Notes on FanFest and Silver Slugger Awards

The Orioles announced today that their annual FanFest will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31 at the Convention Center.

More information will become available later. For now, you'll need to be satisfied with the date.

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The Silver Slugger Awards were handed out tonight, the selections revealed on MLB Network, and the Orioles were shut out after winning three of them in 2013.

Nelson Cruz lost out to the Tigers' Victor Martinez among finalists at designated hitter. Cruz led the majors with 40 home runs and batted .271/.333/.525. Martinez batted .335/.409/.565 with 32 home runs and 103 RBIs.

Cruz could have been listed among the outfielders, but he was slotted at DH, where he appeared in 89 games. He's never won a Silver Slugger Award.

Adam Jones won his first Silver Slugger last season, but he finished behind Mike Trout, Jose Bautista and Michael Brantley tonight in voting for American League outfielders. Jones was counted among the five finalists.

J.J. Hardy also was denied a second consecutive Silver Slugger, with the White Sox's Alexei Ramirez taking the award among shortstops.

First baseman Chris Davis also won a Silver Slugger last season after leading the majors with 53 home runs, but he wasn't a finalist in 2014.

Managers and coaches on each team were allowed a total of four votes and they couldn't choose their own players. Selections were based on a variety of statistics, including average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Louisville Slugger created the award in 1980.

Here are the 2014 winners:

Outfielders
AL: Mike Trout, Jose Bautista, Michael Brantley
NL: Andrew McCutchen, Justin Upton, Giancarlo Stanton

First basemen
AL: Jose Abreu
NL: Adrian Gonzalez

Second basemen
AL: Jose Altuve
NL: Neil Walker

Shortstops
AL: Alexei Ramirez
NL: Ian Desmond

Third basemen
AL: Adrian Beltre
NL: Anthony Rendon

Catchers
AL: Yan Gomes
NL: Buster Posey

Designated hitter
Victor Martinez

Pitcher
Madison Bumgarner