The Baseball Writers’ Association of America have awarded Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers and Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins Rookie of the Year honors.
Verlander claimed the top spot in the American League after helping the Detroit Tigers reach the World Series. The hard throwing right hander posted a 17-9 record for the Tigers staff this past season. Verlander tallied 133 points from the voters and easily beat out runner-up Jonathan Papelbon who finished with 63 points.
The National League Rookie of the Year was much closer and featured several Marlins. While Hanley Ramirez took the award fellow Marlins Dan Uggla and Josh Johnson finished third and fourth. Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman fell four votes behind Ramirez to finish second in the balloting.
As the Marlins starting shortstop, Ramirez hit .292 had 17 homeruns and totaled 59 RBI’s. He also swiped 51 bases for Florida.