Fuente: © Detroit Tigers
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/

MLB: TIGERS: Shelton named AL Player of the Week

/noticias.info/ Detroit Tigers first baseman Chris Shelton has been named Bank of America Presents the American League Player of the Week for the opening week of the 2006 season. Bank of America, the Official Bank of Major League Baseball, is the presenting sponsor of the American League and National League Player of the Week Awards, which reflect Bank of America's long-standing tradition of promoting and recognizing higher standards of accomplishment.

Shelton, 25, batted .583 in the first six games of the 2006 season while leading the league with 14 hits, nine RBI, a 1.458 slugging percentage and 35 total bases. The first baseman also posted a .615 on-base percentage with seven runs scored and two triples. On Monday, in his first career Opening Day start at first base, Shelton connected for two home runs, going 3-for-4 in Detroit's win at Kansas City. The 2003 Rule 5 draftee collected multiple hits in each of the first five games of the season, including his second career multi-home run game on Thursday at Texas. On Saturday, the Salt Lake City, Utah native went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two triples, helping the Tigers to their first 5-0 start since the 1985 season. It is the first career weekly award for Shelton and it marks the second consecutive season that a Tiger has claimed the prize in the inaugural week (Shelton's teammate Dmitri Young won for the opening week of the 2005 campaign).

Other candidates considered were Cleveland's Travis Hafner (.391, 4 HR, 6 RBI), Hideki Matsui (.400, 3 HR, 7 RBI) of the New York Yankees and Jim Thome (.333, 3 HR, 5 RBI) of the Chicago White Sox. Pitchers considered for the award were Boston right-hander Curt Schilling (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 14.0 IP), Cleveland's Jake Westbrook (2-0, 1.98 ERA, 13.2 IP), and Vincent Padilla (2-0, 3.00 ERA, 12.0 IP) of Texas.

In recognition of this honor, Tourneau, the world's largest watch store, is proud to award the Bank of America Presents the American League Player of the Week Chris Shelton with a Tourneau luxury Swiss timepiece. notas_de_prensa_archivo