News
Improvement defined by award contention
Ichiro takes home hardware; Felix, Wakamatsu garner merit
By Jim Street / MLB.com
11/18/09 2:20 PM EST
Mariners first-year manager Don Wakamatsu was among the leading vote-getters for American League Manager of the Year on Wednesday after guiding Seattle to an MLB-best 24-game improvement, turning a 101-loss team in 2008 into an 85-win team in '09.Wakamatsu received two first-place votes, but finished behind Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who helped the Angels win the AL West following the tragic passing of pitcher Nick Adenhart.
Right fielder Ichiro Suzuki was the only Mariners player to land more goods for his trophy case, but that doesn't mean that others didn't step under Wakamatsu.
Ace right-hander Felix Hernandez came close to earning top piching honors, finishing second to Royals right-hander Zack Greinke in the AL Cy Young Award race, which was announced on Tuesday.
A panel of 28 voters, consisting of two members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America from each AL city, overwhelmingly selected Greinke. The right-hander received 25 first-place votes and three second-place votes for 134 points.
Hernandez received two first-place votes, 23 second-place votes and one third-place vote for 80 points.
Meanwhile, it was business as usual for Ichiro, the nine-time All-Star who became the first person in MLB history to have nine consecutive 200-hit seasons. As a result, the right fielder was awarded his third Silver Slugger Award -- adding to the ones he landed in 2007 and '01, when he became the first rookie to be named as AL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player since Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn in 1975.
Ichiro tacked on more glitter by being selected for his ninth consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award, putting him one behind Ken Griffey Jr. on the franchise's all-time list.
AL Cy Young Award Voting
| Player | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zack Greinke, KC | 25 | 3 | 134 | |
| Felix Hernandez, SEA | 2 | 23 | 1 | 80 |
| Justin Verlander, DET | 1 | 9 | 14 | |
| CC Sabathia, NYY | 2 | 7 | 13 | |
| Roy Halladay, TOR | 11 | 11 |
Hernandez was trying to join Randy Johnson as the only pitchers in Mariners history to win the coveted Cy Young Award. Johnson was a landside winner in 1995 after posting an 18-2 record and leading Seattle to its first AL West championship.
Mariners pitching coach Rick Adair said he was happy for Greinke and the Royals, who landed their third Cy Young Award winner, but he remained committed to Hernandez.
"His numbers [19-5, 2.49 ERA], especially in the division with the most wins in baseball, tell me he was the best pitcher," Adair said. "I felt that way at the end of the season and I still feel that way."
Hernandez was superb against division foes, going 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA against the AL West champion Angels, 4-1 with a 2.38 ERA against the Rangers and 1-0 with a 4.97 ERA in two starts against the Athletics.
Overall, he compiled a 10-4 record and 2.73 in 20 starts against the top 10 scoring teams in the Major Leagues and was the only pitcher in the big leagues to be selected Pitcher of the Month twice -- in June (3-0, 0.94 ERA) and September (6-0, 1.52).
| National Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | Cy Young | Rookie of the Year | |||
| Ken Griffey Jr. | 1997 | Randy Johnson | 1995 | Alvin Davis | 1984 |
| Ichiro Suzuki | 2001 | Kazuhiro Sasaki | 2000 | ||
| Ichiro Suzuki | 2001 | ||||
| Manager of the Year | Rawlings Gold Glove | Silver Slugger | |||
| Lou Piniella | 1995 | Mark Langston, P | 1987 | Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1991 |
| Lou Piniella | 2001 | Harold Reynolds, 2B | 1998 | Edgar Martinez, DH | 1992 |
| Mark Langston, P | 1988 | Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1993 | ||
| Harold Reynolds, 2B | 1989 | Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1994 | ||
| Harold Reynolds, 2B | 1990 | Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1996 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1990 | Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1997 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1991 | Alex Rodriguez, SS | 1997 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1992 | Edgar Martinez, DH | 1997 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1993 | Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1998 | ||
| Omar Vizquel, SS | 1993 | Alex Rodriguez, SS | 1998 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1994 | Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1999 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1995 | Alex Rodriguez, SS | 1999 | ||
| Jay Buhner, OF | 1996 | Alex Rodriguez, SS | 2000 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1996 | Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2001 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1997 | Edgar Martinez, DH | 2001 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1998 | Bret Boone, 2B | 2001 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., OF | 1999 | Edgar Martinez, DH | 2003 | ||
| John Olerud, 1B | 2000 | Bret Boone, 2B | 2003 | ||
| Bret Boone, 2B | 2001 | Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2007 | ||
| John Olerud, 1B | 2001 | Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2009 | ||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2001 | ||||
| Mike Cameron, OF | 2001 | ||||
| Bret Boone, 2B | 2002 | ||||
| John Olerud, 1B | 2002 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2002 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2003 | ||||
| Bret Boone, 2B | 2003 | ||||
| John Olerud, 1B | 2003 | ||||
| Mike Cameron, OF | 2003 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2004 | ||||
| Bret Boone, 2B | 2004 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2005 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2006 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2007 | ||||
| Adrian Beltre, 3B | 2007 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2008 | ||||
| Adrian Beltre, 3B | 2008 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, OF | 2009 | ||||
| Local Awards | |||||
| Mariner MVP | Unsung Hero | ||||
| Lee Stanton | 1977 | Mike Blowers | 1993 | ||
| Leon Roberts | 1978 | No award | 1994 | ||
| Willie Horton | 1979 | Dan Wilson | 1995 | ||
| Bruce Bochte | 1980 | Rich Amaral | 1996 | ||
| Tom Paciorek | 1981 | Rob Ducey | 1997 | ||
| Bill Caudill | 1982 | Bill Swift | 1998 | ||
| Pat Putnam | 1983 | David Bell | 1999 | ||
| Alvin Davis, Mark Langston | 1984 | Joe Oliver, Jose Paniagua | 2000 | ||
| Phil Bradley, Mike Moore | 1985 | Mark McLemore | 2001 | ||
| Jim Presley, Mark Langston | 1986 | Desi Relaford | 2002 | ||
| Harold Reynolds, Mark Langston | 1987 | Julio Mateo | 2003 | ||
| Alvin Davis, Mark Langston | 1988 | Jolbert Cabrera | 2004 | ||
| Alvin Davis, Scott Bankhead | 1989 | Willie Bloomquist | 2005 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., Erik Hanson | 1990 | Rafael Soriano | 2006 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., Bill Swift | 1991 | Sean Green | 2007 | ||
| Edgar Martinez, Dave Fleming | 1992 | Roy Corcoran | 2008 | ||
| Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson | 1993 | Sean White | 2009 | ||
| No awards | 1994 | ||||
| Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson | 1995 | ||||
| Alex Rodriguez, Bob Wells | 1996 | ||||
| Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson | 1997 | ||||
| Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jamie Moyer | 1998 | ||||
| Ken Griffey Jr., Jamie Moyer | 1999 | ||||
| Alex Rodriguez, Kazuhiro Sasaki | 2000 | ||||
| Bret Boone, Ichiro Suzuki, Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer | 2001 | ||||
| John Olerud, Joel Pineiro | 2002 | ||||
| Bret Boone, Jamie Moyer | 2003 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, Ron Villone | 2004 | ||||
| Richie Sexson, Eddie Guardado | 2005 | ||||
| Raul Ibanez, J.J. Putz | 2006 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, J.J. Putz | 2007 | ||||
| Raul Ibanez, Felix Hernandez | 2008 | ||||
| Ichiro Suzuki, Felix Hernandez | 2009 | ||||
