Remarkable Rookies

You've probably never heard of Snohomish WA. It is a town of only 8,640 souls NE of Seattle. Yet it has produced two ML players, one of whom is in the Hall of Fame.

Earl Averill was the first AL player to hit a HR in his first ML at-bat (and also the only Hall-of-Famer to do so). He connected on April 16, 1929, for Cleveland off Earl Whitehill of Detroit. He had a sensational rookie year:

.332, 110 R, 198 H, 18 HR, 96 RBI

The "Earl of Snohomish" played 10 productive seasons in the OF for the Tribe, hitting over .300 in eight of them, including a high of .378 in 1936 (which didn't even lead the league as Luke Appling hit .388). He knocked home 143 runs in 1931 and belted over 30 HRs three times. He finished his career with a .318 average, 238 HRs, and 1,162 RBIs.

Earl is famous as the batter who lined a ball off Dizzy Dean's foot in the 1937 All-Star game, starting a chain of events that ruined Dizzy's arm. Ironically, Averill was himself ailing at the time of the 1937 All-Star Game. A week earlier, his legs had become momentarily paralyzed as he left the clubhouse for a pre-game workout. Hospital X-rays revealed that he had a congenital spine malformation. As a result, he altered his hitting style and become more of a spray hitter. With his power diminished and his average slipping, "Rock" was just an average player for the remaining four years of his career. Traded to Detroit in 1939, he played in his only World Series for the Tigers the following season. Averill's son Earl (born in Cleveland, not Snohomish) followed him into the major leagues (1956-63).

The other Snohomish product is Earl Torgeson, named for Averill. Torgeson had a serviceable ML career at 1B from 1947-1961 with the Braves, Phillies, Tigers, White Sox, and Yankees. Earl was one of the few players who wore glasses on the field.

Personal note: Earl Torgeson has always occupied a soft spot in my heart. First of all, he is responsible for my acquiring a baseball within five minutes of first entering a ML park. It was the summer of 1954 at Sportsman Park, home of a 13-year old boy's beloved Cardinals. As the usher led us to our seats in the lower grandstand down the RF line, Torgeson was taking batting practice for the Phillies. As we walked up the aisle, he pulled a liner into the stands. It skipped across the empty seats, hit my mother lightly on the hip, and lodged in the folded up chair a step ahead of me. As my older brother blocked out a guy running over from the left, I picked up the horsehide before even reaching my seat! Coincidentally, I had been using an Earl Torgeson 1B mitt in the summer league at City Park.

Grover Cleveland Alexander

Grover Cleveland Alexander

In 1911, Grover Cleveland Alexander had the greatest rookie season of any P in history. However, it began with an incident that some might have thought a bad omen.

He hurled his first game for the Philadelphia Phillies in their home park Baker Bowl in the annual City Series with the A's, the defending World Champions. C Pat Moran told Alex, "You'll pitch five innings. They'll be murder, but you'll learn something." Well, what he learned was that he could succeed in the bigs. The 24-year-old rookie allowed no runs and no hits and walked none in five innings.

Alexander was scheduled to make his regular season debut against the New York Giants on April 14. However, a fire that destroyed the grandstand of the Polo Grounds the night before postponed the game. (The Giants shared the Yankees' Hilltop Park until the Polo Grounds was rebuilt.)

Instead, "Pete" made his first start in Boston, losing to the Braves 5-4 in 10 innings.

Alexander won 28 games to establish the modern rookie mark that has yet to be touched.

One of his victories came in 12 innings against the Braves. Opposing him was 44-year-old Cy Young, who was hurling his final ML game. After 11 scoreless frames, the Phils touched Cy for the game's only run to deny him his 512th victory.

Alexander compiled an even better season in 1915: 31-10 with a 1.22 ERA. Despite pitching in the coziest ballpark in the league, "Pete" twirled 12 shutouts. He also defeated the Red Sox 3-1 in the opening game of the World Series.

A-Rod

Alex Rodriguez

After 17 games with Seattle in 1994 and 48 more in 1995, 20-year-old Alex Rodriguez played SS for 146 games for the Mariners in 1996. Because he had played too many games the previous two seasons combined, he was not eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. Good thing for the other contenders because these are the numbers he put up in his first full season in the AL.

.358, 36 HR, 123 RBI, 141 R, .631 Slug.%

The .358 BA led the league over Frank Thomas's .349.

The 141 R nosed out Chuck Knoblauch of Minnesota by one for tops in the AL.

A-Rod also led in Total Bases (379) and Doubles (54).

His 215 hits ranked second to Paul Molitor's 225 for the Twins.

A-Rod also committed only 15 errors at SS.

Alex finished second to Juan Gonzalez of the Texas Rangers for the MVP Award.

Another sensational SS won the AL Rookie of the Year Award – Derek Jeter.

.358 remains by far his highest BA in his career. Of course, the 36 HR were puny compared to the numbers he cranked out in subsequent years, including 52 in 2001 and 57 in 2002 (the tainted years with the Rangers) and 54 in 2007. He was the MVP in 2003, 2005, and 2007. Does this trend mean he's due again in 2009? [He'll get a late start with his injury rehab and probably won't be MVP.]