Awards Presented at International Congress | 
Today, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) named the federation’s top Senior Athlete, Junior Athlete, Coach, Umpire and Member Federation Executive, concluding its Congress this weekend. The awards had been presented on an annual basis until 2004 and have not been awarded since. The 2009 awards recognize achievements over the last two years, which is a period of time that allows the federation to consider athletes from at least one of its two professional events – the Baseball World Cup and World Baseball Classic, both of which are competed in every-four-years cycles – and both of its junior events – the “AAA”/18U World Junior Championships and the “AA”/16U World Youth Championships, which are competed in alternating every-other-year cycles.
The recipients of the awards and a brief summary of their achievements are as follows:
Senior Athlete – Justin Smoak (Triple-A Oklahoma City , MILB)
Junior Athlete – Yung-Hoon Sung (Doosan Bears, KBO)
Coach – Tatsunori Hara (Yomiuri Giants, NPB)
Umpire – Paul Hyham ( Australia )
Member Federation Executive – Juergen Elsishans (German Federation)
Justin Smoak
Senior Athlete – Justin Smoak ( USA )
Drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 2008 MLB Draft as the 11th overall selection, Smoak is currently playing for Triple-A Oklahoma City. His outstanding performance (a U.S. World Cup -record nine home runs and 22 runs) at the 2009 Baseball World Cup helped Team USA win its second consecutive World Cup gold medal. Smoak was named to the World Cup All-Tournament Team and was also named the World Cup’s Most Valuable Player.
Junior Athlete – Yung-Hoon Sung ( Korea )
Sung was the MVP of the 2008 IBAF “AAA”/18U World Junior Championships. In addition to a complete game win over Chinese Taipei, he also shut out the USA with nine strikeouts in the final. He recorded a 1.32 ERA, three wins and 36 strikeouts. Sung also started his professional career with the Doosan Bears in Korea in 2009. He logged a 3.38 ERA in nine appearances.
Coach – Tatsunori Hara ( Japan )
Drafted in the first round by the Yomiuri Giants, Hara was one of the most celebrated players in Japanese Professional Baseball in the 1980s, replacing the retired Sadaharu Oh as the cleanup hitter. As a player, he won numerous awards such as Rookie of the Year, MVP and RBI leader to name a few. Currently, Hara manages the Yomiuri Giants, and he has led the team to the Central League Championship four times and the Nippon Professional Baseball title twice. He was also named as Japan ’s manager for the 2009 World Baseball Classic and guided them to its second straight World Baseball Classic crown. He finished his successful 2009 season by adding more titles, leading the Giants to a 2009 Nippon Series win and the Japan/Korea Club Championship title.
Umpire – Paul Hyham ( Australia )
Hyham is an excellent international umpire with outstanding performances at international competitions. Tournaments he has worked include the IBAF 2007 Asian Olympic Qualification/Asian Championship, the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
Member Federation Executive – Juergen Elsishans (German Federation)
As the Vice President of the German Baseball and Softball Federation and the Co-Chairman of the Regensburg Local Organizing Committee for the 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup, Elsishans successfully organized the first round of the World Cup in Regensburg . The city hosted record crowds in excess of 5,000 for almost each of the three days of the competition, highlighted by a crowd of almost 10,000 fans for the USA vs. Germany game.
“The IBAF congratulates each of our award winners and the member federations which they represent,” said Schiller. “International baseball has witnessed extraordinary achievements over the past two years, and we look forward to future success stories in the years to come.”
Topics: Alternating Every Other Year, awards, baseball world cup, Chinese Taipei, Congress Today, doosan bears, German Federation, IBAF, International, International Congress, Junior Athlete, Justin Smoak, Kbo, Member Federation, MLB Draft, Professional Events, Texas Rangers, World Baseball, World Junior Championships, World Youth Championships, Yomiuri Giants
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