‘Tis the season for commemorating achievement in filmmaking — and we at NotGraphs never miss a chance to participate in a cultural event (or a chance to hurl a barrage of animated bitmaps at your helpless computers). Therefore, we have decided to jump on board with our very own awards show. For the first annual Golden GIFs Awards, we pored over hundreds of the most sensational, groundbreaking, and critically acclaimed GIFs of 2013, and ultimately divided them into ten categories. Although the initial plan was to produce a list of five nominees for each, we soon realized that there was simply too much outstanding GIFfery this year, and in a few of the categories in particular there was simply no way to reduce the list to five. It will come as no surprise to cinephiles of baseball that David Ortiz and Yasiel Puig head this year’s list, with no fewer than four of each man’s films receiving nods. Prince Fielder is close behind, with three nominations.

We also recognize that, despite our exhaustive search, there are surely a number of worthy GIFs that escaped our attention. Therefore, we are submitting the following as a preliminary list, and for the next week we will be accepting additional awards nominees for consideration in the Comments section. Once these have been considered, a final list will be produced and given back to you, the voters, for a final vote.

Stay tuned also for our companion awards show — where we will choose, in both Drama and Musical or Comedy categories, the Bat Flips of the Year.

BEST GIF – DRAMA

Gomez vs. McCann

Harper vs. Wall

Obstruction

Victor’s Gem

Wiffle Ball Hero

BEST GIF – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Butt Slide

Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow

Catwalk Cole

The Three Stooges on the South Side

Nachos for Prince

BEST DIRECTOR

Anonymous, Did You Catch That?

Drew Sheppard, Pitches of Yu

Bradley Woodrum, Jose Molina Super Toss

Inski, D’Aoust & Slow, Baseball Card Pitch

David G. Temple, SEO Magic: Gerrit Cole Throws 99-MPH GIF of Yasiel Puig Grand Slam

BEST ACTOR – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Man Leaping into Bush

Ian Kinsler

Manny Ramirez

Dioner Navarro

Raul Ibanez

Sergio Romo

Yasiel Puig

Jose Valverde

BEST ACTOR – DRAMA

David Ortiz

Dropped Ball Man

Chad Qualls

Josh Donaldson

Hunter Pence

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Fallen Cameraman

Kruk’s Videobomber

Dustin Pedroia

David Ortiz

Edwin Encarnacion’s Parrot

Disoriented Fan

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – DRAMA

Jose Bautista’s Fans

Steve Horgan

David Ortiz

Ball-Saving Dad

Yunel Escobar

Fallen Mets Fan

BEST ACTRESS / SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Carly Rae Jepsen

Dog Warming Girl

Neil Diamond’s Slow Clapper

Victim of Homer Ball Theft

Unprotected Girlfriend