Yankees: 3 NYY Rookie of the Year Winners You Probably Forgot

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The New York Yankees have nine Rookies of the Year, some of them forgettable.

As a franchise, the New York Yankees have rarely been known for their young talent. In recent decades, July 4 birthday boy George Steinbrenner would often take a hacksaw to the stockpile in order to get his hands on someone like Rick Rhoden. These days, Yankees Award Bias has stolen Rookie of the Year honors from their few deserving candidates (cough, Hideki Matsui).

New York’s most recent Rookie of the Year was the undeniable Aaron Judge, who ran away with the honor in 2017 (though he should’ve been the MVP, too), and before him, it was Derek Jeter, who you may remember from his unanimous Hall of Fame election.

But before those two? It’s a hodgepodge. You might not remember these three Yankees who once captured the first-year hardware.

Tom Tresh #15 congratulates Whitey Ford #16 in 1961. (Photo by C&G Collections/Getty Images) /

3. Tom Tresh, 1962

Tom Tresh played for the New York Yankees from 1961-1969.

While Mickey Mantle was taking home regular-season MVP honors, and before Ralph Terry induced Willie McCovey to line out with runners on to end the World Series, Tom Tresh was earning the top rookie nod.

Did Tresh earn the honors? Absolutely. He hit .286/.359/.441 as a 23-year-old for the 1962 World Series champions, bashing 20 homers and 93 RBI. He also hit .321 with an additional bomb in the seven-game World Series against San Francisco that fall.

Another All-Star season followed for Tresh in ’63, in what was nearly a facsimile of the previous campaign (25 homers, .269 average). But as the Yankees slipped as the decade continued, so did Tresh’s performance and average.

He stayed with the Yanks until ’69, but went to Detroit midway through the season and retired at 30. The kid wrapped up his career with just 1,041 hits and a .245 average.

Gabe Paul, Joe McCarthy, Yogi Berra #8, Whitey Ford #16, Mickey Mantle #7 and Joe Dimaggio #5 of the New York Yankees(Photo by: Olen Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images) /

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2. Stan Bahnsen, 1968

Stan Bahnsen played for the New York Yankees from 1966-1971.

Is that Stan Bahnsen in the photograph above? Nope! It’s a photo of Yankee greats gathering at the stadium for Old-Timers’ Day around the same period. That’s how forgotten Bahnsen’s incredible performance during the dark days of the 1968 season still is today.

Man oh man, did the 23-year-old hurler earn the honors, though.

Bahnsen, with the good fortune to debut during the wildest year in pitching history with the spookiest mound ever envisioned, went 17-12 with a 2.05 ERA in 267.1 innings pitched — he finished ninth in ERA, the first pitcher on the leaderboard with a mark above 2.00.

The lanky righty nearly swept the votes for this award in ’68, taking 17 of the 20 and only losing three to Washington’s Del Unser.

Ultimately, his entire career was fairly valuable, too — though Bahnsen bounced around, he still wrapped up a 16-year career with a 146-149 record and a 3.60 ERA, ending things on the 1982 Phillies.

But we’d bet you weren’t thinking about him until we brought him up, were you? Kudos to you, forgotten Nebraskan.

Catcher Yogi Berra and pitcher Bob Grim, of the New York Yankees (Photo by: Olen Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images) /

1. Bob Grim, 1954

Bob Grim played for the New York Yankees from 1954-1958.

Bob Grim! Duh! You remember him! And all the pitching he did!

Ol’ Grimbo (not a real nickname, but it is the URL on his Baseball Reference page!) debuted with the Yankees in ’54 as a 24-year-old out of Lane High School in Brooklyn. Imagine coming out of BK and immediately being inserted on the other side of the Yankees-Dodgers rivalry? Whew.

Grim dominated in 1954, going 20-6 with a 3.26 ERA and finishing 11th in the MVP race, as well as winning ROY honors. The advanced metrics probably would’ve hated the selection, though — in 199 innings pitched, Grim whiffed just 108 men. Hey, that was baseball at one point! And his FIP was still 3.23, better than his true ERA mark. Not bad, kid.

The Yankees didn’t make the World Series in ’54, a true rarity at the time — the Indians represented the AL and lost to the New York Giants. Grim did, however, make three appearances the next season…in a World Series defeat against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Tough luck.

He somehow never appeared in a winning WS effort, struggling in ’57 against the Milwaukee Braves, too (an All-Star season for Grim). He was shipped to Kansas City in 1958, along with Harry Simpson, in exchange for Duke Maas and Virgil Trucks.

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He wrapped up his career, spent mainly in relief, in 1962, bouncing back to KC in the process. Even during his 20-6 ROY campaign, he made only 20 starts against 17 relief appearances. And now, you’ll never forget him again!

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