Padres 2010 Awards
Every year I give out virtual awards to my boys for different catergories. Since there’s so much to commemorate, this one is going to be interesting.
MVP: Adrian Gonzalez. He hit .298 with 31 homers and 101 RBIs. ‘Nuff said.
Honorable mention: Mat Latos, Miguel Tejada
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Aaron Cunningham. I was extremely impressed with this guy. He did very well offensively, but his defense was outstanding. I can’t wait to watch this guy play every day.
STARTER OF THE YEAR: Hands down, Mat Latos. The dude was incredible for us this year (except at the end of course, but we won’t go there). His total record was 14-10 with a 2.92 ERA.
RELIEVER OF THE YEAR: Luke Gregerson. He threw 78.1 innings and only allowed 30 runs, plus he got two saves this year (out of seven opportunities). He had 40 holds, which set the all-time MLB record for a single season.
Honorable mention: Heath Bell
VETERAN OF THE YEAR: Miguel Tejada. I am sooo glad that we got this guy or we wouldn’t even have been close to the playoffs. He added so much to the team, and I really hope the Padres bring him back next year.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Will Venable – the guy made some seriously beast catches this season.
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tim Stauffer. He’s been really on and off for the past five years, usually the kind of guy that we only used if we had to, and even then, we knew he wouldn’t really give us much. This year, something was different. This year, he became one of the most dominant pitchers on our staff. He was 6-5 with a 1.85.
DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE YEAR: Ryan Ludwick. I really wish he could have pulled it together.
FLOPS OF THE YEAR: Everth Cabrera, Kevin Correia
OVERALL AMAZING PLAYERS WHO DIDN’T GET A SPECIFIC CATERGORY BUT WERE A HUGE INFLUENCE ON THE WAY WE PLAYED THIS YEAR: Mike Adams, Jon Garland, Joe Thatcher, Clayton Richard, Yorvit Torrealba, David Eckstein, Jerry Hairston Jr., Chris Denorfia, Tony Gwynn, Matt Stairs
UP-AND-COMING PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cory Luebke. He only made three starts, and didn’t do exceptionally great, but I see a lot of potential. Hopefully he’ll get a good look in Spring Training, a little more minor league time, and then maybe he can come up later in the 2011 season.
STAR WARS MASCOT OF THE YEAR: Yoda, it is. Thanks so much for accompanying us on our journey through the universe of Major League Baseball. May the Force be with you.
CUTEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Lance Zawadzki. Man he’s adorable.
There are many, many more players and the things that they did that deserve one of my virtual awards, but it would take too long to mention every great thing that my Padres did this year. We just had such a great season!! Thank you so much to all of you guys for such a fun year. I CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR!!! I love you all so much. Go Padres.
Unfinished Business 
Great choices! This year was just absolutely incredible. Yes, Lance Zawadzki is adorable. Too bad he spent most of this year in the minors. Hopefully we’ll see more of him next year in a Padres uniform! May the force be with the Padres 🙂
http://hyunyoung.mlblogs.com
Last year my step-son was able to get a baseball bat from Lance Zawadzki. He was too shy to get his autograph though. During the last game of the season I was able to get Lance to autograph it and talk to him for a few minutes. It’s nice to see these players take the time to interact with the fans. I was kind of surprised to see him at the Double-A level again this season but that comes with being a ball player. I’m glad to see when any player from any of the Texas League teams gets a shot in the bigs.
http://thehooks.mlblogs.com/