Mo's farewell leads Yankees' field for GIBBYs

NEW YORK -- They may not have reached their ultimate goal on the field, but the 2013 season featured a number of memorable performances by members of the Yankees, who figure to see strong representation in the voting for this year's Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards.

The Yankees are listed in 10 of the 22 categories for 11 total nominations, including five involving retiring all-time saves leader Mariano Rivera, who is listed as a contender to add to his trophy case as the year's best closer and comeback player.

Rivera's retirement tour earned a nod as the best storyline of 2013. His entrance into the All-Star Game at Citi Field, standing alone on the field while members of both teams applauded, was nominated as the Moment of the Year.

Also, the playful pranks turned in by Rivera's teammates when the Yankees returned to the site of Rivera's knee injury -- erecting a banner on Kauffman Stadium's outfield that read "No Mo Zone," as well as a tape body outline -- were tabbed as a contender for the year's best Cut4 topic.

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.

Robinson Cano is a contender for the game's best hitter, while David Robertson is up for honors as the top setup man. Alfonso Soriano's two-homer, seven-RBI performance against the Angels on Aug. 14 -- giving him 13 RBIs over a two-game span -- is nominated as the top hitting performance of the year.

The Yankees turned one of the rarest triple plays in history on April 12 against the Orioles, becoming the first club to record a 4-6-5-6-5-3-4 putout, New York's second triple play since 1968. That is nominated for Play of the Year.

Joining Rivera's All-Star Game entrance for top moment is Ichiro Suzuki's 4,000th career hit, combining his statistics from Japan and the Major Leagues.

The frightened reaction of the Yankees and Red Sox to a June 3 thunderclap in the Bronx, particularly Brett Gardner's, popped up in the oddity category.

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. Fans can vote 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.