The Best of 2015 Writing Awards recognize the best writing from those who cover the PEBA and LRS on a daily basis.  Writers provide fans of the game an invaluable service, yet their efforts taken for granted far too often.  The Writing Awards are a chance to stop and thank those who cover our national pasttime for their amazing work.  Through these pieces, fans of the PEBA are informed about their favorite teams, made to laugh or cry, and ultimately come away with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the game of baseball.  Let’s look at last season’s standout efforts:
 
2015 “Best Of” Writing Awards

Season Preview: Cyclones 2015 Opening Day Roster & Season Preview (Omaha).  Anderson Molloy covers all the bases as Omaha prepare to launch what’s going to be their best season ever. Molloy thinks the ‘Clones are still two starting pitchers away from serious contention. You underestimate the team you cover, sir.  Honorable Mentions: Bayou Brief: Cobb Takes Over (New Orleans); Ghost Town – Opening Day Special Edition (Niihama-shi).

Season Recap: The 2015 State of the Tribe Address (Florida).  Part of it is the frank way in which Lewis expresses his disappointment with the 2015 Featherheads. Part of it is the Q&A session with reporters that follow. But the clincher is the clever “Comments” section at the end – a great touch.  Honorable Mentions: Ultimatum the Order of the Day in Aurora (Aurora); Free Fallin’ (Neo-Tokyo).

Season News/Update: Sports Talk Aurora – 4/11/15 (Aurora).  It’s never too early for a season update. Just one week in, Aurora fans are already lighting up KOA 850’s switchboard, peppering Heywood Charmichael and the duo of George Crocker and Mark Gunter with questions about their beloved Borealis. To answer a few of those questions: “Slappy” will be just fine, Kojima won’t be just fine, McDonald will get paid and Knight won’t… at least, not by Aurora.  Honorable Mention: How We All Got Here, & Where Are We Going? (Shin Seiki); Five to Rule the BBG? (Kuwana).

Game Preview/Recap: A Night at the Park: FLA vs. NO (6/20/15) (New Orleans).  Former Trendsetters GM Paul Tanner discovers that it’s a refreshing change of pace to take in a game as a fan after spending your professional life on the business end of the game. On the other hand, GM Tanner didn’t have to deal with that loudmouth Kipler.  Honorable Mentions: Playing for Pride – Part 1 / Part 2 (Niihama-shi); A Tale of Two Locker Rooms (Gloucester).

Minors: The Farm: You Break It, You Buy It (Edo).  Edo’s farm system is a mess. 11^th-ranked in the LRS, with both clubs far below .500, you could forgive team owner Patrick Hildreth for being disheartened. But the reality is quite the opposite – Hildreth is bullish on the future of Edo’s farm.  Honorable Mention: Interview with Forest Sizemore (Fushigi Yugi); Prospecting In Reno (Reno).

College/High School: Ed’s College Balls – 2015 Tokyo Collegiate Circuit Primer – Part 1 / Part 2 (Kuwana).  Ed Balls continues to be the only game in town for feeder league coverage. Good thing he does such a good job with it! This year, his focus is the Tokyo Collegiate Circuit. Hopefully we’ll see even more sources of feeder league coverage as pro baseball continues to repair its global image after the meltdown of MLB in 2006.

Trade Analysis: Cyclones Making Moves for 2015 (Omaha).  Need one more reason to show up to the Winter Meetings? It provides ripe material for trade stories. Anderson Molloy gets his second award of the season for coverage of Omaha’s Winter Meetings dealings. Steve Harris needs to chill – his role with the team is secure.  Honorable Mention: Aurora Busy at Winter Meetings; Adios, Berry (Aurora); Has Esselink Lost His Mind? (Connecticut).

Draft Analysis: Fargo 2015 Day One Draft Review (Fargo).  Fargo scouting director Scotty Ross led a fine 2014 draft for the Dinos, but this is a “What have you done for me lately?” profession. Ross was back on the clock in 2015, knowing that the success (or lack thereof) of his selections will determine his future employment. Fortunately, Roland Williams, Rubén Hernández and company are doing Ross proud so far.  Honorable Mention: Aurora Starts Draft With Gamble, Then Looks for Depth (Aurora); Neo-Tokyo Announces Top Draft Picks (Neo-Tokyo).

