who led all hitters with 47 homers, and London RBI champ Jose Abreu tied for second with 74 points, two more than 2014 MVP Mike Trout of Chicago.

Abreu, Trout, the Roughnecks’ Victor Martinez and Ottawa’s Michael Brantley, who won the NL batting title, had the other firsts.

Rizzo became the third Cleveland slugger to win the NL MVP, following David Ortiz in 2008 and Lance Berkman in 2012.

Voting totals (first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Anthony Rizzo, Cleveland (4) …… 92

2. Edwin Encarnacion, Calgary (3) ….74

(tie) Jose Abreu, London (1) …………74

4. Mike Trout, Chicago (1) …………..72

5. Troy Tulowitzki, Pittsburgh ………..61

6. Victor Martinez, Calgary (1) ……….55

7. David Ortiz, Chicago ……………….44

8. Michael Brantley, Ottawa (1) ……..39

9. Nelson Cruz, Vancouver ……………27

10. Denard Span, Ottawa …………….12

11. Matt Adams, British Columbia ……..9

12. Matt Kemp, Cleveland ……………..7

13. Justin Turner, Calgary ……………..6

14. Marcel Ozuna, Cleveland …………..4

(tie) Chris Sale, Vancouver …………….4

16. Corey Dickerson, Calgary ………….3

17. Buster Posey, Brooklyn ……………..1

North League Most Valuable Players

2003 – Barry Bonds, Brooklyn

2004 – Barry Bonds, Brooklyn

2005 – Barry Bonds, Brooklyn

2006 – Alex Rodriguez, Vancouver

2007 – Ryan Howard, Boston

2008 – David Ortiz, Cleveland

2009 – Ryan Braun, Pittsburgh

2010 – Joe Mauer, Chicago

2011 – Adrian Gonzalez, Vancouver

2012 – Lance Berkman, Cleveland

2013 – Ryan Braun, Pittsburgh

2014 – Mike Trout, Chicago

2015 – Anthony Rizzo, Cleveland

Wildcats ace Sale wins NL Cy Young convincingly

Vancouver ace lefty Chris Sale ran away with the North League Cy Young Award, receiving 10 of 11 first-place votes in becoming the first Wildcats pitcher to receive the honor.

Sale went 17-5 despite losing a month to injury and getting less than four runs of support on average from a Vancouver team that finished 78-84. He led the NL with a 2.29 ERA and a .190 opponents’ batting average and ranked second in strikeouts with 260 in 220 1/3 innings. He topped the PGBL in limiting hitters to a .276 slugging percentage and a .526 slugging percentage.

Sale, who was left off one ballot, finished with 50 points, 35 ahead of runner-up Clayton Kershaw of Chicago. Ottawa’s David Price was third while Calgary’s Kyle Hendricks, who led the NL with 19 wins, received the other first-place vote and tied the Argonauts’ Collin McHugh for fourth.

Sale became the first lefty to win in the 13-year history of the NL award.

Voting totals (first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Chris Sale, Vancouver (10) ……50

2. Clayton Kershaw, Chicago ……..15

3. David Price, Ottawa ………….12

4. Kyle Hendricks, Calgary (1) ……7

(tie) Collin McHugh, Ottawa ………7

6. Adam Wainwright, Pittsburgh ……6

7. Craig Kimbrel, Pittsburgh ……..1

8. Michael Pineda, Cleveland ……..1

Melee’s Cueto wins second SL Cy Young

Memphis Melee right-hander Johnny Cueto received 10 of 11 first-place votes to win the South League Cy Young Award for the second time in four seasons.

Cueto went 20-7 for the Melee with a PGBL-best 2.10 ERA while leading the SL with 254 strikeouts. He limited opposing hitters to a league-lowest .180 batting average.

He was one of five 20-game winners, all from the South League, despite pitching for a Memphis team that finished with a 75-87 record.

The Melee have won seven Cy Youngs among four pitchers, including three-time winner Roy Halladay. Other Memphis winners were Greg Maddux and Odalis Perez. Cueto joins Halladay and Jered Weaver as the only multiple winners.

Cueto, who also received one second-place vote, totaled 53 points to outdistance Oakland’s Dallas Keuchel, who got the other first-place vote after posting a PGBL-best 22-4 record.

Voting totals (first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Johnny Cueto, Memphis (10) … 53

2. Dallas Keuchel, Oakland (1) ……27

3. Julio Teheran, Dublin ……………15

4. Phil Hughes, Oakland ……………..4