Looks like Louisville Slugger Could be in the #imwith28 camp. The Silver Slugger Ballots are out and Murphy is listed as a second baseman generating “buzz” (see press release below).
In addition, Louisville Slugger is:
asking fans to tweet at @sluggernation using #SilverSlugger with which players they think should win a Silver Slugger Award. Tweeting with the hashtag enters them into a giveaway to win a full-size silver bat with the Silver Slugger logo! We’re picking one winner a week until the awards in the first week of November.
(Obviously add in #imwith28)
So in this miserable season there is a chance that Daniel Murphy of all players could win an award.
LOUISVILLE, KY (September 2013) – The MLB® regular season is winding down, but award season is heating up, and it’s time to determine the best offensive players in the game this year. The 2013 Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Ballots are now in the hands of MLB managers and coaches, and all that’s left is to collect the votes to conclude who will win the coveted award for offensive talent in the American and National Leagues.
Here’s how it works: each Major League® team receives blank ballots from Louisville Slugger, the Official Bat of MLB. Clubs get four votes each and are asked to select the players they feel are the best offensive producers at each position in their league. Selections are based on a combination of offensive statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, as well as the coaches’ and managers’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value. While managers and coaches vote for players in their respective leagues, they are not allowed to vote for players on their own teams. Votes are affirmed by a third party, the independent accounting firm of Mountjoy Chilton Medley. For the fifth consecutive year, award winners will be announced in a special one-hour Silver Slugger Awards telecast on MLB Network the first week of November.
The Silver Slugger Awards are the most prestigious offensive awards in Major League Baseball. Louisville Slugger created them in 1980 as a natural extension of the Silver Bat Award, which is presented to the batting champions in the AL and NL.
Players who are already generating buzz of possibly winning 2013 Silver Slugger awards [include]:
2nd Base – National League
Marco Scutaro, San Francisco Giants
Daniel Murphy, New York Mets
Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds*
Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
3rd Base – National League
Chris Johnson, Atlanta Braves
David Wright, New York Mets*
Martin Prado, Arizona Diamondbacks
Pedro Alvarez, Pittsburgh Pirates
It’s Matt Carpenter in a runaway, but Murphy’s should be “in the running” for whatever that’s worth