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The offseason got a little better for the Chicago White Sox after the Players Choice Awards were handed out.
Fist, Adam Dunn won comeback player of the year. This is Dunn’s second award for comeback player of the year. He already won comeback player of the year from The Sporting News.
Dunn beat out fellow teammate Alex Rios for this award which is interesting. Both had strong comeback years and both were deserving of the award. Rios had a better year than Dunn, just by looking at average. I’m not sure what players were looking at that made them vote for Dunn. With that being said, Dunn is still deserving of the award.
Young pitcher Chris Sale was a finalist for outstanding pitcher in the American League. That was won by David Price, who is also a favorite for the Cy Young. Don’t be surprised if Sale also garners some votes for the Cy Young. For a young pitcher to be named as finalist is pretty amazing. There are many great pitchers in the American League like Justin Verlander and Price, among others, so for Sale to be in the top three is outstanding.
Paul Konerko was named a finalist for the Marvin Miller Player of The Year award. This award is also voted by players. It is awarded to players who inspire others to high levels of achievement by their on field performances and contributions to the community. Even if Konerko doesn’t win this award it is still an honor to be named as a finalist.
What does all of this mean for the White Sox? Let’s take a look player by player.
For Sale, as I said it means that even at a young age he is getting a lot of respect from fellow players. It also bodes well to the organization for developing young pitchers.
For Dunn and Rios it just shows that hard work pays off and perhaps a coaching change helped, as well. Both players worked very hard to put 2011 behind them and they accomplished that. I also think it shows that Robin Ventura and his staff helped as well.
Dunn said after winning the award that “You compete against these guys each and every day. For them to vote you anything I don’t care what it is, it’s definitely an honor.” Fellow players knew how much Dunn struggled in 2011 which was a dismal year for Dunn.
I’m sure that Dunn doesn’t want to win the award again. Same with Rios, he doesn’t want to be in that category.
For Konerko, it is just another award and honor given to him. It is another reason that when Konerko retires that his #14 will be retired as well.
While the White Sox and their players would have liked the offseason to conclude with being in the postseason these awards are a nice ending to the 2012 season.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @EvanCrum1319
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