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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Patrick Andres

MLB Rookie Watch: A Dodger Shakes Up the National League Race

Hyeseong Kim singles against the Padres on June 19. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

As long as Major League Baseball has had Rookie of the Year awards, veteran players from outside traditional minor-league structures have been winning them.

The first was Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman Jackie Robinson, who took home top honors in 1947 in his age-28 season—with racism and World War II to blame for him not debuting earlier. Boston Braves center fielder Sam Jethroe was 33 in 1950; he'd been a longtime Negro League outfielder for the Cleveland Buckeyes. In 2000, Seattle Mariners pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki was a 33-year-old NPB lifer.

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