Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger both had historic rookie seasons. Judge will be unanimous in the AL, and Bellinger will probably be unanimous in the NL. That hasn't happened in 20 years. Not even in 2001, when Albert and Ichiro were the Rookies of the Year, was the vote unanimous in both leagues (one AL voter put CC ahead of Ichiro that year). Which speaks much more about the seasons Judge and Bellinger put together than the quality of the rookie class.
Andrew Benintendi and Trey Mancini are technically "finalists" in the AL, but I don't think they'll be waiting nervously for the phone to ring. Benintendi was the projected AL Rookie of the Year by a lot of experts, many of whom never saw Judge coming, entering the season. He had a solid year, so it's no surprise that he finished second. Mancini finishing third was a bit of a surprise, but number three behind Benintendi really could've been anybody, and I'm sure there were plenty of rookies who got third-place votes (assuming Benintendi was a unanimous second). Personally, I would've gone with Rafael Devers or Yuli Gurriel, but I have no problem with Mancini. And, again, we all know that being considered a "finalist" is merely a formality. Judge won the award.
Likewise, Bellinger won the award going away in the National League. Josh Bell of the Pirates and the Cardinals' Paul DeJong. I'm assuming Bell finished second and DeJong was third, but, again, the winner is obvious. In fact, Bellinger's win might be even more obvious than Judge's. He was head and shoulders above all other National League rookies, which is made even more remarkable when you consider he wasn't even called up until the end of April.
Bellinger is the latest in a long line of Dodger rookie standouts. He'll be their 18th Rookie of the Year (twice as many as any other team in Baseball) and their second in a row after Corey Seager's win last season. Bellinger will also likely become the third straight unanimous NL Rookie of the Year. And rightfully so. Because his 2017 campaign was simply outstanding.
He didn't figure into the Dodgers' original plans for this season, either. Most people figured Bellinger would be a September call-up. But an injury to Adrian Gonzalez pushed up his arrival to late April, and that's when the Dodgers took off. They started just 9-11 before going on a ridiculous run that saw them flirting with the all-time wins record before cooling off and finishing at 104.
And Bellinger was such a huge part of it that they couldn't take him out of the lineup. First base, the outfield. It didn't matter. He played anywhere, setting an NL rookie record with 39 home runs in the process. He also led the Dodgers with 97 RBIs.
For all the home runs Bellinger hit, that paled in comparison to Judge's total. He belted 52 long balls, many of the tape-measure variety, to break Mark McGwire's rookie record. For most of the season, he wasn't just the clear Rookie of the Year front-runner, he was a leading candidate for AL MVP (and if not for that terrible six-week stretch in July and August, he likely would've won both). Judge was THE story in baseball for much of the season. More than that, he was the FACE of baseball this season.
The last Yankee to win Rookie of the Year was some guy named Jeter in 1996. His career turned out alright. He wore Pinstripes for 20 years and won five World Series with the Yankees. I'm not saying Aaron Judge will have the same type of career that Derek Jeter had. But he seamlessly stepped into the role as the Face of the Yankees, a title that has been vacant since Jeter retired.
Coincidentally, one of Jeter's teammates on the Yankees dynasty in the late 90s was Clay Bellinger, Cody's dad. Cody Bellinger, who put together a rookie season that would be talked about as one of the best ever if it didn't happen to take place in the same year as Aaron Judge's. Either way, we'll be talking about both of their rookie campaigns as historic.
Their being crowned as the Rookies of the Year on Monday will be a mere formality. The fact is Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger both won the award months ago. That's what happens when two of the best rookie years in Major League history happen to occur in the same season.
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