Marlins' Ramirez, Tigers' Verlander win rookie honors

NEW YORK -- Right after Hanley Ramirez heard he was the NL Rookie of the Year, he started getting congratulatory calls from his Florida Marlins teammates.

That was only fitting, because some of his toughest competition came from all those other baby-faced players inside his own clubhouse.

Ramirez edged Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman in a tight race for NL honors, and Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander took home the AL award when balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America was revealed Monday.

"I'm so happy," Ramirez said. "I want to thank each one of my teammates, because every day they gave me the energy to play in the big leagues."

Ramirez beat out Zimmerman by four points -- the closest NL vote since the current format was adopted 26 years ago. The speedy shortstop received 14 of 30 first-place votes and finished with 105 points. Zimmerman received 10 first-place votes and totaled 101 points.

Hanley Ramirez batted .292 with 17 homers, 59 RBI, 119 runs and 51 stolen bases. (AP)

Three of the top four NL finishers were Marlins. Second baseman Dan Uggla came in third, getting six first-place votes, and pitcher Josh Johnson was fourth, tabbed first on the other two entries.

After Ramirez won, one of the first calls he received was from Uggla, his double-play partner and good friend.

"Nobody was talking about winning Rookie of the Year in the clubhouse," Ramirez said. "No egos."

Verlander easily won the AL award after his closest competitors in a race dominated by pitchers were sidelined late in the season because of injuries. The hard-throwing right-hander, who helped the surprising Tigers reach the World Series, was listed first on 26 of 28 ballots for a total of 133 points.

Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon came in second with 63 points, and Minnesota lefty Francisco Liriano finished third.

"I was pretty excited. I was actually outside washing the car. I totally forgot that today was the day it was announced," Verlander said. "It was pretty fun just to be a part of this rookie class."

Next up is the NL Cy Young Award, another wide-open race. The winner will be announced Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Verlander, who went 17-9 with a 3.63 ERA, became the first starting pitcher to win AL Rookie of the Year since Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees in 1981. The last Tigers player to receive the honor was second baseman Lou Whitaker in 1978.