Justin Verlander added some more hardware to his trophy case on Friday night, picking up a 2011 GIBBY Award for Starter of the Year. In 2011 Verlander had already won the pitching Triple Crown, AL Cy Young, and AL Most Valuable Player Award. Now, he has a GIBBY -- here is the announcement via MLB Network:
Verlander won the award with 58-percent of the votes. Clayton Kershaw came in second with just under 22-percent.
Jose Valverde also won a GIBBY Award for Closer of the Year. The All-Star topped baseball with 49 saves in as many opportunities with a 2.24 Earned Run Average. Valverde blew away the competition for the award, picking up over 50-percent of the votes while second place, John Axford, only accumulated 13-percent. Craig Kimbrel finished in third with 11-percent of the votes.
The GIBBYs are awarded each year (for the last 10 years) to the best players at each position based on votes by the fans at MLB.com, media, front-office personnel and MLB alumni.