[dinosauryoshi]

Before we review the Mountain Hares' season and dish out some team awards, let's look at the WBL's major award winners.

Reliever of the year

EAA

Ta-kai Cheng. The Ulaanbaatar Cavalry rising star has won the Europe, Africa & Asia Reliever of the Year Award for 2058. The Singaporean captured the award on the strength of his 3.12 ERA over 95.1 innings. He also had 26 saves in 41 relief appearances, 83 strikeouts and only 48 walks. He received 82 first place votes out of a possible 144. At only 25 years old, he’ll be hoping to contiue hos dominance for years to come. Christian Ceballos of the Moscow Blizzard finished second in voting with 42 first place votes, while Erhan Kurtbek of the Kuala Lumpur Tigers finished third with 20 first place votes.

TAO

Gazment Idrizi of the San Diego Stingrays wins the award for the second time in his career, to add to his 3 all-star appearances. Undoubtedly one of the league’s very best relivers the Kosovar won the award with 38 saves in 62 relief appearances, 70 strikeouts in 66.1 innings and 19 walks. He had an ERA of 2.17, even more impressive in a year where ERAs where historically high. He received 89 first place votes out of a possible 144. Greg Cummings of the San Diego Stingrays finished second in voting with 38 first place votes, while Tommy Thompson of the Salt Lake City Skiers finished third with 4 first place votes.

Rookie of the year

EAA

Singaporean Fu-quan Gambhir of the Yangon Peacocks won this year’s award batting .305 with a .413 OBP. In 156 games this year, the first baseman laced 175 hits in 574 at-bats, hit 49 home runs, drove in 152 runs and scored 122 times. He’s been touted as one of the future superstars of the league for many years now, and this season he lived up to his billing. He received 144 first place votes, as a unanimous winner. Kikpurui Chikumbu of the Dar es Salaam Giraffes finished second in voting, while Xiang-ling Ya of the Guangzhou Rams finished third.

TAO

Peruvian Ruben Martinez won the TAO rookie of the year award in slightly less spectacular, but still impressive fashion. He had 128 games played, a .286 average, 132 hits, 40 home runs, 47 walks and a .353 on-base percentage. The 25 year old Santiago Flamingo second-baseman also drove in 96 runs and scored 83 times. He received 101 first place votes out of a possible 144. Nafi Fakihi of the Porto Alegre Winemakers finished second in voting with 34 first place votes, while Liamine Cherono of the Melbourne Whales finished third.

We'll cover the Pitcher of the Year and MVP winners next.