With the announcement of the National League Rookie of the Year due on Monday, baseball fans find themselves in a place they did not expect to be.
In spring training, prior to the 2010 season, two rookies commanded the attention of the baseball world. One was a 20-year-old man-child in Atlanta, the next Ken Griffey Jr. or perhaps even Frank Robinson, whose five tools were already self-evident and whose place in the starting lineup on opening day was all but guaranteed.
The other rookie phenom was slated to be, perhaps, the greatest pitching prospect we’ve ever seen, and while he was not due to make his team out of spring training, there were those who thought that once he did join his team, he would be the best pitcher in the National League.
Remarkably, surprisingly, unbelievably, neither Jason Heyward nor Stephen Strasburg will be announced as the National League Rookie of the Year tomorrow. While they both enjoyed very good seasons, and both matched the hype surrounding their emergence, the best rookie in the National League was nevertheless a World Series winning catcher from San Francisco named Buster.
Buster Posey, that is.