The league is being all covert about their end-of-season awards, maybe so the recipients won’t know beforehand, but it looks like the awards have been chosen and some have been given out.
According to Russ Charpentier in the Cape Cod Times, these are the winners.
MVP – Conor Gillaspie, Falmouth
Manager of the Year – Scott Pickler, Y-D
Relief Pitcher of the Year – Nick Cassavechia, Y-D
Top New England Prospect – Bill Perry, Bourne
Top Pro Prospect – Aaron Crow, Falmouth
10th Player Award – Nate Freiman, Orleans
Sportsmanship Award – Shea Robin, Hyannis
Still to be given out is the Top Pitcher award.
The Gillaspie for MVP pick is a good one. For a while it seemed Gordon Beckham was a shoo-in for that award, but when his average dipped, Gillaspie’s didn’t. The sophomore from Wichita State just kept hitting, finishing with the batting title. He also was third in home runs, fourth in doubles, second in OBP, first in extra-base hits and first in slugging percentage. I’ve been following the Cape League for awhile, and this is one of the best seasons for a hitter in recent memory, probably even better than Evan Longoria’s ’05 season, which is a measuring stick for me. By the way, does anybody know if Gillaspie’s .673 slugging percentage is a record? That’s not one of the individual records listed in the record book, so I’m not sure, but in looking back through the archives of past seasons online, the best slugging percentages were in the low .500s. I know there were some ridiculous offensive seasons back in the 70s so someone from that era probably will hold on to the record, but I’m guessing Gillaspie’s mark is the best in the last decade.
I found it interesting that Crow was named the top pro prospect. From everything I’ve read, he certainly is, but I thought the league might give it to someone like Ryan Perry and give Crow the top pitcher award. He deserves that one, too. Here’s hoping he gets both.
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