Hunter Morris named Rawlings Gold Glove Award recipient
Morris Selected as Gold Glove Winner at First Base in Minor League Baseball
MILWAUKEE – First baseman Hunter Morris of the Double-A Huntsville Stars has been selected as the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® recipient among minor league first basemen. The announcement was made today by Minor League Baseball™ and Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc.
One player was chosen at each position for a total of nine award winners (included below). The honorees were selected among qualifying players from the 10 domestic-based, full-season Minor Leagues. They will each receive their own Rawlings Gold Glove Award, modeled after the iconic award given to Major League Baseball’s top defensive players, during the 2013 season (see photo attached).
Morris, who turns 24 on Sunday, was named the Southern League’s Most Valuable Player after batting .303 with 28 home runs and 113 RBI in 136 games with Huntsville. He became the first Huntsville player to win the League MVP award since Brewers first baseman Corey Hart in 2003. Morris led all qualifying Southern League first basemen with a .995 fielding percentage as he committed just six errors all season.
Morris, who made a run at the Triple Crown, led the Southern League in home runs, RBI, hits (158), slugging percentage (.563), total bases (294) and extra-base hits (74) and ranked among the leaders in doubles (2nd, 40), runs (T3rd, 77) and batting average (4th). His 40 doubles tied Huntsville’s single-season record (tied D.T. Cromer, 1997 with Oakland Athletics organization and Corey Hart, 2003). Morris will participate in the Arizona Fall League, which begins Tuesday, October 9.
The Huntsville, Alabama native was named to the Southern League midseason and postseason All-Star teams and he earned TOPPS Southern League Player of the Month honors in June and July. Morris was drafted by the Brewers in the fourth round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Auburn University.
The 2012 Minor League Baseball recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award are as follows:
Position Name Club(s)/MLB Organization
P Adam Warren Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/New York-AL
C Josh Phegley Charlotte/Chicago-AL
1B Hunter Morris Huntsville/Milwaukee
2B Ryan Cavan Richmond/San Francisco
SS Eugenio Suarez West Michigan/Detroit
3B Joe Leonard Mississippi/Atlanta
LF Derrick Robinson Omaha/Kansas City
CF Engel Beltre Frisco/Texas
RF Marcell Ozuna Jupiter/Miami