Up, Up And Away

Another rookie who generated excitement to compare with Lynn and Rice was Pete Reiser of the 1940 Dodgers, a .293 first-year hitter whose career was subsequently shortened by one war and 13 fences. There were many others before Reiser who were little noted but should have been long remembered. At one time or another rookies have led both major leagues in all important offensive categories. What should be known as the Golden Age of Rookies came between the two World Wars, when strapping farm hands and ex-doughboys fresh from saving the world for democracy began taking swats at the juiced-up ball that revolutionized the game during the '20s. And there was no Depression for young hitters, including players such as Dale Alexander of the 1929 Tigers, Johnny Frederick of the 1929 Dodgers, George Watkins of the 1930 Cardinals and Hal Trosky of the 1934 Indians who are rarely remembered today. Their accomplishments rank them right up there with the '30s' two most famous rookies, Joe DiMaggio, who came to the Yankees in 1936, and Williams.

Even as rookies, DiMaggio and Williams could be described as one-man gangs. But neither turned a third-place team into a pennant winner, which is exactly what Lynn and Rice did. Last year's Boston stars proved that in rebuilding an outfield, as in other endeavors, two good heads invariably are better than one.