Texas League Awards

20th Century Minor League Players of the Year

(Compiled by Baseball America)

Texas League members who were recognized in the list:

1924--Clarence "Big Boy" Kraft, 1b, Fort Worth
Kraft, 36, topped off a 15-year career by hitting .349 with 55 homers and a TL record 196 RBI's.

1931--Dizzy Dean, RHP, Houston at the height of the greatest offensive era in baseball history, Dean, 20, led the TL in wins (26) and strikeouts (303), and was second in the league in ERA (1.57).

1941--Howie Pollet, LHP, Houston Pollet, 19, went 20-3 with a league-leading 1.16 ERA and 151 strikeouts, which led to a pormotion to the Cardinals, where he finished the season with a 5-2, 1.93 record.

1959--Frank Howard, OF, Victoria/Spokane (Pacific Coast) Howard, 22, built his reputation as a basketball player at Ohio State but made his first mark in baseball by hitting .336-43-126.

1977--Ken Landreaux, OF, El Paso/Salt Lake (Pacific Coast) A year after starring at Arizona State, Landreaux, 22, hit a combined .357-27-116 in Double-A and Triple-A.

NOTE: Baseball America's Player of the Year Award began in 1981

1987--Gregg Jefferies, SS, Jackson batted .367 as a 19-year-old, with 20 home runs, 101 runs batted in, 48 doubles, 26 stolen bases and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.021.

1999--Rick Ankiel, LHP, Arkansas/Memphis (Pacific Coast) went a combined 13-3 with a 2.36 ERA and 194 strikeouts over 137 innings of work.

2004--Jeff Francis, LHP, Tulsa went 13-1 in 17 starts with the Drillers, compiling a 1.98 ERA in 113 2/3 innings, allowing just 73 hits, 22 walks and striking out 147 batters.

2006--Alex Gordon, 3B, Wichita clubbed 69 extra-base hits in his first minor league season, part of a 2006 campaign in which he batted .325, drove in 101 runs, scored 111 times and stole 22 bases.

2011--Mike Trout, OF, Arkansas hit .326 (115-for-353) in 91 games for the Travelers, driving in 38 runs with 11 home runs, 13 triples, 18 doubles and 33 stolen bases. He drew 45 walks and struck out 76 times, posting a .958 OPS and .544 SLG. He struggled in 40 games for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, batting .220 (27-for-123) with five home runs and 16 RBIs. He added 25 games for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League, but didn't return to his regular-season MVP level, hitting .245 (26-for-106) with a home run and five RBIs.

2012--Wil Myers, OF, became the third Royals prospect to win the prestigious award since its inception in 1981, joining Tom Gordon in 1988 and Alex Gordon in 2006. Myers, 21, began the season in Northwest Arkansas of the Double-A Texas League and batted .343 with 13 home runs and 30 RBIs in 35 games before a promotion to Triple-A Omaha (PCL) in mid-May. While with the Storm Chasers, Myers hit .304 (118-for-388) with 15 doubles, five triples, 24 home runs and 79 RBIs in 99 regular season games. Overall, his 37 home runs were the second-most in Minor League Baseball, one shy of 26-year-old Darin Ruf who hit 38 for Reading (Double-A Eastern League), while his 109 RBIs ranked fourth overall. The Royals' third-round selection out of high school in the June 2009 First-Year Player Draft collected two hits and drove in three runs for the U.S. squad at the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in Kansas City on July 8, then three days later was selected the "Star of Stars" for the Pacific Coast League in the Triple-A All-Star Game after recording two hits, including a double, with an RBI and a run scored. He was named to the 12-member postseason all Pacific Coast League All-Star squad and he was one of five finalists for USA Today Minor League Player of the Year honors.

Sporting News Minor League Players of the Year