Quote: Originally Posted By tlreese77 on 5/20/2010
I have a Rookie that is leading the Majors in Stolen Bases (71), but is not in consideration for Rookie of the Year because he is not a power hitter. I think that awards criteria needs to look at more than homeruns and RBI's, or is HBD still skewed toward the Steroid Era?
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Orval Yeats.
His rookie year, he hit .309 with 109 SB and only 4 CS. He happened to have the highest batting average of all AL rookies as well. Regardless, he was not included in the RoY voting; I doubt stolen bases factor much if at all into the process even though in real life this guy would have run away with the award.
Yorvit Ortiz is another good example from this past season. His batting ratings are solid if unremarkable (.753 OPS); however, he won the 2B Gold Glove in his rookie year, shattering the single-season world record with 21 plus plays at 2B (plus another 3 in 126 innings at SS). You'd think you'd at least be able to VOTE on whether such a player should be RoY, but alas, he was also not included in the voting.
So yes, I agree that the criteria is extremely skewed and does not reward players who are remarkable in areas that RL voters would very much respect.