Goldschmidt cut down on his strikeouts while exciting fans with his prodigious blasts this season for the BayBears, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Class AA team. With a batting average of .306, he was at the head of the on-base percentage, slugging percentage and base on balls lists for the Southern League. During his two months with Arizona, Goldschmidt compiled a .250 batting average, with 8 homers, 9 doubles, and 26 RBIs. He had 20 walks and 53 strikeouts.

In his first big-league at-bat, he singled against the San Francisco Giants’ Matt Cain. In the heat of a pennant race and during his first 17 days in the majors, he homered against two Cy Young Award winners – Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee – and delivered a tying, ninth-inning homer against the Houston Astros. “I’m still trying to learn,” he says. “If it’s a day where I have three or four strikeouts or a day I have none, I try to figure out what I did right or did wrong.”

The progress he has made to get to the major leagues is a reflection of his knack for turning skeptics into believers. “He made himself into the baseball player he is,” says Trip Couch, who scouted Goldschmidt heavily in high school and college. “I think that’s what always drew me to him.”

Goldschmidt first caught Couch’s eye while playing in a 10th-grade summer elite program. He helped Woodlands High School outside Houston to a state championship in 2006 but was overshadowed by pitcher and teammate Kyle Drabek, who went 38-1 during his high school career. Drabek became a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies. Goldschmidt, a 49th-round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers that spring, was passed over by big colleges and chose Texas State.

He broke a school-record 36 homers in three seasons. Couch lobbied for Diamondbacks scouting director Tom Allison to draft him in 2009. He was afraid Arizona wouldn’t get Goldschmidt if it waited as long as the eighth round, where it took him.

“Goldie came out of a smaller Division I program in a real offensive conference, and there just wasn’t a whole lot of buzz around him,” recalls Jerry Dipoto, the Diamondbacks’ senior vice president of scouting and player development. “Trip saw him as a higher draft choice than where we got him. Now, looking back after three years in our system, he was right.”

Some weren’t convinced even after Goldschmidt powered through rookie-level Missoula (Mont.) by hitting .334 with 18 homers and 62 RBI in 74 games in 2009 and hit 35 homers and was named MVP of the Class A California League in 2010.

“Everyone was watching to see how it would translate in the Southern League, which is historically not so friendly to hitters,” Dipoto says. “All he did was go out and outperform anything he’d done to date.”

Goldschmidt, who stands 6-3, made slimming down this year a priority. He went from 245 pounds to 233, becoming nimbler. That has helped around first base.

At Mobile, Goldschmidt also reduced his strikeouts from one every 3.26 at-bats for Class A Visalia (Calif.) in 2010 to one every four at-bats. While maintaining his power numbers, his on-base percentage (helped by 82 walks in 103 games) improved from .384 to .435. He batted .306.

“He’s always ready to take the next base – looking for the edge in the game that you want everybody to take advantage of,” Mobile manager Turner Ward says. “He’s recognized that he makes the guys around him better by being a better first baseman.”

Goldschmidt got his first big-league chance when Arizona dealt another young first baseman, Brandon Allen, to the Oakland Athletics at the July 31 trading deadline. Goldschmidt was quickly thrust into a regular role.

“Goldie wants to soak up anything that can make him a better baseball player,” says Alan Zinter, his minor league hitting coach for the last two years. “No one is exempt from failure in this game. But like a steamroller, he’ll keep moving forward, and you’ll get rolled over if you don’t get out of his way.”

The 22-year-old went 8-3 with a 2.20 ERA in 18 starts with Double-A Montgomery, including a Southern League no-hitter at Mobile on June 16. He then went 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA in nine starts with Triple-A Durham in the International League.

The Tampa Bay Rays, who selected Moore in the eighth round in 2007, called him up on September 12, as pictured here. Two days later, the Edgewood, N.M., resident made his Major League debut in a relief appearance against Baltimore. Moore earned a win in his first big league start when he struck out 11 in tossing five scoreless innings on the road against the New York Yankees on September 22.

