Blogging about Rick Sutcliffe @Sut_ESPN and my Rookies of the Year:

Here is my story that aired last night on KABC 790 as part of the Lasorda at His Best series presented by Skechers:

As Manager of the Dodgers I was fortunate enough to have nine National League Rookies of the Year.  No team even comes close to that.  My first one was Rick Sutcliffe.  He was a big, 6’4” tough guy, and won Rookie of the Year in 1979.  He was traded to the Cubs, and when we would play the Cubs all I would think about was when that young man was pitching for the Dodgers as my first Rookie of the Year.

Rick Sutcliffe, who is now an announcer for ESPN, is still a great friend.  Every time we see each other there’s always a hug there between a 6’4” big guy and a little 5’9” fat, ex-manager.  It looked like Mutt and Jeff.

Here is a list of my nine NL Rookies of the Year:

Rick Sutcliffe – 1979

Steve Howe – 1980

Fernando Valenzuela – 1981

Steve Sax – 1982

Eric Karros – 1992

Mike Piazza – 1993

Raul Mondesi – 1994

Hideo Nomo – 1995

Todd Hollandsworth – 1996