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GRIMES GRABS LEAGUE'S TOP HONOR AND NATIONAL ACCLAIM TO CAP CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
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Is One Of Club-record Six Revs Named To Atlantic League's Postseason All-star Team; League-record Five Revs Named First Team All-stars
Fresh off the heels of winning the club’s first ever Atlantic League championship, the York Revolution can boast another franchise-first: centerfielder and leadoff man Scott Grimes has been named Atlantic League Player of the Year, the first such honor for any Revolution player. He shares the league’s top honor for a position player with Lancaster third baseman Aaron Herr, and is one of a club-record six Revs named to the Atlantic League’s Postseason All-Star Team. The Revs placed five players on the First Team All-Star squad, the most selections from one team in league history.
Grimes enjoyed one of the greatest offensive seasons in Atlantic League history. He shattered the league’s runs scored record by crossing the dish an eye-popping 138 times in 132 games, the most runs scored by any player in professional baseball during the 2010 season. Grimes broke the league’s record by a whopping 19 runs, and scored 30 more runs than any other player in the league this season. His biggest run came in the tenth inning of Game 3 of the Atlantic League Championship Series, the winning run in York’s 5-4 title-clinching victory.
Grimes often set himself up to score by his own doing, blasting 17 homeruns, while ranking 3rd in the league with 162 hits, 2nd in extra-base hits (57), 3rd in total bases (261), 5th in doubles (32), and 3rd in total hits (162). Grimes also set Revs’ records with 84 walks while being hit by a pitch 24 times, leading the league in both categories. His .429 on-base percentage ranked 3rd in the league, and his .312 batting average placed 9th. The all-around talent also set Revs single-season records with 28 steals and 8 triples.
Grimes is no stranger to MVP accolades. The 27-year-old was also named Player of the Year in the Can-Am League in 2008, when he set that league’s runs scored record.
Another Revolution player who heads home with MVP honors is Ramon Castro, who was named Postseason MVP, while also being selected a First Team All-Star at the Utility position. Castro set Revs season records by finishing with a .339 batting average, a .437 on-base percentage, and 37 doubles, ranking 2nd in the league in all three categories. He was also a vacuum at third base, authoring a 68-game errorless streak from May 15-July 29. Castro went on to bat .375 in the postseason, ranking 1st among all hitters in the Championship Series. His final highlight was driving in the championship-clinching run on a tenth-inning sac fly in Game 3. The All-Star selection is the third for Castro in his Atlantic League career, having been named to the team in each of his three full seasons, spanning the last four years.
First baseman Ian Bladergroen is a First Team All-Star selection, following a career-best power-hitting season for the slugger. Bladergroen batted .280 while setting career-highs with 17 homeruns and 86 RBI, which tied for 4th most in the league. Bladergroen enjoyed some of the greatest single-game performances in team history this season, including a pair of two-homerun games, and the Revs’ first-ever three-homer game, August 15 at Lancaster. He enjoyed three separate games where he drove in six RBI, including Game 2 of the Atlantic League Championship Series against Bridgeport. Bladergroen led all playoff hitters with 8 postseason RBI, including the only RBI in York’s 1-0 win vs. Somerset in Game 5 of the Freedom Division Championship Series, lifting the Revs into the finals.
James Shanks is a First-Team All-Star selection as an Outfielder for the second straight year, joining Grimes as the Revs placed two outfielders on the First Team. Shanks had a huge season at the plate, batting .325 which ranked 5th in the league, while clubbing a career-high and team-leading 19 homeruns, and matching Bladergroen for 4th in the league with 86 RBI, 61 of which came from July 4-on. Shanks led the league with 172 hits, just seven shy of the league-record. His hit total shattered the Revs’ previous season record of 140, and was nine more than any other player in the league this season. His 266 total bases were also a Revs record, and finished just one behind the league’s top total. His 91 runs scored tied for third most in the circuit.
Designated Hitter Jose Herrera rounds out York’s First Team All-Star selections, the third All-Star nod of his Atlantic League career. Herrera finished a close second to Castro in the race for the Revs’ team batting record; his .337 average ranked 3rd in the league this season, and was even higher than his career .325 Atlantic League average entering the season. Herrera finished 3rd in the league with a team-best 87 RBI, and batted .431 with runners in scoring position from July 14-on. Herrera also placed in the top five in the league with 159 hits.
Reliever Sean Stidfole received Second Team All-Star honors, after ringing up a team-best 1.90 ERA and 11 saves (career-high), which he accomplished in a league-record 68 appearances. A native of Central Pennsylvania (New Bloomfield, PA), Stidfole was virtually untouchable on a stretch that spanned from May 19 through June 22, when he strung together a team-record 18.1-inning / 17-appearance scoreless streak.
Prior to the 2010 Championship season, the Revs had only recorded two First Team All-Star selections and six total postseason All-Star nods in their club’s history.
