The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award
SportBaseball
LeagueMinor League Baseball
Awarded forPlayer of the Year
CountryUnited States, Canada, Mexico
Presented byThe Sporting News[a]
History
First award1936
First winnerJohnny Vander Meer
Most winsGene Conley (1951, 1953)
Sandy Alomar Jr. (1988, 1989)
Most recentJay Bruce (2007)

The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award was presented annually by The Sporting News[a] to a player in Minor League Baseball deemed to have had the most outstanding season. It was awarded annually starting in 1936,[1] and was last known to have been awarded in 2007.[2]

Winners

The first winner of the award, Johnny Vander Meer, subsequently pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) and is best known for pitching back-to-back no-hitters in 1938. Several winners of the award are inductees of the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Johnny Bench, Vladimir Guerrero, Derek Jeter, Pedro Martínez, Tim Raines, Jim Rice, and Phil Rizzuto. Two players won the award twice: Gene Conley (1951, 1953) and Sandy Alomar Jr. (1988, 1989). There was one tie, occurring in 1988 when Alomar Jr. shared the honor with Gary Sheffield.[3] Each winner of the award went on to play in MLB, with the exception of Jason Stokes, who won the award in 2002 while in Class A and later reached the Triple-A level.[4]

Source:[5][2]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b In 2002, The Sporting News adjusted their name to Sporting News.

References

  1. ^ Mehl, Ernest (January 21, 1953). "Sporting Comment". The Kansas City Star. p. 28. Retrieved December 17, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "Sporting News honors OF Bruce". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 2, 2007. p. C3. Retrieved December 17, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Locally". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. December 3, 1988. p. 2D. Retrieved December 18, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Jason Stokes Minor, Fall & Independent Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  5. ^ Dutton, Bob (March 3, 2008). "Once a phenom, Royals' Gordon ready to succeed". St. Joseph News-Press. St. Joseph, Missouri. p. D1. Retrieved December 17, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
Categories