Santo Domingo, D.R. ? Kansas City Royals shortstop Angel Berroa answered his phone Monday, never thinking he was about to receive the best news of his professional baseball career.

On the other end of the line was Royals manager Tony Pena, who told Berroa he beat New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui in the closest vote in 24 years to win the American League Rookie of the Year award.

“I felt confident that I might get it,” Berroa said from his home in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo. “But I didn’t know that they would announce it so quickly and least of all did I expect that Pena would give me the news.”

Pena said he had his own little celebration before making the call.

“Before calling Angel to give him the news, I uncorked a bottle of wine and smoked a big cigar,” he said from his home in Santiago, the Caribbean country’s second-largest city. “I am very happy for him.”

Berroa, 25, received 12 first-place votes, seven seconds and seven thirds for 88 points in balloting released Monday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The Japanese right fielder got 10 firsts, nine seconds and seven thirds for 84 points.

Matsui, 29, was a three-time Most Valuable Player of Japan’s Central League before signing with the Yankees after the 2002 season.

Berroa played minor league baseball for the entire 2001 and 2002 seasons, but earned September call-ups to the majors both years.

He is the fifth Dominican to win the rookie distinction and first in the American League to win it since Toronto’s Alfredo Griffin in 1979.

The other Dominican players to win the award were Raul Mondesi (1994), Rafael Furcal (2000) and Albert Pujols (2001) of the National League.