Given their postseason match-ups of the CYA candidates, many baseball observers are surprised when CC Sabathia (19-7, 3.21) beats out Red Sox ace Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27) for the American League Cy Young Award. In the ALCS, the 27 year-old Indian southpaw faced Beckett twice and lost each time, but voting takes place at the end of the regular season.
On November 13, 2006, the New York Mets break ground on their new ballpark, to be named Citi Field. Some of the park’s architecture harkens back to Ebbets Field, which resided in Brooklyn and was home to the Brooklyn Dodgers through 1957.
Three of the top four National League vote-getters for Rookie of the Year Honors finishers are Marlins teammates. Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez, in an extremely tight race, edges Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and teammates second baseman Dan Uggla and hurler Josh Johnson.
The Mets stage a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the construction of the 45,000-seat ballpark which will replace Shea Stadium in 2009. The new $800 million ballpark, named Citi Field in association with Citigroup Inc., will be reminiscent of Ebbets Field and will feature a statue of Jackie Robinson in a rotunda named after the immortal Brooklyn Dodger infielder.
Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander (17-9, 3.63) cops the AL Rookie of the Year award, receiving 26 of a possible 28 first-place votes cast by the BBWAA. The 23 year-old hard-throwing hurler becomes the first starting pitcher to win the freshman award since Yankee newcomer Dave Righetti accomplished the feat in 1981.
Eric Gagne, who saved 55 consecutive games for the Dodgers, becomes the ninth reliever to win a Cy Young Award. The runner-up is Jason Schmidt of the Giants, the pitcher with the NL’s best won-lost percentage (17-4, 77%) and an ERA of 2.34 to lead the circuit.
MLB announces that the drug screens taken during the past baseball season tested positive in 5-to-7 percent of the 1,438 samples provided by the players. The results will set into motion a mandatory testing program for performance-enhancing drugs with punitive consequences for failure for the first time in baseball history.
2002 – The San Francisco Giants select former Montreal Expos veteran skipper Felipe Alou to replace Dusty Baker as their new manager. The 67-year-old Dominican Republic native compiled a 691-717 record during his ten years at the helm with Montreal and was selected as the National League Manager of the Year in the 1994 strike-shortened season.
The Giants select former Expo veteran skipper Felipe Alou to replace Dusty Baker as their new manager. The 67 year-old Dominican Republic native compiled a 691-717 record during his ten years at the helm with Montreal, getting the nod as the National League Manager of the Year in the 1994 strike-shortened season.
2001 – Pitcher Randy Johnson, who posted a 21-6 record with a 2.49 ERA and 372 strikeouts, wins his fourth Cy Young Award, his third straight as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Previously, Johnson also won the honor in 1995 with Seattle, and is the second pitcher to win three consecutive Cy Young awards, joining Greg Maddux who won four in a row from 1992-1995.