The Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes (DIBS) are back at it again. Established in 2005, the ever-growing group of Internet-based baseball writers honors Detroit Tigers players through a list of traditional and wacky awards each offseason. This year, DIBS sent out a record number of ballots for a record-number of categories, as suggested by DIBS members each year. Twenty-two voters from 17 different sites voted on nine different categories.
Justin Verlander earned the title of Most Valuable Tiger, giving him his fifth DIBS victory. Earlier in his career, he was named 2010's Best Pitching Face, 2009's Tigers Pitcher of the Year, 2007's Tigers Pitcher of the Year and 2006's Breakout Player of the Year. (DIBS did not vote in 2008, although Verlander would have undoubtedly won for something.)
First-time winners in 2011 include Al Alburquerque (Best Rookie), Alex Avila (Best Hair), Victor Martinez(Best Victor Martinez) and Ramon Santiago, who earned DIBS' inaugural Best Roleplayer victory.
DIBS also fondly remembered Austin Jackson's double-play against the Indians as 2011's Best Moment, but had a three-way tie in 2011's Goofiest Moment.
Most Valuable Tiger -- Justin Verlander
With AL Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player victories, Verlander has a cupboard full of hardware already for his 2011 season. Unsurprisingly, he added another laurel after receiving 15 of 22 votes. Miguel Cabrera, Justgruel Cabrander, Alex Avila and Victor Martinez also received votes, but Verlander put in a season that won't soon be forgotten.
BYB Voting:
Kurt -- Justin Verlander
Alli -- Justguel Cabrander
Al -- Justin Verlander
Matt -- Justin Verlander
David -- Justin Verlander
Duh.
Best Rookie -- Al Alburquerque
When Alburquerque was signed during the last offseason and immediately put on the 40-man roster, a lot of people thought, "I know he's got a cool name, but aren't we getting ahead of ourselves?" When he started using his slider-fastball combination to rack up strikeout after strikeout, he quickly became a fan favorite. In fact, he played so well it was hard to remember there were other rookies. (Andy Dirks, Duane Below and Adam Wilk may have been the chief contenders for the award.)
BYB Voting:
Kurt -- Alburquerque
Alli -- Alburquerque
Al -- Alburquerque
Matt -- Alburquerque
David -- Alburquerque
Again ... duh.
Best Role Player -- Ramon Santiago
Recently, another group of voters named Don Kelly as the Tigers "10th man." DIBS tackled the same question, but came up with a better answer: Ramon Santiago. It feels like he's been a Tiger forever, but he has really come into his own during the past three years as a valuable member of the middle infield. Don Kelly, Phil Coke, Joaquin Benoit and Alex Avila also received votes.
BYB Voting:
Kurt -- Ramon Santiago
Alli -- Don Kelly
Al -- Ryan Raburn
Matt -- Ramon Santiago
David -- Ryan Raburn
We were a bit split here, but Alli does like her some Don Kelly. I thought Santiago was a valuable member of the team, the perfect complementary part that every team that makes a playoff run needs to have. Al and David like the guy who slugs every August and September.
Best Moment -- Austin Jackson's double-play throw to defeat the Indians on Aug. 21
This was a season with many great memories, including the team's first division title since 1987 and another AL Division Series victory over the Yankees. But the wise voters of DIBS remembered that before all that could occur, the Tigers had to dismiss Cleveland from the equation. On Aug. 21, the Tigers did just that when Austin Jackson caught a fly ball and threw out Kosuke Fukudome at home plate to end the game, 8-7, and secure a sweep of the Tribe. Other favorite moments include Victor Jose Martinez's "Vote for my Dad" All-Star press conference and the ALDS victory over New York.
BYB Voting:
Kurt -- Central Division clincher
Alli -- JV's no hitter
Al -- Jackson's DP
Matt -- Comeback vs White Sox
David -- Jackson DP
I actually heard Dan Dickerson make the Austin Jackson call when I was in my car. That was such an important moment in the season and such a good play, I had to honor it.
Team Clown -- Phil Coke
It didn't take Phil Coke's Brain to figure out who would win this award. Although Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera also received votes for their off-field shenanigans, Coke's genuine goofiness won over almost half of DIBS' voters. However, Verlander's ode to Bert Blyleven, giving Don Kelly the hot foot, helped him cruise to a second-place finish.
BYB Voting:
Kurt -- Coke
Alli -- JV
Al -- Coke
Matt -- Max Scherzer
David -- Coke
Coke's a goof. So is JV.
