Paxton gets Tip for a job well done
TORONTO — An already memorable year for James Paxton became that much more special Tuesday when the pitcher known as Big Maple was named this year’s recipient of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s
Tip O’Neill Award.
The honour goes to the Canadian who best “excelled in individual achievements and team contribution while adhering to baseball’s highest ideals,” according to a release from the baseball shrine based in St. Marys, Ont.
Paxton, a 30-year-old left-hander from Ladner, B.C., won the award for the first time, beating out Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto, the seven-time winner from Etobicoke, Montrealborn third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the No. 1 prospect in baseball who is expected to make his major-league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019 and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill of Maple Ridge, B.C.
“I am proud to be representing Canada in Major League Baseball and try to do so to the best of my ability,” Paxton said in a release. “I will continue to give everything I have to be the best baseball player and person I can be.”
Paxton, who was traded from Seattle to the New York Yankees last month, made 28 starts for the Mariners in 2018, tossing a nohitter in Toronto and finishing the season with a 3.76 ERA through 160 1/3 innings. He struck out at least 10 batters in eight starts and had
208 strikeouts, the second most by a Canadian left-hander in a major-league season.
He became one of only two pitchers in big-league history to notch 200 strikeouts in a season in 161 or fewer innings.
Paxton finished third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.68), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.95), seventh in WHIP (1.10) and ninth in opponents’ batting average against (.244) among American League pitchers with at least 160 innings pitched.
His most memorable week of the season came in early May. Paxton set a Canadian record by striking out 16 batters against Oakland on May 2 and, six days later, became the first Canadian pitcher to throw a big-league no-hitter on Canadian soil against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.
Paxton joined Toronto-born right-hander Dick Fowler, of the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics, as the only Canadians to throw a no-hitter. It was the sixth in Mariners history and the first in club history on the road.
“Of all the places, to do it in Toronto, it’s pretty amazing,” Paxton said at the time.
Scott Crawford, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s director of operations, said the no-hitter and Paxton’s strikeout rate in 2018 were two factors in his selection. Paxton was also lauded for his charitable and community endeavours in the Vancouver area. He has donated signed memorabilia and game tickets to various charities and volunteered to provide pitching lessons to youth in the region.
The criteria for the Tip O’Neill Award includes on-field performance, contribution to the community, charitable endeavours and support in fan voting via email and the Hall of Fame’s website.