Ryan Lavarnway, who smacked 32 home runs and had 93 RBIs for Pawtucket and Portland last season, is the winner of the Greg Montalbano Award as the 2011 Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year.

The award was voted on by members of the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Lavarnway began the year with Double A Portland and, after a productive stop in Pawtucket, eventually made it all the way to the major leagues, playing his first game for Boston on Aug. 18. He wound up with 2 home runs and 8 RBIs for the Red Sox, playing both at DH and catcher.

Lavarnway will be among the head table guests at the chapter's 73rd annual dinner at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 at the Westin Copley Hotel in downtown Boston. He will be joined at the head table by new manager Bobby Valentine, Fuchs Award winner Tony LaRussa and Jim Lonborg, whose win over the Twins on Oct. 1, 1967 is one of the great moments in Fenway Park history.

Tickets are $175 each and are available by sending a check made out to The Sports Museum care of Rusty Sullivan, The Sports Museum,100 Legends Way, Boston, MA 02114. They can also be ordered online at The Sports Museum website, which is www.sportsmuseum.org. More information on the dinner and its history is available at bostonbaseballwriters.com.