Leelanau Sports Guy’s World

I know you’ve all been driving yourself crazy waiting for it, well here it is, the 2006 Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes (DIBS) Awards…

Guillen Named DIBS Player of the Year
Rogers and Verlander also garner hardware

Detroit, Mich. — The Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes announced Tuesday (Nov. 28) the winners of the 2006 DIBS Awards. Shortstop Carlos Guillen was named the DIBS Player of the Year as voted on by DIBS members. Pitcher Kenny Rogers earned pitcher of the year honors with fellow starter Justin Verlander being recognized for his breakout season. In addition to the three regular season award winners, DIBS named Rogers its Postseason Performer.

Guillen earned the top honors after hitting .320 with 41 doubles while cracking the century mark in runs. The Tiger shortstop earned 13 first place votes and two second place votes.

Rogers posted a 17-8 record with a paltry 3.84 ERA, but that was the least of his contributions. His ability to teach and work with the young pitching staff proved equally as valuable to the Tigers run to a Wild Card. Rogers put an exclamation point on his season with three postseason wins, all shutouts while striking out 19 batters in 23.0 innings.

Verlander went 17-9 and a 3.63 ERA in his rookie campaign, tying Rogers for team lead in wins. He finished seventh in the American League in wins and ERA while earning Major League Baseball’s nod as Rookie of the Year.

Staff from 14 Tiger fan sites participated in the second annual award voting. Last year’s winners included Placido Polanco (Player), Jeremy Bonderman(Pitcher) and Chris Shelton (Breakout).

DIBS (Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes) are a collection of independent websites that cover the Detroit Tigers. Formed by Brian Borawski, Bill Ferris and Ryan Sosin in 2005 with the idea of uniting a community of fans and writers, DIBS is focused on improving and promoting the quality sports coverage taking place on the internet.

Player of the Year (FP votes)
1. Carlos Gullen (14) - My Vote!
2. Magglio Ordonez (0)
3. Kenny Rogers (1)

Pitcher of the Year (FP votes)
1. Kenny Rogers (9)
2. Justin Verlander (6) - My Vote!
3. Joel Zumaya (1)

Breakout Player of the Year (FP votes)
1. Justin Verlander (9) - My Vote!
2. Joel Zumaya (5)
3. Curtis Granderson (2)

Postseason Performer (FP votes)
1. Kenny Rogers (11) - My Vote!
2. Carlos Guillen (0)
3. Sean Casey (1)

View a list of current DIBS members!