What’s been known for months finally became official Monday: Gunnar Henderson is the American League Rookie of the Year.

The 22-year-old infielder emerged this season as not just the circuit’s best rookie but as the best player on the AL’s best regular-season team and one of the most valuable players in the major leagues. He was recognized for his stellar rookie campaign Monday evening by unanimously winning the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s AL Rookie of the Year Award, receiving all 30 first-place votes to beat out Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee and Boston’s Triston Casas.

Henderson hit .255 with a team-best .814 OPS, 28 home runs, 29 doubles, nine triples and 10 stolen bases. He overcame a slow start and popped in the summer when he regularly impacted games at the plate, on the bases and in the field. His 6.2 wins above replacement were easily the most among Baltimore players, and he earned the designation of Most Valuable Oriole, as voted by local media.

No Oriole had won Rookie of the Year since right-hander Gregg Olson in 1989, which was the longest drought in the AL. Henderson is the seventh Oriole to win the award, joining Olson, Cal Ripken Jr. (1982), Eddie Murray (1977), Al Bumbry (1973), Curt Blefary (1965) and Ron Hansen (1960).

Adley Rutschman was in the running in 2022, but the star catcher finished second behind Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez. Rutschman and Henderson being finalists for the award in consecutive seasons was a dream scenario when the Orioles drafted the college catcher and high school infielder with their first two picks in the 2019 draft. Now, it’s the Orioles’ reality.

“It’s pretty cool, especially just having my name etched up there with Cal and Gregg Olson is pretty cool to be able to say that, especially being from a small town,” Henderson said on a video call. “It was something that was on my mind, but I just went out there and tried to play as hard as I could each and every day. I felt like I had a good shot if I just went out there and did that.”

The year after Ripken won the award in 1982, the shortstop was named the AL’s Most Valuable Player and led the Orioles to its most recent World Series trophy.

“Congratulations, Gunnar on being named the 2023 Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year! What a cool moment, I was happy to be a part of it,” Ripken posted on social media after he made the announcement on MLB Network.

“It’s really special,” Henderson said about Ripken being a part of the announcement. “[He is] one of the best to ever do it. Having [his] support and him being able to take time out of his day to do this and coming to the clubhouse and stuff and chatting with me, it’s been pretty special to have a guy like that. I can’t thank him enough for everything he’s done.”

Henderson is the 13th player to win the award unanimously, joining Carlton Fisk (1972), Mark McGwire (1987), Sandy Alomar Jr. (1990), Tim Salmon (1993), Derek Jeter (1996), Nomar Garciaparra (1997), Evan Longoria (2008), Mike Trout (2012), José Abreu (2014), Aaron Judge (2017), Yordan Alvarez (2019) and Kyle Lewis (2020).

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll won the award in the National League. Carroll was a unanimous selection, beating out New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder James Outman.

In the summer of 2018, Carroll and Henderson played together on a showcase team. A little more than five years later, they are unanimous Rookies of the Year.

“We both swapped jerseys whenever we went and played in Arizona, so being able to have that and both winning Rookie of the Year is pretty special,” Henderson said.

The hardware isn’t just something that will go on Henderson’s shelf, though. It also means the Orioles get another opportunity to draft the next Gunnar Henderson. By winning the award, Henderson has earned the Orioles an extra draft pick after the first round next year.

The 2022 collective bargaining agreement instituted measures to curb service-time manipulation by providing incentives for teams to promote well-regarded prospects and give players opportunities to earn additional service time to reach arbitration and free agency sooner. In Henderson’s case, he started the season on the Orioles’ opening day roster, and since he accrued a full year of service in 2023, Baltimore will receive a prospect promotion incentive (PPI) pick. Only top 100 prospects — on at least two of the three major lists — are eligible to get their teams the additional selection. Last year, Rodríguez earned the Mariners the 29th pick in the 2023 draft; Rutschman, meanwhile, was awarded a full year of service despite not being promoted until May and failing to reach the requisite 172 days because he finished second in voting.

The Diamondbacks will also receive a PPI pick for Carroll winning the award, meaning Arizona and Baltimore will have the first two picks after the first round ends, tentatively Nos. 31 and 32 overall. The PPI picks are determined by reverse order of regular-season winning percentage, meaning the Diamondbacks (.519) will pick ahead of the Orioles (.623). The additional pick means Baltimore is expected to have three selections between Nos. 24 and 33 in the 2024 draft: their actual first-round pick (No. 24), their PPI selection (No. 32) and the first pick in Competitive Balance Round A (No. 33).

