Introducing Your 2011 MLB Rookies of the Year - A Diamond Duo Imagined

Don't bother looking for this card...IT DOESN'T EXIST!

In recent years, Topps has reserved six cards within Series 1 for the AL and NL award winners that are being announced this week. Unfortunately, this year's preliminary checklist doesn't specify what numbers are being held for the them.  But this afternoon, we learned who was named the Rookies of the Year in both the National and American Leagues.
Congratulations to both Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves and Jeremy Hellickson of the Tampa Bay Rays for winning the National League and American League Rookies of the Year Awards. Until the announcements were made this afternoon, it was anybody's guess as to who would win either award, as both leagues had many worthy candidates.

In what turned out to be a rare unanimous decision, Kimbrel, the Braves All-Star closer, blew past the competition with all 32 first-place votes (160 points). He beat out seven other players for the award, including teammate Freddie Freeman (70 points, 21 second place votes), Vance Worley of the Phillies (40 points), Wilson Ramos of the Nationals (6), Josh Collmenter of the Diamondbacks (5), Danny Espinosa of the Nationals (3), Darwin Barney of the Cubs (2), and Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers (2).

Hellickson, another one of the Rays stockpile of dangerous arms (102 points, 17 first-place votes), beat out a field that included Mark Trumbo of the Angels (63, 5), Eric Hosmer of the Royals (38, 4), Ivan Nova of the Yankees (30, 1), Michael Pineda of the Mariners (11 points), Dustin Ackley, also of the Mariners (6, 1 first-place vote), teammate Desmond Jennings (1), and Jordan Walden of the Angels (1).

Normally, I would include both winners' 2011 Topps cards above the post.  But while Hellickson makes an appearance in series 2, Kimbrel doesn't have a regular 2011 Topps card to his name.  He does get a card in the Update Series, but it's as an All-Star, not a regular card.  So I came up with the card above.  No, the card isn't real.  But luckily, the players were positioned in such a way on their respective Diamond Duos cards (Hellickson shares his card with Greg Maddux in Series 2; Kimbrel joins teammate Julio Teheran in the Update Series) that made the card above very easy to cut and paste.

So begins a wild week were debates will come fast and furious. Did your guy win??? 

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama