Named after the first winner of the award, Ben McDonald of Arkansas, the trophy rewards the finest pitcher in the DMBL.

This year's award goes to....

Mark Buehrle, Columbia Rattlesnakes

It was quite a rookie season for Columbia's Mark Buehrle. After narrowly losing out the Listach Rookie of the Year Award to Hoboken's Joel Pineiro, Buehrle became the first rookie to win the McDonald Award. Buehrle led the league in ERA (2.32), runners per 9 innings (9.2) and quality start percentage (.806). Buehrle also compiled an 18-9 record and had five complete games and two shutouts. He led his team with 224 2/3 innings pitched. Not bad for a rookie!

Buehrle narrowly squeaked the victory past former winner Pedro Martinez of Arkansas. Martinez had two first place votes, winning 21 games, while losing only two and setting a new record with a .913 win percentage. Fellow rookie Joel Pineiro came in third in the voting, receiving one first place vote. Last year's winner, Newark's Randy Johnson finished fourth in the voting. Arkansas teammates Kevin Brown and Roger Clemens finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Points are scored as follows: 10 points for a first place vote, 7 for second, 5 for third, 3 for fourth, 2 for fifth and 1 for sixth.

Buehrle joins an impressive collection of pitchers who have formerly won the award. The all-time winners of the McDonald Award: