Young, Fun, And Full Of…
Posted by Steve Lombardi on December 12, 2009
...promise? A fun list via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Season Finder - players with at least one season, before the age of 25, where they had at least 50 extra base hits AND at least 30 steals:
| Rk | Yrs | To | From | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ty Cobb | 4 | 1908 | 1911 | 21-24 | |
| 2 | Hanley Ramirez | 3 | 2006 | 2008 | 22-24 | |
| 3 | Carl Crawford | 3 | 2004 | 2006 | 22-24 | |
| 4 | Cesar Cedeno | 3 | 1972 | 1974 | 21-23 | |
| 5 | Matt Kemp | 2 | 2008 | 2009 | 23-24 | |
| 6 | Jose Reyes | 2 | 2006 | 2007 | 23-24 | |
| 7 | Jimmy Rollins | 2 | 2001 | 2002 | 22-23 | |
| 8 | Sammy Sosa | 2 | 1990 | 1993 | 21-24 | |
| 9 | Barry Bonds | 2 | 1987 | 1989 | 22-24 | |
| 10 | Juan Samuel | 2 | 1984 | 1985 | 23-24 | |
| 11 | Tim Raines | 2 | 1983 | 1984 | 23-24 | |
| 12 | Bobby Bonds | 2 | 1969 | 1970 | 23-24 | |
| 13 | Ben Chapman | 2 | 1931 | 1932 | 22-23 | |
| 14 | Joe Jackson | 2 | 1911 | 1912 | 21-22 | |
| 15 | David Wright | 1 | 2007 | 2007 | 24-24 | |
| 16 | Grady Sizemore | 1 | 2007 | 2007 | 24-24 | |
| 17 | Corey Patterson | 1 | 2004 | 2004 | 24-24 | |
| 18 | Carlos Beltran | 1 | 2001 | 2001 | 24-24 | |
| 19 | Juan Encarnacion | 1 | 1999 | 1999 | 23-23 | |
| 20 | Alex Rodriguez | 1 | 1998 | 1998 | 22-22 | |
| 21 | Derek Jeter | 1 | 1998 | 1998 | 24-24 | |
| 22 | Roberto Alomar | 1 | 1991 | 1991 | 23-23 | |
| 23 | Jose Canseco | 1 | 1988 | 1988 | 23-23 | |
| 24 | Devon White | 1 | 1987 | 1987 | 24-24 | |
| 25 | Ryne Sandberg | 1 | 1984 | 1984 | 24-24 | |
| 26 | Lloyd Moseby | 1 | 1984 | 1984 | 24-24 | |
| 27 | Paul Molitor | 1 | 1979 | 1979 | 22-22 | |
| 28 | Lee Mazzilli | 1 | 1979 | 1979 | 24-24 | |
| 29 | Ruppert Jones | 1 | 1979 | 1979 | 24-24 | |
| 30 | Andre Dawson | 1 | 1979 | 1979 | 24-24 | |
| 31 | Bobby Tolan | 1 | 1970 | 1970 | 24-24 | |
| 32 | Amos Otis | 1 | 1970 | 1970 | 23-23 | |
| 33 | Tommie Agee | 1 | 1966 | 1966 | 23-23 | |
| 34 | Jimmy Wynn | 1 | 1965 | 1965 | 23-23 | |
| 35 | Vada Pinson | 1 | 1960 | 1960 | 21-21 | |
| 36 | George Grantham | 1 | 1923 | 1923 | 23-23 | |
| 37 | Frankie Frisch | 1 | 1921 | 1921 | 22-22 | |
| 38 | Benny Kauff | 1 | 1914 | 1914 | 24-24 | |
| 39 | Tris Speaker | 1 | 1912 | 1912 | 24-24 | |
| 40 | Larry Doyle | 1 | 1911 | 1911 | 24-24 | |
| 41 | Sherry Magee | 1 | 1906 | 1906 | 21-21 | |
| 42 | Harry Lumley | 1 | 1904 | 1904 | 23-23 | |
| 43 | Jimmy Sheckard | 1 | 1901 | 1901 | 22-22 |
We have some Hall-of-Famers here - and some who will be there someday. But, also, some players who didn't carry that promise forward to the point where they became legendary players. Guess this means that showing speed and extra base power, alone, at a young age is not the key to certain future stardom...
December 12th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
[...] For the Yankees, the deal was all about getting Ruppert Jones to play center field for them (in 1980). He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 3rd round of the 1973 amateur draft and went to the Mariners as the 1st pick in the 1976 expansion draft. At the time of the trade with New York, he was just 24-years old. A left-handed batter – who was thought to be a perfect fit for Yankee Stadium, like Granderson today – Ruppert Jones was the rare package of youth, speed, and extra base power. [...]