www.grand-slam.nl	International Baseball
	Headlines

Compiled and Copyright © 1997-2017 by Marco Stoovelaar

(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Marco Stoovelaar) Baseball Awards handed out in New York and St. Louis Nederlands NEW YORK, New York / ST. LOUIS, Missouri (USA) - On Saturday (January 21), the awards were handed out to the best players and managers of last Major League-season during the 94th annual New York Baseball Writers' Association of America Dinner at the New York Hilton. Besides the official awards of the BBWAA, the New York Chapter of this media-organization handed out its own annual awards. The first New York BBWAA dinner was organized some time after completion of the 1923 World Series. In that Series, the New York Yankees won their first of 27 Championship-titles. In 1923, the 'Bronx Bombers' had moved to their new home, Yankee Stadium. Playing for the team in that year were legendary players as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Waite Hoyt. In the very-first game played in Yankee Stadium, Babe Ruth hit a homerun, which gave the stadium its nickname, 'The House That Ruth Built'. It has become tradition that the awards for the Most Valuable Players, Rookies of the Year, Cy Young Awards and Managers of the Year in both Leagues are handed out during the dinner in New York. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) was founded in 1908 to assist journalists covering Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, but also to create uniformity in official scoring. Since the early days, it were journalists of the home city, who acted as Official Scorers for many years. The purpose of the BBWAA also is to ensure proper working conditions in press boxes and to ensure that its members have access to players and others. ...Kris Bryant slides into second base, playing for Team USA during... ...the 2012 Haarlem Baseball Week in Haarlem (Netherlands)... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) After completion of last years World Series, the winners of the eight major awards were announced after voting by members of the BBWAA. Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) and Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs) were named Most Valuable Player in respectively the American and National League. With that, they won the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award. The Cy Young Award for Best Pitcher in the American League went to Rick Porcello (Boston Red Sox) and in the National League to Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals). The Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Awards were handed out to Michael Fulmer (Detroit Tigers) and Corey Seager (Los Angeles Dodgers) in the AL and NL. The awards for Manager of the Year went to Terry Francona (Cleveland Indians, AL) and Dave Roberts (Los Angeles Dodgers, NL). All winners received their awards on Saturday at the Esurance BBWAA Awards Dinner. Also handed out was the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, which is annually presented by the BBWAA to a sportswriter. Former Dodger-great Steve Garvey handed out the award to Claire Smith, the first woman to win this prestigious award. She has been a pioneer as one of the first women to cover the Major League and has been an influential voice among African-American writers. Claire Smith will be formally presented with the award during the Induction Weekend of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July. The award is named after J.G. Taylor Spink (1888-1962), who was the publisher of The Sporting News from 1914 to 1962. The winners of this award are permanently recognized in an exhibit at the library of the Hall of Fame. ...Jay Horwitz, New York Mets Vice-President... ...Media Relations in the Mets dug-out... ...at old Shea Stadium in 1993... (© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) Amongst the awards handed out by the New York Chapter of the BBWAA also is the Joan Payson Humanitarian Award. The award has been named after businesswoman and philantropist Joan Payson (1903-1975), who was the co-founder and majority owner of the New York Mets. She was the club's President from 1968-1975 and was much-loved by personnel and players. On Saturday, the award was officially renamed Joan Payson-Shannon Forde Award and was handed out to the family of Shannon Forde, who in March of last year passed away at age 44, losing her battle against breast cancer. Shannon Forde was a beloved member of the Media Relations Staff of the New York Mets for more than two decades and had been the Senior Director for its Media Relations Department. The introduction to the award was done by Jay Horwitz, the Vice-President for Media Relations of the New York Mets. Other awards handed out by the New York Chapter of the BBWAA were: - Joe DiMaggio 'Toast of the Town' Award: Bartolo Colon. - Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award: Dellin Betances, Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller. - William J. Slocum/Jack Lang Award for Long and Meritorious Service: David Ortiz, Mark Teixeira. - Babe Ruth Award (Postseason Most Valuable Player): Jon Lester. - Ben Epstein/Dan Castellano Good Guy Award: Chase Headley. - Casey Stengel 'You Could Look It Up' Award: Hector Lopez. - New York Player of the Year: Noah Syndergaard. - Arthur and Milton Richman 'You Gotta Have Heart' Award: Kyle Schwarber.

