Red Sox take home trophies in four GIBBY categories
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Red Sox continue to gain appreciation -- and hardware -- for their World Series-winning season.
Boston won in four categories as MLB.com's annual Greatness in Baseball Yearly (GIBBY) Awards were announced Tuesday at the Winter Meetings.
John Farrell was selected as Manager of the Year and Ben Cherington was named Executive of the Year.
The emotional first game back at Fenway after the Boston Marathon bombings on April 20, when David Ortiz gave his memorably heartfelt speech, was selected as the Moment of the Year.
Ortiz, who hit a game-tying grand slam in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, was named the Postseason MVP.
More than 10 million votes were cast by media, front-office personnel, MLB alumni, fans at MLB.com and the Society for American Baseball Research. This year's GIBBY Awards featured nominees in 22 categories. Individual honors went 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 were awarded for the year's top Play, Storyline, Hitting Performance, Pitching Performance, Oddity, Walk-off, Cut4 Topic, Regular-Season Moment and Postseason Moment, with video available via MLB.com's Must C highlight reels.
GIBBYs categories included players from both leagues and performances not only from the regular season, but also through the end of the playoffs, making them unique in singling out the best of the best.
All 30 clubs were represented among the award candidates. In fact, every team had multiple nominees in 2013 -- a testament to the parity of talent around the game.
Farrell received his award in his first season as manager of the Red Sox. He received universal praise in the clubhouse for his communication and organization skills. The Red Sox won 97 games before defeating the Rays in the AL Division Series, the Tigers in a heart-stopping ALCS and the Cardinals in the World Series.
After a last-place finish in 2012, Cherington reshaped his clubhouse by bringing in positive personalities like Jonny Gomes, Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino and Ryan Dempster. And Cherington perhaps put his team over the top in the AL East with the July 31 trade for Jake Peavy.
It was fitting that Ortiz was in the middle of the emotion at Fenway on April 20. He is the only player who has been a part of the last three Red Sox teams to win the World Series and has long been a fixture in the community.
With the city of Boston reeling, Ortiz proclaimed to the fans that Boston is "our [bleeping] city, and no one is going to dictate our freedom."
Daniel Nava won the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.
The second most memorable speech Ortiz gave in 2013 happened in Game 4 of the World Series, when he pulled his teammates together in the middle of the dugout and told them to relax. The Red Sox won that game and didn't lose again.