20-year Marliniversary: Hanley Ramirez takes home National League Rookie of the Year honors

Not much was expected for the Florida Marlins during the 2006 season, but the club exceeded all expectations. With a roster full of rookies, the Marlins finished 78-84 and remained alive in the playoff race well into September.

One of the big reasons for the success hit at the top of the lineup and played shortstop. On this day 20 years ago, Hanley Ramírez was named the National League Rookie of the Year.

After batting .292 and posting an .833 OPS to go with 17 home runs, 59 RBIs and 51 stolen bases, Ramírez took home the hardware on Nov. 13, 2006. In one of the closest Rookie of the Year votes ever, Ramírez edged out Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Ramírez’s Florida teammates, second baseman Dan Uggla and starting pitcher Josh Johnson, finished third and fourth, respectively.

For the season, Ramírez finished fifth in the National League in runs scored (119), 10th in hits (185), seventh in doubles (46), sixth in triples (11) and third in stolen bases. Of Ramírez’s 17 home runs, seven were lead-off blasts.

Over parts of seven seasons with the Florida/Miami Marlins from 2006 to 2012, Ramírez was a three-time All-Star and became the franchise's first batting title winner in 2009. That year, he hit .342—still the second-highest average in team history—and finished second only to Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League MVP voting.

Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2012 deal that returned Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough, Ramírez left South Florida as the club’s all-time home run leader. Ramírez continues to hold the Marlins’ single-season record for runs scored, touching home 125 times during both the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The club’s all-time leader in offensive wins above replacement (34.6 WAR), Ramírez ranks third in Marlins history in batting average (.300), homers (148) and on-base percentage (.374), sixth in slugging (.499), fifth in OPS (.873), RBIs (482) and games played (943) and second in runs scored (666), total bases (1,831), doubles (232), steals (230), WAR (26.9) and hits (1,103).

With the honor, Ramírez joined 2003 winner and teammate Dontrelle Willis as the only Marlins to earn National League Rookie of the Year. Outfielder Chris Coghlan (2009) and pitcher José Fernández (2013) have since won that title for the Fish. Ramírez, however, was the first position player to do so for the Marlins. He claimed that title on this day two decades ago.