By Zane Miller
10. Scott Williamson (1999)
Williamson picked up RotY honors in 1999 while pitching for the Cincinnati Reds, scoring 12 wins and 19 saves while getting 107 strikeouts in 93.1 innings pitched for a 2.41 ERA. Williamson remained with the Reds for the majority of his somewhat brief MLB career, as he went 439.1 total innings for 28 career wins and 55 saves with 510 strikeouts, getting a career ERA of 3.36 before he would be out of the league after the 2007 season.
9. Kerry Wood (1998)
Wood claimed the RotY trophy for 1998 with the Chicago Cubs, pitching his way to 13 wins, while also getting 233 strikeouts and a 3.40 ERA in 166.2 innings pitched, with his most notable accomplishment coming on May 6th of that year as he became one of just five pitchers to earn 20 or more strikeouts in a single game. After missing the entire 1999 season after Tommy John surgery, Wood spent most of his career with the Cubs as he captured 86 wins and 1,582 strikeouts in 1,380 innings pitched to finish with a career ERA of 3.67 before retiring after the 2012 season.
8. Raul Mondesi (1994)
Mondesi won the RotY award in 1994 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting 16 home runs, 56 RBIs and 133 hits in 112 games. Mondesi spent most of his career with the Dodgers, ending up with a total of 271 home runs, 860 RBIs and 1,589 hits in 1,525 career games before retiring after the 2005 season.
7. Todd Hollandsworth (1996)
Hollandsworth took the 1996 RotY trophy with the Dodgers on the strength of 12 home runs, 59 RBIs and 139 hits in 149 games played. Like Mondesi, Hollandsworth played most of his career with the Dodgers, as he got 98 career home runs, 401 RBIs and 871 hits in 1,118 games played, though he made his greatest contribution in 2003 by winning the World Series as a member of the Florida (now Miami) Marlins.
6. Eric Karros (1992)
Karros won the RotY award with the Dodgers in 1992, thanks to an impressive 20 home runs, 88 RBIs and 140 hits in 149 games played. Karros continued to play for the Dodgers for most of his career, finishing top-five in NL MVP voting in 1995 with 32 home runs, 105 RBIs and 164 hits in 143 games, eventually retiring in 2004 with a total of 284 homers, 1,027 RBIs and 1,724 hits in 1,755 games played.
5. Hideo Nomo (1995)
Nomo captured RotY honors in 1995 with the Dodgers after spending the first five years of his professional career in his native Japan, earning 13 wins with an NL-leading 236 strikeouts over the course of 191.1 innings pitched for an ERA of 2.54. This performance also put him inside the top-five in the running for the NL Cy Young Award, an accomplishment he would repeat in 1996 with 16 wins, 234 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.19 in 228.1 innings pitched. Nomo became a reliable starter for the Dodgers for much of his MLB career, though it would be somewhat shortened due to injury. Nomo retired following a brief comeback attempt in 2008, finishing with 123 career wins, 1,918 strikeouts and a 4.24 ERA in 1,976.1 innings. In 2014, Nomo was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
4. Mike Piazza (1993)
Piazza claimed the 1993 RotY title for the Dodgers, hitting a whopping 35 home runs, 112 RBIs and 174 hits in 149 games played. While Piazza still spent a significant amount of time in Los Angeles, he is also known as one of the greatest players in New York Mets history as well. With the Dodgers, Piazza finished second in MVP voting in 1996 with 36 homers, 105 RBIs and 184 hits in 148 games played, while his 1997 campaign saw him match the same runner-up finish after getting 40 home runs, 124 RBIs and 201 hits in 152 games played. After he joined the Mets, Piazza would get a third-place MVP run in 2000, thanks to a 38-home run season with 113 RBIs and 156 hits in 136 games played. Retiring in 2007, Piazza would conclude his career with 427 total home runs, 1,335 RBIs and 2,127 hits in 1,912 games. In 2013, Piazza was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, while 2016 would see his #31 jersey be retired by the Mets organization, the same year he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
3. David Justice (1990)
Justice picked up RotY in 1990 with the Atlanta Braves, as he scored 28 home runs, 78 RBIs and 124 hits in just 127 games played. His best season would come in 1993, as he finished third in MVP voting while tallying 40 home runs, 120 RBIs and 158 hits in 157 games. Though he played the majority of his career in Atlanta, he would also have a notable tenure as a member of the Cleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians), thanks to a 1997 season in which he got 33 home runs, 101 RBIs and 163 hits in 139 games, good for a top-five finish in the AL MVP race. Most importantly, however, Justice would earn a pair of World Series rings, winning the title in 1995 with the Braves and in 2000 while on the New York Yankees. Justice announced his retirement after the 2002 season, completing his run with 305 home runs, 1,017 RBIs and 1,571 hits in 1,610 games played. Justice was later inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2017.
2. Jeff Bagwell (1991)
Bagwell earned the RotY title in 1991 with the Houston Astros, hitting 15 home runs with 82 RBIs and 163 hits in 156 games played. Bagwell spent his entire MLB career with the Astros, including his MVP season in 1994 which saw him get 39 homers and an MLB-best 116 RBIs on 147 hits in only 110 games during the strike-shortened campaign. However, this was far from his only noteworthy season, as he also came in third for the MVP award in 1997 with 43 home runs, 135 RBIs and 162 hits in 162 games played, before taking the runner-up spot in 1999 on the strength of 42 home runs, 126 RBIs and 171 hits while playing in all 162 games once again. Bagwell retired after Houston came up short in the World Series against the Chicago White Sox in 2005, taking final career totals of 449 home runs, 1,529 RBIs and 2,314 hits in 2,150 games played. Bagwell’s #5 jersey was officially retired by the Astros in 2007 and was named to the inaugural class of the Houston Astros Hall of Fame in 2019, following his 2017 induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
1. Scott Rolen (1997)
Rolen captured the RotY award in 1997 while with the Philadelphia Phillies, as he swatted 21 home runs, 92 RBIs and 159 hits in 156 games played. Rolen split the majority of his big-league career between the Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals, exemplified by a 2002 season in which he won both the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards despite being traded from the Phillies to the Cardinals mid-season. However, his best season came through with St. Louis in 2004, as he hit a career-high 34 home runs and 124 RBIs with 157 hits in 142 games, taking a top-five spot in MVP voting. Just two years later, Rolen claimed his World Series ring with the Cardinals, as the 2006 team set a new record for lowest regular season winning percentage of any World Series champion at .516. Rolen announced his retirement after the 2012 season, finishing with a total of 316 home runs, 1,287 RBIs and 2,077 hits in 2,038 games. Rolen was inducted into both the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame in 2023, as the latter year saw him join the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well.
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