Accolades Continue: Polanco is Topps

St. Petersburg, FL (November 5, 2012) - Minor League Baseball™ and the Topps Company announced today that Gregory Polanco is among the honorees that have been selected as a league Topps Player of the Year in the annual George M. Trautman Awards. Polanco spent the entire 2012 season with the West Virginia Power, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was chosen as the Topps/ MiLB Player of the Year for the South Atlantic League.

Polanco hit .325 over 116 games in 2012 with 16 home runs, 85 runs batted in, and 40 stolen bases. The outfielder was selected as a mid-season and annual All-Star by the league. Polanco was signed by Pittsburgh as a non-drafted free agent in 2009 and held a .235 career average with six total home runs over three seasons in the Pirates minor league system prior to his breakout season with the Power.

Sixteen players were chosen by Topps and Minor League Baseball as the top individuals in their respective leagues. Darin Ruf, a Philadelphia Phillies prospect, was chosen as the best player in the International League after topping all Minor League players with 38 home runs during the 2012 season. Billy Hamilton was honored as the best player in the California league. Hamilton, a Cincinnati Reds farmhand, set a new single-season stolen base record with 155 while splitting time between two levels.

Pittsburgh had a second player receive accolades during this selection process. Dilson Herrera was chosen as the best player in the Gulf Coast League. The shortstop hit .281 with seven home runs and 27 runs batted in for the GCL Pirates, a club that won the league championship.

Topps salutes the top performances throughout Minor League Baseball, including monthly awards and all-star teams in each classification.

Read the full list from www.milb.com

For more information on this award or the upcoming off-season events at Appalachian Power Park, please call 304-344-2287.