Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Andrew Bailey won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, while Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan took the National League honor.

Bailey went 6-3 with a 1.84 earned-run average and 26 saves. The 25-year-old right-hander from Voorhees, New Jersey, was the only AL rookie to make the All-Star team.

The seventh Oakland player to win rookie honors and the first since Huston Street in 2005, Bailey said he learned the news when he got a call while driving in his car.

“At first I thought it was a prank call,” Bailey said during a conference call. “Which one of my friends is playing a prank on me? I didn’t want to take my eyes off the road.”

Bailey, 25, led AL rookie relief pitchers in saves, with no other getting more than two, and ERA, at 1.84. He had 24 walks and 91 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings, allowing 49 hits.

Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, who batted .267 and led AL rookies with 128 hits and 33 stolen bases, finished second in the balloting.

Coghlan, 24, led NL rookies with a .321 batting average, 162 hits, 31 doubles, 232 total bases, and a .390 on-base percentage. He’s the third Marlin to win the award, joining Dontrelle Willis in 2003 and Hanley Ramirez in 2006.

Move to Outfield

A second baseman in the minors, Coghlan moved to left field this year shortly before the Marlins called him up in May. He finished the season with five errors.

“A lot of people think I’m pretty bad out there,” he said. “But I think it’s an adjustment. It was a situation I embraced to get me to the big leagues the quickest.”

Coghlan was listed first on 17 ballots, seven more than Philadelphia Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ, who finished second in the voting.

Selected members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote for the top three rookies in each league. A first- place vote is worth five points, second place three and third place one. The players with the most points in each league win. The National League has two more teams and four more votes than the American League.

The writers’ association is due to announce the AL Cy Young Award winner for the league’s best pitcher tomorrow, followed by Managers of the Year on Wednesday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Buteau in Atlanta at mbuteau@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: November 16, 2009 17:27 EST