Tag / Gabe Kapler

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2021 BBWAA Award Predictions

The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed shortened baseball season, which will be announced next week.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Marcus Semien

Well, one difference between my pre-season selection, Aaron Judge, and the three finalists is that Judge played in a post-season game.  I would assume Shohei Ohtani will walk away with this award.

Cy Young Award: Gerrit Cole, Lance Lynn, Robbie Ray

My initial guess was that Lucas Giolito would take home the prize, but my guess is Robbie Ray, who won the ERA title and led the major leagues in strikeouts, will take home the award.

Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker, Kevin Cash, Scott Servais

As usual, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  I assume Mariners manager Scott Servais will win for keeping his team in contention until the final day of the season, despite his GM selling off his closer at the trade deadline.

Rookie of the Year: Randy Arozarena, Wander Franco, Luis Garcia

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  Assuming Arozarena and Franco don’t split the Tampa vote, I’m going to go with Franco.

National League

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#101 – Dewayne Wise

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Name: Dewayne Wise

Rank: 101

Position: OF

Years With White Sox: 2008-2009, 2012-2013

Dewayne Wise signed with the White Sox organization on March 5, 2008.  He started the year at Triple A, but was recalled to the big leagues in May when Juan Uribe landed on the disabled list.  He returned for good in late July when Paul Konerko got hurt, becoming a defensive replacement for the newly acquired Ken Griffey Jr. and gaining additional playing time when Carlos Quentin broke his wrist in early September.  The high point of his season came on September 14, when, with the White Sox battling the Twins for the Central division title, he answered a grand slam in the top of the 8th by Marcus Thames with one of his own in the bottom of the inning, pushing the Sox to an 11-7 victory over the Tigers and retaining their first place standing.

Wise returned to the White Sox in 2009, earning the Opening Day nod in center field.  A separated shoulder 7 games into the season put him on the shelf until early June.  He made the play of his career on July 23, when he entered the game against the Rays as a defensive replacement in the 9th inning.  The first hitter, Gabe Kapler, hit a deep fly ball to center field which Wise first leaped to keep in the ballpark, then juggled the ball as he fell to the ground, finally grasping it with his bare hand.  The catch preserved Mark Buehrle’s perfect game, which he wrapped up two batters later.

wise-catchThe remainder of 2009 was uneventful, as the White Sox fell from contention.  Wise finished the year with a .225 average, and became a free agent following the season.

Wise returned to the White Sox in 2012, signing a minor league deal on August 3rd.  Barely a week later, he was called up to the majors when Paul Konerko landed on the 7 day concussion DL.  Wise appeared in 45 games over the final two months of the season, hitting .258 as the White Sox blew their division lead over the last few weeks of September.

Wise re-upped with the White Sox for the 2013 season, but was used sparingly.  He appeared in only 30 games, hitting .234, before being released on August 3rd, which drew his major league career to an end.

Wise’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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