In Game 1 of the American League Division series at Texas, the southpaw pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball in Tampa Bay’s 9-0 victory.

“Even being considered for this award is an honor, and to actually win it is very special to me,” Moore said. “I am truly honored. After starting the year in Montgomery and then being a part of the playoffs with the Rays, this award is the icing on the cake for a season I’ll never forget.”

Moore is the second Tampa Bay farmhand to win the honor. Delmon Young, who’s currently with the Detroit Tigers, also starred at Montgomery and Durham when he won the award in 2005.

Other former Spink winners include Mike Trout (2010), Buster Posey (2009), Josh Beckett (2001), Andruw Jones (1996), Johnny Damon (1995) and Derek Jeter (1994).

The best performances in all classifications of Minor League Baseball again this year are being honored by the Topps Company of New York, N.Y., in conjunction with Minor League Baseball.

“Minor League Baseball faced many challenges in 2011,” said Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Conner. “Inclement weather plagued our leagues throughout the season. The increased number of lost dates compromised our total attendance, but the key indicator of average attendance remained strong with an increase over a year ago.”

O’Conner stated that “Our teams remain committed to our communities across this country, and thank all fans of Minor League Baseball for their continued support and enthusiasm.” The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs led all clubs in total attendance (628,925) and average crowd (9,249). As pictured here, no one gets left out of the fun at a minor league ball park.

Other classification leaders include the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders (509,331/7,276), Class A Dayton Dragons (571,886/8,288) and the Brooklyn Cyclones (245,087/7,002) among Short-Season/Rookie clubs.

This season’s total attendance is only 176,090 fans, or four-tenths of one percent (0.4 percent), less than 2010 when 176 clubs attracted 41,428,143 fans in 140 more openings. The Mexican League had two fewer clubs this season, as Chihuahua and Laredo are dormant until suitable playing facilities can be found for them. These two clubs attracted more than 209,000 fans in 2010.

Photograph by Brent Asay, MiLB.com

2011 Attendance by League

“All of Minor League Baseball would like to congratulate the winners of 2011 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards,” said Pat O’Conner, Minor League Baseball president. “To be honored with such a prestigious award is quite an accomplishment and exemplifies excellence in the field. Minor League Baseball is also pleased to team with Rawlings Sporting Goods to bring back such a great tradition as the Rawlings Gold Glove Award.” Pictured here is second baseman Steve Lombardozzi of Harrisburg tagging out Pedro Florimon of Bowie on an attempted steal.

“Rawlings has celebrated defensive excellence at the professional level since the inaugural Rawlings Gold Glove Award team in 1957,” said Mike Thompson, senior vice president of marketing for Rawlings. “Minor League Baseball is and will always continue to be a great partner of Rawlings, and we are thrilled to reward the hard work and dedication of these nine superior defensive players with the newly designed Minor League Baseball Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

2011 MiLB Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winners:

This season marks the return of Rawlings honoring Minor League Baseball players for their defensive prowess. The St. Louis-based company named a Minor League All-Star fielding team on the basis of official fielding averages for several years in the 1960s. The accolade was known as the Rawlings Silver Glove Award during that time.

Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and marketer of sporting goods in the United States. Since the company’s inception in 1887, Rawlings’ mission has always centered on enabling participation by developing and producing innovative, high-performance equipment and protective apparel for the professional, amateur and entry-level player.

On July 19, Will Smith and Kelvin Herrera’s combined no-hitter was aided by a sixth-inning around-the-horn triple play as the Naturals eked out a 1-0 win over the arch-rival Arkansas Travelers. This chain of epochal events resulted in the contest receiving the MiLBY Award for “Double-A Game of the Year.”

A no-hitter and triple play in the same game is clearly a rare occurrence, but just how rare is it? For some perspective, consider this: The feat had never before been accomplished in the 123-year history of the Texas League, or furthermore within the storied annals of Major League Baseball. And while the spotty nature of Minor League record keeping makes it impossible to say with complete certainty, this might have been the first time it occurred within the history of professional baseball.

