King of Baseball is a ceremonial title awarded by Minor League Baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 to one person each year in recognition of longtime dedication and service to professional baseball.

Background

The title was first awarded in 1951

1951 in baseball

-Headline Event of the Year:Baseball's Shot Heard 'Round the World gives the New York Giants the National League Pennant in the third game of a best-of-three-games tiebreaker series over the Brooklyn Dodgers.-Major League Baseball:...

. The winner is announced at the annual Winter Meetings awards banquet and is typically presented with an inscribed bat, as well as a crown and robe symbolizing the winner's "king" status.

Prior recipients

The following have been awarded the title "King of Baseball":

Year	Award winner	Winter Meetings site
1951	Clarence "Pants" Rowland Pants Rowland Clarence Henry "Pants" Rowland was a Major League Baseball manager for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 through 1918 who went on to become a major figure in minor league baseball. He was born in Platteville, Wisconsin...	Columbus, OH
1952	J. Alvin Gardner	Phoenix, AZ
1953	Frank "Shag" Shaughnessy Frank Shaughnessy Francis Joseph "Shag" Shaughnessy was an American athlete and sports executive. Shaughnessy played both baseball and football and was an executive in baseball, football and ice hockey. He was born in the United States and moved to Canada in the 1910s, where he was involved with football and ice...	Atlanta, GA
1954	Shelby Pease	Houston, TX
1955	Herman White	Columbus, OH
1956	Tommy Richardson	Jacksonville, FL
1957	Charles Hurth	Colorado Springs, CO
1958	(None)	Washington, D.C.
1959	Bonneau Peters	St. Petersburg, FL
1960	Joe Engel Joe Engel thumb|Joe Engel, 1913Joseph William Engel was an American right-handed pitcher and scout in Major League Baseball who spent nearly his entire career with the Washington Senators, and went on to become a promoter and team owner in the minor leagues. He was born in Washington, D.C...	Louisville, KY
1961	Rosy Ryan Rosy Ryan Wilfred Patrick Dolan Ryan was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched from 1919–1933, appearing in three consecutive World Series for the New York Giants from 1922-1924. He managed in the minor leagues from 1941–1942 and 1944–1945 and was later a minor league general manager...	Tampa, FL
1962	Phil Howser	Rochester, NY
1963	Donie Bush Donie Bush Owen Joseph "Donie" Bush , was a Major League Baseball shortstop in the American League for the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators...	San Diego, CA
1964	Eddie Mulligan Eddie Mulligan Edward Joseph Mulligan born in St. Louis, Missouri was a third baseman for the Chicago Cubs , Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates .He led the American League in outs in 1921....	Houston, TX
1965	Ray Winder	Ft. Lauderdale, FL
1966	Eddie Leishmann	Columbus, OH
1967	Alejo Peralta	Mexico City, Mexico
1968	Dewey Soriano	San Francisco, CA
1969	Chauncey DeVault	Ft. Lauderdale, FL
1970	George MacDonald, Sr.	Los Angeles, CA
1971	Phil Piton	Phoenix, AZ
1972	Vince McNamara	Honolulu, HI
1973	Ray Johnston	Houston, TX
1974	Fred Haney Fred Haney Fred Girard Haney was an American third baseman, manager, coach and executive in Major League Baseball. As a manager, he won two pennants and a world championship with the Milwaukee Braves and, as an executive, he was the first general manager of the expansion Los Angeles Angels of the American...	New Orleans, LA
1975	Joe Buzas Joe Buzas Joseph John "Joe" Buzas was a Major League Baseball shortstop. Buzas played for the New York Yankees in the baseball season. In 30 career games, he had 17 hits, 6 RBIs and a .262 batting average. He batted and threw right-handed.He was the owner of the Salt Lake Stingers and the team's president...	Hollywood, FL
1976	Don Avery	Los Angeles, CA
1977	Bill Weiss Bill Weiss Bill Weiss is a baseball historian and statistician. He has served as the official statistician for the Pacific Coast League, and edited a weekly newsletter for the California League for over thirty years. For over forty years, he created sketchbooks which eventually covered over 200 books about...	Honolulu, HI
1978	Zinn Beck Zinn Beck Zinn Bertram Beck was a Major League Baseball Third baseman, Shortstop and First Baseman also minor league manager and baseball scout. Beck played for the St. Louis Cardinals from to , and the New York Yankees in . In 290 career games, he had a .226 batting average with 204 hits in 902 At-bats....	Orlando, FL
1979	Harry Simmons Harry Simmons Harry Simmons was a baseball executive, writer, and historian. His early interest in baseball derived from the Sunday afternoon games heattended with his father...	Toronto, Ont., Canada
1980	Billy Hitchcock Billy Hitchcock William Clyde Hitchcock was an American infielder, coach, manager and scout in Major League Baseball. He also served as president of the class AA Southern League from 1971-80...	Dallas, TX
