Magglio vs. Gordon....

[soxinem1]

Now that the season has ended, many of us are speculating on not only the possibility of Gordon Beckham being the AL Rookie of the Year, but how he will project as a major league player.

With his quick hands and gap power he reminds me of another player from our past.

Looking back a little more than a decade ago, to 1998, an OF who was previously left unprotected off the 40 man roster had an OK first full season with a .282 average, 14 HR's and 65 RBI. Comiskey II was more of a pitchers park then, but the lineup had a lot more thump than the 2009 White Sox. League pitchers as a whole, however, had higher ERA's than today.

He also came in fifth in the ROY race, behind such "standout's" as Ben Grieve, Rolando Arrojo, and his teammate, The Mike Caruso.

Currently, he is the only one of the top ROY finishers from 1998 to even be active in MLB.

But the next five seasons were some of the best in team history.

We are talking about Magglio Ordonez of course.

Beckham, on the other hand, played only about 2/3 of a season but amassed a .270 average with 14 HR's and 63 RBI, very similar to Maggs' first year. The Cell is a lot more HR favorable today, but for doubles hitters it is not and pitching is not as diluted today as it was in the late 90's.

Bacon also had no kind of protection in the lineup.

But the two remind me of each other, from size to swing, to production.

Thoughts??

[SoxNation05]

I can definetly agree with the fact that they have similar body's and swings I just think Magglio had a little more help than Becks will, since, you know, Magglio is a roider.

[gregoriop]

"standout's"

Ugh.

[soxinem1]

Ugh.

If it is the spelling blame the spell check.:redface:

If it is the term, it was sarcasm.

[TheCommander]

If it is the spelling blame the spell check.:redface:

If it is the term, it was sarcasm.

It was the unnecessary apostrophe. :wink:

[TDog]

It was the unnecessary apostrophe. :wink:

It wasn't even the most egregious example of forming a plural with an apostrophe and an s.

But the major issue I take with the original post is the point about Beckham having "no kind of protection" in the lineup. More than half of his at bats came hitting in the No. 2 spot in the order, ahead of a strong hitter. After he was moved to the No. 2 spot in the order, he hit .248. He had been doing great in the No. 8 spot in the order, hitting .394 there. He played less hitting seventh, but hit .326 there. He didn't do well hitting sixth or ninth, but that reflect his slow start.

Beckham hit almost .150 points higher hitting in front of the No. 9 hitter than he did hitting in front of the No. 3 hitter.

It could have been that there was less pressure in the bottom of the lineup, but I doubt that was a big reason for the drop. I posted before the move that I thought his average would drop in the No. 2 spot because opposing pitchers would pay closer attention to him and more quickly adjust to him, and I believe that is most likely what happened. Beckham appeared not to make the necessary adjustments to hit as he did to inspire his move to the top of the order in the first place.

How well Beckham plays in 2010 depends on how well he adjusts to the way pitchers have been pitching him, and how well he adjusts to adjustments pitchers may make in turn. Often rookies who have success find less success the following season. Because there was a falloff after Beckham was moved up in the order, he may hit better next year, having already faced the need to adjust.

Of course, it pretty much depends on how he is able to adjust. A couple of years ago, WSI was abuzz with excitement over the future of Josh Fields, which I never considered bright. Some strong rookies, such as Mike Caruso, just fall off the map. But Beckham, a Golden Spikes finalist (http://web.goldenspikesaward.com/index.html?page=finalists&year=2008) in 2008, seems to be built of stronger character.