1920 North Carolina State League — Player Awards & Leaderboards
Most Outstanding Hitter Award
Outfielder
Bill Robbins at least gave Raleigh Capitals fans one reason to come to the ballpark each night. Robbins, the Capitals' first top hitter winner, had a record-breaking season, which included a .378 average (best in the league), 234 total hits, 47 doubles (wow), 10 triples, one homer and 90 RBIs.
He broke new NCSL single-season marks in average, on-base percentage (.455), slugging percentage (.491), VORP (71.1), doubles (47) and hits (234). Nice. He's a lefty by the way, and only stands 5-foot-8. He's been with Raleigh his entire career (.327 lifetime hitter).
Robbins hit for the cycle on July 21 against Winston-Salem. He was 5-for-6 with five RBIs. He also had a 33-game hitting streak during the season and of course broke a string of four Most Outstanding Hitter awards in a row for Winston's Angel Pellicer.
Past Winners
1913 - Angel Pellicer (Winston-Salem)
1914 - Randy Downs (Greensboro)
1915 - Antonio Arevalo (Durham)
1916 - Angel Pellicer (Winston-Salem)
1917 - Angel Pellicer (Winston-Salem)
1918 - Angel Pellicer (Winston-Salem)
1919 - Angel Pellicer (Winston-Salem)
1920 - Bill Robbins (Raleigh)
Most Outstanding Pitcher Award
Asheville's
Chris Wilson outdueled teammate
Tynan Williams for the league's top pitcher honor. Wilson posted a 25-8 record. In 41 starts he gave up 301 base hits and struck out 125 in 326.1 innings with a 2.45 ERA.
During the season, Wilson posted three shutouts. This was by far his best season since getting drafted by the Tourists in 1915. His previous best showing for wins was a 14-9 campaign in 1917. He took advantage of having a lot more starts this season and held up well under the long season.
Wilson is Asheville's first pitching MVP.
Past Winners
1913 - Kenny Davis (Durham)
1914 - Oliver “Skull” Jenkins (Raleigh)
1915 - Oliver “Skull” Jenkins (Raleigh)
1916 - Rudy Young (Charlotte)
1917 - Gary “Brick“ Lee (Winston-Salem)
1918 - Craig Clark (Charlotte)
1919 - Javier Guerra (Charlotte)
1920 - Chris Wilson (Asheville)
Newcomer Of The Year Award
Howard Miller, the number one pick from the 1917 draft, was enjoying his first season in the big leagues and then -- without warning -- got a trade notice. Greensboro shipped him off to Winston-Salem in May for right fielder Joe Ross.
Miller didn't seem to mind, enjoying being part of a solid franchise for a change. He ended up snatching the top rookie awarding, posting a combined 22-11 pitching record with his two clubs. He was 17-9 while with the Twins. His ERA was 2.54, with 93 strikeouts, in 272.1 innings.
Winston-Salem plugged him in immediately as their No. 1 starter. Twins' fans are looking forward to next year and hopefully contending against for a playoff berth.
(FYI: the last Winston pitcher to earn rookie of the year honors, Jack Fry, missed the back half of the season after tearing his rotator cuff. Fry was 13-4 with a 2.33 ERA at the time. Ouch.)
Past Winners
1913 - Angel Pellicer (Winston-Salem)
1914 - Vincente Nieves (Raleigh)
1915 - Chris Wilson (Asheville)
1916 - Jose Andres (Asheville)
1917 - Jack Fry (Winston-Salem)
1918 - Craig Clark (Charlotte)
1919 - Arturo Martinez (Raleigh)
1920 - Howard Miller (Winston-Salem)
Glove Wizard Awards
SP R. Young of the Charlotte Hornets
C V. Nieves of the Asheville Tourists
1B L. Clark of the Fayetteville Highlanders
2B J. Herrera of the Greensboro Patriots
3B K. Stephens of the Charlotte Hornets
3B D. Tovar of the Fayetteville Highlanders
LF J. Wilson of the Durham Bulls
CF R. Travis of the Winston-Salem Twins
RF G. MacDonald of the Durham Bulls