In the top rookie award article, I highlighted all of the accomplishments of Mauro Esperanda. He was a worthy candidate for the top rookie as well as the top reliever award. Again, he was elected as an All-Star to the Frick League squad this season for his efforts in the first half of the season as a worthy reliever in the Portland pen. However, he'll fall short again of another team award as we're giving our top rookie award yet again to Frank Wilson.
I say yet again because it is the third consecutive season Wilson has won the award. He joins the great Lorenzo de'Medici as the only Lumberjacks player to win a team award three consecutive seasons and joins de'Medici and Ken Sparks as the only players to win a Portland team award three times in their careers.
Do I need to remind you how crazy the Wilson story is? If you said no, too bad, it's coming anyway. If your new to the league since 2059, then here's your first dose of this. Frank Wilson is 34 years old. So what, you might say. Frank Wilson joined the Lumberjacks when he was 32 as a free agent. Again, big whoop. Well, Frank Wilson didn't pitch for 5 years before that. Yep, that's right. He pitched with Rockville from 2052-2054 then just never pitched again until 2059. Not in the minors. Not in the GBC. Nowhere. He just vanished from baseball until he reemerged with Portland in 2059 and set the franchise's single season saves record that year with 50.
And here he is in 2061 winning his third straight reliever award after appearing in 66 games and logging 77.1 innings this season. Over that span he posted an 8-6 overall record with 36 saves. He had a 3.03 ERA and 1.09 WHIP that led to a bullpen high 2.0 WAR on the season. Those 36 saves tie him with Xuan Ngo for the 2nd most saves in a single season in Portland history, 14 shy of the single season record Wilson set himself in 2059. They also helped him surpass Ngo's 105 career saves, propelling Wilson into the top spot for most saves in a career in Portland history. Wilson currently sits at 111 saves with the franchise. He surpassed Ngo's mark earlier in September in a save against the Valencia Stars.
