AL Rookie of the Year: A's Andrew Bailey

For the second time in five years, an A's closer has won the American League Rookie of the Year, but this one came as a bit of a surprise.

Andrew Bailey, who was a longshot to even make the team out of spring training, followed 2005 winner Huston Street in taking the award. Bailey had 26 saves and a 1.84 ERA for the A's, earning an All-Star berth along the way. Despite those numbers, he was considered by many to be behind Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus and Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello in the race.

Bailey earned 13 first-place votes among the 28 ballots cast, from two writers in each of the 14 American League cities. Based on a 5-3-1 voting system, Bailey totaled 88 points. Andrus came in second with eight first-place votes and 65 points, followed by Porcello, with seven and 64.

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Bailey, 25, was the only rookie in the league to have more than two saves. He led all rookies in ERA, and he allowed opponents to hit just .167. He struck out 91 and allowed 47 hits in 83 1/3 innings.

How They Voted
Voting for 2009 AL Rookie of the Year (5 points for a first-place vote, 3 for second, 1 for third):
Player, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Bailey, A's	13	6	5	88
Andrus, Rangers	8	6	7	65
Porcello, Tigers	7	8	5	64
Niemann, Rays		5	6	21
Beckham, W.Sox		2	4	10
Anderson, A's		1	1	4

Bailey, a sixth-round pick in 2006, had pitched just one game above Double A coming into this spring. He was not considered one of the A's better prospects, and he was struggling as a starter in June 2008 at Double A, but then he learned the cut fastball from A's roving pitching instructor Gil Patterson, who had been with the Yankees when Mariano Rivera developed the pitch.

Bailey and Rivera were teammates at the All-Star Game in St. Louis. Bailey had hoped to talk to Rivera about the cutter, but he told FanHouse's Ed Price in July that he didn't get the chance.

"I just kind of sat there and was listening to his conversation with the other guys," he said. "I didn't want to bother him.

"I didn't get a chance to pick his brain. But hopefully there will be a chance down the road. ... We were there to have a good time and experience that."

Andrus, who joined the White Sox Gordon Beckham as the only postion players to receive any votes, led all AL rookies in hits (128), runs (72), triples (8) and total bases. One of the players acquired in from the Braves in the 2007 Mark Teixeira deal, Andrus also established himself as an excellent defensive player. The Rangers thought enough of him to move All-Star Michael Young to third before the season began.

Porcello was the best starting pitcher among the AL rookie class, going 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA at age 20.

Bailey is the third A's player in the past six years to win the Rookie of the Year, joining Bobby Crosby (2004) and Street. The A's have now had eight players win the Rookie of the Year, tying the Yankees for the most in the American League. Other closers to win the award include Street, Baltimore's Gregg Olson in 1989 and Seattle's Kazuhiro Sasaki in 2000.