Henderson will also receive a $750,000 bonus from the pre-arbitration player bonus pool for winning the award.

Henderson, who debuted in August 2022 but maintained his rookie eligibility for 2023, opened the year as the betting favorite to win the award, but a slow start dampened the hype for a player who entered the season as the consensus top prospect in baseball. He hit .170 through his first 100 at-bats, but as the season progressed, he became more aggressive and confident at the plate to hit .274 with an .849 OPS the rest of the way.

“Being able to get through that little struggle in the beginning was honestly the biggest thing for me because some guys can get caught up in that and just have a really hard time getting over it,” Henderson said. “I’m very thankful that the Orioles let me go through that and make it through it and being able to put a good year together.”

He started to heat up in late May and fully broke out in June when he was named the AL Player of the Month. The month contained some of Henderson’s best moments, including two game-winning homers and a blast at Camden Yards that traveled a projected 462 feet for the farthest ball ever hit onto Eutaw Street, according to Statcast tracking data.

In July, a week before turning 22, Henderson opened a game at Yankee Stadium 4-for-4 with two home runs in one of the Orioles’ most impressive victories of their 101-win season. A month later, he put together an even better performance with his near-cycle in Oakland when he chose to sprint to second for his fourth extra-base hit rather than remain at first to complete the cycle.

“Gunnar plays the game at one speed, and that’s hard,” manager Brandon Hyde said after the game. “And that’s the right way.”

By that time, Henderson had reestablished himself as the AL Rookie of the Year front-runner. He kept up his stellar play throughout the season, and while the Orioles were swept in the AL Division Series by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers, Henderson was a bright spot by going 6-for-12 with a home run.

Only eight players in the majors, four of whom play in the AL, had more wins above replacement this season than Henderson. That list, one that includes some of the biggest stars in the sport, is: Los Angeles Angels two-way wonder Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, Braves first baseman Matt Olson, Texas Rangers infielder Marcus Semien and Rangers shortstop Corey Seager.

Given his value, it’s possible Henderson appears on some voters’ MVP ballots, though it’s a shoo-in that Ohtani will win the award in the AL. Henderson’s other awards in 2023 include a Silver Slugger, The Sporting News’ AL Rookie of the Year and the MLB Players Association’s AL Outstanding Rookie.

“I’ve just felt like this is where I belonged ever since I’ve been here,” Henderson said. “Ever since I was playing ball at a young age, this is what I wanted to do, so when I got here, it was just, honestly, going out there and just letting myself take over.”

That he has.

()

It was destined to be known as The Paige Bueckers Game long before the Hopkins native and her Connecticut Huskies tipped off against the Gophers on Sunday at Williams Arena. But by the time it was over, and No. 8 Connecticut pulled away for a 62-44 victory, it actually turned out to be a fan appreciation day.

Bueckers, UConn coach Gino Auriemma and Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit all saluted the announced crowd of 10,869 that came out to welcome a returning star and to watch one of the storied programs in women’s college basketball up close, but also to support the Gophers.

As Plitzuweit pointed out, “There was a lot of maroon and gold in that room.”

The turnout meant so much to the Gophers’ first-year coach that she grabbed a microphone after the final buzzer, thanked everyone for coming and invited them back.

The announced crowd ranks 20th all time in Gophers women’s history. It was their largest crowd since January 1, 2007, when the Gophers drew 11,121 in a win over Wisconsin.

The impetus, of course, was Bueckers, the former top recruit in the nation. The 6-foot redshirt junior, back in action after missing all of last season with a torn knee ligament, estimated that she had 100 family and friends in attendance.

“It was surreal in a way,” Bueckers said of the experience. “But it was amazing support. Minnesota has done so much for me, so for me to be able to play in this environment was really cool. Fun atmosphere, fun to play in — and I’m glad we won.”

Auriemma has a longstanding tradition of saluting his national recruits by scheduling a game in their hometown. He set the game up with former Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen a couple of years ago, and he thanked Plitzuweit and the Minnesota administration for not canceling it after the coaching change.

“A lot of schools will tell you, ‘Hey, if that kid wanted to play here she should have gone to our school,’ ” Auriemma said. “We had another instance with another school where the minute they changed coaches they got out of the contract.

