Results tagged ‘ Silver Slugger ’
Tex, Lowe elected to Arizona Fall League Hall
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and new pitcher Derek Lowe were named to the Arizona Fall league Hall of Fame Tuesday, along with Rangers manager Ron Washington. All three men were at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night for the second portion of the four-game series between the clubs with the top two records in the American League.
Arizona Fall League director Steve Cobb said of the election, “Mark and Derek have been remarkably consistent professionals throughout their standout careers, and Ron has become one of the most respected managers in baseball.”
The Arizona Fall League, which was founded in 1992, formed its Hall of Fame in 2001 to honor the top major-league players and managers who honed their skills in the AFL. The selection committee, chaired by lone-time baseball executive Roland Hemond, based its appointments on individual achievement at the major-league level since participating in the Arizona Fall League.
Teixeira, who played for the Peoria Javelinas in 2002, is the fastest switch hitter to 300 career home runs and is also the first switch hitter to reach 30 home runs and 100 RBI in each of the past eight seasons (2004-11). Teixeira holds the major-league record of homering from each side of the plate in a game 13 times. Defensively, Tex is the AL career fielding percentage leader among first basemen with a minimum of 1,000 games. He is a two-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and three-time Silver Slugger recipient.
Lowe, who pitched for the Sun Cities Solar Sox in 1993 and Peoria Javelinas in 1995, is one of three pitchers with more than 160 victories and 80 saves, along with Dennis Eckersley and John Smoltz. Lowe is one of five Arizona Fall League pitchers to hurl a no-hitter, along with Jered Weaver, Clay Buchholz, Roy Halladay and Phil Humber. Lowe’s no-hitter in 2002 was the first at Fenway Park since 1965. He was the winning pitcher in all three clinching postseason games in 2004 when Boston went on to its first World Series championship since 1918.
Washington, who was a hitting coach for the Sun Cities Solar Sox in 1992 and the Tucson Javelinas in 1993, is the first manager in Rangers history to increase the team’s victory total in four consecutive seasons. He guided Texas to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010 and ’11 and is the only manager in the history of the Rangers/Senators franchise (1961-2011) to win a postseason series.
The Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame increased its membership to 31 with the elections of Teixeira, Lowe and Washington. Other AFL Hall of Famers connected now or formerly with the Yankees are Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Alfonso Soriano and bench coach Tony Pena.
Cano the Yankees’ ‘Silver’ lining
Robinson Cano received his 2010 Silver Slugger Award Friday night in pre-game ceremonies. The award goes annually to the top offensive player at his position. The second baseman then went out and showed why he will be a strong candidate to repeat in 2011.
Cano hit two home runs to take over the club lead with eight and keep heat on Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista, who also homered to push his American League leading total to nine. The only time Toronto retired Cano was the last out of the game, a fly ball to center. He also walked twice and scored all of the Yankees’ runs in a 5-3 loss to Toronto.
With the weather heating up, expect Cano to do the same, particularly at Yankee Stadium. Cano has homered in five of the past six games at the Stadium and had knocked in runs in eight of the past 10 games overall. His consistency has been remarkable. Cano has hit in 20 of the Yankees’ 23 games and 17 of the past 18.
Cano seemed to have to do everything for the Yankees last night because the rest of the offense failed repeatedly in the clutch. They had excellent chances to break the game open with bases-loaded situations in the fifth and eighth innings and came away empty each time. The Blue Jays almost seemed to be giving the game away with shoddy fielding and seven walks. The Yankees were hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Toronto also stranded 11 base runners and was only 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Part of the problem was that Cano never came up with anybody on base. He led off four innings and batted with two outs and the bases empty in the ninth. That is the best way for an opponent to keep Cano from doing major damage.
Jack O'Connell
Recent Comments