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

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.

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.