Relievers in AL and NL Get New Awards Named for Rivera and Hoffman

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Major League Baseball announced a new set of awards for relief pitchers to replace the old Rolaids relief pitcher award. The awards are for the best relief pitcher in the American League, named after Mariano Rivera, the longtime Yankees closer and the career saves leader, and for the best reliever in the National League. That award is named for Trevor Hoffman, who recorded 601 saves, all in the N.L. and mostly with the San Diego Padres.

The first recipients of the awards are Greg Holland of the Kansas City Royals and Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves. Rob Manfred, baseball's incoming commissioner, presented the awards before Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday. He said that several former closers, including Rivera, Hoffman, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Billy Wagner, John Franco, Lee Smith and Bruce Sutter, participated in the voting process.

Holland converted 46 of 48 save opportunities in the regular season, with a 1.44 earned run average. Kimbrel converted 47 of 51 save chances and had a 1.61 E.R.A.

'Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, you kind of get iffy even when your name is put on the same plaque as either of those guys,' Holland said. 'So it's very humbling. But we both take a lot of pride in what we do.'

Kimbrel, who wore a suit and tie at the presentation, said he was initially uncomfortable about coming to a World Series game that he was not playing in.

'But out of respect to Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera, the awards being named after them, I felt like I needed to be here to accept the award,' he said.

PLAYING BY GIANTS' RULES When the World Series shifts to San Francisco for Game 3, it will leave the designated hitter behind in Kansas City. During the Series, the D.H. is used only in the park of the American League team, and this year it means that Billy Butler's role with the Royals will be significantly reduced.

Instead of possibly having four at-bats per game as the D.H., Butler can expect perhaps one per game as a pinch-hitter. As Butler put it, the teams will be playing by the Giants' rules, which affects both Butler and Michael Morse of the Giants.

'It's not a disappointment at all,' Butler said. 'It's just the different rules. I'll be prepared for whatever the team needs, and hopefully I'll come up in a big situation and contribute in a way. A lot of times in the National League you empty out your bench, obviously, more than you do in the American League.'

Butler started 35 games at first base this year because of injuries to Eric Hosmer - the most games Butler has played at that position since 2010, when he started 126 games there. Butler had only six at-bats as a pinch-hitter this season, but he thrived in the role, getting four hits, including a double and a home run.

Morse played 84 games in the outfield this year and was the D.H. in four interleague games. He had only five at-bats as a pinch-hitter in the regular season, but during the playoffs he had four at-bats as a pinch-hitter, culminating in his game-tying home run in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.

He was the D.H. in Games 1 and 2 of the World Series, a role that gave him more chances to hit.

'Yeah, it's pretty fun,' Morse said. 'It's totally different than going in and playing in the field. For me, I've got to keep on my feet and keep in the game. You can easily pretty much focus too much on your at-bats. That's what being in the field, playing defense, you can kind of wash your at-bats away and play defense. But D.H. is pretty fun.'

STRONG RATINGS FOR GAME 1 Although ratings for the World Series are down substantially from years past, Game 1 won the night, according to Fox. It earned a 7.3/12 household rating share, with 12.2 million viewers, according to national figures issued Wednesday by Nielsen, and ranks as Fox's highest-rated and most-watched prime time broadcast since an edition of 'American Idol' in February.

Fox said that the Spanish-language channel Fox Deportes averaged 273,000 total viewers, the most for a World Series game on a Spanish-language network in the United States.

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