After the American League Rookie of the Year was announced to be Angel Berrora, not Hideki Mastsui, Georgie Stienbrenner released the following statement:
"While I have great respect for the Baseball Writers' Association of America and all of its contributions to our national game throughout the years, I firmly believe that a great injustice has been done to Hideki Matsui.
Two misguided writers -- Bill Ballou from the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette and Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune -- in voting for American League Rookie of the Year, clearly made up their own rules to determine who was and was not eligible for the award and disqualified an eligible candidate who could have won. "
Jim Souhan is a local writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and is frequently on Twins telecasts. Today, Jim Souhan responded to "King George"s comments, and stood his ground.