The man most responsible for creating this unique and somewhat enigmatic slice of history would be Smith, who started the ballgame and hurled seven no-hit frames. Smith admits that he toed the slab that evening with a “chip on my shoulder,” as the Travelers, an Angels affiliate, were his former team. The 22-year-old right-hander was traded from the Angels to the Royals organization in July 2010, as part of the deal that brought Alberto Callaspo to Anaheim.

“The Travelers had beaten me up pretty bad when I’d faced them in the past,” said Smith, who went 0-3 with a 6.60 ERA in his first three starts against Arkansas. “I could see all my old buddies sitting over there in the (Arkansas) dugout, so I just went out there with a plan to attack. My fastball was working from the start, it was moving in and out, and if you can locate your fastball, that’s a recipe for success.”

“It was just one of those nights where you have everything working for you,” added Smith. “The defense was making great plays, and me and (catcher) Salvador Perez were on the same page.”

Smith retired the first 15 batters he faced, and at that point, he knew he might be on the brink of something special. “If a guy says he doesn’t know he has a no-hitter going on, he’s lying,” said Smith. “You can’t help but know it’s happening. Going out there for the sixth, that’s when it really set in.”

The pressure-packed situation – throwing a no-hitter while clinging to a 1-0 lead – may have led to a slight case of the jitters. For Smith momentarily lost his command, walking the first two batters of the inning. At this juncture of the ball game, Naturals manager Brian Poldberg conceded that the no-hitter wasn’t on his mind. All the veteran skipper was concerned about was escaping the inning with the lead somehow still intact.

“I wasn’t watching the hits too much, because after those two walks, you’re thinking that things are about to change,” said Poldberg. “But then there’s a hard-hit ground ball to third, 5-4-3 for the triple play. It’s just one of those times that it all worked out.”

This momentous grounder was hit by Travelers catcher Alberto Rosario and fielded by third baseman Mario Lisson, who stepped on third to begin what would become the first triple play in franchise history. As pictured here, Lisson threw to second base to force out Travelers runner Orlando Mercado, and second baseman Jeff Bianchi threw to first to complete a triple play.

“It’s hard to explain that one, just a case of right place, right time and the right kind of runners on base,” said Smith. “I was in shock at first, like ‘Did we just turn a triple play?’ But then in the dugout, everybody was going crazy. It really picked up the team and made me want to go back out there and finish it out.”

Smith did complete the seventh, at which point he had thrown a season-high 101 pitches. “I know with the Royals organization we have pitch counts and all that, but I thought maybe if something like this was going on they’d make an exception,” said Smith. “But after the seventh (Poldberg) came over and shook my hand and it was like ‘Really?’

“I didn’t say anything, because you’re not supposed to talk about (a no-hitter in progress), but I nudged my head in the direction of the scoreboard. It took me a few days to realize that they’re looking out for us. This game means something, but what we are all hoping for is a long and successful big league career.”

Clearly, Smith had absorbed the lessons of his manager. “It’s great to get a no-hitter in Double-A, but 10 years from now, no one is going to remember a Double-A no-hitter,” said Poldberg, who has managed the Naturals in all of four seasons of their existence. “In the moment, it can be hard for the young players to see that.”

And when it came time to choose who should succeed Smith in the ballgame, the answer was obvious. Herrera was dominant throughout the 2011 campaign, starting with Class A Advanced Wilmington and ending the season with a Kansas City cameo. “Herrera was lights-out the whole year, a guy whose fastball sits at 97-100,” said Smith. “Knowing that he was coming in made (watching the eighth and ninth innings) a little easier. It was still nerve-wracking, but I had faith and he and Salvador just went out there and ran with it.”

Herrera struck out the first two batters he faced and then induced the final four Travelers hitters to ground out. The result was his seventh save of the season and, more importantly, the first no-hitter in Naturals history.

“My teammates would still make fun of me, saying I pitched a high school no-hitter because I only went seven innings,” said Smith. “But it’s been a good thing. Now when people ask me how my season went, I can say ‘Well, I threw a no-hitter.’”

