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Gardner wins Dawson Award

Peter Abraham
March
31

This from the Yankees as well …

The Yankees today announced that outfielder Brett Gardner is the recipient of the 2009 James P. Dawson Award, given annually to the outstanding Yankees rookie in spring training. Gardner will receive the award in a pre-game ceremony on Wednesday, prior to the Yankees’ 1:15 p.m. game vs. the Philadelphia Phillies at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Gardner, 25, is batting .390 (23-for-59) in 24 games this spring, with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs and 7RBI. He is leading the team in hits and stolen bases (5), while tying for the team lead in home runs. A third-round pick by the Yankees in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Gardner hit .228 (29-for-127) with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 16RBI and 13SB in 42 games with the Yankees in 2008 in his Major League debut.

The award was established in honor of James P. Dawson (1896-1953), who began a 45-year career with The New York Times as a copy boy in 1908. Eight years later, he became boxing editor and covered boxing and baseball until his death during spring training in 1953.

Two winners of the honor, Tony Kubek in 1957 and Tom Tresh in 1962, went on to win the American League “Rookie of the Year” Award. Last season’s winner was infielder/outfielder Shelley Duncan. The award first was presented to rookie Norm Siebern by Manager Casey Stengel in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the conclusion of spring training in 1956. New York Yankees beat writers vote on the winner.
In conjunction with the award, Gardner will receive an engraved Tissot watch from William Barthman Jewelers.

————

Good luck to Brett, given the fate of the last five winners …

2004: Bubba Crosby OF
2005: Andy Phillips INF
2006: Eric Duncan INF
2007: Kei Igawa P
2008: Shelley Duncan INF/OF

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 4:28 pm by Peter Abraham.
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53 Responses to “Gardner wins Dawson Award”

  1. GreenBeret7

    I’m surprised that Gardner still has rookie eligibility left after the time he spent on the ‘08 roster. Personally, I might have gone with Austin Jackson.

  2. Trevor

    Interesting that Posada now thinks Joba has proven him wrong. Umm duh Jorge. Anyone with a clue about Joba (minor league followers, scouts, those who know him from college) all said he would be a potential number 1 starter.

    I swear Heyman has become clueless since joining FAN. He made some valid points about the Yankees potentially having a bad year ie age, injuries etc… But acts as if the Sox don’t have these problems.

  3. Doris from Rego Park

    Look for that watch on eBay

  4. Vito

    Bubba may have sold his already

  5. Michael Kei (Igawa)

    >Kei Igawa
    >award

  6. Nick in SF

    Congrats, Brett Gardner, those are some big shoes to fill.

    GB7: I don’t know the eligibility rules for the award, but maybe they only give it to a rookie who they think it going to play with the big team? Save it for when Ajax is going to come up for good.

    And congrats also to Jorge Posada for coming to his senses. His bobblehead has now been removed from the double-secret probation list and will be able to enjoy opening day with his brethren.

  7. Rebecca-Optimist Prime...Staying to Write the Story

    this fate of the last five winners doesn’t bode exceptionally well, but then again, it’s not like the Yankees have had much to write home about in their farm system until a couple years ago.

  8. pat

    Infamous company for sure. Congratulations (I think) Brett!

  9. tim boat

    says a lot about that vaunted yankee farm system.

  10. Yikes

    yikes–good luck avoiding that fate Brett

  11. pat

    Cash on WFAN with Mike

  12. Vito

    Andy Phillips – fighting for a job with the Pirates as a reserve, Crosby retired. The other 3 are forevor AAAA players

    Not a good legacy but of all of them Brett G has the most talent

  13. Noreaster

    It’s nice to see a few options coming out of our farm system…Melky, Coke, Gardner, Pena, Joba, Hughes, IPK, Jackson, etc…I wonder with the glut of young bullpen arms and Melky sitting on the bench if we’ll see a trade of some sort in the near future.

