Antoan Richardson's late season heroics with the storied New York Yankees franchise left a big impression on the Major League Baseball (MLB) landscape in 2014, so much so, that a three-person panel of sports writers has selected him as The Nassau Guardian's Senior Male Athlete of the Year.
Richardson's breakout season was highlighted by a game-winning run to give the Yankees a 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles on September 26, in what was Derek Jeter's final home game with the Yankees. It couldn't have been scripted any better as Jeter, a five-time World Series Champion and 14-time All Star, hit the game-winning single past Orioles' first baseman Steve Pearce. It was the seventh walk-off hit in his 20-year career, and it came in his final at-bat at Yankee Stadium.
In his 13 games with the Yankees, Richardson finished with five hits in 16 at-bats for a .313 batting average. He scored twice, drove in one and stole five bases.
When an athlete plays for a team n New York, their errors and successes are magnified greatly; however, Richardson managed to thrive in the patented pinstripes of the fourth most valuable sports franchise in the world, which is also the most successful franchise in all of North America, with 27 World Series titles.
On September 4, Richardson made his debut as a pinch runner for the Yankees in a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees won that game on a walk-off home-run by third baseman Chase Headley. The following night, Richardson entered the game as a pinch runner again, and got his first stolen base of the season in a 1-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
Richardson saw his first action behind the plate for the Yankees in a day-night double-header against the Baltimore Orioles on September 12. He finished 2-for-3 in the opener with a walk and a stolen base, and then came back in the evening game and had a hit in one at-bat. The following night against the Orioles he finished 1-for-3.
On September 18 Richardson scored the game-winning run for the Yankees, on a walk-off hit by Headley in their contest against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Yankees called up Richardson on September 1 when major league team rosters expand from the 25-man active roster to a 40-man roster. At this point, any player on the 40-man roster can play for the major league team.
Richardson spent the early part of this year with the Triple-A club, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, in Moosic, Pennsylvania. An affiliate of the Yankees, the team plays in the Northwestern Division of the International League.
In his time with the team he hit .271 with 70 hits including three home-runs and 22 RBIs. He also produced an on-base percentage of .380 with 26 stolen bases and 41 runs scored. Richardson finished The Nassau Guardian's selection process with 28 points, just two shy of a unanimous selection.
The 30-year-old says that he believes that the effort he put out will make a way for him.
Finishing second on The Nassau Guardian's list this year was veteran quarter-miler Chris "The Fireman" Brown with 27 points.
Brown was a member of the men's 4x400 meters (m) relay team that won a silver medal at the inaugural International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Relays at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in May. He also was a part of the men's 4x400m relay team that finished second at the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland in July, and the 4x400m relay team that won a bronze medal at the 12th IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakech, Morocco.
On March 10 he captured an individual medal with his second place finish in the men's 400m final at the IAAF World Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland.
He ran a season's best of 44.59 seconds at the Athletissima Diamond League Meet in Lausanne, Switzerland on July 3.
The 36-year-old has been selected as The Nassau Guardian's Senior Male Athlete of the Year on three occasions since the honor was first introduced in 2007.
Finishing third on the list was University of Oklahoma Sooners' junior guard Chavanno "Buddy" Hield with 24 points. Hield and the Sooners had an impressive showing at the 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament that was held in the Imperial Arena at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in November.
The Sooners scored blowout victories over the UCLA Bruins and Butler Bulldogs before falling to the Wisconsin Badgers in the championship game.
During the tournament, Hield averaged 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
On November 16 Hield set a new school record and tied the Big 12 record by going 7-for-7 from the three-point range in the Sooners 78-53 rout of the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions. The following day, he became the first recipient of the 2014 Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week award.
Prior to the season Hield was named to the All-Big 12 Preseason team, which is voted on by the Big 12 coaches, and he was also listed as one of 50 players on the John R. Wooden Award's watch list. ESPN analysts also picked him as a third-team All-American.
The Grand Bahama native entered the 2014 season fresh off an eventful summer in which he participated in both the LeBron James and Kevin Durant skills academies, and made an appearance with the Bahamian national basketball team at the FIBA Americas CentroBasket Championships in Nayarit, Mexico.
Hield is currently averaging 15.7 points per game and the Sooners have a win/loss record of 9-3.
Finishing fourth on The Nassau Guardian's list this year with 19 points was baseball player Anfernee Seymour who was the 197th pick of the seventh round of the MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins, and rounding out the top five is hurdler Jeffrey Gibson with 13 points.
Gibson, 23, captured a bronze medal in the men's 400m hurdles at the 20th Commonwealth Games in a time of 48.78 seconds, lowering his own Bahamian national record of 48.95 seconds that he set on April 4 at the Florida Relays. He is the only Bahamian to ever run under 49 seconds in the long hurdles.

Senior male scores
1st - Antoan Richardson (Baseball) - 29 points
2nd - Chris Brown (Athletics) - 27 points
3rd - Chavanno "Buddy" Hield (Basketball) - 24 points
4th - Anfernee Seymour (Baseball) - 19 points
5th - Jeffery Gibson (Athletics) - 13 points
6th - Taureano Johnson (Boxing) - 12 points
7th - LaToy Williams (Athletics) - 9 points
8th - Trevorvano Mackey (Athletics) - 7 points
9th - Lesley St. Fleur (Soccer) - 6 points
10th - Shavez Hart (Athletics) - 5 points

Also receiving votes: Kyle McCartney - Football (4), Lyle Sawyer - Softball (2), Byron Ferguson - Volleyball (1), Carl Hield - Boxing (1) and Dewitt "DC" Pratt - Mixed Martial Arts (1).

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