Tuesday Trivia: Name that amazing rookie
 

When Mark McGwire slugged 49 Home Runs as a Rookie in 1987, he broke the Rookie record of 38 Home Runs held by Frank Robinson and this man.

Name the man who had shared the Rookie record for 38 Home Runs with Frank Robinson.

Ralph Kiner?

I know Bellinger had a lot but obviously not before McGwire broke the record.

Kiner is a great guess, but although he led the league in HRs his rookie season, he only hit 23. He hit 51 in his sophomore season, however.

Bellinger did indeed hit more than 38 HRs as a Rookie in 2017 (he hit 39), but obviously that was after McGwire hit his 49.

Mel Ott?

A fine guess, but amazing Ott only hit 1 HR in his Rookie year, although he only had 163 at bats, and only 18 HRs the next season. But then again, he was only 17 years old when he entered the League.

Hint #1: The answer is not in the Hall of Fame.

Wally Berger.

Chicago boy.

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Yes! Wally Berger had a monster Rookie year in 1930 when he hit .310 in addition to his 38 round trippers. His 119 RBIs set a National League Record.

The 38-homer major league rookie mark, tied by Frank Robinson in 1956, stood for 57 years until Mark McGwire hit 49 in 1987. Albert Pujols drove in 130 runs in 2001 to break Berger’s 71-year-old National League rookie RBI record. Cody Bellinger finally broke the NL Rookie HR record in 2017 with 39. Berger still shares the record for being the fastest player to hit 20 home runs (51 games), shared with Gary Sánchez and Bellinger.

Berger was a not a one-hit wonder. He averaged 28 home runs and 103 runs batted in along with a .307 batting average over the first seven years of his career He hit 34 HRs in both 1934 (when he was the starting centerfielder in the first All-Star game) and again in 1935, leading the league in the latter year. His 34 home runs in 1935 were by far the most on the Braves that year, with Babe Ruth's 6 being the second highest tally on the team in Ruth's curtain call. Berger was a career .300 hitter and is in the top 100 all-time in OPS+ at 138 tied with the likes of King Kelly, Carlos Delgado, and others.

In 1936 at age 30, Berger suffered a shoulder and hand injury that limited him to 138 games and 534 at-bats and started the decline in his productivity that would end his major-league career just four seasons later.

Berger joined the Navy in February 1942, and served until October 1945, as a baseball coach at the Naval Air Training Station in San Diego. After discharge from the Navy, he scouted for the Giants in 1947 and 1948. He also scouted for the Yankees and managed their Manchester, New Hampshire, team in the New England League in 1949.

....and whose rookie homer record did Berger break?

I had to look it up, but I'll hold off revealing until y'all get a chance.



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Gehrig?

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Nope. Lou had 20 homers in his first full season (1925)

This guy had 25 in his first season.



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I'm not coming up with any good guesses for whose Rookie HR record Wally Berger broke--was thinking Bottomley or Hornsby. Any chance you could give us a clue?

CLUE: This guy hit 25 taters playing in New York.

CLUE: Not very many had that many in a season before Berger, but I won't DELve into details about that.


NOT ESPECIALLY A CLUE: You don't hear his name very often.
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I thought it might be Bob Meusel based on your clue but looked it up and he hit 24 in his second season. Pretty sure it's not Lazzeri. Can't think of anyone else.

Maybe you mean Giants or Dodgers though, will think on that.

George "High Pockets" Kelly?

I had no idea what the answer was, but after doing some searching, I actually found 2 players with 25 home runs in their rookie season prior to Wally Berger hitting 38 in 1930. I am not familiar with either player. The other player I found played for Detroit.

Del Bissonette of the Dodgers in 1928.

Jay- I'll have to look again and find the Detroit player.


In 1899, Buck Freeman hit 25 in his first full season- but he had 139 PAs prior to that, which would exclude him even in the longer modern season.

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Freeman was not Detroit. What a weird fluke, nobody hit that many again for two decades.

DALE 'freakin' ALEXANDER - Hard to believe I missed him. He had one of the greatest rookie seasons of all-time in 1929, when he tied Bissonette's rookie record with 25 of his own...along with 137 rbis and a nice .343 BA.

I missed him because I was checking the yearly top-10, and, in 1929, #10 had 31. Ball was juiced?


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That's the other one. There was a lot of offense in the late 20s and early 30s.