Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award

Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award
A black and white headshot of an African-American baseball player wearing a baseball cap with an interlocking 'NY'.
A black and white headshot of a youthful, white baseball player, smiling at the camera, wearing a Yankees baseball cap.
A black and white headshot of an older baseball player, looking ahead and smiling, wearing a baseball cap with a 'B' on it.
Left to right: Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider, the award's namesakes.
SportBaseball
Awarded for"Presented to a group of players or a specific team who are forever linked in baseball history."
LocationNew York City, U.S.
CountryUnited States
Presented byBaseball Writers' Association of America, New York chapter
History
First award1995
Websitenybbwaa.com

The Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award is presented annually by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America to a group of players, or a specific team, who are linked together by a single event or common attribute in baseball history.

The award is named after and in honor of the inaugural winners who made up the iconic centerfield trio for each of the New York baseball teams in the 1950s: Willie Mays (New York Giants), Mickey Mantle (New York Yankees), and Duke Snider (Brooklyn Dodgers).

Background

The award was created in 1995 by Claire Smith, then a sportswriter for The New York Times, in part due to worries that attendance at the annual Baseball Writers' Association of America dinner would be curtailed due to the ongoing baseball strike and in part to honor baseball people in baseball who were linked by a common attribute or an event.[1]

The inaugural winners of the award were it's namesakes: Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider, centerfielders of the Major League teams of New York City in the 1950s – the New York Giants, the New York Yankees, and the Brooklyn Dodgers.[2]

The award has since been given annually to groups of players, managers, or coaches as well as iconic teams who are in some way linked together in baseball history.[1]

List of recipients

Year Winners Historical connection Ref.
1995 Willie Mays Trio of icon outfielders for the New York City Major League teams of the 1950s. [3]
Mickey Mantle
Duke Snider
1996 Phil Rizzuto Trio of shortstops for the New York City Major League teams of the 1940s and 1950s. [4]
Pee Wee Reese
Alvin Dark
1997 Cleon Jones Trio of outfielders for the 1969 New York Mets. [5]
Tommie Agee
Ron Swoboda
1998 Warren Spahn Pitching duo of the 1940s Boston Braves, immortalized in the poem "Spahn and Sain, then Pray for Rain!". [5]
Johnny Sain
1999 Tom Seaver Pitching duo who led the 1969 New York Mets to their first World Series title. [5]
Jerry Koosman
2000 Don Larsen Pitchers who threw perfect games for the New York Yankees. [5]
David Wells
David Cone
2001 Bobby Thomson The shot heard 'round the world, iconic walk-off home run in the third game of 1951 National League tie-breaker series. [6]
Ralph Branca
2002 Joe Torre Manager and coaches for three-peat World Series-winning New York Yankees (1998–2000). [5]
Don Zimmer
Mel Stottlemyre
2003 Bucky Dent The tie-breaking home run in the 1978 American League East tie-breaker game. [5]
Mike Torrez
2004 Keith Hernandez Star first basemen of the 1980s New York City baseball teams. [5]
Don Mattingly
2005 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' only title won in Brooklyn. [5]
2006 Bill Buckner Buckner's error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. [5]
Mookie Wilson
2007 Reggie Jackson Jackson's three-homer game in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. [5]
Charlie Hough
2008 Bob Gibson Top performers in the 1968 "year of the pitcher" season. [5]
Denny McLain
Luis Tiant
2009 Ed Kranepool Career-long players for their respective New York teams. [5]
Bernie Williams
2010 Derek Jeter The "Core Four" teammates of the World Series-winning New York Yankees teams of the 1990s and 2000s. [5]
Andy Pettitte
Mariano Rivera
Jorge Posada
2011 Joe Torre Retiring long-time baseball managers. [7]
Bobby Cox
Lou Piniella
2012 1962 New York Mets 50th anniversary of the inaugural season of the "Amazin' Mets". [8]
2013 1973 New York Mets 40th anniversary of the unlikely pennant-winning run of the 1973 Mets, defined by pitcher Tug McGraw's catchphrase "Ya Gotta Believe!". [9]
2014 Henry Aaron Aaron's 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record. [10]
Al Downing
2015 Sandy Koufax Koufax's perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. [11]
Bob Hendley
Vin Scully
2016 Tim Hudson Trio of ace pitchers for the Oakland Athletics, known collectively as the "Big Three". [12]
Mark Mulder
Barry Zito
2017 Dellin Betances Trio of formidable relief pitchers for the 2016 New York Yankees, combining for 41 saves and a 2.35 earned run average over 148 appearances. [13]
Aroldis Chapman
Andrew Miller
2018 1998 New York Yankees 20th anniversary of the 1998 World Series-winning Yankees, the first of three consecutive titles. [5]
2019 1969 New York Mets 50th anniversary of the World Series-winning run by the "Miracle Mets". [14]
2020 Al Leiter Go-ahead run in the top of the 9th-inning of Game 5 of the 2000 World Series, clinching a third consecutive title for the New York Yankees. [5]
Luis Sojo
2021 Mike Piazza Iconic home run at Shea Stadium after the 9/11 attacks. [5]
Steve Karsay
2022 Cast and crew of A League of Their Own 30th anniversary of the release of the film on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. [15]
2023 Gary Cohen Longest serving broadcasting team for the New York Mets. [16]
Ron Darling
Keith Hernandez
2024 John Olerud Infield for the 1999 New York Mets, dubbed the "Best Infield Ever" by Sports Illustrated. [17]
Edgardo Alfonzo
Rey Ordóñez
Robin Ventura

