11/10/2006

Guillen named Tiger of the Year

Shortstop hit .320, scored 100 runs

By JEFF PEEK

Record-Eagle staff writer

McClatchy/Tribune
Carlos Guillen belts a homer in a Game 2 ALDS win over the New York Yankees.

DETROIT — In season of rebirth for the Detroit Tigers, Carlos Guillen just did what he's always done since coming to the Tigers in a trade three years ago.

He hit ... and hit ... and hit some more.

Guillen, who finished ninth in the American League with a .320 batting average, was named 2006 Tiger of the Year in voting by the Detroit Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. The 31-year-old shortstop received 17 of 23 first-place votes.

In his three seasons since coming to Detroit in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, Guillen has batted .318, .320 and .320.

A year after knee problems limited his playing time to 87 games, a healthy Guillen established career highs in games played (153), at-bats (543), runs scored (100), hits (174), doubles (41), walks (71) and stolen bases (20) as the Tigers improved to 95-67 and won the A.L. championship. He finished eighth in the American League with a .400 on-base percentage and tied for ninth with 41 doubles.

Guillen became the 10th player in club history to hit for the cycle when he accomplished the feat on August 1 at Tampa Bay. He became the first Tigers player to hit for the cycle since Damion Easley on June 8, 2001 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Guillen's cycle was the first on the road for a Tiger since Hall of Famer George Kell hit for the cycle in the second game of a doubleheader on June 2, 1950 at Philadelphia.

In 13 postseason games for Detroit in October, Guillen batted .362 (17-for-47) with six runs scored, five doubles, a triple, a home run, four RBIs and six walks.