Oct. 26, 2004
St. Petersburg, FL -
Dallas McPherson, slugging third baseman in the Anaheim Angels' organization, continued his impressive drive toward Major League stardom with strong performances at two levels in 2004 to earn the 45th annual J. G. Taylor Spink Award as the Topps/Minor League Player of the Year. He batted .317 with 40 homers, the second highest total in all of Minor League Baseball, and had 126 runs-batted-in.
McPherson, 24, split the season between the Arkansas Travelers (Double-A Texas League) and the Salt Lake Stingers (Triple-A Pacific Coast League) and was equally proficient in each league. His nearly identical statistical lines:
Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI
Arkansas .321 68 262 53 84 17 6 20 69
Salt Lake .313 67 259 54 81 19 8 20 57
McPherson, in his fourth pro season after being drafted in the second round out of The Citadel in 2001, had played just 28 games above the Class A level prior to this season. He had a few growing pains and was batting .192 two weeks into the season. Then the 6-4, 230-pound lefthanded hitter from Randleman, NC, went 8-for-9 in back-to-back games and was on his way.
He had no such problem adjusting to his first look at Triple-A pitching after a promotion in mid-June, going 3-for-3 with a double and homer in his first start. Finishing 2004 in Anaheim, Dallas also went 3-for-3 in his first MLB start, finishing with 3 homers and 6 RBIs in 16 games.
McPherson will receive the award at Major League Baseball's annual meetings this winter in Anaheim, CA.
Recent winners of the Spink Award include such Major League stars as Josh Beckett of Florida (2001); Eric Chavez of Oakland (1999); Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox (1997); Andruw Jones of Atlanta (1996); Johnny Damon of Boston (1995); and Derek Jeter of the Yankees (1994).
This marks the second such award for McPherson as he was honored by The Sporting News as the 2004 Minor League Player of the Year.
