THE YEAR OF THE ROOKIE : Led by Joyner and Canseco, the Class of ’86 Just May Be in Class by Itself

Having been better than advertised, baseball’s touted freshman class is about to graduate with honors.

The highest honors?

Tab Todd Worrell, the St. Louis relief pitcher, or Rob Thompson, the San Francisco second baseman, to win the National League’s Rookie of the Year award in balloting by a committee of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.

There may be fringe support for the New York Mets’ versatile Kevin Mitchell and Houston pitchers Jim Deshaies and Charlie Kerfeld.

The American League is another matter.

Seldom has there been a year in which so many rookies played such influential roles on so many teams.

How deep is the competition? How impressive the talent?

Said Cleveland Manager Pat Corrales:

“I had Julio Franco in 1983 when he got beat out (for Rookie of the Year) by Ron Kittle. Those guys would be fifth or sixth this year.

“I think you have to go back to ‘64, when Dick Allen, Rico Carty and Jim Ray Hart all broke into the National League to find anything like it.

“They could all hit .300, all hit with power. That’s the kind of year this has been.

“I mean, it’s not often you find four rookies in the middle of four different lineups. Then you’ve got the kid up in Seattle and the relief pitcher in Toronto.”

Corrales alluded to the six leading candidates, including the two favorites--Oakland left fielder Jose Canseco, who may win the home run and runs-batted-in titles, and Angel first baseman Wally Joyner, whose team is close to winning the Western Division championship.

Receiving consideration besides those two are Cleveland right fielder Cory Snyder, Texas outfielder and designated hitter Pete Incaviglia, Seattle second baseman Danny Tartabull and Toronto relief pitcher Mark Eichorn.

Said Seattle Manager Dick Williams: “Take any one of ‘em and it wouldn’t be a bad choice.”

The American League list doesn’t stop there, but the voting probably will.

Said Oakland Manager Tony LaRussa: “It’s been the year of the rookie. I can’t think of another season that was even close.”

In a season without title races, the American League has maintained a measure of interest with a battle for the batting title between Boston’s Wade Boggs and the New York Yankees’ Don Mattingly and with the rookie debate between supporters of the stylist, Joyner, and the slugger, Canseco.

Joyner seemed to have the award on ice in mid-season when he became the first rookie ever voted an All-Star game starter. He was batting .313 with 20 home runs and 72 runs batted in at the break. Rookie of the Year? How about MVP?

But he has only 2 home runs, 21 RBIs and a .252 average since, and he has only 9 hits in his last 56 at-bats.

Canseco, meanwhile, has overcome some erratic defense--11 errors in the outfield--an August hitless streak stretching over 40 at-bats that dropped his average to its current .246. He also has 167 strikeouts, which would be challenging records if it weren’t for Incaviglia, who has 175.

The A’s left fielder leads the league with 115 RBIs and is second in home runs with 33. Toronto’s Jesse Barfield and Oakland’s Dave Kingman have 34.

No rookie has ever led either league in both home runs and RBIs. The last rookie to lead the American League in home runs was Al Rosen of Cleveland with 37 in 1950. The last to lead it in RBIs was Boston’s Walt Dropo with 144 in the same year.

Canseco supporters point to his impressive power numbers and cite Joyner’s second-half decline.

Joyner supporters respond that the A’s will finish no higher than third, whereas the Angels, triggered by their rookie’s remarkable first half, are on their way to the playoffs. They point out that Joyner is batting almost 50 points more than Canseco and is in an entirely different league with the glove, although his 14 errors are exceeded only by Steve Balboni’s 18 among American League first basemen.

Said Corrales: “The one guy (Canseco) is leading the world in RBIs, but this guy (Joyner) can do it defensively as well as offensively. I mean, you only have to worry about Canseco when he’s at the plate, but hit a line drive and Joyner picks it. Throw it in the dirt and he picks it. I’d have to vote for Joyner.”

So would Dick Williams.

“The kid at Oakland doesn’t have a cheap swing even when he misses,” Williams said. “But I think it has to go to Joyner. I know he’s tapered off, but he can still do it all. The big thing is that he’s on a first-place club, and that means so damn much.”

A biased LaRussa, of course, supports Canseco.

“Joyner has put in a very solid season in every category,” the A’s manager said. “He’s been a key man on a division winner, and that stands for a lot.

“But when you look at the production Canseco has generated . . . well, how long has it been since a rookie has done this. And if that one streak hadn’t killed him, he’d be hitting .260 or .270.

