Matt Duffy named 2015 Willie Mac Award winner
San Francisco -- Giants infielder Matt Duffy was selected as the winner of the 2015 "Willie Mac" Award, the club announced today.
The Willie McCovey Award is an annual honor bestowed upon the most inspirational player on the team, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff and the fans. This season marks the 35th anniversary of the award, which was established in 1980, in honor of legend and Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. Duffy will receive a plaque prior to tonight's game. Engraved on the plaque are the words "Competitive Spirit, Ability and Leadership" to characterize the qualities both McCovey and Duffy exemplify.
In his first full Major League season, Duffy has been one of the top rookies in the Majors, hitting .298 with 12 home runs, 76 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 146 games. He made the team out of spring training as a utility infielder and by May began getting regular starts at third base, a position he had played just three games at in three seasons in the minor leagues. Anchored in the three-spot in the Giants' lineup, he enters today's games leading all NL rookies in hits (167) and multi-hit games (42) and second in batting average (.298), second in RBI (76) and runs scored (77). Since the All-Star break he's ranked first in the National League in hits. He also enters today's games with the third-longest active games played streak and has started the Giants' last 76 games at third base. He's the first Giants rookie to win this prestigious award.
Listed below are the "Willie Mac Award" winners:
1980 Jack Clark
1981 Larry Herndon
1982 Joe Morgan
1983 Darrell Evans
1984 Bob Brenly
1985 Mike Krukow
1986 Mike Krukow
1987 Chris Speier
1988 Jose Uribe
1989 Dave Dravecky
1990 Steve Bedrosian
1991 Robby Thompson
1992 Mike Felder
1993 Kirt Manwaring
1994 None
1995 Mark Leiter
Mark Carreon
1996 Shawon Dunston
1997 J.T. Snow
1998 Jeff Kent
1999 Marvin Benard
2000 Ellis Burks
2001 Mark Gardner
Benito Santiago
2002 David Bell
2003 Marquis Grissom
2004 J.T. Snow
2005 Mike Matheny
2006 Omar Vizquel
2007 Bengie Molina
2008 Bengie Molina
2009 Matt Cain
2010 Andres Torres
2011 Ryan Vogelsong
2012 Buster Posey
2013 Hunter Pence
2014 Madison Bumgarner
2015 Matt Duffy