Rangers Pitcher Neftali Feliz Named 2010 AL Rookie Of The Year

Texas Rangers right-handed pitcher Neftali Feliz was named the 2010 American League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year in an announcement today by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). He is just the second Texas rookie ever to win the BBWAA honor, joining Mike Hargrove in 1974.

The 22-year-old received 20 out of 28 first-place votes, 7 second-place votes, and one third-place vote for a total 122 points on a 5-3-1 scoring system. He joined Detroit outfielder Austin Jackson, who finished second, as the only players named on all 28 ballots.

Feliz joins Hargrove as the only players to win the award in the Washington/Texas franchise’s 50-year history. His win snaps a 36-year drought for the organization, which had been the longest span without a rookie award for any big league club. The Giants also saw their rookie drought end this year, as catcher Buster Posey became the first San Francisco player to win the rookie award since John Montefusco in 1975. The Giants had owned the longest rookie drought in the N.L. Elvis Andrus, acquired in the same 2007 trade with Atlanta that involved Feliz, finished second in last year’s voting. Feliz and Andrus are the only rookies in Rangers

 history outside of Hargrove to finish in the top two in A.L. voting.

This marks the second straight year and fifth time overall that a closer has won rookie honors in the A.L. Oakland’s Andrew Bailey won last year’s award, with the other closers being Baltimore’s Gregg Olson (1989), Seattle’s Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000), and Oakland’s Huston Street (2005). Yankees pitcher Dave Righetti was a starter when he won the award in 1981.

Feliz becomes the fourth-youngest pitcher ever to win rookie honors in the A.L., trailing only a trio of other 22-year-olds. Feliz turned 22 on May 2 of this season, while the others all celebrated birthdays after Feliz in their respective rookie campaigns: Cleveland’s Herb Score (1955 – turned 22 on June 7 that year), Oakland’s Huston Street (2005 – Aug. 2), and Detroit’s Mark Fidrych (1976 – Aug. 14).

Feliz is the first foreign-born player to win the A.L. award since fellow Dominican Angel Berroa for Kansas City in 2003. In fact, he is just the fourth Dominican ever to win in the A.L., joining Toronto’s Alfredo Griffin (1979), Kansas City’s Carlos Beltran (1999) and Berroa.M

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