The Rangers announced Thursday that the annual Dr. Pepper Texas Rangers Mid-Winter Awards Banquet will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29 at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel. Fans can purchase tickets ($60 each) on the club's website, texasrangers.com.
A quick sidebar: For those that haven't attended this event, it is a really nice way to kick off the baseball season and to quickly look back at the players that were special in 2009.
Elvis Andrus is one of those. He was an easy choice of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America as Rnagers rookie of the year. Other award winners will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Other notes from the team's release today:
Rangers pitcher Kevin Millwood is one of ten finalists for the 2009 Hutch Award, which is presented annually to the major league player who best exemplifies the honor, courage, and dedication of renowned baseball player and manager Fred Hutchinson, who passed away due to cancer in 1964 while managing the Cincinnati Reds. The award is presented each January in Seattle, home of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The winner will be selected in November.
Rangers C.J. Wilson and Michael Young are among the major league players who have been nominated for 2009 Jefferson Awards for Outstanding Community Service by an Athlete. Fans can help Wilson and Young join the list of finalists for the 2009 awards by voting at allstarshelpingkids.org/teammates.html. The voting continues through November 15. Wilson is also selling "Wolf Pack" tee-shirts, the same kind of shirts that were worn by the members of the Rangers' 2009 bullpen, at the Majestic Grand Slam Gift Shop at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Proceeds from the sale of the tee-shirts will benefit C.J. Wilson's Children's Charities.
Several Texas Rangers prospects have contributed for the division-leading Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League. RHP Danny Gutierrez improved to 2-0 with a win in Surprise's 10-9 road victory on Wednesday over the Peoria Saguaros. Gutierrez, who tossed 3.2 scoreless innings on Wednesday, has compiled 6.2 scoreless innings over 2 starts with the Rafters. RHP Brennan Garr worked a scoreless inning of relief in Wednesday's victory, recording a pair of strikeouts. RHP Tanner Scheppers, the club's supplemental first round draft selection this year, has made 2 appearances out of the bullpen for Surprise, recording 4 strikeouts over 3.0 innings of work. At the plate, OF Mitch Moreland has batted .313 (5-16) with one home run and 2 RBI over 4 games.
In other Winter League action, RHP Luis Mendoza has made a pair of starts for Obregon of the Mexican Winter League. Mendoza has gone 1-1, 2.45 (3 ER/11.0 IP) with 6 strikeouts against 2 walks.
LHP Matt Harrison was added to the Arizona Fall League roster as he continues to rehab from July 27 surgery to relieve Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in the Fall League on Tuesday, when Gutierrez and Scheppers are also slated to pitch. Harrison has not pitched in a game other than the Fall Instructional League since his last rehab start for Frisco on July 22.
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Richard Durrett
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.
Ben Rogers
Ben Rogers joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2009. He is one half of the "GameNight with Ben & Skin" show, heard weekdays from 6p-9p on 103.3 FM ESPN.
