2009 DMBL Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award

Named after the phenom Columbia Crusaders shortstop in 1993, who batted .315 in 161 games, the Pat Listach Award has stood for excellence among first year players in the DMBL. The Listach Award first was awarded in 1998 to Nomar Garciaparra of the Phoenix Dragons, who was also the first pick in that year's draft.

This year's award goes to....

Shin Soo Choo, Hillsborough

Lots of rookies got votes, and Choo didn't even get the most first place votes, but Choo was the only rookie to appear on all nine ballots that were submitted. Choo was a first round pick by Hillsborough (#7 overall) and helped the Hitmen return to the playoffs and almost win the division. The Hitmen fell just one game short of appearing in their first World Series. Choo struggled in his first playoff appearance (.190/.292/.333 in 42 at bats), but the team has high hopes for the rookie. In the regular season, Choo batte .290 with a solid .363 OBP and an impressive .565 slugging. He hit 51 doubles, 33 home run, drove in 90 runs and scored 100. He led all rookies in SLG, OPS, doubles, runs, extra base hits, total bases, runs created, and RC/27. He also tied for the rookie lead in home runs and was second in batting average, hits, and RBIs.

Coming in second in the voting was Newark's closer Joey Devine. Devine led the voting with 3 first-place votes, but was left off the ballot 4 times. Devine led the league in saves, but the rookie already has one award under his belt (Devine won this year's Dennis Eckersley Award) so maybe the voters wanted to spread the love. In third was Amityville's Chris Volstad, who also had two first place votes. The other two first place votes went to Skip Schumaker of Arkansas and Joba Chamberlain of Sardine City.

PLAYER TEAM 1 2 3 PTS
Shin Soo ChooHIL25227
Joey DevineNWK30217
Chris VolstadAMI20414
Skip SchumakerARK1108
John BakerCAR0206
Joba ChamberlainSAR1005
Jay BruceDC0103
Elijah DukesNJ0011

Choo is the second Hitman to win the prize.

last year's winner: Dustin Pedroia
PAST LISTACH AWARD WINNERS
PLAYER YEAR TEAM
Shin Soo Choo2009HIL
Dustin Pedroia2008CAR
Francisco Liriano2007MAR
Ryan Howard2006HIL
Victor Martinez2005VAN
Marcus Giles2004NWK
John Lackey2003PHX
Joel Pineiro2002HBK
Barry Zito2001CAR
Homer Bush2000VAN
John Rocker1999ARK
Nomar Garciaparra1998PHX