2054 Awards
Gold Gloves
Pitcher: Lai-hsiang Song (Brisbane Bandits)
Catcher: Roland Thrippleton (Christchurch Cowboys)
First Baseman: Edwin Hayes (Kununurra Pioneers)
Second Baseman: Vince Hudswell (Brisbane Bandits)
Third Baseman: Joshua Moore (Newcastle Roos)
Shortstop: Angelo Rankin (Darwin Diggers)
Left Fielder: Norman Ladds (Brisbane Bandits)
Center Fielder: Trent Burton (Auckland Metros)
Right Fielder: Martin Boston (Canberra Cavalry)
Rookie of the Year
25 y/o Brisbane corner OF John Foreman won this in a landslide. Anchoring the lineup, the youngster hit .296/.362/.561, 175-592, with 101 runs, 14 doubles, 7 triples, 43HR, 104RBI, 53BB, and 2SB. His WAR was 4.5, his VORP 54.1, and his OPS+ 142.
22 y/o Diggers’ RF Arturo Medina (.267/.318/.498, 27HR, 2.4 WAR, 23.6 VORP, 114 OPS+) came runner-up, with 22 y/o Blue Sox SS Dean Brewster (.310/.377/.381, 3HR, 3.0 WAR, 28.5 VORP, 103 OPS+) 3rd.
Skipper of the Year
Cavalry skipper Vic Hutchinson missed out on this award last year, due to Brisbane’s phenomenal regular season effort, but this season he’d skippered the team to a 101 win season and the Championship, so surely he had to be a shoe-in, right?
Wrong. First-year skipper Timothy Donaldson, who’d led Adelaide to a division title and Preliminary Finals appearance, netted Skipper of the Year. The Venom had made a name for themselves in 2054 as real scrappers who finished the season a staggering 11 games ahead of their expected record. Donaldson, who wore the moustache of a brawler, was certain of one thing: Adelaide would be even better next season.
Hurler of the Year
Would Rayner’s exceptional first half and Championship ring net him HotY? Or would Edwin Kerr’s 20-win season, plus great peripheral stats, be the business this year? Bruno Budd and Paul Colenutt were also in the mix, while some experts said Ralston deserved the award above all others.
The winner was... Edwin Kerr. Adelaide’s newly-acquired southpaw ace went 20-4 from 32 starts, with a 2.67 ERA, 3.47 FIP, and 1.03 WHIP. He fanned 206 in 222.1 innings pitched, and recorded a WAR of 5.7, and an ERA+ of 166.
Eddie Rayner (19-6, 2.93 ERA, 3.96 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 4.3 WAR, 151 ERA+) collected the silver medal, and Lance Ralston (16-6, 2.08 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 1.14 WHIP, 6.4 WAR, 213 ERA+) bronze. This was the 3rd time Ralston had finished 3rd in HotY. He was yet to finish higher.
Slugger of the Year
Surely this couldn’t go to anyone but Ismael Aguirre? Surely? Surely! Aguirre made it 4 SotY awards in 12 seasons in the majors (to go with 2 other podium appearances). This year Aguirre was .344/.396/.616, with 45HR, a 9.1 WAR, an 88.1 VORP, and a 165 OPS+. This was the 5th season Aguirre had finished with an OPS above 1.000.
Perhaps driven by his excellent postseason, Aguirre’s teammate Jacob Blanksby (.335/.416/.574, 30HR, 7.3 WAR, 161 OPS+) came 2nd. Sean Carr (.362/.424/.543, 22HR, 8.0 WAR, 156 OPS+) had had an excellent year, and probably deserved higher than his 3rd-place finish, but he acknowledged after the Awards Dinner, “This award’s always a tough pick, but I think this year it was especially tough.” Carr then darted off. He was headed downtown on his typical club crawl.