  14. jennifer

    Hey Pete why’d you saddle the guy with the award then? Yeah the watch is nice, but why’d you do that to him?

  15. GreenBeret7

    Nick in SF
    March 31st, 2009 at 4:39 pm
    Congrats, Brett Gardner, those are some big shoes to fill.

    GB7: I don’t know the eligibility rules for the award, but maybe they only give it to a rookie who they think it going to play with the big team? Save it for when Ajax is going to come up for good.

    And congrats also to Jorge Posada for coming to his senses. His bobblehead has now been removed from the double-secret probation list and will be able to enjoy opening day with his brethren.

    ————————————————————

    For batters, it’s 130 or fewer at bats (Gardner had 127), for pitchers, it’s 50 innings.

    The other part of that is any player that spent more than 45 days on the 25 man roster between opening day and Sept 1st callups.

  16. GreenBeret7

    Unless I miscounted, Gardner had 44 days.

  17. Doreen

    Congratulations to Brett Gardner. This seems to be his week (month, really). I have every confidence he will break the – ahem – current streak of mediocre recipients.

  18. GreenBeret7

    Surprising that Bob Grim didn’t win in 1954. He won 20 games as a rookie for NYY that year.

  19. GreenBeret7

    Never mind Grim…The award didn’t start until ‘56.

  20. Nick in SF

    I meant eligibility for the award itself from the Yanks, not eligibility to maintain official MLB rookie status.

    Anyway, the point was, let Austin Jackson have it when he’s going to be an actual New York Yankee – if he has a good Spring.

  21. kd

    looks like it’s the curse of death to get that award. now cash will trade for a centerfielder

  22. Bronx Jeers

    Well let’s all hope Gardner breaks that streak.

    Someone asked about access to Mohegan Sun bar.

    I know they’ll be selling tickets to the 130 or so seats that face the field. 100$ a pop is what I read somewhere. For the remaining space, I heard it’s club style admission meaning you will need a pass that of course costs money as well although this info seems a bit dicey.

    100$ to watch the game behind glass in CF seems stupid. Paying just enter a bar to buy overpriced drinks also seems stupid.

    I did the “Pinstripe Pub” several years back. Dumb move and that was only 5 bucks a game. Why haul your butt all the way to the Bronx to sit in a dank bar and watch the game on TV? Ridiculous.

  23. Jeter in LF

    That’s kind of damning someone with faint praise.

  24. pat

    Cash says Joba was sitting at 93, dialed it up to 96 and threw 95 also about 5 times.

  25. Betsy

    Gee, I know Cashman always tries to be realistic, but could he sound any less excited about the starting pitching?

  26. TT 15

    GB, Grimm was good but I think Spring training is the only thing they look at for this award.

  27. Betsy

    Cash very realistic about Ransom…he’s not capable of doing much offensively, he needs to do well defensively

  28. Uncle Ellsworth

    Cashman:
    Defense was number one consideration in not going out to get a third baseman and opting for Ransom. Who, he said, is a better defender than Alex.

  29. SJ44

    What do you want him to do? He always low keys it.

    His job isn’t to be a cheerleader. Better to slow play it than talk breathlessly about the team.

    Fans tend to do that. GM’s usually don’t.

  30. TT 15

    SJ,
    missed your posts. Welcome back. You are free to post on the other site also.

  31. curious

    “Gee, I know Cashman always tries to be realistic, but could he sound any less excited about the starting pitching?”

    and if he sounded excited, someone else would be here complaining that he is cocky.

  32. Zach in Melbourne, AUS (formerly known as Zach in Port Jeff)

    Can anyone fill me in what Heyman said earlier with Mike?

    I’m sure it had a negative spin.

  33. Laura - Just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost!

    “Defense was number one consideration in not going out to get a third baseman and opting for Ransom. Who, he said, is a better defender than Alex.”

