November 15th, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka It should have come as a surprise to no one that 22-year-old Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager was named the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year on Monday afternoon. In fact, Dodgers fans who have followed the Charlotte, North Carolina native throughout his minor league career and through his rookie season aren’t even surprised that he was the unanimous winner, having garnered all 30 first place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. But a true understanding and appreciation of Seager’s mettle is what his teammates and even his bosses had to say about him after winning the coveted award.
“Corey is a special talent that doesn’t come around too often. The Dodgers organization and fans are truly lucky to have him wear their uniform. He is deserving of this honor and most likely many more to come.”
“Congrats Corey, you had an incredible year and this is year one of an award-filled career. I’m very happy for you.”
“To win Rookie of the Year and be in the MVP race as a 22-year-old rookie speaks to the year Corey had. He’s only scratching the surface, and has a chance to be one of the best players in the game, and he’s already pretty close!” “He is everything that is good about our game.” – Dodgers manager Dave Roberts
Dave Roberts:
“I want to congratulate Corey on being recognized as the National League’s Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA. He is everything that is good about our game. I look forward to watching him continue to grow and help lead the Dodgers to a championship.”
Andrew Friedman:
“We want to extend our congratulations to Corey for this well-deserved award. Corey stepped right into a playoff caliber lineup and hit the ground running. He was a critical part of our success on both sides of the ball and is tremendously deserving of this award. I actually think he is just scratching the surface of what he is capable of and I’m proud that his name is going to be forever linked to the great Dodger rookies of the past.”
For those who have closely followed Seager throughout his professional career, Monday’s announcement that he had won the 2016 NL Rookie of the Year title came as no surprise whatsoever.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Seager was selected by the Dodgers in the first round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord, NC, a selection which, at the time, received very high praise from then Dodgers newcomer Zack Greinke; praise which absolutely blew away Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten.
“[Greinke] has strong opinions on everything. The fact that he knew our draft? He was hoping that Corey (Seager) would draft to his team because he really liked that player. Oh my goodness, what player does that?”
Although Kasten’s excitement and enthusiasm were directed towards Greinke, it clearly showed the excitement and enthusiasm that the normally stoic Greinke had for Corey Seager even as a young high schooler. And during last January’s annual FanFest event at Dodger Stadium, Adrian Gonzalez had this to say about Seager, who only days earlier had been name the number one prospect in all of baseball.
“I told this to [Colorado Rockies first base coach] Eric Young when I was playing against the Rockies last year when [Seager] was still in the minors. We were talking about prospects that they had and prospects that we had and I told him that he’s a special kid, that he’s a kid that I could see being a Hall of Famer in the future,” Gonzalez said. “And this is before anybody put him as a number one prospect. This was early in the year last year. He’s got the talent, he’s got the make up, the potential. I think he’s going to be a great major leaguer for a long time.”
Long before Seager’s rookie season even began, AGon told reporters that he sees him as “being a Hall of Famer in the future.” How’s that for an endorsement? (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
It appears that AGon’s early assessment of Seager is spot-on as the young Dodgers shortstop begins his long journey on the road to Cooperstown.
The entire staff at ThinkBlueLA.com extends a hearty congratulations to Corey Seager. Congratulations also to Jody and Jeff Seager – Corey’s mom and dad – who obviously did an outstanding job raising all of their kids.
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Well-deserved!
And this is just a start. MVP next year.
Today we get to see a Dodger rookie not named Corey Seager take center stage.
I’ve seen many references lately to Billy Grabarkewitz being an all star SS in 1970. I’m a bit confused about that.
My memory is Maury Wills was still the regular SS in 1970. Baseball Register confirms that Maury played at least 109 games at SS, less than 10 at 3B.
I was in my early Air Force years at that time. In those days it was hard to keep up on your team if you’re out of town, but in ’70-’71 I was stationed near Riverside and attended just about every Saturday game at Dodger Stadium.
So, can anybody explain this?
I think I just found the explanation. Baseball Register lists Grabby as a utility man, playing 2b, 3b, ss.
It also lists him at 3b in the all star game.
Now, would somebody else post here? There are 5 posts and this is my 4th.
A bit off-topic RTR, but have you read the book ‘The Last Innocents’ by Michael Leahy? It will give you an entirely new appreciation of Maury Wills.
Hello Ron, I recently purchased that Last Innocents” book as well as “The Best Team Money Can Buy book.
No, I haven’t heard of it. I’ll have to see if I can find it.
Another I’d like to find is the Al Campanis book, “Dodgers Way to Play Baseball” or something like that. I’ve known of it for a long time, but never read it.
Hello RTR, and on that note Grabby also led Dodgers with 17 HR’s in 1970, and in that year Dodgers were last in the MLB with a team total of only 87 HR’s if ya can believe that.
They weren’t noted for power hitting back then, in part because home plate was 15 ft. closer to the original backstop then it is now.
Even when they had Frank Howard power was not their thing.
I’m reminded of Danny Kaye’s “The Dodger Song”:
“Here comes big Frank Howard, yessiree,
boy what a swing, Strike 3”
RTR, Dodgers moved home plate 10 FT. closer to CF in 1969 and in 1973 they lowered the fences all around and moved them in by 5FT. before the 1973 season.