So far 8 awards have been given out by This Year In Baseball, TYIB. Red Sox players have won half of those rewards and when not finishing in first have finished no worse than third place. Three of the four non first place winners had the second highest amount of votes. This years TYIB awards, voted on by the fans, show just big Red Sox Nation has become. So far, Josh Beckett has won the award for best starting pitcher, Jonathan Papelbon won for best closer, Clay Buchholz and his no-hitter won for best performance of the year and Hideki Okijima won the award for best setup man of the year. Though all of those accomplishments were nationally recognized, three of the pitchers made that AL all star team, and Buchholz throw his no-hitter as a rookie, it shows how much Red Sox fans really want to reward their players for a job well done.
Those who finished second place are, manager Terry Francona for best manager, third baseman Mike Lowell for best defense, and second baseman Dustin Pedroia for best rookie. David Oritiz finished third in the voting for best hitter. All of this shows just how good the 2007 team was, yes they won a World Series, but people noticed the players and their accomplishments.
It must be good to be a player from Boston. Not only are you part of a Championship team with local fans that you know adore you, you now know that the whole country realizes and acknowledges your accomplishments and strengths.
