Burrell, Helling win top Hot Stove awards
By Dick Sparrer
Pat Burrell of the Philadelphia Phillies and Rick Helling of the Texas Rangers will be the featured guests when the 17th annual Hot Stove Banquet returns to the Santa Clara Valley on Feb. 6.
Burrell, a rookie outfielder for the Phils, will be presented with the Player of the Year award at the banquet and Helling, a right-hander for the Rangers, will be named the Pitcher of the Year.
John Shrader of KNBR-68 will serve as master of ceremonies for the Santa Clara County Baseball Fundraisers event that will begin with no-host cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. and the banquet to follow at the San Jose Elks Club.
Bob Arum, chairman of the board for Top Rank Inc., will be the evening's special guest.
Burrell starred at Bellarmine Prep and Miami University before signing with the Phils. Helling is a former Stanford pitcher.
Joining the two as award winners will be: Minor League Player of the Year-- Eric Byrnes of the Oakland Athletics organization (St. Francis, UCLA); Minor League Pitcher of the Year-- Brandon Villafuerte of the Detroit Tigers organization (formerly of West Valley Community College); College Players of the Year-- Joe Borchard (Stanford), Junior Ruiz (San Jose State); College Pitchers of the Year-- Justin Wayne (Stanford), Chris Key (San Jose State); Junior College Player of the Year-- Adam Montarbo (West Valley); Junior College Pitcher of the Year-- Rob Ellis (Mission); High School Players of the Year-- Erik Dean (Wilcox), Jason Windsor (Leigh); Scout of the Year-- Tom Wheeler (Colorado Rockies); Service Award-- Dick Hilliard (Quito Little League); Loyd Christopher Award-- Jack Headley (Santa Clara University), Ryan Brucker (San Jose State), Chris O'Riordan (Stanford); Academic Achievement-- Kevin Rose (Silver Creek); Outstanding Organizations-- Santa Clara Boys Baseball, Stanford University, San Jose State University.
Tickets are $35 per person and $350 for a table of 10 ($300 per table of 10 for youth, high school, community college and college baseball groups). For reservations, call 408.446.3443.
|