SCOTTSDALE, AZ – Infielder Jae-gyun Hwang was elected the 2017 Barney Nugent Award winner in a vote by his teammates, coaches and training staff earlier this morning.
The Barney Nugent Award, formerly known as the Harry K. Jordan Award, is named in honor of the Giants’ former athletic trainer who worked for the Club from 1993 to 2003. This award is given in recognition of the player in his first big league camp whose performance and dedication in Spring Training best exemplifies the San Francisco Giants spirit, much like Nugent did in his time with San Francisco.
Hwang, 29, has batted .324 (11-for-34) with one double, four home runs and 10 RBI in 19 games in his first season in a Giants uniform. He produced a career year for the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization last year, hitting .335 with a career-high tying 27 home runs and a career-best 113 RBI in 127 games played. He became the first Korean born player to ever reach the 20-20 club in team history. Hwang, who is playing professionally in the United States for the first time owns a career .279 batting average, 115 home runs and 594 RBI in 1,184 games while playing with the Korean Baseball Organization.
Barney Nugent was a trainer for the San Francisco Giants from 1993 through 2003. Prior to his time as a Major League trainer, he spent 16 seasons working his way up through the minor leagues. Nugent earned a Master’s Degree in Physical Education with an Athletic Training Specialization from Indiana State University. He passed away on February 22, 2014 after an arduous eight month battle with cancer and is survived by his wife of 33 years, Denise. Nugent is remembered as a good friend and was a Giant through the very end of his life.
The following players have won the Barney Nugent Award:
1988 Joe Kmak 2002 Felix Escalona
Francisco Melendez 2003 Jason Ellison
1989 James Steel 2004 Brian Dallimore
1990 Eric Gunderson 2005 Scott Munter
1991 Mark Leonard 2006 Derin McMains
1992 John Patterson 2007 Tim Lincecum
1993 Greg Brummett 2008 Brian Bocock
1994 J.R. Phillips 2009 Joe Martinez
1995 Joe Rosselli 2010 Darren Ford
1996 Marvin Benard 2011 Brandon Belt
1997 Dante Powell 2012 Dan Otero
1998 Russ Ortiz 2013 Brock Bond
1999 Damon Minor 2014 Mark Minicozzi
2000Ben Weber 2015 Matt Duffy
2001 Pedro Feliz 2016 Trevor Brown
2017 Jae-gyun Hwang
– GIANTS –