The Official Site of Hanley Ramirez

Mon, Oct 26th 2009, 11:00

Hanley nominated for Players Choice Award

Major League baseball players have chosen finalists for their highest honors – the Players Choice Awards—in which the players themselves recognize excellence on and off the field. Winners of the 2009 Players Choice Awards will be announced exclusively in a series of segments on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning (6-10 AM ET), with co-hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic announcing two winners each day beginning Monday, October 26, and continuing through Friday, October 30. The 2009 Players Choice Awards, presented by Upper Deck, benefit the Major League Baseball Players Trust.

Finalists for Player of the Year are Joe Mauer (Twins), Albert Pujols (Cardinals) and Hanley Ramirez (Marlins). Mauer helped propel Minnesota to the AL Central Division crown by leading all Major Leaguers in average (.365) and on-base percentage (.444), while finishing with 28 homers and 138 RBI’s in just 138 games. Pujols led the Cardinals to the NL Central Division title by leading the NL in homers (47), runs scored (124), total bases (374), slugging percentage (.658) and on-base percentage (.443), while finishing third in batting average (.327) and RBI’s (135). Ramirez helped keep the Marlins in the postseason hunt by leading the NL in batting average (.342), finishing third in hits (197) and sixth in RBI’s (106).

Leading the voting for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year award are Curtis Granderson (Tigers), Torii Hunter (Angels) and Pujols. Granderson established the Grand Kids Foundation, focusing on the importance of educational initiatives for children as well as helping reintroduce the sport of baseball in inner cities around the U.S. Pujols and his wife, Deidre, are the founders of the Pujols Family Foundation, which is dedicated to the love, care and development of people with Down syndrome and their families. Hunter created the Torii Hunter Project, which partners with the Little League Urban Initiative to stop the disappearance of baseball diamonds from America’s inner cities.

Players Choice Awards annually recognize the top pitcher, player, rookie and comeback player in each league, while the Player of the Year and Man of the Year awards bestow top honors without regard to league. Balloting for the Players Choice Awards was conducted in September under the supervision of accounting firm KPMG.

Each 2009 Players Choice Award winner will recommend the charity of his choice to receive a grant from the Major League Baseball Players Trust. Since 1992, the Players Trust has contributed more than $3. 5 million dollars to charities around the world in honor of Players Choice Award winners.

Hanley is nominated for the National League Most Outstanding Player, along with Prince Fielder (Milwaukee), and Albert Pujols (St. Louis), as well as the MLB’s Player of the Year along with Joe Mauer (Minnesota) and Albert Pujols (St. Louis).