A’s Find Themselves All Over the Gibby Awards

Just when you thought all the postseason awards had been handed out, the nominations for the 2012 Gibby Awards (Greatness in Baseball Yearly) are out and the Oakland Athletics are all over the place.  The Gibbys are voted on by the fans on MLB.com and cover all facets of the game and recognizes some of the big story lines of the season as well.

The Bernie Lean represents just one of many nominations for the A’s in the 2012 Gibby Awards. (Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE)

Topping the list from the Athletics are Yoenis Cespedes and Ryan Cook, who both appear as nominees for the top rookie.  It’s highly doubtful either one will win considering the presence of both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, but it’s nice to see them recognized.  Not to be forgotten is Jarrod Parker, who also is nominated.  Ryan Cook is also up for the award of top set up man in the league.  Based on performance, Cook would have a strong chance at winning that award, but we’ll see how the voting falls.

Josh Reddick finds himself nominated for Breakout Hitter of 2012 for his unexpected power outburst, but was snubbed in the category for top defensive player in the league.  Bob Melvin and Billy Beane are nominated for Manager and Executive of the Year awards respectively, Melvin took the BBWAA award and seems like a strong candidate to do the same here.

There is another segment of awards that concentrates more on specific moments and storylines from the season.  In the category for top play of the year, Coco Crisp‘s all out robbery of Prince Fielder in the ALDS is nominated.  The unlikely rise of the Athletics back to prominence is up for the award for best storyline of the season, it’s hard to argue against them.  Brandon Inge‘s display of massive pain tolerance was recognized as a top hitting performance for when he hit a go ahead RBI double shortly after popping his own dislocated shoulder back into place in Chicago.  Brandon Moss‘ huge walk off home run on September 29th against the Seattle Mariners is nominated for top walk off of the year, that was great but it’s really hard to choose just 1 walk off win to nominate for the A’s.

Speaking of walk offs, Coco Crisp’s incredible walk off single in game 4 of the ALDS was nominated for top postseason moment, I may be biased but that should be an obvious choice.  And to round out the categories, the phenomenon in Oakland known as the Bernie Lean was nominated for top oddity of the year.

It’s not exactly breaking news that the A’s season was rather remarkable, but it’s nice to see that their season is getting some much deserved recognition.  Fans can go vote on the awards through December 4th, and I strongly urge you all to do so.  The A’s season was incredible, and deserves every moment of recognition it can get.