Now Ryan Zimmerman knows how George Allen feels.

It was as close as they come, but when they counted the votes for NL Rookie of the Year, Zim narrowly lost to Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez. DCist Matt saw it coming as the year wound down, posting about Ramirez in September: “If anybody’s going to beat out our boy Zim, we think it’s going to be this guy.”

It’s easy to make a convincing case for either player. Ramirez hit leadoff and was a terror on the basepaths, setting the table for an overachieving squad of youngsters. Zim cracked a veteran lineup and quickly established himself in the three hole as the team’s premier clutch hitter while flashing some serious leather at third. One scored runs while the other knocked them in, but otherwise, their stats were nearly identical.

Photo by Flickr user Scott Ableman.