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Old 08-22-2023, 02:26 PM   #812
reds1
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Babe Ruth Award

The results of the Babe Ruth Award voting in the East were a bit of a surprise to me. Not that 31-year old CF Raymond Williams (.363/.434/.654, 43-2B, 37 HR, 113 RBI, 68 BB, 13 SB, 189 OPS+, 203 wRC+, 11.3 WAR) won the honors for the third time in his career, but that he received all 16 first-place votes. I felt the results would have been closer, given the sensational year Matthew Floyd had. Floyd finished first in more categories (9) than Williams did (7). Furthermore, Williams and Floyd finished 1-2 in 13 categories. So, it’s a little surprising to me that Floyd did not earn any first-place votes. Perhaps the disappointing season the Wellington Athletics endured played a role in it. Williams had finished second in the voting over the past four seasons. He also finished 3rd in the voting back in 1950-51.

Williams led the Eastern League in AVG (.363), WAR (11.3), Hits (210), Runs (137), Doubles (43), EBH (87) and WPA (6.78). He finished second in another 8 categories and in the Top 5 in 3 others. He led the entire United Leagues in 5 categories (highlighted in bold).

Next in order of vote getting:

2nd: Wellington’s 29-year old LF Matthew Floyd (.346/.440/.672, 33-2B, 49 HR, 115 RBI, 96 BB, 6 SB, 202 OPS+, 208 wRC+, 11.0 WAR). This is Floyd’s second appearance in the Top 3 in voting. He finished 3rd back in 1951-52.

3rd: Brunswick’s 28-year old C Robert Kersey (.300/.385/.520, 25-2B, 27 HR, 104 RBI, 67 BB, 141 OPS+, 154 wRC+, 6.3 WAR). This is Kersey’s first appearance in the Top 3.

Floyd led the circuit in HR (49), On-base% (.440), SLG (.672), OPS, 1.112), TB (379), ISO (.326), OPS+ (202), wOBA (.479) and RC/27 outs (11.85). He finished second in 6 categories and in the Top 5 in 2 others.

Kersey finished in the Top 5 in RBI (104) and WPA (4.90).

Voting Results:



Previous Winners:



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Satchel Paige Award

It all came together this season for Cobourg’s 28-year old LHP Bill Budd (21-8, 2.26 ERA, 286.2 IP, 1.08 WHIP, .258 BABIP, 2.52 FIP, 9.7 WAR, 174 ERA+). In his first appearance in the Top 3, he swept all first-place votes and beat out the previous two winners of the Award.

Budd led the East in ERA (2.26), W (21), IP (286.2), SHO (6-tied), WHIP (1.08), ERA+ (174), rWAR (10.4) and QS (26). He finished second in 4 other categories and in the Top 5 in a further 5. He led the entire United Leagues in 7 categories (highlighted in bold).

Following him were:

2nd: Queensland’s 31-year old RHP Logan Belsey (19-10, 2.77 ERA, 285.2 IP, 1.21 WHIP, .290 BABIP, 2.40 FIP, 10.1 WAR, 139 ERA+). It’s the second time that Belsey has finished second in the voting, in addition to his two wins.

3rd: Stratford’s 28-year old LHP Robin Wadsworth (20-7, 2.48 ERA, 271.2 IP, 1.32 WHIP, .262 BABIP, 3.09 FIP, 6.7 WAR, 157 ERA+)

Belsey led the Eastern League (and the entire ULB for that matter) in WAR (10.1), CG (19 - tied), K (231), K/BB (2.6) and FIP (2.40). He finished second in 3 other categories and in the Top 5 in 5 others.

Wadsworth – last year’s winner, led in SHO (6 - tied) and WIN% (.741 - tied). He finished second in 5 other categories and in the Top 5 in 3 others.

Voting Results:



Previous Winners:



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Rookie of the Year Award

25-year old RF Ewan Komaki (.311/.362/.506, 21-2B, 12-3B, 16 HR, 59 RBI, 39 BB, 5 SB, 137OPS+,143 wRC+, 5.1 WAR) becomes the first player for the Downie Chiefs to win Rookie of the Year honours. The 2nd-round pick from 1953-54 was rated the 100th overall prospect back in October 1954. But he then went on to win the 1954-55 Lou Gehrig Award for Best Hitter in Double-A. This past season in the majors, he won two Rookie of the Month honors in addition to a Player of the Week Award and Batter of the Month Award.

A pair of pitchers followed him in the voting:

2nd: Embro’s 23-year old RHP Jun Kichida (5-7, 3.48 ERA, 155.1 IP, 1.33 WHIP, .245 BABIP, 3.84 FIP, 2.2 WAR, 113 ERA+)

3rd: Wellington’s 26-year old LHP Adam Gibb (7-6, 3.83 ERA, 110.1 IP, 1.43 WHIP, .293 BABIP, 3.18 FIP, 2.5 WAR, 100 ERA+)

For me it was surprising that another Wellington pitcher did not get any votes. 23-year old RHP Baskin Arncaple (7-4, 10 SV, 1.83 ERA, 108.0 IP, 1.24 WHIP, .224 BABIP, 3.74 FIP, 1.2 WAR, 210 ERA+) won three Rookie of the Month honors but for some reason was sent back down to toil in Triple-A (where he pitched a no-hitter) for the rest of the season until the very end. He then suffered an undisclosed injury that put him out of commission for 7 weeks. But overall, he was a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year in my book.

