Newcomer of the Year

This was a very tough decision because there are many deserving candidates. Coming in 4th place:

Skyler Ence- Skyler was here for one weekend, but he really left his mark. He batted .515 with 7 HR's and 13 RBI. It is too bad that he was not here for longer because he would have contended for many awards. Skyler also made his presence felt in the outfield on defense by robbing many hits and throwing out runners at bases. Biggest strength: His bat. He had a lot of pop and was able to hit the ball in the gaps and over the fence. Weakness: Doesn't have enough at bats with only 33, it is tough to gage what he would have done over a full season, for this reason he finishes in 4th place.

3rd Place- Elizabeth Stuart Pugmire Thompson. What a surprise she was! Coming from the same high school where high school musical was filmed, there was not much expected from this girl. However, Liz batted .263 with 3 RBI and 38 Plate appearances. Liz had one game winning hit and was a force to be reckoned with. Biggest strength: Hitting. Liz did a great job all year of hitting the ball to all parts of the field. One time, Poon was talking trash to her in the outfield and she laced one over his head for a double. Weakness: Attitude and defense. She was not the best at judging a fly ball and also did not demonstrate the best arm for team Under Armour. She also complained about batting down in the lineup and could have been better in the clubhouse.

2nd Place- Brad Schuster. Brad has been a great addition to the league. Brad batted .350 with 20 RBI and 7 HR's. He was an everyday player for team Under Armour and a great teammate. Brad was a late addition to the roster, but once he came on the scene he was an instant staple for the team. Biggest strength: Versatility. Brad was the best court player and one of the best centerfielders. He could also bat anywhere in the lineup for UA and his power numbers really went up towards the end of the season. He was always very aggressive on the base paths earning him 5 stolen bases. Weakness: Late start. This really isn't his fault, but Brad was introduced to TBB about halfway through the season so his numbers are down a little bit. If he would have been here from the beginning, he would have had higher numbers. He had many 1st place votes for the award, but fell just short of the winner.

1st Place- Mike Obermeier. It is hard to find something wrong with Mike. He is one of the best outfielders and also the only power hitter consistently for team Pony. Mike had a brief stint with the league before we kept stats back in 2006, but this is his first full season. Strength: Where do I begin? A great outfielder. Mike has robbed numerous hits off the bats of team UA. Hitting, Mike hit .411 with 5 HR's and 20 RBI. He seems to always square the ball up at the plate. Even when he gets out, he hits the ball hard. His batting average moved him ahead of Schuster and that is why he is the 2010 Newcomer of the year.

Cy Young

The first award handed out for the 2010 backyard baseball season is the Cy Young. There were three finalists for this years award, and all three of them are very deserving. Coming in 3rd place is:

Layne Thompson (Papi)- Improved a lot from last season, Papi was much better at holding runners and keeping hitters off balance. Biggest strength: The fish ball. Papi seemed to know exactly when to throw the fish ball in order to prevent the hit and run. He threw out many runners because of a well-timed fish ball. Weakness: Didn't field his position very well. Because of his age, Papi is not very agile and this lead to a lot of hits that would have been taken away from a more athletic pitcher. Papi also has the leagues first ever perfect game which can be added to his resume.

2nd place:

Billy Rinn-UA's main pitcher. Billy did a great job of keeping Under Armour in most every game. As the season went on, Billy learned to hold runners and prevent the hit and run. Biggest strength: Fielding his position. Billy was very quick on the mound and was able to take away many hits up the middle and catch many fly balls that would have landed in the outfield. Weakness: Gave up the big HR towards the end of games. Sometimes Billy would tire of putting a lot of effort towards pitching and as a result, Team Pony would take advantage of him. Billy did receive some first place votes, but fell just short.

1st place:

Andy Thompson-Pony's main starter. Andy became the starter halfway through the year after multiple Pony pitchers were not able to get the job done. Biggest strength: Andy had the ability to keep UA's hitters off balance constantly. He hid the ball very well and the hitters were unable to tell when the ball would shoot through the machine. Weakness: Played for a losing team. Despite Andy's best efforts, team Pony usually came up a little short in the wins column. As mentioned before this was a very close race, but Andy's consistency put him over the top.

Stay tuned tomorrow as another award will be revealed for the 2010 season.

TBB Awards

Andy and I have met to discuss the past season and we have voted on awards. This week I will be putting all the awards on the blog so make sure to check back.

Judd TBB Commissioner