Professional Team of the Year
The 2017 Pacific Coast League Championship Memphis Redbirds earned their first league title since 2009 when they defeated the El Paso Chihuahuas, 3-1, in a decisive Game 5 of the PCL finals. The team was led by first year manager Stubby Clapp, who played for the Redbirds for four years beginning in 1999, where he became a popular figure in Memphis. On November 30, 2017, Baseball America named Clapp the 2017 MiLB Manager of the Year.
In the final game for the league title starting pitcher Matt Pearce allowed just one run over six innings and relievers Mike Mayers, Sean Gilmartin and Josh Lucas combined to keep El Paso at bay over the final nine outs. El Paso had the winning run at the plate with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Lucas managed to get out of the jam with two strikeouts and a pop out to close out the game.
First baseman Patrick Wisdom, one of the few players to spend the entire year with Memphis, provided what became the game-winning hit when he broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run during the top of the fifth inning Sunday. His performance during the playoffs earned him the Playoff MVP after batting .278/.350/.528 with two homers and nine RBIs in 10 games.