Baseball Fans Have Their Say in MLB.com's Third Annual This Year in Baseball Awards

Baseball Fans Have Their Say in MLB.com's Third Annual This Year in Baseball Awards

NEW YORK, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 800,000 votes were cast by baseball fans around the globe in MLB.com's third annual This Year in Baseball Awards.

The results of the online voting, which gave fans the opportunity to select the top players and moments of the 2004 season in ten categories, were announced in a live video webcast on MLB.com's Interactive Baseball Network this afternoon from the company's studios in New York City.

In a close race, fans selected Boston's David Ortiz as the 2004 Hitter of the Year and by an equally close margin, Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins was selected as Pitcher of the Year.

Ortiz, whose monster bat helped lead Boston back to the postseason, batted .301 with 41 homers and 139 RBIs. Ortiz took 21 percent of the votes, and edged out Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki, who both garnered 16 percent of the votes.

In selecting Santana (20-6) as Pitcher of the Year, fans recognized him as baseball's top hurler in 2004. With 25.7 percent of the vote, Santana, who had 265 strikeouts, an AL- leading 2.61 ERA and went 13-0 in his 15 starts after the All-Star break, topped Boston's Curt Schilling who received 24.7 percent of all votes.

Winners in the other eight categories of MLB.com's This Year in Baseball Awards were:

* Play of the Year: New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter's diving catch
into the stands to rob Boston's Trot Nixon in the 12th inning of a huge
midsummer game.
* Individual Performance of the Year: The Arizona Diamondbacks' Randy
Johnson tossed the 17th perfect game in Major League history.
* Blooper of the Year: Philadelphia's Jason Michaels bobbled a Charles
Thomas liner over the wall for a home run.
* Setup Man of the Year: Francisco Rodriquez was lights out all season,
fanning 123 in 84 innings and holding his opponents to a .172 average.
He placed second in the AL with 27 holds.
* Defensive Player of the Year: St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jim Edmonds
11 assists were the most in the Majors among center fielders. He was
charged with only four errors for a .988 fielding percentage.
* Rookie of the Year: Despite having only 263 ABs, Mets third baseman
David Wright batted .293 with 14 home runs and 40 RBIs and had a
slugging average of .525.
* Manager of the Year: Terry Francona of the Boston red Sox for leading
the Red Sox to their most wins in 26 years and their first World Series
crown in 86 years.
* Closer of the Year: Yankees relief ace Mariano Rivera topped the Majors
with 53 saves, setting a Yankee record and tying him for the fourth-
highest mark in history. He posted a 1.94 ERA and allowed three home
runs all season.



MLB.com's This Year in Baseball Awards were created to give fans the opportunity to voice their opinions on baseball's top players and moments. The voting began on November 4 and concluded at midnight on December 9.

"The purpose of our awards is to extend the recognition for deserving players and to give fans a relevant voice in that process," said Dinn Mann, Senior Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at MLB Advanced Media, the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball. "We take the highest-profile year-end accolades that already exist and make them the launching pad for further, logical debates."


Source: MLB Advanced Media L.P.

CONTACT: Jim Gallagher of MLB Advanced Media L.P., +1-212-485-3182,
jim.gallagher@mlb.com

Web site: http://www.mlb.com/


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