The game’s most valuable player Joe Martinez pitched seven gutsy innings to capture his third victory of the postseason including series-clinching wins over Durham and Lehigh Valley in the IL Governor’s Cup playoff. After surrendering three runs in the first inning, Martinez, shown here, didn’t allow a run over the next six innings while the Columbus offense cranked up. It took some time to adjust to the arid conditions. “It is tough to pitch here, not just because the ball carries,” said Martinez. “It’s very dry and the ball moves a little differently.”

Columbus manager Mike Sarbaugh said, “Whenever you go into a championship game, you want to win. But in this type of game, it’s different. It’s one game and that’s it. If you get timely hitting like we did tonight and good starting pitching, which we got, you win.” Sarbaugh is a perfect two-for-two not only in winning the International League title but also the Triple-A title in his first two years as manager for Columbus.

Luke Carlin hit a two-out, three-run home run in the second inning to tie the score and Jared Goedert put the Clippers on top with an RBI double in the third. Columbus never trailed from there. Carlin is pictured below being congratulated after his homer to erase the Clippers’ early three-run deficit.

The game had a rough start for Martinez. The Storm Chasers jumped on him in the first inning. Irving Falu drew a one-out walk and David Lough drilled a first-pitch single to right. Lorenzo followed with a triple to the gap in right-center to give Omaha a 2-0 lead. Martinez struck out Kila Ka’aihue, but John Whittleman lined another single to right and the Strom Chasers were on top 3-0.

The Clippers roared back in the second against Sean O’Sullivan. Chad Huffman started the rally with a one-out single and O’Sullivan walked Jerad Head on four pitches. He retired Juan Diaz on a fly to Dyson in center, but also couldn’t escape. Carlin turned around a 2-and-2 pitch and drove it over the right-field wall to tie it at 3-3.

Columbus zeroed in on O’Sullivan again in the third. Tim Fedroff and Travis Buck opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Goedert broke the tie with an RBI double. Beau Mills hit the next pitch for a run-scoring single that moved Goedert to third. On the next pitch, Huffman bounced into a double play that scored Goedert and put the Clippers in the lead 6-3.

Willy Lebron relieved O’Sullivan in the fourth and the Clippers continued to apply pressure. Diaz led off with a single and took second on a wild pitch. Fedroff delivered a two-out, RBI single to increase the lead to 7-3.

After the first inning, Martinez met every challenge presented by the Storm Chasers without surrendering another run. He stranded two runners in the second and the fifth and used double plays to skirt trouble in the third and sixth innings before turning the game over to Chen Lee in the eighth inning. Pictured here, Omaha base runner Lorenzo Cain is out at second base as the Clippers’ Juan Diaz fires the ball to first base for a double play in the third inning.

Mills extended the lead to 8-3 with a leadoff home run in the eighth. Fedroff led the 11-hit attack with three singles. Lee pitched the final two innings for Columbus.

The 28-year-old right-hander won all three of his postseason starts, allowing six runs over 22 innings for a 2.45 ERA. “The whole team picked me up, defensively and offensively,” Martinez said. “There were a lot of balls put in play. It’s nice pitching with a lead. I can be a lot more aggressive.”

Omaha put two on with one out in the ninth, but Chen Lee got David Lough to fly out to center field and Lorenzo Cain to ground out to shortstop to end the game.

With the win, the Clippers matched the Sacramento River Cats with two victories in the seven-year history of the championship game between the two leagues. Sacramento won consecutive crowns in 2007-08.

Germano’s night of perfection occurred July 26, when he was pitching for the International League’s Columbus Clippers (Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate). His efficient dispatch of 27 consecutive Syracuse batsmen elevated what would have been a dreary Tuesday in the dog days of summer into one of the most memorable moments of the 2011 season. Certainly, the perfecto is a worthy recipient of the MiLBY Award for Overall and Triple-A Game of the Year.

“The (perfect) game is definitely the highlight of my year. There isn’t much that could top that,” said Germano. And very few pitchers can boast of such a feat. The International League has been in existence since 1884, and in that time only four other pitchers had thrown a perfect game. Germano’s was the first in the 35-season history of the Columbus Clippers, and the first in the IL since Bronson Arroyo tossed one for Pawtucket in 2003.

