Chirinos Wins Inaugural Durrett Award

Richard Durrett was known around the DFW media world as a tireless worker who did a little bit of everything and seemingly never rested, whether he was covering college football, hockey, auto racing or his primary beat, the Texas Rangers for ESPN Dallas, and The Dallas Morning News and Denton Record-Chronicle before..

When Durrett tragically passed away suddenly in June, it was a shock not only to the local media scene, but also to the Rangers. In Durrett's honor, the local chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America established the Richard Durrett Hardest-Working Man award to give to what is essentially the "most improved" Ranger on a yearly basis.

The first winner was announced on Monday, and it was not much surprise as Robinson Chirinos got the award after entering the season as a question mark to make the opening day roster before eventually becoming the Rangers' No.1  catcher early in the season.

Chirinos was very average at the plate, but behind the plate he was spectacular, and very surprising. He threw out 36.2 percent of would-be base-stealers, which was well above the league average and near the top of the league, after spending much of his time early in his career in the minors as a first baseman, not a catcher.

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