MLB.com Launches Fan Voting for Annual Online Baseball Awards

NEW YORK -- MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball has announced the fan voting has begun for the sixth annual This Year in Baseball Awards, which provides fans around the world an opportunity to choose the top players and moments from the historic 2007 season. Over the previous five years of the awards, more than 11.5 million fan votes have been cast online at MLB.com. Online fan voting for the awards opened with Starting Pitcher of the Year on October 4 and will continue for each of the 11 categories through Wednesday, December 5. The winners will be unveiled exclusively during a special live broadcast on MLB.com after the conclusion of the Baseball Winter Meetings in December. The candidates for each award will be unveiled over the next month. Nominees for Starting Pitcher of the Year are: Josh Beckett; Fausto Carmona; John Lackey; C.C. Sabathia; Chien-Ming Wang; Erik Bedard; Cole Hamels; Jake Peavy; Johan Santana; and Brandon Webb. Fans can voice their opinions in the following 11 categories (previous winners included): * Starting Pitcher of the Year (Voting began October 4) (C. Wang - '06; C. Carpenter - '05; J. Santana - '04; M. Prior - '03; J. Smoltz - '02) * Single-Game Performance of the Year (October 8) (A. Pujols - '06; A. Rodriguez - '05; R. Johnson - '04; B. Mueller - '03) * Manager of the Year (October 11) (J. Leyland - '06; O. Guillen - '05; T. Francona - '04; D. Baker - '03) * Closer of the Year (October 15) (M. Rivera - '06, '05, '04) * Rookie of the Year (October 18) (F. Liriano -'06; R. Cano - '05; D. Wright - '04; S. Podsednik - '03) * Setup Man of the Year (October 22) (J. Zumaya - '06; N. Cotts - '05; F. Rodriguez - '04; B. Donnelly - '03; C. Hammond - '02) * Play of the Year (October 25) (M. Cabrera - '06; D. Wright - '05; D. Jeter - '04; R. Furcal - '03; T. Hunter - '02) * Defensive Player of the Year (October 29) (M. Lowell - '06; I. Suzuki - '05; J. Edmonds - '04, '03; T. Hunter - '02) * Hitter of the Year (November 1) (D. Jeter - '06; D. Ortiz - '05, '04; A. Pujols - '03; A. Rodriguez -'02) * Postseason Moment of the Year (November 5) (E. Chavez - '06) * Blooper of the Year (November 8) (S. Casey - '06; P. Martinez - '05; J. Michaels - '04; O. Osbourne - '03; M. Grace - '02)