Voting Results:



Previous Winners:



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Babe Ruth Award

Pulberry’s 28-year old LF Aidan Thirkettle (.349/.454/.686, 38-2B, 11-3B, 38 HR, 122 RBI, 99 BB, 10 SB, 209 OPS+, 217 wRC+, 11.0 WAR) made it look easy once again, winning his fourth consecutive WL Babe Ruth Award. In the process, he becomes the first player to win a major Award four times in the ULB. Four position plays (Jim Friend, Raymond Williams, Danny Trowbridge, Carlton Hawking) and three pitchers (Anastasio Rodríquez Brady Murdy, Jesús Chapa) each won their respective top player award three times in their careers, but no one won it four times until Thirkettle. And who’s to say he’s finished?

Thirkettle led the West in 14 categories: AVG (.349), OBP (.454), SLG (.686), OPS (1.140), WAR (11.0), Hits (180), Runs (125), Doubles (38), TB (354), EBH (87), OPS+ (209), WPA (8.14), wOBA (.493) and RC/27 Outs (12.81). He finished second in 3 other categories and in the Top 5 in 1 other (walks). He led the entire United Leagues in 8 categories (highlighted in bold).

This year’s runners-up were:

2nd: Cambria’s 27-year old RF Sam Tite (.310/.423/.658, 28-2B, 49 HR, 130 RBI, 99 BB, 3 SB, 192 OPS+, 202 wRC+, 8.6 WAR). Tite finished third in voting on two previous occasions.

3rd: Pulberry's 30-year old CF Cooper Tyson (.319/.401/.514, 25-2B, 9-3B, 21 HR, 81 RBI, 74 BB, 150 OPS+, 159 wRC+, 9.1 WAR). Tyson has finished second in the voting on two previous occasions.

Tite led the West and the entire United Leagues in HR (49), RBI (130) and ISO (.348). He tied with Wellington’s Matthew Floyd for most home runs in the United Leagues. He finished second in 9 categories and in the Top 5 in 3 others.

Tyson finished second in 2 categories (WAR, SB) and in the Top 5 in 11 others.

Voting Results:



Previous Winners:



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Satchel Paige Award

21-year old LHP Bart Ohara (20-8, 2.40 ERA, 277.0 IP, 1.15 WHIP, .265 BABIP, 160 ERA+, 9.0 WAR) wins his first Satchel Paige Award in just his second full season in the big leagues. And in keeping with the general trend, he did it unanimously. He finished second in the voting last season.

Ohara led the West in ERA (2.40), CG (19-tied), IP (277.0), K (213), K/9 IP (6.9-tied), K/BB (2.3), WHIP (1.15), Opp SLG (.306), Opp OPS (.594), WAR (7.8), FIP (2.55), ERA+ (160), rWAR (9.8) and QS (25). He finished in the Top 5 in 2 other pitching categories. He led the entire United Leagues in 1 category (highlighted in bold).

Finishing behind Ohara in voting this year were:

2nd: Sherburn’s 33-year old RHP Jesús Chapa (22-8, 2.95 ERA, 271.2 IP, 1.16 WHIP, .267 BABIP, 134 ERA+, 8.4 WAR). In addition to winning his third Satchel Paige Award last season, he finished second in the voting once before in 1945-46.

3rd: Pulberry’s 36-year old RHP Robin Medellin (17-7, 3.38 ERA, 258.0 IP, 1.22 WHIP, .259 BABIP, 114 ERA+, 4.4 WAR). He finished second in voting in 1954-55 as well.

Chapa finished first in W (22), CG (19-tied), BB/9 (2.1), WINP (.733) and Opp OBP (.287). He led the entire United Leagues in two categories (highlighted in bold). He finished second in 9 other categories and in the Top 5 in a further 3.

Medellin finished in the Top 5 in 9 categories.

Voting Results:



Previous Winners:



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Rookie of the Year Award

In the only category that did not see a unanimous selection this season, 23-year old CF Dan Hesketh (.262/.337/.386, 29-2B, 6 HR, 61 RBI, 55 BB, 8 SB, 93 OPS+, 3.5 WAR) became the third Kingston Pelicans player to win the Award. He was the first overall pick just last season.

Also getting votes this season were:

2nd: Kingston’s 23-year old 2B Denzel Daintry (.263/.329/.353, 20-2B, 5 HR, 49 RBI, 57 BB, 10 SB, 83 OPS+, 2.6 WAR)

3rd: Fort Richmond’s 24-year old 1B Takuji Kanno (.284/.363/.438, 25-2B, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 41 BB, 120 OPS+, 1.2 WAR)

Voting Results:



Previous Winners:



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Manager of the Year Award



In his 11th season at the helm of the Legends, 56-year old Finlay Fay (954-895, .516) guided Brunswick back to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years and their first Eastern League Pennant in 12. Brunswick won 97 games, the most by any team in the United Leagues this season. The Award is the second of Fay’s career, after winning it in 1950-51.

In the West, 51-year old Ryo Ichikawa (1095-911, .546) wins his third consecutive Manager of the Year Award after leading the Trolleys to their fourth consecutive first place finish and second consecutive United Cup Championship. He is the third manager to win the Award three times and the second to do so in consecutive seasons, after Ben Houchens (who leads all managers with five wins overall).

Previous Winners:

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