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For the fourth time in the last five years, Internet Baseball Awards™ voters chose a pitcher as the National League Rookie of the Year. This 2002 winner is Jason Jennings, who impressed voters by prospering despite the unique challenges presented by his home park, Coors Field. He is the first Rockie to win any Internet Baseball Award. Two Rockies have previously finished second: Larry Walker in the 1997 NL Player of the Year voting and Todd Helton in the 1998 NL Rookie voting. While Jennings won easily, four other players earned over 100 first place votes–Austin Kearns, Damian Moss, Brad Wilkerson and Mark Prior. Not one of the top five finishers were projected to be one of the top ten rookies in the majors by Baseball America.

Name                    1    2    3       B       P
Jason Jennings        664  257  122    1043    4213
Austin Kearns         205  341  257     803    2305
Damian Moss           229  258  171     658    2090
Brad Wilkerson        149  216  162     527    1555
Mark Prior            146  169  168     483    1405
Kaz Ishii              47   71  116     234     564
Jason Simontacchi      34   49  102     185     419
Josh Fogg              22   60  117     199     407
Josh Beckett           10   19   31      60     138
Dennis Stark            3   19   20      42      92
Ryan Jensen             5   11   10      26      68
Oliver Perez            2    7   15      24      46
Tim Spooneybarger       1    6   14      21      37
Mike Koplove            2    6    5      13      33
Carlos Hernandez        2    3    7      12      26
Kirk Saarloos           1    4    9      14      26
Sean Burroughs          2    2    6      10      22
Carlos Zambrano         0    6    3       9      21
Brett Myers             1    3    4       8      18
Ty Wigginton            0    4    5       9      17
Ramon Vazquez           0    3    5       8      14
Nick Neugebauer         2    0    1       3      11
Jake Peavy              0    3    2       5      11
Brandon Puffer          2    0    1       3      11
Mike Bacsik             2    0    0       2      10
Mike Crudale            0    2    4       6      10
Kevin Gryboski          0    2    3       5       9
Damon Minor             0    1    4       5       7
Rickey Stone            0    2    1       3       7
Jamie Cerda             0    1    2       3       5
Jared Fernandez         0    1    2       3       5
Jeremy Fikac            1    0    0       1       5
Reggie Taylor           1    0    0       1       5
Carlos Silva            0    0    4       4       4
Dennis Tankersley       0    1    1       2       4
Yorvit Torrealba        0    1    1       2       4
T.J. Tucker             0    1    1       2       4
Mark Corey              0    1    0       1       3
Morgan Ensberg          0    1    0       1       3
Raul Gonzalez           0    1    0       1       3
Luis Pineda             0    1    0       1       3
Aaron Cook              0    0    2       2       2
Adam Everett            0    0    2       2       2
Jayson Durocher         0    0    1       1       1
Blaine Neal             0    0    1       1       1
Brandon Villafuerte     0    0    1       1       1
TOTAL                1533 1533 1383    4449   13647

There was a lot of hype about the AL rookie crop before the season, especially about big name prospects like Hank Blalock, Carlos Pena and Nick Johnson. However, none of them fully blossomed in 2002. Instead, third baseman Eric Hinske, whom J.P. Riccardi's Blue Jays acquired in the offseason from the Athletics for Billy Koch, established himself early in the season as the top AL rookie and easily won the IBA AL Rookie of the Year award. Hinske was a solid if not spectacular prospect before the season, but the second place finisher, Orioles starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez, finished second a year after being released by the Padres. Designated hitter Josh Phelps, who finished third, appeared in only 74 games but impressed voters with his .309 batting average and 36 extra base hits. Jorge Julio, the Orioles' new closer, finished fourth, giving the Orioles and Blue Jays a sweep of the top of the AL rookie charts in 2002.

Name                    1    2    3       B       P
Eric Hinske          1157  185   37    1379    6377
Rodrigo Lopez         163  563  141     867    2645
Josh Phelps            44  194  308     546    1110
Jorge Julio            14  106  146     266     534
Bobby Kielty           15   90  118     223     463
Nick Johnson           10   52   70     132     276
Mark Ellis             21   37   47     105     263
John Lackey            12   37   45      94     216
Carlos Pena             4   42   52      98     198
Kevin Mench             5   27   48      80     154
Casey Fossum           11   18   44      73     153
Joe Crede              11   21   33      65     151
Tony Fiore              4    9   17      30      64
Aaron Harang            2   14   12      28      64
Mike Cuddyer            2   13   12      27      61
Dustan Mohr             0   11   18      29      51
Brendan Donnelly        1    8   17      26      46
Orlando Hudson          1    3   27      31      41
Rafael Soriano          2    7    4      13      35
Covelli Crisp           3    3    8      14      32
Pete Walker             2    4    9      15      31
Hank Blalock            4    2    3       9      29
Toby Hall               0    7    6      13      27
Travis Phelps           0    6    5      11      23
Corey Thurman           1    5    3       9      23
Carl Crawford           1    2    8      11      19
Joaquin Benoit          1    3    3       7      17
Jeremy Affeldt          2    1    3       6      16
Runelvys Hernandez      1    3    2       6      16
John McDonald           2    1    3       6      16
Geronimo Gil            0    3    6       9      15
George Lombard          1    2    2       5      13
Ryan Drese              0    3    3       6      12
Travis Driskill         0    3    2       5      11
Chris Magruder          1    1    3       5      11
Juan Alvarez            0    3    0       3       9
Scot Shields            0    2    3       5       9
Mike Maroth             0    2    1       3       7
Jorge Sosa              1    0    2       3       7
Miguel Asencio          0    1    2       3       5
Willie Harris           1    0    0       1       5
Adam Bernero            0    1    1       2       4
Jeff Farnsworth         0    1    1       2       4
Ken Huckaby             0    1    1       2       4
Aaron Guiel             0    1    0       1       3
Oscar Henriquez         0    1    0       1       3
Mike Porzio             0    1    0       1       3
Ramon Santiago          0    0    3       3       3
Shawn Sedlacek          0    0    3       3       3
Rick Bauer              0    0    1       1       1
Brandon Berger          0    0    1       1       1
Travis Harper           0    0    1       1       1
Justin Miller           0    0    1       1       1
John Stephens           0    0    1       1       1
TOTAL                1500 1500 1287    4287   13287

Tomorrow, the Pitchers of the Year.

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