Statistical Analysis: Royal Chaos (West Virginia).  In one of this year’s strongest categories, Harold Camping, Jr. gets the nod for his clever presentation of the battle for the Sovereign League Royal Raker. Ultimately, it would be “The Hero” (Ricardo Longoria) coming out on top, with strong showings for “The Shadow”, “The Chosen One”, “The Prodigal Son”, and “The Prodigy”.  Honorable Mention: The World’s Best Baseball Players – 2015 (Crystal Lake); The Most Valuable PEBA Players – 2015 Edition (Connecticut).

Interview: “Bases Loaded Break Down” – March 16, 2015 (Lupin).  Manabu Hasegawa conducts an interview with Lupin Cliff Hangers GM Jim Konopka for Radio My 76.1 FM (Toyama’s News and Sports leader!). We get a window into how Konopka went about building his 2015 squad. Unfortunately, the team will go on to a disappointing 67-77 finish.  Honorable Mention: A Crock of Gunt: Steve McDonald (Aurora); Bayou Brief: Scott is Frank – Part 1 / Part 2 (New Orleans).

Player Profile: The Man from Gunbarrel (Crystal Lake).  Another tough category to decide, Terrance Pines gets the nod for his slow burn “dramedy” about pitching prospect Stan Harris. Harris is a mountain of a man, but his career is nearly derailed by a misguided instructor and the pitchman whose smile haunts Harris’s dreams.  Honorable Mention: Losing the Face of Your Franchise? (Fargo); The 40-Year-Old (PEBA) Virgin (Florida).

Different Team: We Should Have Seen This Coming (Connecticut).  Who knew that the Maya predicted the 2015 Fishermen-Cyclones Planetary Extreme Championship matchup? Bug Hurley covers Connecticut Nutmeggers baseball, but he digs into the past to explain that there is apparently life after 2012 for the Maya after all.  Honorable Mention: Is Howard and the No-Hitter to Blame for Mayor’s Malaise? (Duluth); Asleep at the Switch? (Crystal Lake).

Drama: The “Tough As Nails” series – Pre-season / Spring Training / May / June / July (Naha).  Kimi “Nails” Fujita’s quest for acceptance wouldn’t be easy regardless of his profession. He’s an intersexual and former crack addict. Acceptance is that much harder when you make your living as a professional baseball player. The macho sports culture can be very unforgiving, yet Nails soldiers on, trying to get his career back on track in his third season.  Honorable Mention: Lifting the Iron Curtain (Crystal Lake); Nobody (San Antonio).

Humor: “We’re Not Last!” – Jubilant Ghosts Fans Take to the Streets (Niihama-shi).  Sometimes, great comedy emerges from a full story. Sometimes, it can be boiled down to one great line. Niihama-shi Ghosts GM Mike Dunn provides just such a line to GhostRider.com. Commenting on an impromptu parade by Ghosts fans excited by the team occupying third place in the standings, Dunn quips, “We’re thrilled that fans are recognizing our rebuilding efforts. Now if they’d only show up at the ballpark, we’d be even more thrilled.” Classic.  Honorable Mentions: Hayseed (San Antonio); Robbed ROY (Niihama-shi).

Most Original: The “Pam Posterma fired” series – GM Returns / Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 (Yuma).  Pam turns her firing into an opportunity to do a little scouting of Yuma’s farm system. In her quest to regain the confidence of GM Bob Mayberry (and, in the process, her job), Pam checks in on Gunner “Clubhouse” MacGruder just days before his devastating arm injury and tries to figure out why Yuma’s Hi-A affiliate is named after an obscure Val Kilmer film.  Honorable Mention: The Bears are Dead: Bakersfield’s 2015 Post-Season, According to The Smiths (Bakersfield); Yuukan-chan! (Edo).

Special Achievement in Art/Video: Your Reno Zephyrs! (Reno & New Jersey).  It started with a clever, well-researched concept for a rebranding of Reno’s pro baseball team, an effort spearheaded by Reno GM Scott Maynor and team owner Maximillian Poppington. It ended with one of the league’s most distinctive logos, created by the famous New Jersey-based C-Town Studios.  Honorable Mention: Bergen No More (New Jersey); Japanese Inventor, Baseball Mogul Dies (Niihama-shi).

Special Achievement in Writing: Juan for the Road (Niihama-shi).  Hiroyasu Hirano does not want to go to Winter Ball with that heathen gaijin Juan Quezada. Unfortunately, the penny-pinching Ghosts leave him little choice. Hirano is quiet and introverted. Quezada is a party animal, seemingly without a worry in the world. It’s a classic odd couple paring. Both players spent time in the majors with Niihama-shi in 2015. Hirano struggled; Quezada blossomed. Time will tell the story of their careers, but it is undeniable that both young men profited from their trip to the far southern island of Okinawa.