Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, November 10, 2006, Washington Post

The Fight for NL Rookie of the Year

Major League Baseball will announce the Rookie of the Year for the National League on Monday. Washington Nationals fans are rooting for Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman to win the award. But Florida Marlins fans might argue that their second baseman, Dan Uggla, or shortstop, Hanley Ramirez, earned the prize. Milwaukee Brewers fans could go to bat for their slugging first baseman, Prince Fielder.

Sports arguments are fun. When people argue about the war in Iraq, or who should be president or senator, that's serious stuff. But when fans yell at each other about whether Mark Brunell or Jason Campbell should play quarterback for the Redskins or whether LeBron James or Dwyane Wade is the best player in the National Basketball Association, that's just playing around.

So let's have a sports argument. Who should be this year's National League Rookie of the Year?

Now, you can't just say someone is better than the rest. That's no fun. You have to show that one player deserves the award. The way you show who's better is by comparing their statistics. Let's start with batting average and home runs.