Cards recognized with slew of GIBBY nominations

A host of Cardinals and some of their top moments from the 2013 season are nominees for the annual GIBBY Awards.

Second baseman Matt Carpenter headlines the St. Louis hopefuls with GIBBY nominations for Hitter and Breakout Hitter of the Year, as well as MVP and Play of the Year. Right-hander Adam Wainwright is nominated for Starting Pitcher of the Year, while righty Shelby Miller is up for Rookie of the Year. Reliever Trevor Rosenthal is a candidate for Setup Man of the Year, while catcher Yadier Molina is nominated for Defensive Player honors.

General manager John Mozeliak and Mike Matheny also are nominated for Executive and Manager of the Year, respectively.

Major League Baseball's A-listers will take home 2013 GIBBY trophies -- the ultimate honors of the industry's awards season -- based on votes by media, front-office personnel, MLB alumni, fans at MLB.com and the Society for American Baseball Research.

This year's GIBBY Awards feature nominees in 22 categories. Individual honors will go to the MLB MVP, in addition to the year's best starting pitcher, hitter, closer, setup man, rookie, breakout hitter, breakout pitcher, comeback player, defensive player, manager, executive and postseason performer.

GIBBY trophies also will be awarded for the year's top play, storyline, hitting performance, pitching performance, oddity, walk-off, Cut4 topic, regular-season moment and postseason moment, from MLB.com's Must C highlight reels.

In the past five years, fans have cast more than 50 million votes across the various GIBBY categories, none of which was restricted to individual League affiliation. Fan voting runs through Dec. 1.

Winners will be presented their GIBBY trophies at the MLB.com Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards extravaganza during the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla.

Carpenter's effort in the seventh inning of St. Louis' 2-1 win over the Mariners on Sept. 13, when he robbed Mike Zunino of a hit with a diving grab behind second base, is up for Play of the Year.

The Cardinals have two nominees for Pitching Performance of the Year. The first is Miller's one-hit shutout of the Rockies on May 10, when he allowed a leadoff single before retiring the next 27 batters.

The second is Michael Wacha's near no-hitter on Sept. 24, when he tossed 8 2/3 hitless innings against the Nationals before allowing an infield single.

The Cardinals' nominee for Cut4 Topic of the Year is the standoff between St. Louis' Joe Kelly and Los Angeles' Scott Van Slyke before Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.