OAKLAND -- Thanks to Huston Street and Dan Johnson, the A's are one of three teams with two players on the 47th Annual Topps Major League Rookie All-Star team that was announced Thursday morning.
Better still, Street and Johnson were both unanimous selections in the voting done by big-league managers, making the A's one of two teams with a pair of across-the-board winners. The Blue Jays, with left-handed pitcher Gustavo Chacin and shortstop Russ Adams, were the other such club, while the Braves also placed outfielder Jeff Francoeur and catcher Brian McCann on the 10-man team.
Postseason honors are old hat to Street, who swept the three major American League rookie awards and was named as the right-handed pitcher on the Topps team. Johnson, however, is being honored for the first time this winter, and it has to be viewed as something of an upset victory for the first baseman.
Not only did Johnson not appear on a single ballot in the Baseball Writers' Association of America's voting for the top AL rookie, but the man he beat handily for the Topps honor, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, was last week named the BBWAA's National League Rookie of the Year.