LINCICOME: Tulowitzki clearly best rookie

Monday, September 10, 2007

Oh, come on. Who's having a better rookie year than Troy Tulowitzki?

The name that keeps coming up is Ryan Braun of Milwaukee, but anything baseball that happens in Milwaukee must be taken with the same faith as anything baseball that happens in Denver, so who knows?

It is not that Braun is necessarily better than Tulowitzki, though he may be, it is true that he does have a better back story.

That may be where the Brewers third baseman has it over the Rockies shortstop, and that just might make the difference on which one is the National League Rookie of the Year.

To be the Hammerin' Hebrew or the Hebrew Hammer, one of those, as Braun is, and to have the same original surname as Sandy Koufax, to have the same nickname as a Hollywood movie, to be hitting home runs at a rookie ratio unseen since Mark McGwire, to be considered the new Albert Pujols, well to overcome that Tulowitzki would have to be the best all-around, full-tooled shortstop to come to the big leagues since Cal Ripken Jr., which he could very well be.

To be any kind of Hammer in Milwaukee, the beginning and ending place for Henry Aaron, is a hook to hang a vote or two on.

Tulowitzki might lose out because his name is not unusual enough.

It will most certainly come down to one of these two, a nice little prize if not one of any lasting significance.

Anyone who can name last year's rookies of the year knows his Justin Verlander from his Hanley Ramirez.

And, come to think of it, whatever happened to Jason Jennings, the only Rockies rookie of the year?

Still, and maybe because something tangible should come to out of this surprising season for the Rockies, not that it is over after a tidy dismissal of San Diego on Sunday, giving the Rockies the vital series, a little notice does seem deserved.

The prevailing notion that young Tulo is getting less national attention because of our time zone or because the Rockies aren't big winners or because the Rockies do not have the proper general pedigree, that anything the Rockies do is still considered a gimmick elsewhere, not real baseball, all of that makes sense.

But, as I said before, it is not as if Milwaukee has the baseball tradition that, oh, Green Bay has in football. One man's backwater is another man's dusty old cow town.

Still, it is easy to believe opinion is just naturally stacked against the locals, and why not, the Rockies having made hardly a ripple beyond Blake Street, and not so much there in recent seasons.

Had the Rockies stepped out front in the NL West, had been the surprise most of the season that Milwaukee has been, then reasons would have been explored, and clearly one of the most obvious would be Tulowitzki.

To anyone who has followed the dogged season of the Rockies and seen Tulowitzki field flawlessly and hit timely, only an unnatural and unsupportable bias could be the reason to consider any other rookie.

So, when the issue seems settled in many other places in favor of Braun, well, a little research is obligatory. Who is Braun and what has he done that makes him a better choice than Tulowitzki?

Let's start with the numbers. Impressive power. Good average. Poor fielder. If Braun's numbers are prorated over a season (since he did not come up to the Brewers until late May), he could be considered the most productive first year slugger ever, could beat McGwire's rookie homer record of 49.

But on actual comparison with Tulo-witzki, going into Sunday's games, judging the whole season and not some fanciful projection of it, Tulowitzki has more RBI, more runs scored, more hits, a respectable total of home runs and a range and arm at shortstop that anchors the best fielding team in the league.

Not to mention, and this seems never to be mentioned, an unassisted triple play.

No, in real time, over a whole season, there is very little to choose with what each has done, but the edge must go to Tulowitzki, who is also a year younger than Braun.

But if the judgment comes just because there was a movie - mostly unseen, but still . . . - actually called The Hebrew Hammer, let us offer one called Troy, not to recommend either.

The movies, not the ballplayers. Tulo-witzki is the clear choice there.

lincicomeb@RockyMountainNews.com