Multiple Mets Receive Awards From New York Chapter Of The BBWAA

After the completion of every MLB season, the New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) lists the winners of nine awards that are specific to the NY chapter with this year's honorees scheduled to be feted at the chapter's 102nd Gala Dinner in January.

On Wednesday, the NY chapter announced that multiple people with strong connections to the New York Mets' organization had been selected for recognition for their work during the course of the 2026 season.

The most recognizable of those names is Mets' shortstop Francisco Lindor, who, along with his wife, Katia, was named the winner of the Joan Payson and Shannon Forde "Community Service" Award. This comes on the heels of Lindor in October being named MLB's 2026 winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, which is the game's most-coveted off-field honor.

Another name that should be familiar to all Mets' fans is Howie Rose, who was named the recipient of the William J. Slocum and Jack Lang Award "Long & Meritorious Service" Award. Rose, who retired at season's end after more than three decades as the team's radio play-by-play voice, previously won the NY chapter's Arthur and Milton Richman "You Gotta Have Heart" Award in 2023 after his successful return to the booth following a battle with bladder cancer.

The most poignant awards this year will be going to two "You Gotta Have Heart" winners, which is presented annually to one or more members of New York's baseball community who have overcome significant adversity and hardship.

The first recipient is longtime Mets' employee Ethan Wilson, who has worked for many years in the team's media-relations department and recently underwent successful emergency brain surgery.

“We all love Ethan,” said Lindor in a story posted by MLB.com's Anthony DiComo on Thursday. “Ethan, he's one of the core people in the organization.…He has helped me a lot, along with the PR department, to sit here and answer questions.”

Joining Wilson on the dais at the gala in January will be longtime New York Post and New York Daily News reporter Peter Botte, who recently had  much of his lower leg amputated due to a bacterial infection, but recovered in time to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in October.

The final current Met to be honored is third baseman Bo Bichette, who received the Ben Epstein and Dan Castellano "Good Guy" Award for being a standup guy with the media and helping them to successfully execute their jobs.

Finally, Steve Bieser, who played a total of 60 games for New York in 1987 and 1988, won the Casey Stengel "You Can Look It Up" Award, which is given to a person who had never previously won a NY chapter award. Bieser was honored for his memorable pinch-running exploits in the inaugural Subway Series with the New York Yankees in 1997, which prompted Yankees' pitcher David Cone to commit a run-scoring balk.

Since its inception, the New York Chapter of the BBWAA has been a professional organization for journalists covering Major League Baseball in New York. It is responsible for voting on various baseball awards and maintaining professional standards for writers in the press box.