Ryan Howard is making Phillies fans forget about the injured Jim Thome. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
	NL's Top Rookies Player, Team G R HR RBI OBP Avg. Garrett Atkins, Rockies 127 59 13 81 .349 .282 Jeff Francoeur, Braves 62 36 12 39 .344 .311 Ryan Howard, Phillies 78 45 19 54 .358 .292 Willy Taveras, Astros 142 75 3 27 .327 .292 Pitcher, Team IP H BB K W-L ERA Jeff Francis, Rockies 172.2 215 68 125 13-12 5.79 Note: Statistics through Wednesday

I'll admit it: Like a lot of people -- everyone in Atlanta, for example, most of the National League and at least one major sporting publication that shall remain anonymous -- I got a little carried away with Jeff Francoeur.

It's not that Francoeur, the right fielder for the Braves, isn't a sensational young ballplayer. He is. It's not that he didn't give us plenty of reason to swoon over his debut in the big leagues. He did. The kid is an exciting, aggressive swinger, he has a slingshot for an arm and he's an all-around peach of a guy. He's definitely Rookie of the Year material.

But, given what's happened so far this September, he's not the runaway Rookie of the Year anymore. In fact, he may be playing catch-up. Somehow, some way, in all of the fawning over Francoeur that we did (yes, I'm dragging everybody down with me), it seems we overlooked another candidate.

And it's not easy to miss a guy like Ryan Howard.

Philadelphia's mammoth rookie first baseman (he's 6-foot-4, 260 pounds) has been so good and so valuable that he just can't be ignored any longer. Wednesday night in Atlanta, he practically saved the Phillies' season by himself with one big-time, 10th-inning swing.

"Ryan Howard is legit," says Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, maybe Howard's biggest supporter. "And he's more than just a power hitter, too. He's capable of hitting for a high average, he's capable of hitting the ball to all fields ... he's done everything we wanted him to do, everything we asked him to do."

Back in July, it really wasn't all that hard to miss Howard, not with Francoeur busy making history. Few players have jumped out to the start that Francoeur did. He hit .413 in July after his call-up from the minors, and was hitting better than .400 more than a month later. He was throwing people out from right field with regularity (he has 12 outfield assists, second in the league). He was on the cover of that magazine.

But as pitchers inevitably began to get an idea about the young right-handed hitter, Francoeur's average began to drop and, with it, his effectiveness. Meanwhile, Howard had a much slower start -- he hit only .214 in 28 May at-bats and was sent back to the minors -- but has climbed steadily since his July callback. The lefty-swinging Howard hit .289 in July, with five homers and 19 RBIs, he took off in August, hitting .307 with five more homers and 16 more RBIs, and he's been hands-down better than Francoeur so far in September.

(For those counting and comparing, Howard is hitting .308 with eight homers and 18 RBIs this month, with a combined on-base and slugging percentage of 1.120. Francoeur is hitting just .247 in September, with two homers and eight RBIs, and a .697 OPS.)

Howard's biggest hit of the season came Wednesday when he crunched the grand slam at Turner Field that beat the Braves, 10-6. The win kept the Phillies, who haven't been to the postseason since 1993, two games behind the Astros in the wild-card race. It was Howard's third game-winning homer of the year, two of which have been grand slams.

For those paying attention: That's Rookie of the Year material.