White Sox's Gordon Beckham named Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year

Share | White Sox third baseman Gordon Beckham was named The Sporting News' 2009 American League rookie of the year.

 

The honor has special significance, since a panel of 338 major league players selected the winners. Philadelphia pitcher J.A. Happ won the National League's rookie honors.

 

Beckham batted .270 with 28 doubles, 14 home runs and 63 RBIs despite not being promoted to the Sox until June 4. Beckham played in 103 games for the Sox and made the adjustment to third base despite playing shortstop for his entire baseball career.

 

The Baseball Writers Association of America will announce its rookie of the year and other awards next month after the conclusion of the World Series.

 

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....f-the-year.html

Way to go Gordo!!

Awesome news!! Way to go Bacon!!

Wow, I'm surprised. It'd be really something if he could get the actual RoY.

Hooray for Gordon!

 

PS I have a question for the SoxTalk mods. Is there a way to add some kind of sword-swinging/dragon slayer smiley to the site? Because that would be a great smiley to use for Beckham.

Hooray for Gordon!

 

PS I have a question for the SoxTalk mods. Is there a way to add some kind of sword-swinging/dragon slayer smiley to the site? Because that would be a great smiley to use for Beckham.

lol

It's well deserved, in my opinion. While i recognize that Brett Anderson might be a more worthy candidate, my blatant White Sox bias is enough to disregard all this. Gordon Beckham is going to rule the city of Chicago for the next decade. I can't wait.

Edited October 20, 200916 yr by Thunderbolt

Excellent! Congrats Gordo!

Outstanding news for Gordo. Thought he was out of luck of any award for ROY. Congrats to him!!

Yeeess!!!

 

Congrat's Gordon!!

 

 

WooooohoooooooO! this just made my day!

I just don't understand why a group of writers, most of whom have never played organized sports at a very high level, would vote opposite of the people who actually play the game.

 

It's a free country, and I fully support that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but why is their opinioned valued more highly than the players themselves? My profession has absolutely nothing to do with sports, however I would value the opinion of my peers over those who know very little about what I do.

I just don't understand why a group of writers, most of whom have never played organized sports at a very high level, would vote opposite of the people who actually play the game.

 

It's a free country, and I fully support that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but why is their opinioned valued more highly than the players themselves? My profession has absolutely nothing to do with sports, however I would value the opinion of my peers over those who know very little about what I do.

I can't tell if you're joking or not, but just because someone plays the game doesn't mean they know it better. Hell, half the time it blinds them from reality because they're too full of their own opinion to actually think about something logically.

 

Congrats to Beckham though. He's probably not the most deserving candidate, but I'll be damned if he isn't the most awesome.

Edited October 20, 200916 yr by Felix

Rightly deserved.

 

 

YEA GORDO!

I can't tell if you're joking or not, but just because someone plays the game doesn't mean they know it better. Hell, half the time it blinds them from reality because they're too full of their own opinion to actually think about something logically.

 

Congrats to Beckham though. He's probably not the most deserving candidate, but I'll be damned if he isn't the most awesome.

I disagree. Players who have played the game at the highest level have a much better grasp on who plays the game well than a bunch of people staring at the TV or looking down from a press box. Until you have actually played at the highest level, you will never know as much about the actual game IMO.

Great job Gordon.

I disagree. Players who have played the game at the highest level have a much better grasp on who plays the game well than a bunch of people staring at the TV or looking down from a press box. Until you have actually played at the highest level, you will never know as much about the actual game IMO.

You might not know how to actually play the game, but that doesn't mean you can't evaluate talent or seasons. Just because Jim Rice played baseball for some 16 years doesn't mean he knows players and talent better than people who have never picked up a baseball. Players are so self-involved that they tend to believe their eyes more than numbers, and frankly that leads to some really stupid things being said.

 

Hell, just look at the new generation of GMs that are getting hired without ever having played the game of baseball. Rather than playing ball, they went to school to get a degree. Does this mean they know less than every GM that is a former player? Of course not.

I disagree. Players who have played the game at the highest level have a much better grasp on who plays the game well than a bunch of people staring at the TV or looking down from a press box. Until you have actually played at the highest level, you will never know as much about the actual game IMO.

 

Even if we stand to agree with this logic, I question how often players get to see other players play (other than when they are the opponent of their team), and in addition, I doubt players are crunching through the numbers much to see who is actually putting up the best statistics (and even if they are looking at numbers, they are probably looking at overrated crap like batting average and RBI's).

 

At any rate though, I'm glad Gordon wasn't completely shut out in ROY voting, and this gives him hope he'll win the actual ROY award.

Edited October 21, 200916 yr by whitesoxfan101

I think it helps when Derek Jeter takes notice.

I can't tell if you're joking or not, but just because someone plays the game doesn't mean they know it better. Hell, half the time it blinds them from reality because they're too full of their own opinion to actually think about something logically.

See: Joe Morgan.

You might not know how to actually play the game, but that doesn't mean you can't evaluate talent or seasons. Just because Jim Rice played baseball for some 16 years doesn't mean he knows players and talent better than people who have never picked up a baseball. Players are so self-involved that they tend to believe their eyes more than numbers, and frankly that leads to some really stupid things being said.

 

Hell, just look at the new generation of GMs that are getting hired without ever having played the game of baseball. Rather than playing ball, they went to school to get a degree. Does this mean they know less than every GM that is a former player? Of course not.

 

Thanks for linking that. That was very humorous.

Thanks for linking that. That was very humorous.

Posnanski is a great writer. I strongly suggest checking out his blog regularly if you liked that. His posts are generally pretty long, but they are almost always very entertaining to read.

Edited October 21, 200916 yr by Felix

Congrats

Posnanski is a great writer. I strongly suggest checking out his blog regularly if you liked that. His posts are generally pretty long, but they are almost always very entertaining to read.

The comparisons of Rice's statements were too funny...especially the Joe Morgan one...great stuff.

 

I'll bookmark the site.

 

Thanks again.

The problem with guys like Rice and Morgan (and many ex-athletes in general) is that they tend to be, at best, intellectually lazy. They became wildly-successful by playing the game, but not necessarily studying the game. And like many other celebrities, they feel that their social status lends credence to their uninformed opinions. It doesn't surprise me at all that Theo Epstein, who never played college or minor league ball, has been nothing short of a smashing success as a GM, while Hawk was a complete failure.

 

Oh, and congrats to Gordon. I don't think that he'll win the "real" ROTY award, but it's nice to see his season recognized.

 

Edited October 21, 200916 yr by WCSox