Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim center fielder Mike Trout was a unanimous choice as the American League winner of the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award, the BBWAA announced on MLB Network today.
Trout, 21, was listed first on all 28 ballots submitted by two writers in each league city for a perfect score of 140 points. He became the eighth unanimous choice in the AL voting, joining Evan Longoria, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter, Tim Salmon, Sandy Alomar Jr., Mark McGwire and Carlton Fisk. There have been 10 unanimous choices in the National League. Trout and Salmon, the 1993 winner, are the only Angels players to have been honored.
There was barely an offensive category in which Trout did not lead all rookies – batting average (.326), runs (127), RBI (83), hits (182), doubles (27), triples (8), home runs (30), stolen bases (49), total bases (315), extra-base hits (65), multi-hit games (56), walks (67), on-base percentage (.399) and slugging (.564). He is the sixth center fielder to win the AL award and the first since Carlos Beltran in 1999.
Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish (16-9, 3.90 ERA) was the only other player on every ballot and was third overall in the voting behind Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (.292, 23 HR, 82 RBI).
Trout also became the youngest winner of the AL award. The previous youngest was the 1978 winner, Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker, who was two months and 26 days older than Trout. The youngest winner overall was New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden, the NL recipient in 1984 at the age of 19.
The voting (5-3-1 scoring system):
2012 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year
Name, Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Trout, Angels | 28 | 140 | ||
Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics | 19 | 6 | 63 | |
Yu Darvish, Rangers | 9 | 19 | 46 | |
Wei-Yin Chen, Orioles | 2 | 2 | ||
Jarrod Parker, Athletics | 1 | 1 |
Below is a breakdown of the 28 individual ballots, submitted by two writers representing each team in the American League. For more information on the voting, see our Voting FAQ.
Name | Affiliation | Chapter | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roch Kubatko | Honorary | BAL | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
John Eisenberg | Honorary | BAL | Trout | Darvish | Chen |
John Tomase | Boston Herald | BOS | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Gordon Edes | ESPNBoston.com | BOS | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Bradford Doolittle | Baseball Prospectus | CHI | Trout | Darvish | Cespedes |
Katsushi Nagao | Kyodo News | CHI | Trout | Cespdes | Darvish |
Paul Hoynes | Cleveland Plain Dealer | CLE | Trout | Darvish | Cespedes |
Jim Ingraham | News Herald | CLE | Trout | Darvish | Cespedes |
Tony Paul | Detroit News | DET | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
James Schmehl | MLive Media Group | DET | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Rustin Dodd | Kansas City Star | KC | Trout | Darvish | Cespedes |
Terez A. Paylor | Kansas City Star | KC | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Jim Alexander | Riverside Press Enterprise | LA | Trout | Darvish | Parker |
Brian Golden | Antelope Valley Press | LA | Trout | Darvish | Cespedes |
Pat Borzi | Honorary | MIN | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Jim Souhan | Minneapolis Star Tribune | MIN | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Marc Carig | Newark Star Ledger | NY | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Wallace Matthews | ESPNNewYork.com | NY | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Joe Stiglich | Bay Area News Group | OAK | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Susan Slusser | San Francisco Chronicle | OAK | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Michi Murayama | Tokyo Chunichi Sports | SEA | Trout | Darvish | Chen |
Geoff Baker | Seattle Times | SEA | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Dick Scanlon | Lakeland (FL) Ledger | TB | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Joe Smith | Tampa Bay Times | TB | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Kevin Sherrington | Dallas Morning News | TEX | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Richard Durrett | ESPNDallas.com | TEX | Trout | Darvish | Cespedes |
Richard Griffin | Toronto Star | TOR | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |
Robert MacLeod | Toronto Globe and Mail | TOR | Trout | Cespedes | Darvish |