The Fire Brand of the American League is a Red Sox player who exhibits character under pressure, an unassuming man who leaves the spotlight for other people but makes his indelible mark on the past season’s Boston Red Sox. A piece most people take for granted, but whom we would have missed dearly.
The Fire Brand of the Year Award has been a staple since the inception of the blog, with J.D. Drew taking home the honors last season and representing Fire Brand through the 2010 season.
In the past, the Fire Brand of the Year Award has been announced on Jan. 1. However, travel plans changed that this year so we are now preparing to announce the 2011 winner, chosen by voting by the Fire Brand contributors.
There’s a problem, though: There was a tie.
Both Jon Lester and Adrian Beltre tied for the most votes, each with eight. (Voting was done on a 3-2-1 scale, with three points awarded to the first-place nominee on a writer’s ballot.) One ballot included just two names — if Lester had been the third name, he would have won.
That leaves the tiebreaker up to you, the reader. Right now we are experiencing technical problems with the engine, so we cannot throw up a poll to solve the issue. If you’re interested in voting on who should be named the 2011 Fire Brand of the Year — you may only vote for Lester or Beltre — please leave a comment and we’ll tally up the votes at some point!
So I ask: Who should be the Fire Brand of the Year? Jon Lester or Adrian Beltre?