This particular standings report holds special significance for the CFCL each year, as it represents a mile marker of sorts – at the end of the season, the point totals from the Period 10 standings will be used to determine the winner of the Dallas Green Award. The award is given each year to the team that improves itself the most during the season, as reflected by the greatest increase in points between the Period 10 totals and those of the final standings.
We chose to recognize this particular achievement after Dallas Green because he was the Cubs’ general manager during the CFCL’s first season, 1984. That year, the Cubs won their first ever Division Championship, and they made their first visit to the post-season in some 39 years. A large part of the Cubs’ success that season was Green’s savvy General Managership. Green made several moves to lay the foundation in previous years and during the off-season, however it's probably safe to say that it was acquiring players such as Rick Sutcliffe and Dennis Eckersley during the season that pushed the Cubs over the top in the NL East.
We decided to use the Period 10 standings as our basis for the calculations for a couple reasons. First, we felt that by the 10th week of the season, much of the small sample size randomness of the early season standings would have been worked out and a good baseline for each team’s performance would have been established. Second, Period 10 typically falls around the second week of June, which was right about the time in 1984 that Green made what might have been the decisive move in solidifying the Cubs for their division title run.
On June 13, 1984, Green traded Joe Carter, Mel Hall, Don Schultze, and Darryl Banks to the Cleveland Indians for Rick Sutcliffe, George Frazier, and Ron Hassey. Hassey and Frazier both contributed in bit roles, but Sutcliffe was stellar – he won 16 games for the Cubs and lost only one. The Cubs were 18-2 in Sutcliffe’s 20 starts, and he won the National League Cy Young Award that year. Before the trade, the Cubs were playing at a .568 clip, but that jumped to .608 winning percentage for the games after the deal.
The Dallas Green Award was one of only 5 awards that were presented at the 1984 CFCL Awards Banquet, and it has been presented every year since.
The average point increase for first 29 winners of the award has been 15 points. The highest total ever recorded was 30.5 by the 2006 Ruffins, while the 1992 Six Packs won the award with the smallest point increase – 4.5 points.
And from the "This is interesting but probably means nothing" department, apparently being named David gives you a huge step up on winning this award ... David Mahlan (Copperfields), David Holian (Ruffins), and David Goetz (ForGoetz Me Nots) have taken home the honors over half the time (16 of 29 seasons), including 1994 when the Ruffins and Copperfields shared the award in a tie.
Here’s a record of all the winners:
| Year | Team | Points Gained |
| 1984 | David's Copperfields |
15.5
|
| 1985 | ForGoetz Me Nots |
8
|
| 1986 | Bald Eagles |
8
|
| 1987 | Dem Rebels |
12
|
| 1988 | David's Copperfields |
7.5
|
| 1989 | David's Copperfields |
12.5
|
| 1990 | David's Copperfields |
8
|
| 1991 | Bald Eagles |
12
|
| 1992 | Six Packs |
4.5
|
| 1993 | David's Copperfields |
9
|
| 1994 | David's Ruffins David's Copperfields |
10
|
| 1995 | ForGoetz Me Nots |
13.5
|
| 1996 | Da Paul Meisters |
6
|
| 1997 | David's Copperfields |
12
|
| 1998 | David's Ruffins |
27
|
| 1999 | Eric's Lambchops |
9
|
| 2000 | Dem Rebels |
17
|
| 2001 | Six Packs |
27
|
| 2002 | Dem Rebels |
26.5
|
| 2003 | Reservoir Dogs |
15.5
|
| 2004 | David's Copperfields |
20
|
| 2005 | David's Copperfields |
17
|
| 2006 | David's Ruffins |
30.5
|
| 2007 | Kenndoza Line |
25.5
|
| 2008 |
Mo's Red Hots
|
25.5
|
| 2009 | David’s Copperfields |
14.5
|
| 2010 | David’s Ruffins |
16.5
|
| 2011 | David’s Ruffins |
9.5
|
| 2012 | Dem Rebels |
23
|
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