Mao Whiffs on Awards
Chairman Mao was the talk of the BBA season when he was making a run at the HR and RBI record in June. However, by the end of the season he was surpassed by teammate Francisco Medina and came away with no post season awards.
After winning the JL Puckett for 1B two out of the last 3 seasons, Mao faced stiff competition from two rookies, San Antonio’s Larry Stinson and Edmonton’s Carlomaria Donadoni. Stinson walked away with both the Gillstrom Award and the Puckett this year and Donadoni finished 2nd in the Gillstrom voting. Three of the top BBA 1B in the BBA, all in the same division and the oldest is Mao at 25.
Despite this, Mao still had an amazing seasons. He hit 53 HR, 149 RBIs and a 1.007 OPS. He was tied for 3rd in the BBA in HR and placed 4th in the league in RBIs. He was 1 of 8 players to play in all 162 games and he made his 3rd All Star team. He also led the JL with 27 HP.
“I voted for him for the Puckettt and the Zimmer,” GM Kevin Dickson said. “However I can’t complain about him not getting those because this league has some great first baseman.”
Mao has emerged in his 4 seasons as one of the top hitters in the league. He is a career .313 hitter, with a 1.013 OPS. He has hit 178 HR and driven in 474 runs. He has also emerged as a top fielding first baseman with his +7.7 ZR after the +6.2 he had in 2041. He signed a 3 year contract extension near the end of the season for $29.8 million.
