Greatest season by a rookie?

[redban]

What is the greatest season by a rookie?

Some nominees:

- Mike Piazza 1993
- Pujols 2001
- McGwire 49 HR / 164 OPS+ season
- Ted Williams 1939
- Jackie Robinson 1947

My vote actually goes to Piazza 1993.

His position puts it over the top. He was in the top 10 in pretty much all offensive stats, even 2nd in OPS+ to only Bonds.

[Imapotato]

George Stone 1905

691 PA
187 hits
25 2bs
13 3bs
7 Hrs
26 Sbs
.296 BA
.410 SLG

If only he could play defense, he is the reason it's called "Stone hands"

[9RoyHobbsRF]

other nominees:

Joe DiMaggio 1936
Tony Oliva 1964
Richie Allen 1964

What is the greatest season by a rookie?

Some nominees:

- Mike Piazza 1993
- Pujols 2001
- McGwire 49 HR / 164 OPS+ season
- Ted Williams 1939
- Jackie Robinson 1947

My vote actually goes to Piazza 1993.

His position puts it over the top. He was in the top 10 in pretty much all offensive stats, even 2nd in OPS+ to only Bonds.

[Lpeters199]

Fred Lynn, Boston Red Sox, in 1975 won both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in AL

[pheasant]

20 year old rookie Frank Robinson blasted 38 HRs. This isn't the best rookie season, but it's the most impressive to me, considering his young age. Mcgwire did play in 1986, but was still considered a rookie in 1987.

Wally Berger was impressive in 1930, but then again, so was everybody.

[pheasant]

I think the best rookie season belongs to 21 yr old Albert Pujols. .329/.403/.610 are sick numbers for such a young player. This is even more impressive than Robinson's, now that I think about it.

[pheasant]

Mark Fidrych takes it for pitchers: 19-9 with a league leading 2.34 ERA and AL best 159 ERA+. He only gave up 12 HRs in 250 1/3 innings that year. He probably should have won the Cy Young that year.

[Joltin' Joe]

Joe Jackson 1911

[Jackaroo Dave]

Fred Lynn, Boston Red Sox, in 1975 won both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in AL

Ichiro in 2001, ditto plus gold glove, silver slugger, 242 hits.

[BondsOverBabe]

Fernando & Ichiro

[fenrir]

Albert Pujols 2001. The man not only won the ROY, but finished 4th in MVP voting, and look at who he finished behind to. Bonds hit 73 home runs, Sosa hit 64, and Gonzalez hit 57, good god. Many other years he may have actually won both ROY and MVP.

[ol' aches and pains]

20 year old rookie Frank Robinson blasted 38 HRs. This isn't the best rookie season, but it's the most impressive to me, considering his young age. Mcgwire did play in 1986, but was still considered a rookie in 1987.

Wally Berger was impressive in 1930, but then again, so was everybody.

I think the best rookie season belongs to 21 yr old Albert Pujols. .329/.403/.610 are sick numbers for such a young player. This is even more impressive than Robinson's, now that I think about it.

Ted Williams was 20 in 1939, and posted .327/.436/.609, 160 OPS+(to Pujols' 157 in his rookie season), led the league with 145 RBI's, and total bases with 344, numbers he only topped once in his subsequent career.

[redban]

What brings down Pujols rookie year is how there was so much offense in 2001. He wasn't in the top 10 in HR even though he hit 37, and his 157 OPS+ was 10th in the league.

If you compare it to Williams and Piazza's 1st seasons, they were in the top 5 in OPS+.

In 1993, Piazza's year, only 2 people in the NL had a 150 OPS+ (Him and Bonds). In 2001, there were like 15-20 who people did it.

[fenrir]

What brings down Pujols rookie year is how there was so much offense in 2001. He wasn't in the top 10 in HR even though he hit 37, and his 157 OPS+ was 10th in the league.

It's not fair to knock Pujols because his rookie season occurred when steroid use was at full force in baseball. Had Mike Piazza's rookie season occurred in 2001, I guarantee he wouldn't have been in the top 10 in OPS+ either.

[RUKen]

Mark Fidrych takes it for pitchers: 19-9 with a league leading 2.34 ERA and AL best 159 ERA+. He only gave up 12 HRs in 250 1/3 innings that year. He probably should have won the Cy Young that year.

I think that Henry Schmidt's rookie season with the Brooklyn Superbas ranks right up there among the pitchers. In 1903 he had a record of 22-13 with 5 shutouts. He was a bit wild, with a league-leading 21 batters hit, but he seemingly had a great career ahead of him. Unfortunately, he didn't like living on the East Coast, so he did not return to Brooklyn the next year, and instead finished his baseball career pitching in the minors out west.