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Surely the highlight of Shelley’s career

March
27

shelley.jpgHere is some dope sportswriter from The Journal News giving Shelley Duncan the BBWAA’s Dawson Award for being the best rookie in training camp.

Please note that Shelley is 6-foot-5. He also got pine tar on my shirt. But thankfully he didn’t drop an elbow on my head.

Here’s hoping that Shelley makes it to the Hall of Fame one day. This will be a heck of a souvenir.

Photo courtesy of Nico Pavan / New York Yankees. All rights reserved.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 10:52 pm by Peter Abraham.
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60 Responses to “Surely the highlight of Shelley’s career”

  1. jennifer-Phil Hughes saved!! Mussina is NOT DONE! anti-anti

    Give Shelley your dry cleaning bill.

  2. mel

    Pete,

    Don’t wash that shirt. Seems like a great kid. Congrats to Shelley.

    p.s. Is it one award per team?

  3. gayle

    forget about this small photo look at the big screen behind

  4. mel

    Pete,

    Here’s a scoop for an investigative report. Does Mrs. Matsui really exist?

    Check out this commercial:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=xiL8tafYcxc

    Godzilla’s in there and Matsui’s sketch of his “wife” looks suspiciously similar to the Japanese girl in the commercial.

  5. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Mission 2708

    Great photo.

    We have one with my grandfather and Mickey Mantle, but way way past Mickey’s prime. From the 70s or 80s I think.

  6. YankeesRfirst

    DOPE… Lol love the choice of words. Try to work in FRESH one of these posts lol good stuff

  7. rbizzler

    Cont. w/ Brandon et al.

    Brandon,

    I agree that they should target LHP, but not at the expense of the overall system.

    That being said, I am in agreement with you that this is the year to target lefty’s. Last year they splurged on catchers (Romine and Weems) and Angelini (SS), now it might be time to ante up for some LHP’s.

    Once again, good work by Ca$h, Oppenheimer and co.

  8. rbizzler

    BTW, great photo Pete. Hopefully Shelley “Baduka Dunk” makes some sort of a Hall of Fame, even if it is the Duncan family HOF.

  9. Brandon (supporting the new movement "Alex being Alex")

    I think we have all aspects covered rbizzler but filling the system w/ LHP is a must. This may be the year to finally focus on it.

  10. Mike Parch

    Best part about you Pete is no matter how much you’re surrounded by superstars (or future superstars) deep down you’re just a sports fan like the rest of us.

    Looking forward to a great season!

  11. rbizzler

    Brandon,
    Agreed.

    This is where the Hawkins-Viz pseudo-trade could come into play as Viz netted us a sandwich pick.

    Ca$h at his best, I love it.

  12. Clay Bellinger

    “They tend to forget that he charges high prices for tickets and concessions and that next season only the wealthy will sit anywhere close to the field”

    You have to be kidding me. The best team in baseball has the highest demand, it is a business.

  13. catjya

    AAAH a true home grown Yankee sweeeeeet!

  14. Brandon (supporting the new movement "Alex being Alex")

    rbizzler I know it really doesn’t mean much but I finally found J.B. Cox and Action Jackson’s draft video :D

    but yeh this is where ther Viz pick nets us a sandwhich pick

  15. Jeff NJ

    Pete, I would just like to say, you are quickly growing into the grizzled veteran sportswriter. Congratulations to Shelley, but Pete, did you ever imagine you would be presenting an award to a professional athlete on the ballfield? It is quite an accomplishment. For many that would be a career highlight.

  16. rbizzler

    Cox was a stud in college and was a staple in the College World Series, so that is not a surprise that his video is readily available.

    A-Jax on the other hand, I would love to see what he brought to the table in HS. Much like the Reggie Bush HS highlight tape, I am sure that it is the stuff that legends are made of.

  17. Brandon (supporting the new movement "Alex being Alex")

    Action Jackson in HS :D

  18. Brandon (supporting the new movement "Alex being Alex")

    I posted it but it seems Pete’s blog doesn’t allow MLB.com video’s :(

  19. CaptainsCorner

    For the Paul O’Neil fans it looks like Hawkins will be wearing the very precious #21 this year. He better pitch good otherwise people aren’t going to like him for 2 reasons.