1981	Jack Schwarz	Hollywood, FL
1982	Sy Berger Sy Berger Sy Berger was an employee of the Topps company for over 50 years. He is credited as being the co-designer of the 1952 Topps baseball series.-Topps:Berger's first day at Topps was also the first day that Topps began to produce Bazooka Gum...	Honolulu, HI
1983	Oscar Roettger Oscar Roettger Oscar Frederick Louis Roettger was an American first baseman and right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he first played as a pitcher for the New York Yankees from 1923–1924, and later returned to the major leagues with the Brooklyn Robins in 1927 and as a...	Nashville, TN
1984	Donald Davidson	Houston, TX
1985	Stan Wasiak Stan Wasiak Stanley Wasiak was an American manager in minor league baseball who, by the time of his retirement, held the record for most games managed , most victories and most defeats as a skipper in the minor leagues.A native of Chicago, Illinois, Wasiak was a catcher in his playing days...	San Diego, CA
1986	Lefty Gomez Lefty Gómez Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez was an American left-handed major league pitcher who played in the American League for the New York Yankees between 1930 and 1942. Considered one of the great pitchers of the day, Gomez was a seven-time All-Star and a five-time World Series Champion with the Yankees...	Hollywood, FL
1987	Bill Schweppe	Dallas, TX
1988	Max Patkin Max Patkin Max Patkin was an American baseball player and clown, best known as the Clown Prince of Baseball ....	Atlanta, GA
1989	George Sisler, Jr. George Sisler, Jr. George Sisler, Jr. was the general manager of three Minor League Baseball teams and served as the president of the International League from 1966 to 1976. Four times he won the International League Executive of the Year award...	Nashville, TN
1990	John Moss	Los Angeles, CA
1991	George Pfister George Pfister George Edward Pfister was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played in one game for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1941 season and was zero for two....	Miami Beach, FL
1992	Johnny Lipon Johnny Lipon John Joseph Lipon was an American Major League Baseball shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Reds over the course of 12 seasons . He was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio....	Louisville, KY
1993	George Kissell George Kissell George Marshall Kissell was an American baseball minor league player, manager, coach, scout, and instructor, as well as a major league coach, for the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Born in Watertown, New York, he attended Ithaca College, where he earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in...	Atlanta, GA
1994	Jimmy Bragan	Dallas, TX
1995	Gene DaCosse	Los Angeles, CA
1996	Sheldon "Chief" Bender	Boston, MA
1997	Max Schumacher	New Orleans, LA
1998	Leo Pinckney	Nashville, TN
1999	Tom Saffell Tom Saffell Thomas Judson Saffell is a former major league outfielder from Etowah, Tennessee-Early life:Saffell grew up playing sports, especially fast-pitch softball. His team won the state tournament and played in a national tournament in Detroit, Michigan. After completing high school in 1940, Saffell...	Anaheim, CA
2000	P. Patrick McKernan P. Patrick McKernan P. Patrick McKernan is one of the pioneers of minor league baseball. He was President of the Eastern League from 1974-1982. He was president and general manager of the highly successful Albuquerque Dukes baseball club. "Pat" McKernan is often credited along with Joe Buzas, as keeping the sport...	Dallas, TX
2001	Roland Hemond Roland Hemond Roland Hemond is a longtime executive in Major League Baseball who in 2007 returned to the Arizona Diamondbacks as Special Assistant to the President, Derrick Hall...	Boston, MA
2002	George Zuraw	Nashville, TN
2003	Bob Wilson	New Orleans, LA
2004	Dave Rosenfield	Anaheim, CA
2005	Calvin Falwell	Dallas, TX
2006	Paul Snyder Paul Snyder (baseball) Paul Luther Snyder is a retired American front-office executive in Major League Baseball. He played an integral role in the rise and sustained dominance of the Atlanta Braves during the 1990s as the team's longtime amateur scouting director , assistant to the general manager , and director of player...	Orlando, FL
2007	Dave Walker	Nashville, TN
2008	Pat Gillick Pat Gillick Lawrence Patrick David Gillick is a retired American professional baseball executive. He was the general manager of four Major League Baseball teams, and guided two teams to three World Series championships in his career: in 1992 and 1993 titles with the Toronto Blue Jays, and a 2008 title with...	Las Vegas, NV
2009	Milo Hamilton Milo Hamilton Leland Milo Hamilton is an American sportscaster, best known for calling play-by-play for seven different Major League Baseball teams since 1953...	Indianapolis, IN
2010	Don Mincher Don Mincher -External links:***...	Orlando, FL
2011	TBA	Dallas, TX

External links

• MiLB.com – King of Baseball