Luvofthegame
09-20-2006, 01:45 PM
By JR Radcliffe
Special to MLB.com
There are just too many of them -- Ryan Zimmerman in Washington, Prince Fielder in Milwaukee, Josh Barfield in San Diego and every single Florida Marlin. With a large class of first-year players excelling well beyond the traditional norm, a late-bloomer like Chris Duncan simply gets lost in the shuffle when it comes to the Rookie of the Year plaudit.
"I don't compare year-to-year," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said when asked if this was the best group of rookies he had seen. "You just have to say this year, it's a very strong group. I saw in the paper the other day that it listed a lot of good candidates and [Duncan] wasn't mentioned. So yeah, I think he gets overlooked."
The reigning National League Rookie of the Month, Duncan has slipped off the radar in his battle to get noticed, batting just .191 in September. But after a pinch-hit single Monday in Milwaukee, his batting average sat at .303 for the year, well above the .261 career standard he set in the Minors since becoming a first-round choice by St. Louis in the 1999 draft.
Duncan hit two home runs on Friday and now has 15 since the All-Star break, the second most by a Cardinals rookie after the Midsummer Classic since Albert Pujols collected 16 in 2001. Duncan entered Tuesday's game in Milwaukee tied for fifth among National League rookies in home runs with 18 overall, though his clip of one homer per 12.95 at-bats was best among all rookies in the Majors.
All of this comes from a player not considered one of the team's top 10 prospects before the season, at least not according to Baseball America, while teammates Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright were more highly touted as some of baseball's top youngsters. Still, Duncan was not interested in hearing about his candidacy for the trophy awarding best newcomer.
"I don't even want to talk about that stuff," he said.
Pujols hit 37 homers in 2001, easily the best season home run total for a Cardinals rookie. Duncan is tied for fourth in that regard with Ken Boyer (1955) and Joe Medwick (1933), one behind the 19 Johnny Mize hit in 1936. Ray Jablonski's 21 in 1953 is second most.
Special to MLB.com
There are just too many of them -- Ryan Zimmerman in Washington, Prince Fielder in Milwaukee, Josh Barfield in San Diego and every single Florida Marlin. With a large class of first-year players excelling well beyond the traditional norm, a late-bloomer like Chris Duncan simply gets lost in the shuffle when it comes to the Rookie of the Year plaudit.
"I don't compare year-to-year," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said when asked if this was the best group of rookies he had seen. "You just have to say this year, it's a very strong group. I saw in the paper the other day that it listed a lot of good candidates and [Duncan] wasn't mentioned. So yeah, I think he gets overlooked."
The reigning National League Rookie of the Month, Duncan has slipped off the radar in his battle to get noticed, batting just .191 in September. But after a pinch-hit single Monday in Milwaukee, his batting average sat at .303 for the year, well above the .261 career standard he set in the Minors since becoming a first-round choice by St. Louis in the 1999 draft.
Duncan hit two home runs on Friday and now has 15 since the All-Star break, the second most by a Cardinals rookie after the Midsummer Classic since Albert Pujols collected 16 in 2001. Duncan entered Tuesday's game in Milwaukee tied for fifth among National League rookies in home runs with 18 overall, though his clip of one homer per 12.95 at-bats was best among all rookies in the Majors.
All of this comes from a player not considered one of the team's top 10 prospects before the season, at least not according to Baseball America, while teammates Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright were more highly touted as some of baseball's top youngsters. Still, Duncan was not interested in hearing about his candidacy for the trophy awarding best newcomer.
"I don't even want to talk about that stuff," he said.
Pujols hit 37 homers in 2001, easily the best season home run total for a Cardinals rookie. Duncan is tied for fourth in that regard with Ken Boyer (1955) and Joe Medwick (1933), one behind the 19 Johnny Mize hit in 1936. Ray Jablonski's 21 in 1953 is second most.