Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera wins 2005 "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award"

from MLB.com
Award recognizes the most outstanding relief pitcher of the season Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees has been named the inaugural recipient of the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award" as the result of fan balloting on MLB.com, it was announced today. Throughout the voting process, Major League Baseball fans cast nearly 125,000 votes for the award on the official Web site of Major League Baseball.

This season, Rivera, who received 39,964 votes, accounting for 33 percent of the overall vote, helped the Yankees win their eighth consecutive AL East division title by saving 43 games in 47 opportunities. He finished with a 1.38 ERA, striking out 80 batters over 78.1 innings pitched while only allowing 50 hits. After he blew his second save of the season in early April, the right-hander went on to convert 31 consecutive save opportunities from April 9 through August 11. His 43 saves tied him for fourth overall in the Majors for the season.

Rivera's 379 saves are the most ever in the American League and puts him fifth on the all-time list. A member of four World Series champion teams with the Yankees, the 1999 World Series MVP has recorded 33 saves in October which is the highest in postseason history. The seven-time All-Star has led the AL in saves in three different seasons including 1999, 2001 and 2004.
In recognition of this honor, DHL will donate $5,000 to a local chapter of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the official charity of Major League Baseball, in Mariano Rivera's name. In addition, Rivera will be recognized in a special advertisement appearing tomorrow, October 14, in USA Today.

To create the ballot, an initial list of 15 relievers that had outstanding seasons was compiled by the editorial board of MLB.com. The 10 finalists were chosen from this list of nominees by a special Major League Baseball "yellow-ribbon" panel that consists of Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley; Darryl Hamilton, former Major League outfielder and MLB Radio Host; Jerome Holtzman, the official MLB Historian and a member of the writer's wing of the Hall of Fame; Rick Sutcliffe, 1984 NL Cy Young Award winner, ESPN and MLB International broadcaster; and Bob Watson, Vice President, On-Field Operations, Major League Baseball.

Throughout the 2005 season, this "yellow-ribbon" panel selected the relief pitcher who gave each month's most dominant performance for his respective Major League Baseball Club. The 2005 winners of the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award" include Jose Mesa (April), Trevor Hoffman (May), Chad Cordero (June), Brad Lidge (July), Todd Jones (August) and Ryan Dempster (September).

To further engage fans in the selection process, DHL introduced an online sweepstakes in conjunction with the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award." As part of the program, DHL will award one lucky fan with a trip for two to game four of the 2005 World Series.

OUTSTANDING!!