Selma City Council declares June 29 Gunnar Henderson Day

Gunnar Henderson displays the resolution declaring June 29 his day as the Selma City Council and his family look on.

June 29 will be Gunnar Henderson Day in the city of Selma.

The Selma City Council approved a resolution declaring the day in honor of Henderson, who has made a name for himself and Selma in Major League Baseball.

The Morgan Academy graduate was named the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Mr. Baseball, selected as the Gatorade Player of the Year for Alabama and named to the Under Armour and Perfect Game High School All-American teams after batting .559 with 17 doubles, nine triples, 11 home runs 69 runs scored and 75 RBIs while stealing 32 bases.

The Baltimore Orioles selected Henderson in the second round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. Henderson finished his first professional season in 2022 playing 34 games with a .259 batting average, four homeruns and 18 RBIs.

He was named the best overall athlete in the Orioles’ minor league system going into the 2021 season, where he played over 105 games between three teams. He was named Baseball Minor League Player of the Year. He was named the No. 1 prospect in Major League Baseball going into the 2023 season by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. He was named Sporting News 2023 American League Rookie of the Year, MLB Pipeline’s 2023 All-Rookie Team, Baseball Digest 2023 Rookie of the Year and the American League Silver Slugger Award.

On June 11, 2023, Henderson hit a 462-foot home run against the Kansas City Royals, the farthest hit in the 31-year history of Camden Yards. Henderson won the Jackie Robinson American Leage Rookie of the Year.

“It’s very honoring to me to be able to go out to other cities and take the support this city has given to me,” Henderson said as he accepted the resolution. “Not a lot of people have that.”  

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