Purple Row Awards: American League Rookie of the Year

Throughout this week, we will be presenting our MLB Award Winners in the three major categories (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year). The MVP winners were voted on by the entire Purple Row staff (minus Rox Girl), using the following scoring system:

1^st place = 50 points

2^nd place = 40 points

3^rd place = 30 points

4^th place = 20 points

5^th place = 10 points

The Cy Young and ROY voting was scored as such:

1^st place = 30 points

2^nd place = 20 points

3^rd place = 10 points

So, based on the figures you see above, your American League co-Rookies of the Year (!) are... (join us after the jump to find out!)

1. (tie) Brett Anderson

#49 / Pitcher / Oakland Athletics

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Feb 01, 1988

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	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Brett Anderson	11-11	30	30	1	1	0	0	175.1	180	94	79	20	45	150	4.06	1.28

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AND

1. (tie) Andrew Bailey

#40 / Pitcher / Oakland Athletics

Height: 6-3

Weight: 235

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 31, 1984

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	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Andrew Bailey	6-3	68	0	0	0	26	4	83.1	49	17	17	5	24	91	1.84	.88

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3. Gordon Beckham

Apparently the Oakland Athletics grow pitchers on trees, though they have the advantage of playing half their games in a hitter's worst nightmare (a la Petco Park). Two young A's teammates had very good debut seasons for a team that scuffled through the first half of the season before starting to figure things out down the stretch (after they traded the high-priced veterans they brought in before the season).

Andrew Bailey was one of the elite back-end bullpen guys in all of baseball, allowing less than a baserunner per inning while maintaining a strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost 4. In addition, he was selected to the American League All-Star team in July - the only rookie in baseball to garner the achievement.

Brett Anderson, meanwhile, was thrown into the fire as a starting pitcher for the sub par A's, and definitely made it out of the long season alive, to say the least. He got off to a rough start, losing his first four decisions and posting a 6.03 ERA, but he recovered nicely and ended up finishing the season strong, as his 4-1 record and 2.20 ERA in September would suggest. Even more impressive was the fact that he struck out 31 batters in 28.2 innings in the final month of the season and walked four.

In the "others receiving votes" section: Matt Wieters (who made two ballots and almost got into the top three because I actually picked him to finish first among AL rookies. What can I say, I value catchers...), Rick Porcello, Jeff Niemann, and Elvis Andrus (who received a lone vote from Jabberwocky).

Full disclosure of votes:

Tomorrow, we'll unveil our selection for National League Rookie of the Year (I'll give you a hint - it's not Henry Rowengartner).