Kansas City Royals closer Joakim Soria has been named the 2010 winner of Mexico’s National Sports Award after a banner season. Soria set a major league record for Mexican pitchers by saving 43 games for the Royals this year and was a member of the American League team in the All-Star Game for the second time. Nicknamed the "Mexicutioner," Soria now has 132 resuces in his three-year MLB career, also a record for Mexican pitchers (breaking the old record of 93 held by the late Aurelio “Senor Smoke” Lopez).Soria, a 26-year-old Monclova native, was picked by Kansas City in the 2006 Rule V winter draft after a stellar Mexican Pacific League season as a starter for Obregon (tossing a perfect game for the Yaquis against Hermosillo that year).
The National Sports Award is given by Mexico’s National Commission of Physical Culture and Sports, and comes with a prize of US$549,000. Soria becomes the first baseball player to win the award since Vinny Castilla in 2006.
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