2007 Asbury Park Press Baseball Player of the Year
BY TONY GRAHAM
STAFF WRITER
Ocean's Keith Weinkofsky still recalls the moment in the 2004 Shore Conference Tournament.
That was when the player batting ahead of him was feared far more than the youngster promoted to varsity as a freshman.
""They walked, I think it was Bobby Fox, to get to me,'' Weinkofsky said.
Doesn't seem like something that would have happened now, does it?
Weinkofsky said he homered to put Ocean ahead in that game, and since then the long balls have been flying.
The senior catcher, who this spring established a new Shore Conference career record of 30 home runs, is the 2007 Asbury Park Press Baseball Player of the Year.
""That was my most memorable home run,'' said Weinkofsky, referring to his freshman year blast in the SCT.
His longest home run?
""One at Wall last year was pretty far,'' Weinkofsky said. "'Some people are saying it went like 490 (feet), maybe 500. I got pretty good wood on that one.''
Now that his career is complete Weinkofsky, who will play next spring at Brookdale Community College, placed his high school record in in perspective.
""It's something special, it's a great accomplishment,'' Weinkofsky said. ""I'm very thankful for doing it. It's been a fun ride since my freshman year.''
""Tuna"" (Weinkofsky's nickname due to his resemblance to former NFL coach Bill Parcells), tagged 11 home runs this season and last on his way to surpassing the previous mark of 27 set by 1994 Jackson Memorial graduate Marc Fink.
Weinkofsky's bat seemed to warm up with the weather. He hit only one of his home runs before April 26, a three-run shot vs. St. John Vianney April 23, 2005 in the Monmouth County Tournament.
He connected when it mattered. Weinkofsky blasted 15 in tournament settings, helping Ocean to a record of 22-4 when he went deep.
While Fink's record lasted 13 years, Weinkofsky would like to see his mark stand for some time.
""I'm hoping for a while,'' Weinkofsky said.
But, with records made to be broken, Todd Juliano of Shore Regional is already showing up in the rear view mirror. He hit 10 this season as a sophomore.
""If the kid from Shore has a good two years, then congratulations to him,'' Weinkofsky said. ""But I'm hoping it stays for a little bit.''
STAFF WRITER
Ocean's Keith Weinkofsky still recalls the moment in the 2004 Shore Conference Tournament.
That was when the player batting ahead of him was feared far more than the youngster promoted to varsity as a freshman.
""They walked, I think it was Bobby Fox, to get to me,'' Weinkofsky said.
Doesn't seem like something that would have happened now, does it?
Weinkofsky said he homered to put Ocean ahead in that game, and since then the long balls have been flying.
The senior catcher, who this spring established a new Shore Conference career record of 30 home runs, is the 2007 Asbury Park Press Baseball Player of the Year.
""That was my most memorable home run,'' said Weinkofsky, referring to his freshman year blast in the SCT.
His longest home run?
""One at Wall last year was pretty far,'' Weinkofsky said. "'Some people are saying it went like 490 (feet), maybe 500. I got pretty good wood on that one.''
Now that his career is complete Weinkofsky, who will play next spring at Brookdale Community College, placed his high school record in in perspective.
""It's something special, it's a great accomplishment,'' Weinkofsky said. ""I'm very thankful for doing it. It's been a fun ride since my freshman year.''
""Tuna"" (Weinkofsky's nickname due to his resemblance to former NFL coach Bill Parcells), tagged 11 home runs this season and last on his way to surpassing the previous mark of 27 set by 1994 Jackson Memorial graduate Marc Fink.
Weinkofsky's bat seemed to warm up with the weather. He hit only one of his home runs before April 26, a three-run shot vs. St. John Vianney April 23, 2005 in the Monmouth County Tournament.
He connected when it mattered. Weinkofsky blasted 15 in tournament settings, helping Ocean to a record of 22-4 when he went deep.
While Fink's record lasted 13 years, Weinkofsky would like to see his mark stand for some time.
""I'm hoping for a while,'' Weinkofsky said.
But, with records made to be broken, Todd Juliano of Shore Regional is already showing up in the rear view mirror. He hit 10 this season as a sophomore.
""If the kid from Shore has a good two years, then congratulations to him,'' Weinkofsky said. ""But I'm hoping it stays for a little bit.''
posted by Tony Graham at 9:16 PM
24 Comments:
Again you made the wrong descison here. Tuna hit 11 HRs in a weak division while Slate shut down good teams all year. The fact is Ocean would still have the same record with out Tuna. CBA would be lost without slate.
haha your a moron tuna is 10x the player slate is
Ok..I allowed that last comment to show..what type of remarks will NOT be allowed here.
If you agree..disagree..whatever..is fine. But NO insulting remarks, period.
I will simply eliminate them before they are published.
State your case, make your point in a professional manner, as many of you do most of the time.
Thank you.
Here is my reasoning by the way -
Both had glittering individual seasons..basically a draw.
But only one player made Shore Conference history, and that was the tie-breaker.
Now..let's say Slate had gone on to go 13-0 and mastered Seton Hall for the Non-Public A title....that would have REALLY made it very, very difficult.
What would I have done? I don't know.
You made the right choice. Winkofsky is the best player to have the title. No disrespect to Kyle Slate, but the Tuna is the best all round player. Wether he's playing catcher, or 1st base, or batting, his baseball skills and attitude on the field are the best. To call Oceans division weak is a joke....and they played (and tied 1-1) Seton Hall Prep with Porciello pitching in a scrimmage..so there.