“He’s also come a long way in the field. He has real good hands and a strong arm. And not too many people know it but he’s volunteered to go to the Instructional League to work on his fielding. He has the desire to become a complete player.”

Joyner may be there already.

“I wouldn’t trade him for any of the others,” Angel Manager Gene Mauch said. “I mean, leading the league in home runs and RBIs is damn impressive stuff, but if you’re talking complete player, Joyner would still get my vote.”

Mauch, like others, thought at one point that Joyner would get them all.

“Two months ago I’d have said our guy would win it hands down,” Mauch said. “Two weeks ago I thought he still would.

“Now I think the last 10 or 12 days will decide it or should figure in the consideration, at least.

“I just hope people take into consideration the absolute importance of some of those home runs he hit in the first half. My goodness. Game tyers, game winners. Two outs against (Dave) Righetti, against (Ron) Davis.

“How about the two games against Kansas City that he saved throwing runners out at the plate on almost impossible plays?

“People say he hasn’t maintained the pace, but there’ll probably never be a time when he hits 15 home runs in 35 games again, if that’s what it was. I mean, if it’s not surprising that a veteran has a couple dry spells, how can it be surprising that Wally has?”

Joyner has also been playing with a strained shoulder and the burden, Mauch suspects, of some suddenly great expectations.

“I’m not saying it’s that way, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was,” Mauch said. “I don’t think he’s unaware of the MVP poll and the rookie poll. I don’t think he’s unaware of how close he is to 25 home runs and 100 RBIs.

“We saw how personal things affected a great player like Reggie Jackson when he was looking for 500 (homers). It’s easy for me to say, ‘Just go play your game. Don’t think about it,’ but I’m not the one who has to do it. I wish all the votes were in and counted so he could just go play.”

The performances of Canseco and Joyner have tended to overshadow the others, which is a shame.

Consider:

--Snyder, recalled by the Indians in June, has played four positions and hit 22 homers with 63 RBIs and a .281 batting average in just 101 games.

Said Corrales: “If Joyner is a contact hitter with power and Canseco is a power hitter period, Snyder is a little of both. He’s had good days and bad days, but he’s not intimidated. He doesn’t let the bad days bother him. He’s played third base, shortstop, left field and right field. Wherever our needs are, he’s capable of doing an outstanding job. It’s been a nice thing to watch.”

--Incaviglia, straight from Oklahoma State, where he set National Collegiate Athletic Assn. records for home runs and RBIs, tied Dave Nicholson’s American League strikeout record of 175 Monday night and was within 14 of Bobby Bonds’ major league record, but he had also set Ranger rookie records for home runs, 27, and RBIs, 76.

Said Manager Bobby Valentine: “I couldn’t ask more from a kid straight out of college who most people thought shouldn’t be in the majors. I’m not sure what Dave Winfield did out of college, but I played with him his second year and he didn’t have a year like Inky has.

“Every time someone said the pitching has caught up with him, he hit four homers in a week. I’m not overly concerned with the strikeouts, because the majority of them have been the same type. Once he learns to stay away from the high pitch, you’ll see them minimized. You’ll see him hit with the same power he has this year but even more consistently.

“As for the rookie award, he’d have to come on like ‘Gangbusters’ to pass the two guys ahead of him (Canseco and Joyner), but it’s not like he’s been blown out of the race, either.”

--Tartabull, who missed more than 20 games because of anemia in the first half of the season, still has hit 25 homers, driven in 91 runs and batted .265. That’s a better year than any of the eight his father, Jose, fashioned with the A’s and Boston Red Sox.

Said Williams, who also managed Jose at Oakland, said of Danny: “The kid doesn’t know how good he can be. The most impressive thing is that he kept his offensive composure while learning a new defensive position (moving from shortstop to second base).

“He strikes out a lot (147 times as of Wednesday) like all power hitters, but he’ll reduce that as he goes along. I put him up there with Joyner and any of the others.”

--The unheralded Eichorn, who injured his arm as a starting pitcher and had to start all over as a reliever in Class A, has set a Toronto record for wins by a rookie. He has a 13-5 record with 10 saves and a 1.66 earned-run average. He also has an impressive ratio of 153 strikeouts to 39 walks in 144 innings and should, at least, be the league’s rookie pitcher of the year.

Said Manager Jimy Williams: “His numbers speak for themselves. We had some other problems this year, but Mark helped keep us in the race. He got a lot of big hitters out and was just as effective the second time around. In my mind, he was like an every-day player for us.”

