Matt Duffy wins 2015 Willie Mac Award

The Giants announced on Friday night that Matt Duffy is the winner of the 2015 Willie Mac Award, which goes to the player on the Giants who "best exemplifies the spirit and leadership consistently shown by (Willie) McCovey throughout his long career." It's a pretty big deal.

Duffy began the season on the bench, and his roster spot wasn't even guaranteed. This was literally a headline in March:

Matt Duffy vs. Joaquin Arias vs. Ehire Adrianza

Which, sorry. I promise, none of us expected this! Duffy pushed his way into the lineup, and had one of the best rookie seasons in Giants history, playing a stellar third base and becoming a consistent hitter in the #3 spot in the lineup.

Duffy becomes the first rookie to win the award (!), and even though he probably isn't going to win the Rookie of the Year, this is probably an even better honor. Writers vote on the ROY. Teammates vote on this one. Duffy's quiet determination and non-jerky oblique/hamstring/brain allowed him to stay in the lineup every single day in a season where everyone seemed to get bitten by something.

Congratulations to Matt Duffy! Here's the full list of winners in the history of the award: