Baseball Ireland Annual Awards Ceremony
September 16th 2006 @ the Mercantile Bar, Dublin

With the end of the Irish Baseball Season came the always anticipated, always enjoyable 'End of Season Awards night'. Down the years this has been held in popular venues such as Crowes, the Vault, and most recently the Mercantile. The bar allowed us use a function room down in the lower floor, with our own bar and great atmospheric mood lighting.

Along with the presentation of the team medals and cups, up for grabs this year were The 'Andy Leonard 'League MVP Award and The 'Tommy Bond' Best Pitcher Award. Since 2005, the annual individual Irish League awards given out have an Irish Flavour in an effort to pay homage to the great Irish players who played in the Major Leagues from years gone by. For example, instead of the traditional Cy Young Award being given to the League's Top Pitcher, recipients are presented with the 'Tommy Bond' Best Pitcher Award. Check the bottom of this post for other award titles and a brief biography of the great men who deserve such recognition.

The 'Tommy Bond' Best Pitcher Award went to the man who really did deliver the title to the Spartans. Chaime Cuevas picked up the award for the second time, he also won it in 2003. Chaime had a sensational year on the mound, time after time confusing hitters with his amazing mix of fastball/changeup and an ability to put pitches exactly where he wants them. The Magnificent Mexican was streets ahead of the competition in 2006 and accepted his award with his usual grace and class.




























The prestigious 'Andy Leonard 'League MVP Award went to someone who has come to be the poster boy for Irish Baseball, and deservedly so, Darran O'Connor. Darran was a superb leader on and off the field for the Spartans in 2006, if you had to liken him to a MLB player the one he would be closest to would be Derek Jeter (They both play short too!). Darran led the Spartans to the title and played a vital role in the Irish National Team's march to the final of the European Pool B Championships in Belgium, delivering clutch hits and some absolutely sensational defensive plays along the way in a busy and fruitful 2006 season for him, the Irish Team and the Spartans. No player deserved this award more than the talented, always reliable and loyal servant to Irish Baseball since it's inception in 1996. Kind of cool that ten years after the National team came into existence, one of its original players wins the leagues MVP award, nice symmetry!

You can have a look at the winners of all the awards in Irish Baseball since the leagues inception in 1997 here on the Baseball Ireland website, managed and maintained by Mike Kindle.

A little more on the guys who the awards were named after:

The 'Andy Leonard 'League MVP Award
Andy Leonard from Co Cavan, was indeed one of the nine "First Boys of Summer" and the only Irish-born player on the World Champion Cincinnati Red Stockings team of 1869 and the very first in professional baseball. He continued his feats and helped create and sustain the original Boston Red Stockings championship dynasty from 1872 through 1876 and again in 1878, competing all tolled in six world championships. (Yes, before the drought brought on by the "Curse of the Bambino", first Cincinnati, then Boston was the glory of 19th century baseball.)

He had the joint 2nd best career average for an Irish player of .299. He was said to be the finest left fielder of his generation. He took particular delight in returning in 1874 during an exhibition tour of the Red Stockings and the runner-up Philadelphia Athletics. In his diary and press clippings of that year, Andy and his life-long friend Harry Wright were the leading batsmen as the Yanks walloped the then reigning Marybone champions in London at their own game, cricket.

The 'Tommy Bond' Best Pitcher Award
Tommy Bond was born in Granard in Co Longford in 1856. He became the first triple crown pitcher when he led the National League with 40 wins, 170 strikeouts, and a 2.11 ERA for Boston in 1877.