    From the nytimes…When Ensberg learned he would make the team last week, he decided he could not continue wearing No. 21, which was last worn by Paul O’Neill. But reliever LaTroy Hawkins grabbed 21, and he said he would wear it to honor Roberto Clemente, who died 10 days after Hawkins was born in 1972.

  20. mel

    Brandon,

    The blog’s been “moderating” some of my posts with links. They show up eventually.

  21. MikeEff ( Shelley: Everyday )

    brandon will you e mail me that link?

    tswechtenberg@gmail.com

    thanks

  22. Brandon (supporting the new movement "Alex being Alex")

    it’s a 5 min 22 second video it looks classic, I never knew Action’s HS number was # 1 :D

  23. rbizzler

    Honoring Roberto is legit, I have no problem with that.

  24. rbizzler

    B,
    where did you find it? Can i just google it?

  25. Brandon (supporting the new movement "Alex being Alex")

    not really, I’m going to send it to MikeEff right now, put your email or email him, so I can send it to you.

  26. Brandon (supporting the new movement "Alex being Alex")

    MikeEff you should have recieved it by now

  27. MikeEff ( Shelley: Everyday )

    Thanks man, good stuff!

  28. Brandon (supporting the new movement "Alex being Alex")

    no problem.

  29. gayle

    Speaking of Clemente I read that PBS American Masters is doing a Clemente docu i believe it is running in the next few weeks. The American Masters series is terrific and I am sure it will be something not be be missed

  30. Countdown (tick, tick, tick)

    Who’s the tiny guy on the left?

    Great diving catch by Shelleystein!

  31. Countdown (tick, tick, tick)

    Hey Look — in btw Shelly and Pete — they’re up on the scoreboard!

  32. KarenJ

    Shouldn’t be too hard for Shelly to make the HOF someday, Pete. It’s just under 4 hours and 200 miles, one way, admission is $16.50.

    Oh, you’re implying he’s going to be INDUCTED someday, right?

    Um, yeah, a 28 year old rookie. That’d be like Jim Morris, the old guy Dennis Quaid played in that movie, being voted in to the HOF. Not EVERY Yankee is a HOF candidate…

  33. saucY

    congrats Pete

  34. J-Dawg--Veintisiete en '08, Chasing Greatness!

    Pete, I imagine that it was pretty cool to be able to present Shelley with that. Just make it a rule that the next time you present an award, wear a shirt that matches the color of pine tar! :)

  35. Doreen

    Pete,

    Is this an award for all rookies, or is there one for each team? And, who won it last year????

    Congrats to Shelley, though. He’s looked very good.

  36. Peter Abraham

    Doreen:

    It’s just a Yankees thing that the writers do for a rookie player. Kind of an old tradition.

  37. bronxbomber77

    Someone should charge KarenJ $16.50 to be able to post here again….

    Great pic Pete…. But I wanted a YouTube of you and The Shell doing a forearm bash on the mound…

  38. Doreen

    Thanks, Pete.

  39. murphydog

    “Honoring Roberto is legit, I have no problem with that.”

    I agree. Clemente led an all too brief but very impressive life.

    While it’s not the same issue, there is a movement to retire Clemente’s number from all of baseball and it raises some interesting issues. For example, Jackie Robinson’s daughter feels that it is a bad idea. I don’t want to distort her argument, but it is something like Robinson changed the game for everyone, not just blacks; Clemente only changed the game for latinos and in that he benefited from Robinson’s legacy. Others suggest that if you honor Clemente by retiring his number, the floodgates will be opened with requests from special (read, less important) interests to retire other numbers. To me such arguments show the folly of retiring Robinson’s number - - as opposed to honoring his significance to the game and the world in some other way.

