Soto, Longoria, Rookies of the Year

Major League Baseball started rolling out their individual awards Monday, naming Geovany Soto and Evan Longoria the National League and American League Rookies of the Year, respectively. Longoria, a third baseman for the AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays, was the unanimous selection of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He notched 27 homers and 85 RBIs in his first major league season. Soto, the catcher for the Chicago Cubs, was nearly as popular after hitting 23 homers and 86 RBIs of his own. Longoria is the first Rookie of the Year in the Rays' 11-year history. He is also the first third-baseman to win the award since his teammate Eric Hinske did it in 2002 with the Toronto Blue Jays. Soto is the first Cub to achieve the honor since Kerry Wood did it in 1998. He is also the first Rookie of the Year catcher since Reading native Mike Piazza did it with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1993. The NL Cy Young award winner will be announced Tuesday.