Duke finishes fifth for Rookie of the Year

11/07/2005
Zach Duke's bid to give Pittsburgh back-to-back National League Rookie of the Year Award winners came up short as the Pirates left-hander finished fifth in the balloting announced Monday by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Duke received three first-place votes and 16 points overall, trailing winner Ryan Howard of Philadelphia (19, 109), Houston's Willy Taveras (seven, 78), Atlanta's Jeff Francoeur (two, 60) and Colorado's Garrett Atkins (one, 17) in the voting.
Duke was 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA in 14 games. The 22-year-old from Clifton, Tex., made his Major League debut on July 2 and went 6-0 in his first 10 starts. He was 7-2 with a 1.78 ERA in 12 starts after the All-Star break.
Outfielder Jason Bay, who won the 2004 NL Rookie of the Year Award with 25 out of a possible 32 first-place votes and 146 total points, remains the only Pirate to have won the award dating back to 1957.

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/