Fans to help select baseball's Man of the Year

New York, NY, Tuesday, September 10, 2013 … Beginning today, fans voting on-line will help select the Major League baseball player whose on-field performance and contributions to his community inspire others to higher levels of achievement. Fan-voting for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year award will be conducted on www.MLBPLAYERS.com, the official website of Major League baseball players, through midnight, Sunday, September 15.

The Marvin Miller Man of the Year award is bestowed annually by Major League players, along with nine other PLAYERS CHOICE AWARDS, to honor the players they believe are the best in the game. Players on each of the 30 Major League teams have nominated one teammate as a candidate for the 2013 Marvin Miller Man of the Year award.

Fans now may visit www.MLBPLAYERS.com to select their favorite among the nominees. Six division finalists chosen by the fans will appear on the PLAYERS CHOICE AWARDS ballot when all Major Leaguers vote on Tuesday, September 17, to select the winner. Balloting on September 17 will be conducted under the supervision of accounting firm KPMG.

Retired Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones was the 2012 Marvin Miller Man of the Year. Touched early in his career by the experience of a young boy with cystic fibrosis, Chipper has long been a supporter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He serves as the chair of the Georgia chapter's 65 Roses Sports Committee and the "Bridges to a Cure" campaign and hosted children with cystic fibrosis at Turner Field. Past winners of the award, named for the legendary baseball union leader, also include Michael Young, Brandon Inge, Curtis Granderson, Torii Hunter, Albert Pujols, Jim Thome, John Smoltz, Mike Sweeney, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Eric Davis and Paul Molitor.  

The 2013 PLAYERS CHOICE AWARDS also honor the outstanding player, rookie, pitcher, and comeback player in each league, as well as the overall Outstanding Player of the year. 2013 Players Choice Award winners in all categories will designate charities to receive grants totaling $260,000 from the Players Trust. Since 1992, the Players Trust has recognized the outstanding on-field and off-field performances of Players Choice Awards winners by contributing more than $3 million to charities around the world.

The following players were nominated by their teammates for the 2013 Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award:

Arizona: Brad Ziegler (@BradZiegler); Atlanta: Tim Hudson; Baltimore: Adam Jones (@SimplyAJ10); Boston: Jon Lester (@JLester31); Chicago Cubs: Anthony Rizzo (@ARizzo44); Chicago White Sox: Hector Santiago (@HecSantiago53); Cincinnati: Bronson Arroyo; Cleveland: Nick Swisher (@NickSwisher); Colorado: Todd Helton; Detroit: Torii Hunter (@toriihunter48); Houston: Jason Castro (@J_Castro15); Kansas City: Eric Hosmer (@TheRealHos35); Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Albert Pujols (@PujolsFive); Los Angeles Dodgers: Adrian Gonzalez (@AdrianTitan23); Miami: Juan Pierre (@JPBeastMode); Milwaukee: Rickie Weeks; Minnesota: Glenn Perkins; New York Mets: Dillon Gee (@DillonGee35); New York Yankees: Mariano Riviera (@MarianoRivera); Oakland: Grant Balfour; Philadelphia: Chase Utley; Pittsburgh: Pedro Alvarez; San Diego: Will Venable; San Francisco: Barry Zito; Seattle: Raul Ibanez; St. Louis: Carlos Beltran (@carlosbeltran15); Tampa Bay: David Price (@DAVIDprice14); Texas: Ian Kinsler; Toronto: Munenori Kawasaki; Washington: Adam Laroche.

The Major League Baseball Players Association (www.MLBPLAYERS.com / @MLB_Players) is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the thirty Major League Baseball teams and serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for commercial and licensing activities involving active Major League baseball players. On behalf of its members, it operates the Players Choice (@MLBPAClubhouse) licensing program and Players Choice Awards, which benefit the needy through the Major League Baseball Players Trust (@MLBPlayersTrust), a charitable foundation established and run entirely by Major League baseball players.