The Greatest Rookie Ever?
Who'd land that title among all Rookie of the Year winners?
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . A year before the Baseball Writers Association of America created the Rookie of the Year award we all recognise, The Sporting News elected to name an outstanding rookie for 1946—Phillies outfielder Del Ennis.
. . . After the BBWAA designated the award to go to one winner in each major league, the first American League Rookie of the Year (1949) was St. Louis Browns first baseman Roy Sievers.
. . . The first National League Rookie of the Year (1949) was Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe.
. . . During the first ten years of the BBWAA recognising a Rookie of the Year in each league, 1949-1958, one future Hall of Famer won the award in the American League (Luis Aparicio, shortstop, White Sox) and three won the award in the National League (Willie Mays, outfielder, New York Giants; Frank Robinson, outfielder, Reds; Orlando Cepeda, first baseman, San Francisco Giants.)
Leading Off
The Greatest Premiere
Who really posted the greatest major league rookie season?
By Mark Kolier
With the 2025 season opener imminent, there are MLB rookies who hope to start their careers winning the Rookie-of-the-Year (ROY) and then going on to have a Hall of Fame career. Great rookie seasons, like the ones Detroit Tiger Mark (The Bird) Fidrych had in 1976 and Dwight (Doc) Gooden had in 1985, are things that baseball fans know about and will never forget.
The greatest rookie season ever is clearly a subjective opinion but no less fun to explore.
It had to be Fred Lynn, right?
Although it happened 50 years ago, I remember Red Sox Fred Lynn’s amazing rookie season in 1975. Lynn won a Gold Glove a Silver Slugger, and also started in the All-Star game, then won the American League’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards.
Lynn is one of only two players to win ROY and MVP, the other being newly minted Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, a 27-year-old rookie for the Mariners in 2001 having played nine years in Nippon Professional Baseball in his native Japan.
And here’s to you, Mr. Robinson.
Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson won the first ROY award in 1947, the first of two across-the-board ROYs before the award was given to each league’s outstanding rookie. Before 1947 there was no award for having a great rookie season.
Jackie’s rookie year was very good considering the historical perspective and what he had to overcome just to play in MLB.
But where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio had an excellent rookie season in 1936, although it was his sophomore season that truly displayed his all-around skills. DiMaggio was a member of a World Series winner the first four seasons of his Yankee career.
Also remarkable is that the Yankee Clipper went on to win nine World Series in his 13-year MLB career. DiMaggio’s Hall of Fame teammate Yogi Berra totaled ten World Series wins with the Yankees in his 19 seasons. Yogi’s rookie 1947 was good, but also not indicative of what he’d become.
For the purposes of this article, I limited the period to the past 77 years since the ROY award was instituted. I also did not include pitchers, but I am considering doing a separate post on the greatest rookie seasons for pitchers in MLB history. I looked at Christy Mathewson’s rookie season in 1901 when he started 40 games, finished 38 and had a bWAR of 8.9. Even limiting the period to the modern era will bring many great HOF pitchers into the mix for the greatest rookie season so I will tackle that some other time.
The Superior Six
I compared six amazing players who had amazing rookie seasons. Three are in the Hall of Fame and two others will surely gain entrance. I will let you figure it out from the image below. It’s not difficult.
Right, Said Fred
I wasn’t wrong to think Fred Lynn deserves serious consideration for having the greatest rookie season since 1947. The awards Lynn piled up in 1975 added up to about all he could do save for being World Series MVP, which went to Pete Rose of the victorious Reds.
Lynn was solid but not spectacular in that series and it was the only World Series in which he’d participate. Yet he has no black ink indicating he led the league in any of the listed categories. He’s in good company there: neither did Jackie Robinson winning his ROY.
2001: An Ichiro Odyssey
The 2001 Mariners famously won 116 games before flaming out in the playoffs. The M’s won 25 more games in 2001 than they had the year prior and lost Alex Rodriguez who went to the Texas Rangers as a free agent.