The big six only scratch the surface, though, in the American League. How about Dan Plesac, who has a 10-7 record with 12 saves for Milwaukee, or Juan Nieves, 10-11 as a Brewer starting pitcher? How about Calvin Schiraldi, of whom much will be heard in the playoffs? Schiraldi joined the Red Sox in August and is 4-1 with 9 saves in 21 appearances.

How about the Rangers, with their fleet of rookies besides Incaviglia? Outfielder Ruben Sierra has 15 homers and 50 RBIs in 102 games. Reliever Mitch Williams is 8-5 with 8 saves. And how about the flame-throwing Bobby Witt, who left the University of Oklahoma and was 0-6 at Tulsa last year and was in the process of setting records for wild pitches and number of pitches with the Rangers this year when he began to gain control? Texas is 10-0 in his last 10 starts, a span in which Witt, 9-9 overall, is 5-0.

The National League can’t quite compare.

The top choice is between Worrell and Thompson, with some consideration for Deshaies, 10-5 after his record eight straight strikeouts opening Tuesday night’s game against the Dodgers; teammate Kerfeld, 11-2 with 7 saves, and the Mets’ Mitchell, who has 11 home runs and 41 RBIs as a part-time player.

Worrell, the Biola College product, is 9-10 with 34 saves and a 2.08 earned-run average in 72 games. Thompson is hitting .275 with 7 homers and 47 RBIs. Manager Roger Craig contends that the surprising Thompson has been the most valuable player of the Giants’ surprising season.

“Worrell is having a great year but my guy plays every day, plays hurt and does a lot of the intangible things that don’t show in a box score,” Craig said. “He finds a different way every day to help you win a game. We wouldn’t be in second place without him.”

A lot of teams wouldn’t be where they are without their rookies, and it may be just a start. Apparently, it’s a new era. The fringe veterans are out. The force-fed kids are in. Economics are a large part of it, but not all.

Said Dick Williams: “The thing about it is that the kids are bigger and stronger now and can do more things. Have I ever seen a year like this one? Not that I can remember.”

THAT BUMPER ROOKIE CROP OF 1986

Statistics (through Tuesday) for some of the top rookies in American and National leagues.

AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTERS

Player Team Pos. BA. OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR Jose Canseco Oakland OF .246 .323 569 79 140 27 1 33 Pete Incaviglia Texas OF .249 .317 506 75 126 20 2 27 Wally Joyner Angels 1B .290 .346 566 78 164 26 3 22 Ruben Sierra Texas OF .268 .305 339 44 91 13 9 15 Cory Snyder Cleveland Util .281 .309 370 54 104 18 1 22 Danny Tartabull Seattle 2B .270 .348 471 69 127 24 5 25

Player RBI BB SB Jose Canseco 115 62 15 Pete Incaviglia 76 50 2 Wally Joyner 93 52 4 Ruben Sierra 50 19 7 Cory Snyder 63 15 1 Danny Tartabull 91 57 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE BATTERS

Player Team Pos. BA. OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR Kevin Mitchell NY Mets Util .281 .352 306 49 86 22 2 11 Scott Thompson San Fran. 2B .275 .329 538 72 148 26 3 7 Reggie Williams Dodgers OF .277 .331 292 33 81 14 1 4

Player RBI BB SB Kevin Mitchell 41 33 3 Scott Thompson 47 39 12 Reggie Williams 31 22 9

AMERICAN LEAGUE PITCHERS

Player Team Thw W L ERA G GS SV IP H HR BB Mark Eichhorn Toronto RH 13 5 1.69 64 0 10 144 95 8 39 Eric King Detroit RH 10 4 3.65 29 16 2 133 105 11 62 Dan Plesac Milw. LH 10 7 3.18 48 0 12 85 77 5 29 Calvin Schiraldi Boston RH 4 1 1.23 21 0 9 44 29 3 12 Mitch Williams Texas LH 8 5 3.38 76 0 8 93 67 7 71

Player SO Mark Eichhorn 153 Eric King 72 Dan Plesac 71 Calvin Schiraldi 49 Mitch Williams 87

NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHERS

Player Team Thw W L ERA G GS SV IP H HR Jim Deshaies Houston LH 10 5 3.49 24 24 0 134 115 16 Charlie Kerfeld Houston RH 11 2 2.77 55 0 7 87 68 5 Todd Worrell St. Louis RH 9 10 2.08 72 0 34 99 85 8

Player BB SO Jim Deshaies 55 121 Charlie Kerfeld 40 67 Todd Worrell 41 67