I love watching Slate and the Laufer boys and anyone of them could have been the POY. no one will down play the pitching year KS had.BUT unless you could have watched the ENTIRE year's impact that KW had not only on his team but on ALL of the teams in the SC you can't come on here and say the pick was wrong.... Weak Div yes but if you look at what he did down the stretch AGAIN this year in all 4 tourneys 17--34 5 HR's
8 2B 12BB 19 runs and 15 RBI
Talk about a gamer !!!
Did any other palyers get votes? If yes, who?
There is only one vote...mine.
im sorry but b north is not a weak division..its one of the toughest in the shore
Way to go TUNA..just keep playing and having fun...remember
"the long ball puts the fannies in the seats" !!!!
First of all... this is called the Player of the Year award... not Most Valuable Player award. CBA would of been lost without Slate pitching... very true, however Slate wasn't the best player in the Shore this year. This award was already decided weeks ago once Tuna broke the alltime HR record, the only way Slate would of took it away was if CBA went all the way and knocked off SHP. End of Story people. Nice job Tony
Weak div ?? what about A North dormats ?? every div has weaker teams Tuna has always hit in the clutch in BIG TIME spots, 5 HR in last years state tourney run ...now thats production !!!
This year was no different. I just wish there was a player AND pitcher of year..
makes sense Tony !!
Re: Pitcher and Player of the Year. Something to consider.
My boss didn't want to do it this late in this season. Some years it may lend itself to the dual award more than others.
Taking a peek back at 2006 - Casey Gaynor (all-time Shore Conf. career win leader) would have been pitcher of the year
POY would have been a doozy of a choice ...
Pat Biserta .520, 10 HR, 42 RBI team made it to state semifinals..????
or
Tuna .427, 11 HR, 33 RBI,team made it to the Gr. 3 final..???
OK...YOU make that pick!#@!????
I think Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year awards are something to consider in the future.
The debate about schedules and division has also been brought up again... and seems to be a never ending debate. All divisions are going to have their doormat teams... the bottom line is if you have really good teams, common sense tells you that there will be really bad teams. I think the only consistant tough division in the Shore Conference has to be A-South... there really is no guarenteed victory in that division
You could argue (barely) that the bottom two in A South were a tad less dangerous than the tailenders in A North. But A South did have four 20-win teams....
Absolutely right, 4 teams in A-South had 20 wins... North, South, East and Jackson... I dont recall that happening recently. In fact, I dont think TRS lost a game outside its own division. In all the other divisions, it seemed as though there were two teams battling for first, then a huge dropoff after that.
Sorry Tony but A South beat EACH OTHER up this year...if you stack them vs A North CBA & Colts Neck take it hands down...as for the TUNA--Beserta 2006 debate it's like bad politics... you win some..you lose some and some JUST GET PLAIN RAINED OUT..just like the debate..it was an 06 debate..as for 07 THE TUNA takes it all hand down..the kid was and IS an unbelievable high school BB player and for the SC fans not to respect that,, shame on them !!! I'm, an Ocean County fan and have rooted for the TR teams my whole life and I've seen EVERY TRE, TRN and TRS vs Ocean game and scrimmages in past 3 years.. and the TUNA has just destroyed us ALL down here... and when I attended the Ocean--Seneca game this year and saw the Seneca ciach walk KW 3 times and all the while the fans were booing I could only think back to the FROSH year when KW homered in the SCT game in the 10th inn to beat us to say NICE MOVE COACH...DON'T LET THAT KID BEAT YOU !!!!!
Tony could have made a good choice. we will see what happens with the Star Ledger were a group of people vote for All-State and Player of the Year it will be nice to see a few more opinions. If Tuna is picked as Player of the Year then Tony is a genius! Should be fun to see Tony, lets see how your opinion fairs. Its a toss up between Keith "TUNA" Weinkofsky--Kyle Slate--and Talerico...3 MONSTER season congradulations to whomever may win!!!!!
FYI - Whatever the Ledger, does, says, etc., is irrelevant to us.
Good pick Tony.
Can't go wrong with Weinkofsky.
Congrats Tuna!
LOL, there is no possible way that you have been to all the Toms River vs Ocean Twp games/scrimmages the past three years. If you have, you would of known that Tuna got tossed in the first inning of the TRS scrimmage in 2006 for arguing balls and strikes.
Tony alls I said is that the Star Ledger is notorious newspaper statewide and since your vote only counts for the press it will be nice to see an unbiased view from a group of people statewide
To last poster - no problem.
Actually as an avid TR sports fan I have been to alot of games,,especially baseball and I like many others have enjoyed championship caliber play from all 3 TR teams and with all 3 winning 20 + this year it wasn't a "down" year at all..just good hard nose baseball as usual. I absolutely remember that TRS--Ocean scrimmage and the incident you speak about and it had nothing to do with balls and strikes,,in fact coach Frank apoligized to the coach from Ocean after the game for the ump making a "statement" that he was in charge of the game not a player...Something to do with asking the ump to clean off the plate started that mess!!! none the less..I made every TRE loss to Ocean the past 4 years I think it's like 7 in a row now..I remember the spanking we put on them up at Ocean in a scrimmage 2 years ago...and then they come out in beat us 2 straight in reg season..same with TRS in last years SCT..I was as loud as anyone at Blue Claw until KW hit one off the centerfield fence in the 1st..I think without that 1st ining outburst TRS was even an match but TRS didn't recover from that inning. Like I said in the other blog..that kid has killed TR teams for 4 years and we in TR do appreciate good baseball even when it's coming from the other side.
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