2009 DMBL Ben McDonald Award for Pitching

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....

Roy Halladay, Carolina

This was one of the closest votes as Halladay only won by three points over Las Vegas' Tim Lincecum. Halladay finished the year 16-10. He lead the league with a 2.72 ERA and 1.04 WHIP and was second with 222 strikeouts. He also led the league in opponents' on base percentage (.272), OPS against (.638), walks per 9 innings (1.3), strikeout to walk ratio (6.0), runners per 9 innings (9.8), quality starts (26), innings (248.1), and complete games (10).

Halladay was originally drafted in 1999 by Philadelphia in the 9th round, but spent the entire season in the minors. Halladay debuted with the Eagle Wings in 2000 but struggled. He finished 7-13 with a 6.59 ERA in 33 starts, and Philadelphia did not protect him. But Halladay was determined to make it back to the show and Carolina put their confidence behind him, drafting him with the 11th overall pick in 2002. Halladay improved greatly, going 11-13 with a respectable 4.06 ERA in 32 starts. Then in 2003, Halladay really became the ace. Halladay didn't have another losing season until 2008, winning at least 12 games in every season.

Las Vegas' Lincecum had an impressive season as well, winning 19 and losing only 3 with a 3.15 ERA and leading the league with 246 strikeouts. Finishing third and garnering the other 2 first place votes was Newark's Chien Ming Wang who led the league with 21 wins. Marietta's John Danks finished fourth, and Newark's rookie closer Joey Devine finished 5th.

PLAYER TEAM 1 2 3 4 5 6 PTS
Roy HalladayCAR43110069
Tim LincecumLV33300066
Chien-Ming WangNWK21211042
John DanksMAR02222135
Joey DevineNWK00122116
Cole HamelsSAR0000339
Brandon WebbPHI0002006
Joba ChamberlainSAR0001203
Mariano RiveraMAR0000102
Chris VolstadAMI0000022
Jeremy GuthrieHBK0000011
Adam WainwrightBR0000011

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.

The all-time winners of the McDonald Award:

BEN MCDONALD AWARD WINNERS
PLAYER YEAR TEAM
Roy Halladay2009CAR
Jake Peavy2008VAN
Johan Santana2007PHI
Pedro Martinez2006ARK
Johan Santana2005PHI
Tim Hudson2004CAR
Curt Schilling2003ARK
Mark Buehrle2002COL
Randy Johnson2001NWK
Pedro Martinez2000ARK
Pedro Martinez and Kevin Brown1999ARK
Greg Maddux1998VAN
Greg Maddux1997VAN
Greg Maddux1996VAN
Sid Fernandez1994SAC-AUS
Roger Clemens1993AUS
Nolan Ryan1992AUS
Ben McDonald1991ARK