David N. Townsend
Baseball Journal

   

September 12, 1997
Nomar and Nothing More: The Greatest Rookie?

Because there's nothing else to care about here in Boston baseball, 1997, let's dwell some more on this Nomar Garciaparra phenomenon.  Has anyone penned the nickname "NoMore Nomar" yet?  Or "No Mas" Nomar?  I never saw anyone else comment on the fact that, when the Red Sox play the Indians, the shortstops are Nomar and Omar.  We all know that his first name is Ramon spelled backwards, but did you know that his last name is Ara Parsegian spelled sideways?  (Made you look!)

But enough about his name.  As usual, I have What You Really Want to Know:  Just how great is Garciaparra's rookie season, anyway?  Sure, he's got the leadoff hitter RBI record, the A.L. rookie hitting streak record, the right-handed rookie Mexican glove-adjusting record.  But is this the greatest rookie season of All-Time?  Is it the greatest Red Sox rookie season?  Is it the greatest rookie shortstop season?  Where does Nomar's performance fit?  Once again, I expect that someone else somewhere (that is, someone who gets paid to do this stuff) has already put together this information.  But since I haven't seen it, I'm looking it up myself.  So what follows is some data on The Rookies.

The first chart below gives the best rookie position player seasons of all time, taking into account differences in eras (dead ball, juiced ball, etc.).  Of course, it's impossible to compare pitchers with hitters, so I ignore the rookie years of such greats as Christy Mathewson (20-17, 2.41) and Mark Fidrych (19-9, 2.34).  The second chart gives the best rookie shortstop seasons, and the third gives all Red Sox Rookies-of-the-Year.  All of the players in the charts were either Rookie-of-the-Year winners, or would have been, according to Total Baseball's Bill Deane, if the award had existed before 1947.  (Bold figures indicate league leader.)

Best Rookie Seasons Ever
Rookie, Team, Year, (Other)

AB

R

H

Avg.

HR

RBI

SB

"Home Run" Baker, Phi-A'09
(19 3Bs)

541

73

165

.305

4

85

20

Kiki Cuyler, Pit'24

466

94

165

.354

9

85

32

Earle Combs, NY-A'25

593

117

203

.342

3

61

12

Lloyd Waner, Pit'27

629

133

223

.355

2

27

14

Wally Berger, Bos-N'30

555

98

172

.310

38

119

3

Hal Trosky, Cle'34

625

117

206

.330

35

142

2

Joe DiMaggio, NY-A'36
(15 3Bs)

637

132

206

.323

29

125

4

Ted Williams, Bos-A'39

565

131

185

.327

31

145

2

Pete Reiser, Bro'41 (17 3Bs)

536

117

184

.343

14

76

4

Walt Dropo, Bos-A'50

559

101

180

.322

34

144

0

Frank Robinson, Cin'56

572

122

166

.290

38

83

8

Dick Allen, Phi'64

632

125

201

.318

29

91

3

Tony Oliva, Min'64

672

109

217

.323

32

94

12

Fred Lynn, Bos'75 (MVP) (47 2B)

528

103

175

.331

21

105

10

Mark McGwire, Oak'87

557

97

161

.289

49

118

1

  

Shortstop Rookies of the Year
Rookie, Team, Year

AB

R

H

Avg.

HR

RBI

SB

Joe Sewell, Cle'21

572

101

182

.318

4

93

7

Phil Rizzuto, NY-A'41

515

65

158

.307

3

46

14

Johnny Pesky Bos-A'42

620

105

205

.331

2

51

12

Harvey Kuenn, Det'53

679

94

209

.308

2

48

6

Luis Aparicio Chi-A'56

533

69

142

.266

3

56

21

Tony Kubek, NY-A'57

431

56

128

.297

3

39

6

Tom Tresh, NY-A'62

622

94

178

.286

20

93

4

Alfredo Griffin, Tor'79

624

81

179

.287

2

31

21

Cal Ripken, Bal'82

598

90

158

.264

28

93

3

Ozzie Guillen, Chi-A'85

491

71

134

.273

1

33

7

Walt Weiss, Oak'88

452

44

113

.250

3

39

10

Pat Listach, Mil'92

579

93

168

.290

1

47

54

Derek Jeter, NY-A'96

582

104

183

.314

10

78

14

   

Red Sox Rookies of the Year
Rookie, Team, Year, (Other)

AB

R

H

Avg.

