As widely expected both Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger were unanimously named AL & NL Rookies of the Year.
Judge, of course, hit a MLB rookie record 52 home runs for the New York Yankees along with hitting .284 and driving in 114 runs. On the other side of the country, Bellinger supplanted Adrian Gonzalez at first base and led the Los Angeles Dodgers to the best record in MLB blasting 39 HRs with 97 RBI.
The question going forward is whether Judge and Bellinger will be the greatest rookies of the year in MLB history.
This is the first time both rookies of the year were chosen unanimously since 1997 when Nomar Garciaparra and Scott Rolen won the honors in the AL and NL, respectively. Rolen has a chance of getting into Cooperstown, but Garciaparra was never the same after injuring his wrist late in his tenure with the Red Sox.
There are only two sets of rookies of the year that have entered the Hall of Fame. In 1967, Rod Carew and Tom Seaver won AL and NL Rookie of the Year honors and became first ballot Hall of Famers. In 1977, Eddie Murray and Andre Dawson won AL and NL Rookie of the Year honors and would find their way to Cooperstown. Eventually we shall add the rookie class of 2001 with Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols. I know that there are those who don't consider Ichiro a rookie after playing seven years of ball in Japan. But Ichiro is the exception rather than the rule where it concerns Japanese players, especially position players. So I have no objection to Ichiro winning those honors.
Yet with all these great players, Judge and Bellinger could outclass them all. Of course this requires them not to slump or get injured. It's a tall order, but with their talent it is certainly possible. We shall find the answer in 10-15 years time.
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