    Once MLB decided to retire one number, they created a new Hall of Fame and begged this argument. In this country, which baseball has alternately passively reflected and actively changed, surely somebody had to realize that no one person is ever considered the single best anything for long.

    Wouldn’t it have made more sense to allow players to continue to wear number 42, to honor Robinson on the field everyday, getting key hits, stealing key bases and inspiring and reminding us in ways great and small? Maybe Clemente would be more pleased to see his number still being worn than to see it permanently removed from the field of the game he loved and played so well. MLB already honors Clemente in numerous other respectful ways.

    My view is that MLB shouldn’t retire Clemente’s number and repeat the mistake they made with 42. Let Clemente’s legacy being a living one, still alive within the game, instead of a museum piece.

  40. Stan

    Shelley must be on the phone every day ragging on his younger brother Chris of the Cardinals about his (meager) batting average of .167 in spring training.

  41. Bad Scooter

    Karen - If you didn’t understand that Pete was joking when he said that you should go look for your sense of humor.

  42. John in Ohio

    Murphy

    I couldn’t agree more…it was condescending and patronizing. You nailed it.

  43. John in Ohio

    Pete:

    What’s in the box, a watch?

  44. Doreen

    Murphydog -

    You make an eloquent argument for not retiring numbers. I think it does speak louder when a player says, “I want to wear such-and-such a number to honor (my favorite player).” And, unfortunately, once a number is retired, it can’t be un-retired. Could you imagine the fall-out, even if the reasoning were sound?

    And could you imagine the nitpicking, quibbling over whose contribution was larger than whose?

    And for the Yankees, it would make things even more problematic, wouldn’t it????

    Actually, I don’t know why they can’t put the numbers up in Monument Park and still let other players use them. Wearing someone’s number never replaces the player anyway.

  45. jennifer- Hip Hip Jorge

    KarenJ

    Geez lighten up! It was a joke!

  46. sunny615

    Hey Pete - is that a touch of grey I see on your temples? :-)

  47. NYSuperFan

    Nice job Pete and a well deserved award for big Shell

  48. V

    Re: convo on stacking the system with LHPs - much easier said than done. The Yankees’ monetary advantage (being able to draft guys and pay them bonuses above slot) dries up QUICKLY when it comes to top LHP draftees. Heck, if one drops to you, jump on it, but not at the expense of missing a Phil Hughes or some such.

  49. Clay Bucholz stole my laptop (aka Joe)

    For anyone that’s interested, James P. Dawson was a very famous sportswriter from the NY Times. His career spanned from before Babe Ruth became a Yankee until the early 50’s.

  50. Jim C

    That photo BEGS for a ‘caption contest’…

  51. Pablo Zevallos

    Brandon,

    if Eric Hosmer and his signing issues fall to us, then we should take him because he fills the power-hitting need in the system

  52. Drew

    Aw, great pic!

  53. Rockin' Rich

    What a cute couple.

    BTW, I remember when some kid named Mattingly received that award in Ft. Lauderdale… or was I dreaming?

    1983? Jeez.

  54. #9

    Hey - who’s that guy next to Pete?!

  55. trisha

    Pete, you are so cute!!!

    :)

  56. MikeD

    lol shelly is so much taller than you pete

  57. Hideki Balboni

    A sad day for the Yankee farm system when the best rookie in camp is a lumbering, 28-year-old career minor leaguer with a long swing and no defensive skills. Sad, sad day.

  58. Bronxbob

    Can anyone tell me who won the Dawson Award for 1999,2000 and 2001 ?

  59. KarenJ

    To jennifer and Bad Scooter: I knew Pete was joking. Maybe YOU two should recheck your sense of humor funnybone, since neither of you two could tell I was joking, too.

    Somehow Pete can get away without using emoticons, but maybe I should be using them?

  60. FW57Clipper51

    There were no James P. Dawson Winners for the 1999-2000 Yankees spring Training camps, I am still looking for information on the 2001 Award winner.

    Clipper

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Peter AbrahamPeter Abraham is the Yankees beat writer for The Journal News and LoHud.com. E-mail me at pabraham@lohud.com

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