“So now you get (11,000) people in here to see Dawn’s team play, and they say, ‘Hey, these kids are pretty good.’ ”

Plitzuweit admitted that “the thought crossed her mind” to cancel the game, but in the end she decided playing it was the right thing to do.

“It will help us,” she said. “It ended up being a really good situation.”

A bonus for Auriemma was the chance to renew some old acquaintances.

“I got to know a lot of people when I came up here to recruit Paige,” he said. “I probably should have rented an apartment, I saw so many games that Paige played in her high school career.

“So I was able to see some people I haven’t seen in a long time, and I know they were excited to see Paige play.”

Bueckers, who entered the game off of a 24-point, six-steal performance against Maryland, was not as dominant against the Gophers, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds and four assists. Auriemma said the homecoming games aren’t easy for the player who everyone “is going gaga over.”

“They put so much pressure on themselves to play great,’ Auriemma said. “You heard Paige say that something is surreal — she played in the national championship game (at Target Center). Something like this is pretty overwhelming for a kid.”

The Gophers, who suffered their first loss of the season after three wins, made a game of it for one half, before UConn (3-1) broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Gophers 20-6.

The Gophers were plagued by poor shooting from the start, finishing 17 of 65 from the field (26.2 percent), including 6 of 34 from 3-point range.

Gophers leading scorer Mara Braun, who entered the game averaging 21 points a game, was limited to 12 points, most of which came after the game was out of reach. She was 4 for 21 from the floor, including 2 of 11 from three.

The Gophers only trailed 11-9 after the first quarter despite shooting 19 percent. Braun was 0 of 10, including 0 of 5 from 3-point range. Forward Mallory Heyer had seven of the Gophers’ nine points.

The Gophers’ shooting improved slightly in the second quarter (29.4 percent), with Braun getting her first basket — a three — after 11 misses. The Gophers made 3 of 8 3-point attempts in the quarter and went to the locker room after halftime trailing 26-23.

UConn went on a 7-2 run after the start of the third quarter to take a 33-25 lead, leading Plitzuweit to calling a timeout. But the Huskies stretched their lead to 41-25 with two minutes to play in the quarter and entered the fourth leading 46-29.

Rut the moose photographed on public property Tuesday, Nov. 14, “just outside of Sauk Centre.” (Contributed / Danielle Magnuson)

SAUK CENTRE — The wandering moose who has appeared on more screens in west central Minnesota than any other moose since Bullwinkle of television cartoon fame continues his trek to stardom.

In the past week, the Central MN Moose on the Loose Facebook group dedicated to tracking the wandering moose has posted images and sightings of the young bull in the Sauk Centre and Melrose areas. Three days ago, he was spotted near the Sauk Centre airport, and the more recent sightings indicate he remains in the area.

He’s been given names ranging from Rut to Bullwinkle. Photographs indicate he is a young bull, quite likely a yearling.

The most recent Facebook postings indicate concern that he will need to cross Interstate 94 if he remains on his current, northerly trajectory.

“Rut” the moose walks southward along the east shore of Green Lake in rural Spicer on Wednesday morning, Oct. 31, 2023. (Screenshot from Cela Kava Dolan video)

The moose was sighted in Kandiyohi and Meeker counties in late October. A video captured him walking along the shores of Green Lake at month’s end.

Jeremy Gehrke, with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources office in New London, said the local office has not received any reports about the moose since it moved northward into Stearns County.

Gehrke reminded people that they should give the moose a wide berth and not pester him. Moose are large and powerful animals and should be avoided, he pointed out.

It’s not uncommon for moose to wander in areas south of their range. In some cases, moose can wander due to a brainworm that adversely affects their health.

But Gehrke said there are also cases in which a moose will wander on its own, with no obvious signs of health distress. He said the photos he has seen of this moose suggest it is a healthy male.

There is no way to predict where the moose may go, but it is possible that his northward trajectory indicates he is headed back to more suitable habitat in northern Minnesota.

Motorists should be extra cautious this time of year, not only because of this moose. Deer remain active due to the rutting season and are more nocturnal after the nine-day firearm season. That means there is a higher likelihood of deer and vehicle collisions, especially during low-light periods and at night, he advises.

Related Articles

Joe Soucheray: There they were, bobbing and weaving, ruffians at my window

More than $34.2 million raised on Give to the Max Day as Como Zoo reveals baby giraffe’s name

Orphaned sea otters make Minnesota Zoo their new home

Goats and sheep grazed on a hillside on the Capitol grounds in St. Paul on Wednesday