Sale among White Sox up for 2013 GIBBYs
Beckham's acrobatic catch, Rios' six-hit game also receive nominations
CHICAGO -- Left-handed ace Chris Sale, second baseman Gordon Beckham and right fielder Alex Rios netted GIBBY Award nominations for their respective performances during the 2013 season.
Sale was nominated for best individual pitching performance and Beckham was recognized for top defensive play, while Rios, who was traded to the the Rangers in August, was selected in the best individual hitting performance category.
Major League Baseball's A-listers will take home 2013 Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards -- 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.
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 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.
Sale finished another standout season with a mere 11 wins in 30 starts, but that statistic vastly undersells his immense value. The lanky southpaw fanned 226 over 214 1/3 innings, hurled four complete games and posted a 3.07 ERA. One of those complete games came during a Sunday night against the Angels at home on May 12, when Sale was perfect until Mike Trout's one-out single in the seventh. That was the lone baserunner allowed during Sale's 3-0 victory in which he struck out seven, and earned him a spot in the GIBBY pitching performance category.
Rios was nominated for hitting performance with a 6-for-6 showing at Comerica Park on July 9, tying an American League mark. Four of those hits came against Detroit starter Justin Verlander, who had never given up as many hits to a single batter in a single game, and Rios added two stolen bases for good measure. He had five singles and one triple on this night.
In the category of top defensive play, in which every team has a nominee, Beckham's backpedaling acrobatic grab against the wind and the Royals at home on July 27 serves as the White Sox representative.