GIBBY nominee Goldschmidt can bolster awards haul

PHOENIX -- Paul Goldschmidt might have to clear some more room on his mantel soon.

The D-backs first baseman, who recently won the prestigious Hank Aaron Award for the National League and an NL Gold Glove Award, received two nominations for the 2013 Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards.

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.

Goldschmidt was nominated for the National League Most Valuable Player and best hitter categories.

Other D-backs players to receive nominations include: left-hander Patrick Corbin in the breakout pitcher category, Gerardo Parra in the defensive player category and shortstop Didi Gregorius in the best play category.

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 is restricted to individual League affiliation. Fans can vote through Sunday, December 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.

Goldschmidt hit .302 with 36 homers and 125 RBIs, and manager Kirk Gibson even made a rare exception for him late in the season when it came to touting his first baseman for postseason awards.

"You guys know that I'm not a personal recognition guy per se," Gibson said during the season's final week. "For him -- as hard as he's worked, as good as he is -- we want him to be recognized for that. He does everything great. On the field, off the field, he's a great role model for anybody. That's kind of why you want him to be recognized so more people can get to experience this guy and what he has to offer. We're pretty fortunate. He's special."

After Corbin finished the season 14-8 with a 3.41 ERA, it was easy to overlook the fact that he was not assured a spot in the rotation entering Spring Training.

Instead, Corbin wound up beating out Tyler Skaggs and Randall Delgado for the fifth spot.

"He's a strong kid, he's got good stuff, he's got a good head," Gibson said of Corbin.

Parra's defensive ability is no secret, as he won his second Gold Glove Award on Tuesday for his work in right field.

"When you play tight games, he is dominating, he is a stopper," Gibson said of Parra. "Think about how many times he has done it. He influences the game in a different way."

Gregorius certainly influenced games with his glove as well. While there were numerous plays that he could have been nominated for, it was his over-the-shoulder catch on Aug. 27 against the Padres at Chase Field.