While Seattle still had future Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez who had a good season at age 38, it was Bret Boone (8.8 bWAR!) and Ichiro who drove the team to a record regular season. Winning ROY and MVP like Fred Lynn was special, but it falls short of both Albert Pujols in 2001 and Mike Trout in 2012.
Allen’s Alley, Overlooked
Back in January the late Dick Allen was finally voted into the Hall of Fame and will be inducted this July. Unwarranted racism plus the 1960s’ pitching dominance did the most to underrate Allen and his statistics, but his rookie 1964 was something quite special.
Allen led the National League in runs scored, triples, and total bases. He finished seventh in the MVP voting. Had the Phillies held on to win the pennant, he might have finished higher in the MVP voting. His 8.8 bWAR for the season is second highest of the six players compared.
Prince Albert the Ridiculous
The Machine will be a first ballot Hall of Famer in 2028. At the tender age of 21 in 2001, Pujols slashed .329/.403/.610. with an OPS+ of 157 -i.e. 57% better than the average MLB player during a tremendous offensive season enhanced by players taking PEDs.
Pujols easily won that year’s NL ROY award. Keep in mind that first base is a tough position in which to gain bWAR due to limited opportunities to make plus defensive plays. That makes Pujols’ 6.6 bWAR is more impressive.
In the end, it’s Trout fishing in America
Maybe it’s that we just took Mike Trout’s greatness too much for granted, even though it feels like we talk about him on the podcast all the time. Trout posted a 10.5 bWAR in his rookie season of 2012. It’s the highest bWAR for any rookie ever.
Need I mention that Trout played a premium defensive position in centerfield? Or that he carded a 30/30 (30 home run/49 steals) season as a rookie? His 168 OPS+ is the highest of any of the players compared. It’s for those reasons that I rank him slightly ahead of Pujols.
Keep an eye out for rising rookies in the upcoming season. You never know who might end up being a Hall of Famer.
Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called Almost Cooperstown. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com. Mark can be reached on x and bluesky @almostcoop and almostcooperstown@gmail.com
Extra Innings: They Said It, We Didn’t
Your body is like a bar of soap. The more you use it, the more it wears down.—Dick Allen.
Am I that old? On this day I pinch ran and was thrown out at the plate. That was my major league debut.—Fred Lynn, remembering his 5 September 1974 debut. (He pinch-ran for Cecil Cooper after Cooper hit a sixth-inning, two-run double, and stayed in the game to play center field.)
Thank God I had the opportunity to know him. I wish my kids had the opportunity to be around him, because that's how I want my kids to live their lives. I want them to be like Stan Musial. Not the baseball player. The person. That's the respect I have for that man.—Albert Pujols.
When I am playing baseball, I give it all that I have on the ball field. When the ball game is over, I certainly don't take it home. My little girl who is sitting out there wouldn't know the difference between a third strike and a foul ball. We don't talk about baseball at home.—Jackie Robinson.
Chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me.—Ichiro Suzuki.
As a kid, I had this ultimate goal to be a teacher. I wanted to be a history teacher like my dad.—Mike Trout.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@gmail.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
Grover Cleveland Alexander won 28 games as a rookie. Nobody has ever come close to such a spectacular debut.
Mr. Kolier's remembrance of Fred Lynn's 1975 rookie campaign isn't fully accurate.
Lynn did NOT win a Silver Slugger that year, as the award did not exist prior to 1980. Nor did he ever win a Silver Slugger Award once it became an actual thing.
Additionally, while Lynn did indeed make the American League All Star team in 1975, he was NOT a starter for the squad. The 1975 starting outfield was made up of Joe Rudi in left, Bobby Bonds in center, and Reggie Jackson in right. Lynn entered the game in the bottom of the 6th inning, pinch hitting for starting short stop Bert Campaneris. Facing Tom Seaver, Lynn flew out to right fielder Bobby Murcer for the second out. He took over center field for the AL in the top of the 7th. In his only other plate appearance, Lynn was struck out by Jon Matlack for the 3rd out of the bottom of the 8th.