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First Year Love
This
league is big on rookies. That should be obvious by now. Whenever
a new guy shows up, the league begins slobbering all over itself
watching the player grow into what they hope will be an "impact
player." More often than not however, the slobbering is for
naught as the player maybe picks up 45 ABs and then disappears
completely, as if they're surprised how seriously some people
take their stats. You can run down the list. Hart McKenzie, Anthony
Sanzone, Jason Eberhardt, Keith Carlson, Jeff Kragel to name a
few...all are or were rookies who displayed huge promise, and
all turned league members into a slobbering mess. Of those names,
Eberhardt finished with 72 ABs, the high, even though Carlson's
season isn't actually over yet (but we know he won't top 72).
"Pat
Plummer, while grotesque in appearance, is the best .094 hitter
the league has ever seen." |
All
you have to do is go down the line of Rookie Games to see how
rare it is for the league to come across rookie talent who also
want to play.
In
1999, James Vassar became a great player and picked up over 500
career ABs. Eric Christensen's still around, but it's a safe bet
no one has ever slobbered over his talent. Jeff Kragel, possibly
the most athletic of the bunch (what's that called?..upside?)
picked up 38 ABs that season and then was gone. Jeff Boian, similar
story, picked up only 43 ABs.
In
2000, only Darnell Uhland remains, although he is quick becoming
a legendary player. He'll cross the 500 career AB barrier this
year. But Mickey Kendall? Career AB total was only 101 and no
one outside of himself thought he was any good. Bruce Longacre?
Forty-seven ABs. And again, not much "upside."
In
2001 the league picked up Dean Evans and Ian Byrd. At the time
these players were merely "average," but both have since
grown into very solid players (at least in the case of Ian...Dean
can really only be considered a very solid hitter, but
his hitting, for what it is, is very solid). Jordan Lockhart,
Dean's teammate in the game, had a lot going for him, but stopped
playing after only 40 ABs. And you've all heard about Aaron Kemper,
who's become sort of a cult object around these parts. Had the
love, completely forgot about the talent.
In
2002, we didn't even have a Rookie Game because only two were
still around by the time the All-Star Weekend rolled around. And
only one of those two is still around.
Tale
of two thirds
Rookie
Henning and Smith's first third, followed by their second
third |
| 1st
third |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
HR |
SO/BB |
Slg |
Avg |
IP |
H |
R |
K |
OAvg |
ERA |
| Henning |
60 |
14 |
14 |
13 |
6 |
22/12 |
.567 |
.233 |
16 |
15 |
7 |
27 |
.238 |
1.75 |
| Smith |
79 |
4 |
17 |
5 |
2 |
25/7 |
.291 |
.215 |
20 |
34 |
18 |
15 |
.374 |
3.60 |
| 2nd
third |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
HR |
SO/BB |
Slg |
Avg |
IP |
H |
R |
K |
OAvg |
ERA |
| Henning |
63 |
19 |
21 |
23 |
12 |
18/7 |
.921 |
.333 |
16 |
12 |
3 |
29 |
.200 |
0.80 |
| Smith |
71 |
20 |
28 |
25 |
13 |
20/5 |
.958 |
.394 |
13 |
10 |
4 |
21 |
.204 |
1.23 |
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Which
brings us to now. For the first time since maybe 1999, we have
a plethora of rookies to choose from. And don't be mislead by
Pat Plummer's .094 batting average...had the same kid played in
1999, he'd probably be hitting .250 easy. Curtis Henning is a
man child. Matt Smith started slow but apparently loves hitting
in heat as his offense has grown exponentially in the past few
gamedays. Bill Rozak can hit the cover off the ball to any part
of the field.
Matt
Plummer would be in the game had he not broken his hand, and he's
also a freak of nature. Tavis Beynon and Keith Carlson are the
two you could look at as "having the talent but not the love."
And then there's John Robins. The kid is the lowest-ranked rookie,
but in any season before he'd be a candidate for the Rookie game
MVP. Give John Robins 100 ABs against the likes of Mickey Kendall,
Joey Holt, Jeff Register, Aaron Kemper, and Derek Byrd and the
kid could be hitting .300 with double-digit bombs. Hey Robins...right
place, wrong time.
I've
gone on for awhile here, but it needed to be said. So let's enjoy
the 2003 Rookie Game for what it is: a chance for four very capable
rookies to wow the crowd and develop a name for themselves. And
let's hope that future rookie crops are even half as solid as
this one.
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