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Noble, Marty (January 21, 2016). "History of 'Willie, Mickey and the Duke' BBWAA award". MLB.com.
  2. ^ Hummel, Rick. "Character and Courage and Cooperstown". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
  3. ^ Jacobson, Steve (January 30, 1995). "Willie, Mickey and the Duke: Makers of Great Memories". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ Berkow, Ira (January 22, 1996). "Slick, Slicker, Slickest: Reese, Rizzuto, Dark". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award: List of recipients". New York Baseball Writers' Association of America.
  6. ^ "'51 Foes True to Each Other". Hartford Courant. February 5, 2001.
  7. ^ "Former Yankees manager Joe Torre 'back home' to accept Baseball Writers' award with Piniella, Cox". New York Daily News. January 23, 2011.
  8. ^ McCarron, Anthony (January 14, 2012). "If you think today's NY Mets are bad, then you must not remember the 1962 squad of Casey Stengel, Richie Ashburn and Marv Throneberry". New York Daily News.
  9. ^ Feinsand, Mark (November 14, 2012). "Cy Young or not, NY Mets' R.A. Dickey will earn Toast of the Town award from New York baseball writers". New York Daily News.
  10. ^ Wohl, Dan (January 26, 2014). "Watch Hank Aaron reminisce about HR No. 715 with Al Downing, the pitcher who surrendered it". MLB.com.
  11. ^ Pope, Bobby (February 16, 2015). "Hendley deserving of honor". Macon Telegraph.
  12. ^ Collier, Jamal (January 24, 2016). "Hudson, Mulder and Zito feted at BBWAA Awards". MLB.com.
  13. ^ Hoch, Bryan (January 22, 2017). "'No Runs DMC' trio honored by NY writers". MLB.com.
  14. ^ "Prize pitchers: Price, deGrom honored by NY baseball writers". USA Today. Associated Press. November 3, 2018. The Willie, Mickey & The Duke award will go to the 1969 Miracle Mets on the 50th anniversary of their championship season.
  15. ^ "Freeman voted Babe Ruth Award as postseason MVP by NY BBWAA". USA Today. Associated Press. November 6, 2021. Individuals from the 1992 movie "A League of Their Own" about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League will receive the Willie, Mickey & the Duke Award.
  16. ^ Sanchez, Robert (January 29, 2023). "Mets broadcast booth presented with Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award by BBWAA". SportsNet New York.
  17. ^ "Rangers' Adolis García voted postseason MVP by New York baseball writers". USA Today. Associated Press. November 30, 2023. The 1999 Mets infield of John Olerud, Edgardo Alfonzo, Rey Ordóñez and Robin Ventura will get the Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award.

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