“I think pretty much every pitcher dreams of throwing a perfect game. We are definitely aware of how tough and how rare this feat is,” noted Germano, who recorded seven strikeouts over the course of his hyper-efficient 95-pitch masterpiece.

But as is often the case with nights of great accomplishment, the evening of July 26 started off in pedestrian fashion. “Pre-game, it felt like just another day. I had nothing special in the bullpen warming up,” related Germano. “It actually took me two or three innings to really feel locked in. The biggest part of my game plan is just attacking the hitters. I try to get guys out with as few pitches as possible.”

“This aggressive approach worked to, well, perfection on July 26. And as the game wore on, so did the tension. I think once I got to the sixth inning, it looked like it was in reach,” said Germano. “But I knew anything could happen. I didn’t want any extra pressure put on myself, so I started telling myself ‘If you do it, you do it. If not, no big deal.’ I just wanted to keep the same game plan and not change anything. I didn’t want to try to pitch a perfect game."

This zen-like mental approach paid dividends. Germano retired the first two batters of the climactic ninth inning on just five pitches, and then cemented his place in International League lore by striking out Corey Brown with a well-placed 1-2 offering.

Korea is just the latest stop for the peripatetic pitcher, who has now appeared for three teams in two continents over the course of his still-ongoing 2011 campaign.

“It’s been a long year, with a lot of ups and downs,” wrote Germano. “Regardless of how the year ends, at least I now have a perfect game on my resume.”

Columbus was the most dominant team in the league this year and had the best record at 85-53. This is yet another trophy to add to Sarbaugh’s achievements in his minor league managerial career. During these eight years, he has won league championships in 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2010. He was named the Carolina League Manager of the Year in 2007 as well as the Baseball America Minor League Manager of the Year in 2010.

“I like the makeup of this club and the chemistry in the clubhouse,” said Sarbaugh, who is finishing his second season with the Clippers. “We’ve had a lot of veteran players that have been very instrumental in the success. They’ve helped keep the attitude in the clubhouse positive. It’s been a very good year even though we’ve had a lot of movement.”

The movement showed within the makeup of the 12-player all-star team. Clippers shortstop Luis Valbuena was named the league’s best utility player. Jason Kipnis, who left Columbus for the Cleveland Indians on July 22, is the second baseman.

Sarbaugh was happy for both and wished that outfielder Jerad Head, also now with the Indians, had found a place on the team. “I think that Jason, offensively, was just consistent all year,” Sarbaugh said. “He didn’t really have any big valleys.”

“But one of the biggest things with him is the improvement that he made defensively at second base. From spring training to the time he left here, he put in a lot of work to become a better second baseman. I think it showed.”

Durham third baseman Russ Canzler was named the most valuable player in the league. Gwinnett’s Julio Teheran was selected as the most valuable pitcher and the rookie of the year.

Where do San Antonio and San Jose diverge? The latter secured a Texas League championship at Double-A and the former fell short of its third consecutive Cal League crown. That said, don’t consider the Giants – awarded the MiLBY for Best Class A Advanced team – completely bummed out.

“One of the things, as an organization, we pride ourselves on is that a winning atmosphere and playing to win a championship helps develop players better,” said manager Andy Skeels, who guided San Jose to a title in 2009 before leading Double-A Richmond in 2010. “All our players would say maybe if we weren’t so banged up at the end, maybe we would have given a better run. The club that I had this year was made up of such great competitors, and a lot of them think we may have it slip through our fingers. When the Seattle Mariners won 116 games, I am sure they felt the same way.”

Though their short-lived stay in the postseason is difficult to explain, the Giants’ regular season is not. Success started on the mound. San Jose hurlers combined on a 3.70 ERA, 14 shutouts and 48 saves – all tops among their Cal League peers. Moreover, the shutouts were tied by only the Florida State League’s St. Lucie and Jupiter staffs, and the saves went unmatched in the Class A Advanced ranks.

