Good day everyone!
Up on the blog today, a card I just learned needed to be done, a 1962 "career-capper" for Walt Dropo:
Dropo finished up a nice 13-year Major League career in 1961 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.
He appeared in only 14 games, hitting .259 with seven hits in 27 at-bats with a homer and two runs batted in.
I remember thinking of Dropo a lot back in 2012 when Mike Trout was having his amazing rookie season.
I always felt that Trout, while an incredible talent, was a bit over-hyped with his rookie season numbers, especially when people kept saying it was the greatest rookie season of all-time.
Right off the bat I kept thinking of a few that I felt were better, including Dropo’s unreal rookie year that saw him hit .322 with 34 homers, 144 runs batted in and 101 runs scored, with a .583 slugging percentage and 326 total bases.
Now I’m not saying it’s THE best rookie year, but it IS a season I felt was on par, if not better than Trout’s.
Anyone have another rookie season they feel was “the best”?
I think of two that “technically” weren’t rookie years, but should be: Joe Jackson’s 1911 season and Alex Rodriguez’ 1996 season.
Why ISN’T Jackson’s 1911 season considered a rookie season anyway?
I always felt that Trout, while an incredible talent, was a bit over-hyped with his rookie season numbers, especially when people kept saying it was the greatest rookie season of all-time.
Right off the bat I kept thinking of a few that I felt were better, including Dropo’s unreal rookie year that saw him hit .322 with 34 homers, 144 runs batted in and 101 runs scored, with a .583 slugging percentage and 326 total bases.
Now I’m not saying it’s THE best rookie year, but it IS a season I felt was on par, if not better than Trout’s.
Anyone have another rookie season they feel was “the best”?
I think of two that “technically” weren’t rookie years, but should be: Joe Jackson’s 1911 season and Alex Rodriguez’ 1996 season.
Why ISN’T Jackson’s 1911 season considered a rookie season anyway?
As for Dropo's MLB career, he played through the 1961 season, finishing up with a .270 average with 152 homers and 704 RBIs over 1288 games and 4124 at-bats.
Though he never matched those rookie numbers again, he did have some very good seasons playing for not only the Red Sox, but the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.
