MLB hands out more awards than one might think. We all know about player of the week, month, and so on. They also award one for the rookie of the month. So I am checking out the Dodger media guide to see how the Dodgers have fared. The Dodgers have had 7 NL Rookies of the Month. Bellinger won the award twice, in May and June of 2017. Seager earned it in June of 2016. Others, Loney, Sept 07, DeWitt, May 08, Gordon, Sept 11, Puig, June 13, and Alex Guererro, April 15.
Of course, they have had 18 actual Rookies of the Year with the first being, Jackie Robinson, in 1947. Those awards were made by the BBWAA. They have had 10 players so honored by the Sporting News. So 8 who won the award given by the league were not deemed the best by the Sporting News.
They have done very well in the pitcher of the month category. Kershaw has won the award 6 times. None since 2016. If memory serves, someone can cross-check this, Scherzer won it once this season, and maybe Buehler too. Not sure, do not have the stats in front of me. Hershiser is second, with 4 awards, then Valenzuela and Sutton, and Hooton had 3 apiece. Nomo is the only other pitcher with multiple awards.
NL player of the month can go to pitchers as well as position players. Dodgers have 33 of them. Piazza has the most with 4. Drysdale has 3. Other Dodgers with two are Baker, Kemp, and Puig. Amazing who is not on this list. Of course, since I have not yet seen the 2022 guide which should have all the updates, there will be adjustments to the list.
Players of the week have done very well. In the early ’70s was when the award first began. Ron Cey was the first winner in May of 73, Willie Crawford was the second in the following week. Piazza won it 9 times and Kershaw has won it 8. Believe it or not, Kemp is next with 6. Valenzuela and Ethier 4, Baker, Garvey, Cey, Guererro, Hershiser, Sheffield, Puig, and Bellinger have all won 3.
They also award a Clutch Player of the Year. One Dodger earned this award, Andre Ethier in 2009. As most Dodger fans know, he was known as Captain Clutch. He had six walk off hits that season, four of which were homers.
There has been one best hitter in the NL award, Matt Kemp in 2011. Officially called the Hank Aaron Award. Eric Gagne is the only Dodger pitcher to garner the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, winning it twice, 2003 and 04. Kenley Jansen has twice been awarded the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award, 2016 and 17.
The following players were NL Rookie All Stars, Cey, Lopes, Sutcliffe, Howe, Valenzuela, Stewart, Sax, Belcher, Karros, R. Martinez, Piazza, Mondesi, Nomo, Hollandsworth and Ishii. Ishii is the only player to earn the Rookie Pitcher of the month award. Adrian Beltre and Matt Kemp are the only two Dodgers to win the Mel Ott Award as HR leaders in the NL in 2004 and 2011 respectively. Well that is the list. Hope you have a great day! GO DODGERS!
The MLBPA is a little upset with the William Morris Agency, WME, and their takeover of several minor league teams. Those teams include the AAA franchises of the Cubs, Yankees, Braves and Cardinals. They have warned some of the agents who represent players to divest themselves from the agency or risk losing their certification as player agents. Talks between the MLBPA and MLB resume today. Lets hope we see progress and not regress.
Good read Bear.
You mentioned that the MLBPA is “a little upset” with the William Morris Agency and their takeover of several minor league teams”. This perked my interest so I did a little research only to find this a much bigger deal than I anticipated. And that leads me to question why does the MLBPA object to WME’s participation and ownership of 9 minor league teams. Especially the warning to some agents to divest themselves as player agents. That is the smallest of potatoes in a huge picture.
Formed in 1898, WME is the longest-running talent agency. In 2009, William Morris Agency (WMA) merged with Endeavor to become WME, one of the leading entertainment and media companies with an unparalleled list of artists and content creators. In 2014, WME acquired IMG, the global leader in sports, events, media and fashion, for 2.2 Billion.
We are all familiar with IMG from it’s roots with Mark McCormick, Arnie, Jack and Gary. It now has a multitude of branches and functions including the IMG Academy. Founded in 1960 with a single deal that would prove the advent of modern-day sports marketing, IMG is now a global leader in sports, events, media and fashion, operating in more than 30 countries. The company represents and manages some of the world’s greatest sports figures and fashion icons; stages hundreds of live events and branded entertainment experiences annually; and is one of the largest independent producers and distributors of sports media. IMG also specializes in sports training; league development; and marketing, media and licensing for brands, sports organizations and collegiate institutions. Oh yeah, and provides agents.
IMG is now a part of Endeavor and Endeavor, which also owns the UFC, Professional Bull Riders, as well as WME and IMG, is buying nine minor league baseball teams. Why it matters: They are good at it. They have the resources unavailable to local owners and communities. Minor League Baseball was forced to cancel the 2020 season because, unlike MLB, it didn’t have media rights to fund games with empty stands. Endeavor, which has experience negotiating large media deals, believes it can change that.
The company has formed Diamond Baseball Holdings, which will oversee ticket sales, sponsorships, naming rights, food and beverage, and media rights for all nine teams.
Diamond Baseball Holdings hopes to negotiate deals with streaming services, It will also book concerts at venues.
So, why would MLBPA be upset with WME’s involvement in minor league team ownership? That makes no sense to me. Why does MLBPA care about who owns the minor league teams? Does MLBPA somehow feel threatened in some way. I could actually see MLB being more threatened. If anybody can explain that, I’m all ears.
More detail than I provided for sure. I think MLB is manned by a bunch of control freaks and they do not want outside people controlling their dynasty. But so far, MLB has done a great job of screwing things up more than helping. MLBPA was not too enthused according to reports about the base proposal’s made today by MLB and Passan thinks the start of Spring Training on time is in serious jeopardy. I think the MLBPA’s worry is conflict of interest with some of the agents. I do not think they mind WME as an entity.
That is a lot more information than I provided for sure. I also am not sure why the players union would be so against WME itself. Maybe they feel the agents might be subject to a conflict of interests with their players. MLB on the other hand is probably a little leery of outsiders dipping in their pool. MLB is also facing a lawsuit from the minor league cities that were phased out. Something like 40 cities lost their franchises when MLB reduced the number of teams a MLB club could field. Not very good news on the negotiating front either. The MLBPA was not too enthused at the proposal laid before them in todays meetings according to Jeff Passan and he feels the start of spring training is in serious jeopardy. Travis Snider and Jon Lester formally announced their retirements.
MLBPA is worried that the minor leaguers might get unionized!
Why would the MLB Players Assn be worried that minor leaguers might get unionized?
I would think that would be more of a worry for the MLB team owners.
Another union would not be conducive to their monopoly.
Still don’t understand your reasoning. The two unions would be dealing with different memberships and different leagues. If anything they would have more negotiating power if working together.
No player could be a member of both unions so no conflict there.
There is an inherent conflict between a company who employs player agents and owns teams at the same time. That’s why there is a problem. The fact that you are talking about different subsidiaries doesn’t matter. It’s hard to advocate for team management and players at the same time.
Agreed!
Jean Ramirez’s death ruled a suicide. Sad news. RIP.