Thames Wins Blue Jays R. Howard Webster Award

Manchester, NH- The Toronto Blue Jays, parent club of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, announced that Eric Thames was named the 2010 Double-A winner of the R. Howard Webster Award, recognizing the top player at each minor league level in the Blue Jays' organization.  Thames will be honored during an on-field ceremony at Rogers Centre in Toronto prior to the Blue Jays/Baltimore Orioles 1:07pm game on Saturday, September 25.

 

Thames batted .288 with 27 homeruns and 104 RBIs during the Fisher Cats 2010 campaign.  Thames led the Blue Jays' minor league system in RBIs (104).  The 23-year old also led the Eastern League in RBIs (104), was tied for first in extra-base hits (58) and was tied for second in homeruns (27).  This season Thames was named to the Eastern League Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star teams. 

 

On August 30 at Merchantsauto.com Stadium, Thames tied the Fisher Cats all-time homerun record previously set by Chip Cannon in 2006.

 

Originally a seventh-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2008 amateur entry draft, Thames was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the West Coast Conference while playing for Pepperdine University.  Last year Thames made his minor league debut playing for both the Gulf Coast Blue Jays (Rookie) and the Dunedin Blue Jays (Advanced A) and was named a Mid-Season All-Star in the Florida State League.

 

Catcher J.P. Arencibia, who played for the Fisher Cats in 2008, was named the Las Vegas 51s (Triple-A) Webster Award winner.  Here are all of this year's Webster Award winners:

 

Las Vegas 51s (AAA) - J.P. Arencibia, C

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA) - Eric Thames, OF

Dunedin Blue Jays (A Advanced) - Mike McDade, 1B

Lansing Lugnuts (A) - Sean Ochinko, IF

Auburn Doubledays (A Short) - Carlos Perez, C

Gulf Coast Blue Jays (Rookie) - Jacob Marisnick, OF

DSL Blue Jays (Dominican Summer League) - Eyerys Guerrero, P

 

Previous winners of the Webster Award for the Fisher Cats are Brian Dopirak (2009), Scott Campbell (2008), David Smith (2007), Adam Lind (2006), Josh Banks (2005) and Aaron Hill (2004).

 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 2011 Full- and Half-Season Tickets are on sale now, and tickets to the 2010 Granite State Baseball Dinner, presented by Northeast Delta Dental, scheduled for Saturday, November 20, are also on sale now by calling (603) 641-2005 or visiting www.nhfishercats.com. 

 

-Fisher Cats-