Staten Island, NY - The TOPPS Company, with Minor League Baseball, announced the August selections for the Player of the Month Program, giving Staten Island Yankee first baseman Aaron Rifkin the honor for the NY-Penn League.

Rifkin is one of two Yankee minor leaguers to earn August Player of the Month honors, as he is joined by Mike Vento of the Tampa Yankees (Florida State League). He follows fellow Baby Bomber Jason Arnold, who was named TOPPS Player of the month for July.

After batting .270 in June and .244 in July, the Baby Bombers’ first baseman hit .408 for the month of August, scoring 18 runs and driving in a team-high 26 runners. Of his 42 hits, 18 were for extra bases with 11 doubles, three triples and four homeruns.

Rifkin finished the season with a .318 batting average and figured in almost every NY-Penn League batting category. He was fifth in batting, tied for third in homeruns (10), tied for second in RBI (49), tied for fourth in hits (78), tied for third in triples (5), and was second in extra base hits (34). His slugging percentage of .559 was good for second in the league.

A native of Upland, CA, Rifkin is a product of Cal-State Fullerton. He was selected in the fourth round of this year’s amateur draft after helping the Big West Conference Champion Titans to the College World Series.