    I thought I heard him say that. Not sure I buy it. I haven’t been able to watch ST games, but somehow, I doubt that “Minor League Journeyman Ranson” is a better fielder than “Possibly greatest player ever A-Rod”.

  34. Laura - Just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost!

    “Can anyone fill me in what Heyman said earlier with Mike?
    I’m sure it had a negative spin.”

    He picked his winners for each division. Said he thought that the Red Sox would win the AL East. Picked the Cubs to win it all over the Red Sox. Said that the Yankees have a great team, but things can go wrong for them because they are an older team.

  35. Uncle Ellsworth

    PETE
    Where can I find a list of all the Dawson Award winners?

    Mattingly and Posada won it too.
    I’d like to know who won it in 1996?

  36. Mike

    Wow Sounds like a great job for the Beat writers to curse our center fielder.

  37. Zach in Melbourne, AUS (formerly known as Zach in Port Jeff)

    “He picked his winners for each division. Said he thought that the Red Sox would win the AL East. Picked the Cubs to win it all over the Red Sox. Said that the Yankees have a great team, but things can go wrong for them because they are an older team.”

    Wow…Maybe Yankee fans are the only ones that view Papi, Drew, Varitek, and Lowell as aging….

    The rest of MLB must view them as spring chickens.

  38. Betsy

    SJ, of course I’m not expecting Cash to be breathless with excitment, but he might have said something along the lines that he is excited about the potential, but that we have to see how it plays out….It’s not a big deal, and I meant to put a “lol” after my comment – the way it reads, it sounds like I’m rather annoyed and I absolutely am not.

    Cubs over Sox? Blech. I will avoid the SI issue (even though CC is on it) at all costs – the Mets to win the WS? Ugh. Also, every year the scouting report on the Yankees is completely inaccurate…….

  39. Joltin' Joe

    fat mike is worrying out loud about yanks 7-8-9 hitters

  40. Uncle Ellsworth

    Previous winners:

    · 1956…Norm Siebern OF
    · 1957…Tony Kubek SS
    · 1958…John Blanchard C
    · 1959…Gordon Windhorn OF
    · 1960… John James P
    · 1961…Roland Sheldon P
    · 1962…Tom Tresh SS
    · 1963…Pedro Gonzalez 2B
    · 1964…Pete Mikkelsen P
    · 1965…Arturo Lopez OF
    · 1966…Roy White OF
    · 1967…Bill Robinson OF
    · 1968…Mike Ferraro 3B
    · 1969…Jerry Kenney OF/Bill Burbach P
    · 1970…John Ellis 1b-C
    · 1971…None Selected
    · 1972…Rusty Torres OF
    · 1973…Otto Velez OF
    · 1974…Tom Buskey P
    · 1975…Tippy Martinez P
    · 1976…Willie Randolph 2B
    · 1977…George Zeber INF
    · 1978…Jim Beattie P
    · 1979…Paul Mirabella P
    · 1980…Mike Griffin P
    1981…Gene Nelson P
    · 1982…Andre Robertson SS
    · 1983…Don Mattingly 1B/OF
    · 1984…Jose Rijo P
    · 1985…Scott Bradey C
    · 1986…Bob Tewksbury P
    · 1987…Kevin Hughes OF
    · 1988…Al Leiter P
    · 1989…None Selected
    1990…Alan Mills P
    · 1991…Hensley Muelens OF
    1992…Gerald Williams OF
    · 1993…Mike Humphreys OF
    1994…Sterling Hitchcock P
    · 1995…None Selected
    · 1996…Mark Hutton P
    · 1997…Jorge Posada C
    · 1998…Homer Bush INF
    · 1999…None Selected
    · 2000…None Selected
    · 2001…Alfonso Soriano 2B
    2002…Nick Johnson 1B
    · 2003…Hideki Matsui OF
    · 2004…Bubba Crosby OF
    · 2005…Andy Phillips INF
    · 2006…Eric Duncan INF
    · 2007…Kei Igawa P
    2008…Shelley Duncan INF/OF
    · 2009…Brett Gardner OF

    http://thunderbaseball.wordpress.com/

  41. Bo knows

    Just to make a point of it.

