History sure likes to repeat itself
| 11
|
by user Manny Stiles
Let's turn back the clock to 20 years ago... way back in 1986 baseball was chock full of outstanding rookies. 1986 has long been considered one of the strongest rookie crops ever (I love when they call 'em crops). Topps baseball cards even had to bring back it's long-useless 'Topps All-Rookie team' for it's 1987 sets to commemorate the flood of young stars!
Here we are in 2006 and damned if we aren't doing it again. Rookies, rookies everywhere. Contributing, dominating, promising us an outstanding future.
Regardless of who wins Rookie of the Year, there's always some guys that break through their second or third years; for instance... let's recap how 1986 shook down.
1986 AL Rookie of the Year was Jose Canseco, narrowly beating a truly more deserving (and first ever fan voted rookie All-Star starter) Wally Joyner.
1986 NL Rookie of the Year was Todd Worrell, yes Todd, not Tim. Worrell was a proven commodity even before 1986 as he dominated the 1985 pennant run for the St Louis Cardinals, but since he did most of his work in the playoffs, he was still eligible for the award in '87 (much like Frankie Rodriguez in 2002). So if you don't remember 1986, you're sitting there saying "what the hell was so great about Canseco, Joyner or Worrell?" Well, they were rated TOP of their class, just showing that the best guys don't always dominate from the start.
In the AL, Mark Eichorn and Cory Snyder never really lived up to expectations, but were 3rd and 4th in voting followed by Danny Tartabull (whose best feat was being on Seinfeld - although I WILL always remember him as a Phillie) and Ruben Sierra. Ok, nice players, lengthy careers, solid vets.
In the NL, Robby Thompson was second followed by '86 World Series contributor and 1989 NL MVP, Kevin Mitchell and the un-unforgettable Astros pitcher Charlie Kerfeld, who went 11-2.
Fifth in NL RoY voting was Will 'the Thrill' Clark. Excellent player, hampered by injuries a bit, but also a 6-time All-star and a guy who put on one of the MOST dominant playoff runs in history in 1989 (The NLCS in '89 was amazing when he only batted .650 for the series) until the 'Quake hit.
Picking up the slack at 6th was Barry Lamar Bonds you may have heard of him, won some awards, etc... Then a 4 way tie for 7th place included human quote machine Jim DeShaies, Baseball Tonight's John Kruk, likely future HoFer/'95 MVP Barry Larkin and Philadelphia's favorite son, Bruce Ruffin (I'll always remember him as a Brewer).
Keep in mind that Mark McGwire, Raffy Palmiero, Benny Santiago, Mike Greenwell, and Devon White all had cups of coffee in 1986 as well... although he lost his rookie eligibilty in 1984, Eric Davis' first full year was 1986.
So that's 9 MVPs, a veritable buttload of All-Star appearances (including Joyner and Canseco that year), a bunch of Home runs, a bucketful of rings and a several solid pro careers.
I guess you can call '86's rookie class the Steroid Sluggers Class and '06 can be the Live Arms class; so while they are different, it IS eerily similar. Once again, we can say we've never seen a rookie class like this one!
So history repeats itself is my point. What I ask of you is: Of the rookies today, WHO becomes WHAT???
Is Justin Verlander for real or is he Charlie Kerfeld? Is Jered Weaver merely Jim DeShaies in disguise?? Can Francisco Liriano really just be Bruce Ruffin 2?? Can Ryan Zimmerman produce like Will Clark without the injuries? Is Hanley Ramirez the 'next' Barry Larkin???
We don't know for sure, but maybe there's a (hopefully cleaner version of) Bonds in there too...
- Don't get too excited though... if history continues to repeat itself... 1987 and 1988 were pretty crappy classes and (other than Ken Griffey) '89 and '90 were putrid in comparison.
Date
Fri 09/01/06, 11:15 am EST
