I'm just going to cut and paste this exactly as it is in the press release. Congratulations to all winners. We have some good young players coming up in our system and, of course, Randy Ruiz, who isn't so young but is good.
BLUE JAYS ANNOUNCE 2009 WEBSTER AWARD WINNERS
The TORONTO BLUE JAYS are pleased to announce the following players have been selected as this year’s recipients of the R. HOWARD WEBSTER AWARDS, recognizing the most valuable players at each of the Club’s minor league affiliated teams: 1B/DH RANDY RUIZ, 1B BRIAN DOPIRAK, OF MOISES SIERRA, OF JOHERMYN CHAVEZ, C/1B SEAN OCHINKO, C CARLOS PEREZ and LHP JOSE VARGAS. The awards are named in honour of R. Howard Webster, the first Chairman of the Board for the Toronto Blue Jays.
RANDY RUIZ (Designated Hitter/First Baseman) – .320, 25 HR & 106 RBI
6-3, 250, Age-31, Born-Bronx, NY
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Las Vegas – Pacific Coast League (AAA)
· Pacific Coast League MVP
· Led the Pacific Coast League in RBI (106), 2B (43) and XBH (70)
· Pacific Coast League mid and year end All-Star selection
· Named the Organizational Player of the Month for July (.336, 8 HR, 26 RBI)
· Is currently tied with Aaron Hill for the Organizational lead in home runs with 32
· Has hit seven home runs in 87 at bats (24 games) with Toronto this season
· Homered in his 2nd at bat as a Blue Jay on Aug. 11 at Yankee Stadium
· Became just the 2nd Blue Jay in Club history to have his first two hits come as home runs (Doug Ault in first ever game 4/7/77 vs. CWS.)
BRIAN DOPIRAK (First Baseman) - .308, 19 HR & 68 RBI
6-4, 220, Age-25, Born-Tampa, FL
Throws: Right Bats: Right
New Hampshire Fisher Cats – Eastern League (AA)
· Combined to hit .317 with 42 doubles, 27 home runs & 102 RBI between both New Hampshire (AA) and Las Vegas (AAA) this season
· Twice named Eastern League Player of the Week (April 27-May 3 and June 16-21)
· Named an Eastern League Mid-Season & Post-Season All-Star
· Named minor league Star of the Month for both April (.313, 4 HR, 14 RBI) and June (.360, 7 HR, 19 RBI)
· Marks his 2nd time winning the R. Howard Webster Award, doing so last season with the Dunedin Blue Jays (A)
MOISES SIERRA (Outfielder) – .286, 5 HR, 56 RBI
6-0, 225, Age-21, Born-Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Dunedin Blue Jays – Florida State League (A Advanced)
· Combined to hit .292 with 25 doubles, six home runs and 62 RBI between Dunedin (A) and New Hampshire (AA)
· Named the Florida State League Player of the Week from June 8-14
· Named a Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star
· Named Organizational Player of the Month for June (.384, 2 HR, 19 RBI)
JOHERMYN CHAVEZ (Outfielder) – .283, 21 HR, 89 RBI
6-3, 220, Age-20, Born-Turmero, Aragua, Venezuela
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Lansing Lugnuts – Midwest League (A)
· Lansing Player of the Month for April (.349, 4 HR, 14 RBI, .667 Slug.)
· Led the Lugnuts in batting (.283), home runs (21) and RBI (89)
· 2nd in the Midwest League in home runs and t3rd in RBI.
· Named Midwest League Player of the Week (Apr. 20-26)
· Two time Webster Award Winner (2007 – Gulf Coast Blue Jays)
· Signed as an International amateur free agent, 2005
SEAN OCHINKO (Catcher/First Baseman) – .324, 6 HR, 32 RBI
5-11, 210, Age-21, Born-Parkland, FL
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Auburn Doubledays – New York-Penn League (A-short)
· Made his professional debut in 2009, selected in the 11th round of the First Year Player Draft
· Auburn Player of the Month for August (.356, 3 HR, 17 RBI)
· Led the Doubledays in batting (.324), on-base (.382) and slugging (.527)
· 2nd in NY-Penn League in batting and 2nd in on-base+slugging (.908)
CARLOS PEREZ (Catcher) - .291, 1 HR & 21 RBI
6-0, 193, Age-18, Born-Valencia, Venezuela
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Gulf Coast Blue Jays – Gulf Coast League (Rookie)
· Wins his 2nd consecutive Webster Award, winning last year with the Dominican Summer League club
· Led the club in batting (.291), on-base (.364) and slugging (.433)
· Signed as an International amateur free agent, 2008
JOSE VARGAS (Pitcher)– 6-3, 1.34 ERA, 67 IP, 52 H, 17 BB, 51 K
6-0, 166, Age-20, Born-Macaracas Los Santos, Panama
Throws: Left Bats: Left
DSL Blue Jays – Dominican Summer League
· Led the DSL Blue Jays entry in wins (6), ERA (1.34) and T-1st in innings pitched (67).
· Did not allow a home run in his 67 innings.
· 6th in the DSL in ERA
Other Webster winners on Toronto’s current Major League roster include ROY HALLADAY (Dunedin - 1996), AARON HILL (New Hampshire - 2004) ADAM LIND (3, Auburn - 2004, Dunedin - 2005, New Hampshire - 2006), DAVID PURCEY (Syracuse - 2008), TRAVIS SNIDER (2, Pulaski - 2006, Lansing - 2007), BRETT CECIL (Auburn - 2007) and MARC RZEPCZYNSKI (Lansing - 2008).