The other day I shared that numerous conks to the head over the years (and recently) might explain my behavior and choice of blog posts. I accept that and embrace that. I also made the mistake of watching 42 seconds of NL Rookie of the Year odds talk yesterday before the Cubs got ambushed by the Tigers.
The two touts, whose names I don’t know or care about, were discussing Padres rookie, Jackson Merrill and the odds of him winning. There’s a pretty good chance that a Jackson will be named ROY this year, but that’s not why I called.
I got to thinking about past rookies and the guys that just missed out on the award and how they fared after that. The beauty of Baseball Reference is how they tag every single player with all of their career award listings.
I ask two favors, don’t ask me what I had for breakfast two days ago and don’t ask me why I thought about Pedro Garcia formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a pretty common name. However, this dude is the only Pedro Garcia to play in the ML.
Way back in 1973 when he was a rookie for Milwaukee he played 160 games, hit 15 homers, drove in 54 runs and slashed .245/.296/.395-good enough for 3 ROY votes. To complete the picture of the season, he led the league with 32 doubles and 27 errors (most for a second baseman).
Full disclosure: At the time, I had no idea of any of this and it wasn’t until after he retired (in 77-78) that I remembered his career. Over the course of time, Bob Uecker made references to his career without making much of it.
To the point of rookies of the year and whether the award is meant to be predictive of future ML success, I like to look back at classes and compare careers. In ’73, Al Bumbry of the Orioles won with 13 votes. Those also receiving votes were Steve Busby, Doc Medich, Darrell Porter and Rich Coggins. Say what you want about any or all of them. I prefer to think of these lists as snapshots of the game. Ten years from now, what will our memories of this year’s crop be?
Incidentally, Garcia’s rookie baseball card, Topps 609, was a multi-player 2B rookies, with Larvell Blanks and Dave Lopes.