HR

RBI

SB

Ted Williams, Bos-A'39

565

131

185

.327

31

145

2

Walt Dropo, Bos-A'50

559

101

180

.322

34

144

0

Carlton Fisk, Bos'72

457

74

134

.293

22

61

5

Fred Lynn, Bos'75 (MVP) (47 2B)

528

103

175

.331

21

105

10

  

Now, let's compare Garciaparra's 1997 season to all of the above (by the way, he finished even better than I projected in the original, Sept. 9, version of this article):

Garciaparra '97
 

AB

R

H

Avg.

HR

RBI

SB

Nomar Garciaparra, Bos'97
(11 3Bs)

684

122

209

.306

30

98

22

  

Analysis:  I must say, as an all-around season, it's real hard to find one as good as Garciaparra's.  Sure, Hal Trosky, Ted Williams, and Walt Dropo had over 140 RBIs (the latter two for the Red Sox).  But Garciaparra's got 98 as a leadoff hitter, which is the all-time record for any leadoff man, not just a rookie (breaking, incidentally, Harvey Kuenn's record).  And Garciaparra steals bases, while those guys didn't.  His 209 hits are not far from the all-time rookie record, Lloyd Waner's 223 in 1927, and Waner didn't lead the league that year (his brother Paul did, at 237).  Sure, he isn't close to McGwire's amazing 49 rookie home runs in 1987, but that was a juiced-ball year (not that McGwire's ever needed a juiced ball), and Garciaparra's 30 homers are quite respectable, and his non-power numbers are much better than McGwire's (and he's a shortstop).

Perhaps the closest all-around rookie season to Garciaparra's is Tony Oliva's 1964 campaign:

Oliva led the league in Runs and Hits, while Garciaparra led in Hits and was a close second to Griffey in Runs.  Here, I would again give Garciaparra the slight edge, for being a shortstop and leadoff hitter who contributes great fielding and outstanding power numbers for the position.

So, it stands to reason, of course, that if we can make a strong case for Garciaparra's being the best all-around rookie season ever, then it must also be the greatest rookie shortstop and rookie Red Sox season ever, right?  Let's double check:

In terms of power, few shortstops have ever come close to Garciaparra's '97 numbers, let alone as rookies.  Only Ripken (who played a lot of 3B that year) and Tom Tresh are in range of Nomar, and he clearly beats them on other measures.  Only a couple of guys beat him for total hits and batting average, and there just by a small margin.  None of the shortstops scored nearly as many runs as Nomar, and surprisingly, only Listach stole more bases.  For overall numbers, it would appear that perhaps Pesky comes closest to Garciaparra, but he didn't have any power.  On this item, then, there can be little dispute: Nomar Garciaparra is the greatest rookie shortstop in the history of baseball!

As for the Red Sox comparison, it's a pretty heavy claim to suggest that Nomar's 1997 season surpasses Teddy Ballgame's 1939 debut, or Fred Lynn's 1975 reign as the only rookie MVP ever. Well, let's see.  Lynn was an excellent center fielder as well, so that negates the shortstop edge, and he did lead the team to the World Series.  Also his slugging average lead the league in addition to his doubles and runs.  And he batted 23 points higher than Nomar, with almost twice as many walks (.405 OBP vs. .342).  The lower OBP actually cuts against Nomar more because he's a leadoff hitter, who's supposed to get on base.  The more I look at them, the harder it is to make a choice.  By definition, if you're the only rookie to win an MVP, I suppose you must be the best rookie, relative to the year you played, that there ever was.  In terms of pure numbers, however, I'm still leaning toward the 30 HR and 98 RBIs from a leadoff shortstop as just a fraction more impressive rookie season.

Then there's the Ted Williams comparison.  Clearly, his raw numbers are superior to Nomar's, with the exception of stolen bases and total hits.  Ted also had 107 walks to Nomar's 35, for a .436 OBP, which accounts for most of the 120 fewer ABs, and 24 fewer hits.  Garciaparra has the shortstop-leadoff factors in his favor, but in the end, I think that Ted's numbers are so overwhelming, you really can't put him second, even for those reasons.  By the way, Williams was only 20 years old in 1939, Garciaparra is 23; that should count for something, too.

So, that's where I'm going to leave it, and I welcome your response: Nomar Garciaparra has just completed the greatest rookie season by a shortstop ever, and the second greatest rookie season of all time, period (as well as the second greatest by a Red Sox), trailing only the immortal Kid, Ted Williams. Not a bad start to a career, wouldn't you say?


Comments? Questions? Impassioned, hyperbolic overreaction?
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