At the top of the rotation, power-sinker pitchers Craig Westcott (13-4, 3.42 ERA) and Chris Heston (12-4, 3.16) as well as left-hander Kelvin Marte (12-6, 3.47) all made 24 or more starts. Their pitching coach, Brian Cooper, was named Cal League Coach of the Year.

“In A-ball, anytime you can get guys at top of rotation that throw strikes and have strong defense behind them, that don’t walk guys – this is especially true in A-ball – and make them swing the bat, it gives you a lot of confidence,” Skeels said, “that you’re not going to have too many long losing streaks.’

In fact, the club finished May with a 12-game winning streak before adding stretches of 12 straight victories in June and 11 consecutive in July. It also became the first to clinch a first-half division title on June 9, even beating San Antonio. The Missions clinched their division three days later.

“It was fun because Craig and I are real good friends. Any time that we were pitching, we were always rooting the other one on. And we also had Kelvin Marte. We all competed against each other,” said Heston, who led the trio with 131 strikeouts in 151 innings. “Anytime everybody is pitching well, you want to go out there and do better, that’s healthy competition. You go out there and you want to do a little better than the last guy.”

“We played well together,” continued Heston. “There were times when the pitching wasn’t there and the hitters picked us up. And there were times when the hitting wasn’t there, and pitchers would pick ‘em up. That’s how it was all year, and it worked out for us.”

The most important batters also happened to share the closest relationship with the pitchers. Catchers Hector Sanchez (.302 batting average with 58 RBIs in 52 games) and Tommy Joseph (22 homers and 95 RBIs in 127 games) “both have now played their way into being among the elite catching prospects in the game,” gushed Skeels.

Having a key cog like everyday leadoff man and center fielder Gary Brown, named the Best Class A Advanced Hitter and the Cal League Rookie of the Year, didn’t hurt either. One of nine Giants to record double-digit homers, Brown also was amongst the Cal League top three leaders in batting (third, .336), runs (second) 115), hits (first, 188, a franchise record), triples (first, 13), total bases (second, 290) and steals (second, 53).

“He’s something to watch play, and I got to see it firsthand,” Heston said. “He set the tone for what we did.”

Beyond the numbers, San Jose was also flush with intangibles, chief among them toughness and togetherness. Skeels pointed to a May 16 game opposing Stockton. The Giants coughed up an early four-run lead, then responded to single runs by the Ports in the 11th and 13th innings. Finally, after the visitors posted three runs in the top of the 18th, San Jose scratched out four to win, 10-9.

“It was a death march to the end for both clubs,” Skeels recalled. “In extra innings, we rally to win the game. That spoke to the heart of a lot of our players. It was a great touchstone for us. These kids, individually and collectively, were gamers.”

Off the ball field – in the clubhouse and the hotel as well as on the bus – players said they were tightly knit despite losing shortstop Brandon Crawford (.322 average in 14 games) in May and Sanchez, third baseman Chris Dominguez (11 homers and 40 RBIs in 63 games) as well as outfielders Francisco Peguero (.324 average in 16 games) and Wendell Fairley in June – all to promotions within the organization.

“We lost a good core of our group” at the end of the first half, Brown said. “It took a few games for everyone to find their new role. Once we did in the second half, we got off running again. It was chemistry. We really had a good core of guys. We got to know each other really well. It was a lot of fun in the clubhouse.”

Infamous for pulling pranks, Brown also kept the team loose. Was there a particularly good joke played on a teammate? “No,” Brown said, “there’s so many that we did daily.”

“Now that everybody is back and sitting at home,” added Heston, “you realize how those days that were long and hard were actually a lot of fun.”

For whatever reason, the season didn’t end the same way. The Giants lost their final three games to Rancho Cucamonga, then, after a first-round bye in the playoffs, lost three of four to the Stockton Ports.

“It was a little disappointing, but as I have learned from past playoffs, in college and this year included, it’s about getting hot at the right time,” said Brown, a Cal State-Fullerton product. “Stockton was hot, and we lost to a hot team.”

“We had a good season, so we can’t forget about the journey that got us there.”