Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard has been named the National League Rookie of the Year. Athletics closer Huston Street was honored in the American League, becoming the second straight Oakland player to win the award. Howard played in only 88 games in 2005, but took over the starting first base job for the Phillies when Jim Thome went on the disabled list with right elbow tendinitis. Howard, who turns 26 November 19, led all first-year players with 22 homers and hit .288 with 63 RBI. "You never want to see anybody hurt or injured, but I just came up and tried to make the most of my opportunity," Howard said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to make it to the postseason." Howard placed first on 19 of 32 ballots cast by two writers in each league city in voting from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Howard, who had 11 homers and 27 RBI after August, finished with a total of 109 points to easily outdistance Houston Astros outfielder Willy Taveras, who had seven first-place tallies and 78 points. Atlanta outfielder Jeff Francoeur came in third with two first-place votes and 60 points. The 22-year-old Street emerged as the closer for the A's when Octavio Dotel went down in May with an injury and was listed first on 15 of 28 ballots to finish with a total of 97 points. That was well ahead of New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who had four first-place votes and 57 points. Tampa Bay outfielder Jonny Gomes was third with two first-place tallies and 39 points. Street compiled a 5-1 record with a 1.72 ERA and 23 saves in 67 games. The righty had 72 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings. Opponents batted .194 against Street, whose ERA was second only to the New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera (1.38) among AL closers. "It's a tremendous honor," Street said. "Coming into this season, my goal was to stay one day at a time. Coming out of spring training, it didn't even look like I was going to have a chance to make the team." A strong finish to the year helped Street to the award, as he converted all 18 of his save opportunities in 29 outings after the All-Star break. His streak of 18 consecutive saves is the longest by an A's pitcher since Dennis Eckersley also converted 18 in a row in 1995. The 23 saves by Street is an Oakland rookie record, topping the mark of 12 set by Rollie Fingers in 1969. Street is the seventh Athletics player honored, and the second consecutively, following shortstop Bobby Crosby. Other A's winners were Philadelphia's Harry Byrd (1952) and Oakland's Jose Canseco (1986), Mark McGwire (1987), Walt Weiss (1988) and Ben Grieve (1998). Street is the third closer to win the award, joining Kazuhiro Sasaki of the Seattle Mariners in 2000 and Gregg Olson of the Baltimore Orioles in 1989. The Yankees' Dave Righetti was a starter when he won the award in 1981. "We're such a young team, but we were all new to each other this year," Street said of the A's. "Once we got acclimated with each other, then we really started to really gel and that's when we really started to play solid baseball. I think that's only going to get stronger as the years go by." The left-handed hitting Howard had just 28 major league at-bats prior to July 1, but he still led all NL rookies with a .567 slugging percentage. Howard is the fourth Phillies player honored, joining Scott Rolen (1997), Dick Allen (1964) and Jack Sanford (1957). Howard nearly helped the Phillies into the postseason, but they were edged out for the wild card spot by Houston on the final day of the regular season. The Phillies could be presented with a problem going into next season if Thome is healthy since there aren't room at first base for both players. Howard didn't want to speak about the issue, saying he was on vacation at home in St. Louis. "That's not my call as far as what happens for next year," Howard said. "I just trying to relax and rest a little bit." Taveras hit .291 with 3 homers and 29 RBI in 152 games as Houston's regular centerfielder, and helped the team to the playoffs for a second straight year. Francoeur batted .300 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI in 70 contests. Colorado third baseman Garrett Atkins was fourth in the NL voting, while Pittsburgh starting pitcher Zach Duke was fifth, but he had three first-place votes. Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis, Milwaukee second baseman Rickie Weeks, Colorado shortstop Clint Barmes and Florida pitcher Jason Vargas followed in the voting. Cano hit .297 with 34 doubles, 14 homers and 62 RBI in 132 games, while Gomes hit .282 with 21 home runs and 54 RBI in 101 contests. Chicago White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi received five first-place votes, but was named on only three other ballots and ranked fourth in the AL. The other two first-place votes went to Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Gustavo Chacin, who was fifth overall. The other finishers, in order in the AL, were Oakland outfielder Nick Swisher, A's pitcher Joe Blanton, Minnesota reliever Jesse Crain and Devil Rays starting pitcher Scott Kazmir.