Brewers team awards

Hall selected as Brewers' MVP (from jsonline.com)

Bill Hall, who took over as the everyday shortstop in mid-May when starter J.J. Hardy was lost with an ankle injury, today was named the Milwaukee Brewers' most valuable player for the 2006 season.

Hall, 26, was named first on 10 of the 11 ballots cast by members of the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He led the club with 35 home runs and 85 RBI, batting .270 in 148 games with 39 doubles, also a club high, and four triples.

Hall also was named the recipient of the club's "Good Guy" Award, given to a player for his cooperation and interaction with the media. Hall edged reliever Matt Wise by one point, on a point system in which three points were given for first-place votes, two points for second-place votes and one for a third-place vote. Thirteen different players received votes for the award.

In an award presented by the club, Hall also was named the recipient of the Michael Harrison Award for Community Service.

Closer Francisco Cordero edged left-hander Chris Capuano for the team's most valuable pitcher. Cordero, acquired from Texas on July 28 in the Carlos Lee trade, went 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 16 saves in 28 appearances. Capuano, who made the National League all-star team, had one more first-place vote than Cordero but Cordero had four second-place votes and three thirds, giving him 23 points to 19 for Capuano, who finished with an 11-12 record after going 1-8 in the second half.

Hall and Capuano left today for Japan to play in with a group of touring major leaguers against stars from the Japanese Leagues.

First baseman Prince Fielder earned the Brewers' top newcomer award with a strong rookie campaign. Fielder batted .271 with 28 home runs - a club rookie record - and 81 RBI in a team-high 157 games. Fielder led all NL rookies in homers and ranked among the leaders in RBI, extra-base hits (64), runs (82), total bases (275), doubles (35) and multi-hit games (41).

Veteran infielder Jeff Cirillo picked up the unsung hero award, capitalizing on his team-high .319 batting average. Cirillo made starts at all four infield positions, showing his versatility when injuries struck the team.