    Thankss for the game updates. Much appreciated as a running commentary.

  42. Bo knows

    Edit

    Should have mentioned GB7. He’s the man who did it.

  43. Michael Kei (Igawa)

    Melky Cabrera has never won that award. Just saying…

  44. Laura - Just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost!

    “Wow…Maybe Yankee fans are the only ones that view Papi, Drew, Varitek, and Lowell as aging….
    The rest of MLB must view them as spring chickens.”

    For the life of me, I can’t figure out why so many people view the Red Sox over us. It’s mind boggling. Ortiz is going through steroid withdrawl. Nancy Drew is hit or miss. Brett Gardner will have a higher batting average than Varitek will. Lowell is coming back from a bum hip. Matsusaka is still going to walk a ton of batters. Papelsmear will blow a ton of saves. There’s always the chance that Sauron will come and get the Hobbitt.

    How is this team better than us?

  45. Trevor

    As usual Heyman was negative and kind of downplayed how good the Yankees could be.
    He said he liked Beckett Dice’K Lester slightly better then the Yankees starters.
    He really talked up the Yankees “age” and possible “injury” concerns.
    Like the Red Sox too because they are “younger”.

    I don’t know about the Red Sox being younger. If they are younger at certain positions like SS there are still question marks.
    What’s Jed Lowrie going to give them? Ellsbury? Which Ellsbury is the real one, last year’s or the Ellsbury we saw for 2 months late 07 when the league didn’t know him?

  46. curious

    are the Yankees THAT much older than the Sox??

    Yankees/Sox
    1B – 29/30
    2B – 26/25
    SS – 35/25
    3B – 33/35
    LF – 35/30
    CF – 25/25
    RF – 30/33
    C – 37/37
    DH – 35/33

    S1: 28/29
    S2: 29/28
    S3: 32/25
    S4: 37/42
    S5: 23/31

    Cl: 39/28

  47. joe

    Yes, the scouting report on the Yankees in the past has been inaccurate— we’ve been World Series favorites for years and have not gotten there since 03 and not been out of the first round in 4 years.

  48. Laura - Just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost!

    “SS – 35/25″

    This is the only difference that is major. Other than that, they are fairly close.

  49. Trevor

    “are the Yankees THAT much older than the Sox”

    No! I just think some people get carried away when it comes to the Red Sox “youth” because of guys like Pedroia, Lester and Ellsbury.
    They’re not developing players like the Rays are but people talk like they are.

  50. Bernard

    What does it say about me that three of my favorite recent Yankees have won this award in the past few seasons? Bubba, Shelley and now Gardner…

  51. David

    Bernard, it says that you tend to admire players who do well in spring training. :)

  52. Laura - Just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost!

    “What does it say about me that three of my favorite recent Yankees have won this award in the past few seasons? Bubba, Shelley and now Gardner…”

    It says that you should never apply for the job “Yankees GM”. :P

  53. JIm

    Who cares what the writers predict? Predictions are simply guesses. They did real well predicting the Rays, Rockies and Tigers would make it to the last three WS. If they predicted them people would have screamed bloody murder, even though they would have turned out correct. Not everyone has to look at our team through rose colored glasses.

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Chad JenningsChad Jennings joined the The Journal News in October 2009, having spent the better part of seven years covering baseball in Scranton, PA. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri and an award-winning beat reporter and features writer. E-mail me at cjennings@lohud.com
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Sam BordenSam Borden is an award-winning journalist who joined The Journal News and LoHud.com in January 2008. He covered the Yankees for the New York Daily News from 2004-06, and has also worked as a columnist for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. E-mail me at sborden@lohud.com
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Sam BordenJosh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of 2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has since covered various high school and pro sports. E-mail me at jthomson@lohud.com
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