Best Hair -- Alex Avila
Avila could shave before the first inning and sport a full beard by the third. His 5 o'clock shadow begins at midnight. He was the clear winner in a category that featured a plethora of responses. Runners-up included Justin Verlander's arms, Jim Leyland's mustache, Daniel Schlereth's mullet-beard combo and Miguel Cabrera's mohawk. Phil Coke, Will Rhymes, Brennan Boesch and Brayan Villarreal also received votes.
BYB Voting:
Kurt - Coke
Alli - None
Al - Avila
Matt - Avila
David - Avila
I was actually surprised to look back and see that I voted for Coke. Maybe I got my categories confused.
Tiger Organization Name of the Year -- Doug Fister
DIBS voters liked the double-entendre that was Doug Fister. In a close vote, he snuck past Deik Scram and Al Alburquerque. Other well-named Tigers included Montreal Robertson of the Connecticut Tigers, former Tigers Casper Wells and Charlie Furbush, Wilson Betemit and Justin Verlander.
BYB Voting:
Kurt -- Chance Ruffin
Alli -- Casper Wells
Al -- Deik Scram
Matt -- Montral Robertson
David -- Doug Fister
BYB was obviously quite divided on this one!
Goofiest Moment -- 3 way tie
Any 162-game season is going to be filled with plenty of heartbreak and plenty of fun. This one was no different. In fact, voters came up with so many suggestions for this award that we had a three-way tie at four votes and a couple more with two votes. The tie featured Alex Avila's catchers mask throwing off sparks after being hit; Andy Dirks sprinting around the bases for an in-the-park home run despite the ball being caught, and Jim Leyland's pantomime argument with the ump; and Verlander's lighting Don Kelly's shoe on fire. Other receiving multiple votes included Justin Verlander's awkward balk against Oakland, Don Kelly pitching, Ryan Raburn's attempt to catch a fly ball resulting in a home run, and Victor Martinez dancing around home plate.
BYB Voting:
Kurt -- Run Dirks Run!
Alli -- Dancing V-Mart
Al -- Run Dirks Run!
Matt -- Run Dirks Run!
David -- Avila's helmet spark
In retrospect, I like Alli's answer the best. But Run Dirks Run did become a meme about BYB so I can understand how he carried the BYB vote.
Best Victor Martinez -- Sr.
When the Tigers signed "Victor Martinez," they actually got two Victor Martinezes for their money. Although young Victor Jose Martinez may win the award for cutest Tiger, he father edged him in voting for the best Victor Martinez, 12-9, with one vote for both. Senior's major league contributions give him the edge for now, but the smart money is on Victor Jose in the long run.
BYB Voting:
Kurt - Jr
Alli -- Jr
Al -- Jr
Matt -- Sr
David -- Sr
So as you can see, BYB is divided into the cool kids with a sense of humor, and people who like to watch prospects and have no fun. (Just kidding, Matt and David!)
List of voting 2011 DIBS voting members in no particular order:
There's a lot of Tigers sites out there, and we appreciate the fact so many of you visit Bless You Boys on a regular basis and enjoy what we do. It makes it all worth while. But we think it's our duty to make sure you go out and visit some of the sites you might not know about. So here's a list of all of the people who voted in this year's DIBS awards. Visit their sites, follow their RSS feeds, find them on Twitter, whatever. I think you'll find you enjoy quite a few of them -- hopefully all!
● Roar of the Tigers -- Samara Pearlstein
● Motor City Bengals -- John Parent
● Tiger Tales -- Lee Panas
● Phil Coke's Brain Matters -- Anonymous
● April in The D -- Laura, Megan and Rosie
● Fire Gerald Laird -- Greg Papke
● Tigers Amateur Analysis -- Erin Saelzler
● Where have you gone, Johnny Grubb? -- Greg Eno
● Detroit Tigers Scorecard -- Austin Drake
● Detroit Tigers Weblog -- Kevin Vela
● DesigNate Robertson -- Scott Rogowski
● Deetown Tigers -- Skip
● Detroit Jock City -- Zac Snyder
● Bless You Boys -- David Tokarz, Matt Wallace, Al Beaton, Kurt Mensching and Alli Hagen
● Mlive's Tigers coverage -- Matt Sussman, James Schmehl, Ian Casselberry
● Old English D -- Jen Cosey
Note: Casselberry also writes for SB Nation Detroit.