The St. Louis chapter of the BBWAA handed out its awards on Sunday, January 15 at The Union Station Hotel during its 59th annual Baseball Writers' Dinner. During this year dinner, the 50th anniversary of the St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series in 1967 was commemorated. The highest honor of the St. Louis BBWAA is the Red Schoendienst Medal for Invaluable Service to the Game of Baseball. This award is named after Red Schoendienst, who played 15 seasons as second baseman for the Cardinals (1945-1956; 1961-1963) and was its Manager (1965-1976, 1980, 1990). In his final two seasons (1962-1963), Schoendienst was player-coach. After two years of coaching with the Oakland A's in 1977-1978, Schoendienst returned to the Cardinals as a coach for the 1979 season and remained with the team for many years. He served as interim-Manager in 1980 and 1990. Schoendienst won the World Series five times, including four with the Cardinals (one as player, one as Manager, two as coach). He won his fifth Series while playing for Milwaukee Braves in 1957. The now 93-year old Schoendienst is still a Special Assistant Coach with the Cardinals and completed his 71st consecutive Major League-season last year. This year, the Red Schoendienst Medal was presented to the now 85-year old Whitey Herzog for his long career and invaluable serivce to baseball. Herzog was the Manager of the Cardinals in 1980-1990, winning the World Series in 1982. Duing this year's dinner, an award also was handed to softball-pitcher Hannah Perryman, who received the John E. Wray/Myron Holtzman Award, which is handed annually for achievement in sport other than professional baseball. The lefthander was a senior last year at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. As pitcher of the Tritons, she was a four-time All-American and is the current NCAA Division II career recordholder in strikeouts (1,725). In her four-year career at UMSL (2013-2016), she also set a record by pitching nine Perfect Games and earned several awards. In April last year, she became the first NCAA Division II player to be selected in the National Pro Fastpitch-draft. Hannah Perryman was selected by Akron Racers, where she made her professional debut last year. Amongst the annual awards handed out in St. Louis is the Lou Brock Award, which is an official National League postseason-award presented to the player with the most stolen bases in the National League. This award is handed out annually since 1978 and is named after St. Louis Cardinal-great Lou Brock, who played for the team in 1964-1979, winning the World Series twice. When he retired in 1979, he was the recordholder of the most stolen bases in a single season (118), as well as the career leader (938). Brock still is the all-time leader in stolen bases in the National League. Because of Brock's background and career in St. Louis, the award is exclusively presented at the annual St. Louis Baseball Writers' Dinner. The award went to Jonathan Villar (Milwaukee Brewers), who led the National League (and Major League) last season with 62 stolen bases. ...Yadier Molina playing for... ...Puerto Rico during the... ...2009 World Baseball Classic... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) Lou Brock was one of the presenters during the dinner, as were other baseball-greats Red Schoendienst, Bob Gibson and Orlando Cepeda. Gibson pitched for the Cards in 1959-1975, Cepeda pitched for the team in 1966-1968. Brock (1985), Schoendienst (1989), Gibson (1981) and Cepeda (1999) all have been chosen into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Other awards handed out in St. Louis were: - J.G. Taylor Spink Award (for St. Louis Baseball Man of the Year): Carlos Martinez. - J. Roy Stockton/Bob Broeg Award (for Outstanding Achievement in Baseball): Stephen Piscotty, Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko, Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina. - Dr. Robert F. Hyland/Rick Hummel Award (for Meritorious Service to Sports): Matt Holliday. - Brian P. & Bob Burnes Award (for Nostalgia): Red Schoendienst, Bob Gibson, Orlando Cepeda, Tim McCarver, Mike Shannon, Ted Savage, Dick Hughes, Bobby Tolan, Larry Jaster (members of the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals World Series-winning team). - Jack Herman/Joe Ostermeier Award (for Cardinals Rookie of the Year): Aledmys Diaz, Seung-hwan Oh. - Bob Bauman Physical Comeback Award: No selection. - Harry Mitauer Award (for Good Guy of the Year): Joe Walsh, Busch Stadium Security. - Darryl Kile Award (player chosen by players of St. Louis Cardinals): Jonathan Broxton. - Cathie Burnes Beebe Award (for Excellence in Women's Athletics): Caroline Pozo, Lafayette High School Stae 2A Tennis Champion. (January 22) Related Article: Award for Xander Bogaerts from Boston Media. (January 21)

Thank you for visiting this site. Mail your suggestions and questions to stoov@wxs.nl Copyright © 1997-2017 Marco Stoovelaar / Grand Slam * Stats & News.