Buster & Belt B2B ROY? It's happened... a lot

Are we jumping ahead of ourselves here? Absolutely. Is 4 games a good sample size for determining anything--except whose mustache and new tattoos you like/don't like? No.

And yet, Brandon Belt has us salivating. Salivating like we first did over Lincecum, Cain and Posey. Belt has us thinking possible dynasty. And I don't think anyone can blame us. We're fans, still high as kites from our Championship Season, and we're damn excited.

Not only are we rewarded by receiving some more press, coverage, bragging rights, and a shiny trophy, but it's as if we received a Christmas bonus or something. We knew we wanted Belt. We did research, we dropped our hints around our parents, but knew it was a long shot to get such a valuable present.

But when Christm-- I mean Opening Day Eve came along, we snuck a peek in a closet we weren't supposed to sneak peeks in-- and sure enough, behind the ties and ugly summer shirts the shape was unmistakable; it was Brandon Belt.

It was the greatest thing ever. Even when the Giants unwrapped him on Opening Day against LA, we were still surprised that it was real, and he was all ours.

Okay, enough gushing like a school girl.

The prospect of having Back to Back Rookies of the Year is definitely an exciting one. Let's for a minute just assume Belt plays the season the way he's played the first series. Let's say I don't know, 23 HR, 74 RBI, and a .285 average with great defense. We'll just assume that gets it done.

When I began to think of B2B ROYs, I had to do a little research about how many times that has happened. I was pretty surprised by what I found...

Years	Team	Name
1952, 1953	Brooklyn Dodgers	Joe Black
		Jim Gilliam
1954, 1955	St. Louis Cardinals	Wally Moon
		Bill Virdon
1958, 1959	Washington Senators	Albie Pearson
		Bob Allison
1958, 1959	San Francisco Giants	Orlando Cepeda
		Willie McCovey
1961, 1962	Chicago Cubs	Billy Williams
		Ken Hubbs
1979-1982	Los Angeles Blue Bastards	Rick Sutcliffe
		Steve Howe
		Fernando Valenzuela
		Steve Sax
1983, 1984	New York Mets	Darryl Strawberry
		Dwight Gooden
1985, 1986	St. Louis Cardinals	Vince Coleman
		Todd Worrell
1986, 1987, 1988	Oakland Athletics	Jose Canseco
		Mark McGwire
		Walt Weiss
1992-1996	Los Angeles Blue Bastards	Eric Karros
		Mike Piazza
		Raul Mondesi
		Hideo Nomo
		Todd Hollandsworth
2000, 2001	Seattle Mariners	Kaz Sasaki
		Ichiro Suzuki
2004, 2005	Oakland Athletics	Bobby Crosby
		Huston Street

Are you as surprised as I am at how many repeat ROY selections have occurred? I am especially appalled by the fact that the Doyers once had 4 ROYs in a row and then broke their own record with 5 in a row! It does comfort me however, that most of those guys sucked, and despite having 5 ROYs in a row in the 1990s, the Blue Bastards still did nothing of note, and still haven't.

And if you're wondering who has the most ROYs in history, this is how it breaks down:

Blue Bastards (12), Oakland (7), Yankees (7), Cincinnati (7), St. Louis (6), Baltimore (6), Boston (6), Minnesota (5), White Sox (5), Cubs (5), Philadelphia (4), Mets (4), Kansas City (4), Cleveland (4), Detroit (4), and the rest have 3 or fewer.

A lot of the names also jump out at me. You're like, "How in the hell was Todd Hollandsworth a ROY???"

I remember him more for playing center field with a goddamn Cherry Tootsie Pop in his mouth than being a Rookie of the Year...

Simply baffling.

The Giants if you're wondering, had 5 Rookies of the Year, 6 if you count Willie Mays who was ROY on the Giants when they still played in New York. But if you give the Giants 6, you have to count the 2 extra ROYs the Brooklyn Dodgers had. GROSS.

Giants Rookies of the Year:

1951: Willie Mays (NY)

1958: Orlando Cepeda

1959: Willie McCovey

1973: Gary Matthews, Sr.

1975: John "The Count" Montefusco

2010: Buster Posey

Anyway, besides a little bit of a history lesson, this shows us that back to back ROYs have happened fairly frequently. So that gives me even more hope that Belt will be able to do it.

Buster & Belt have a chance to be the first Giants to win B2B ROYs in 52 long years. Pretty cool stuff.

If you missed my take on Belt's swing and who it reminds me of, I included it below.

It's been a series of firsts for Brandon Belt. First hit, first walk, first stolen base, first RBIs... but most impressively, his first home run. Wow. That was just awesome on Friday night wasn't it? I don't know about you, but it gave me chills.

In only three games, Belt has answered the question I asked a couple days ago. He's not going anywhere. I know you hear the Front Office say things about their intentions with Belt, but once you see all this for yourself in meaningful games, you're like... "Whoa. This guy IS for real. And he's good NOW!"

He's so patient; so poised. His swing is beautiful. I see a little Palmeiro in that swing. Maybe a touch of Will Clark. I think I've nailed down what he looks most like.

Belt, to me anyway, really looks like John Olerud. @JohnnyUtah530 suggested that to me on Twitter Friday and he was right on. We forget how good of a pure hitter Olerud was. The helmet in the field is his real legacy unfortunately.

And I know this seems like a lazy comparison, but Belt has a similar swing to Buster Posey. While Olerud's front foot is quiet and he takes a short stride toward the pitcher, Belt's is more like "stepping in the bucket" like Posey's. And yes, you can compare the lefty Belt to the righty Posey.

And here's Buster:

I'd say Belt's mechanics are combination of Olerud/Buster and he's got a beautiful damn swing.

If you can't see the YouTube videos above, come directly to the site by clicking here.

Posey for ROY: A Closer Look

Yeaaaah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and ask baseball writers to... yeah... come in on Saturday... and do a little research. Yeaaaah. Thanks!

Well. You heard Lumberg. It's time for the absurdly biased sports media to pay attention not only to the Giants and the NL West race, but to Buster Posey and his incredible season.

I know he doesn't look like Dwight Howard in a baseball uniform or play in the Eastern Time Zone. I know he doesn't act like Kenny Powers, and he doesn't have sideburns like Joe Mauer. But Good Lord, if we're talking about the rookie of the year race and whether or not Buster Posey is a future perennial all-star, there's no argument to the contrary.

Since the moment the Giants drafted this guy, we've been salivating over his skill set and potential. Rightfully so apparently. His polished approach at the plate and soft hands behind it put him in such elite company already--- in his first year--- that you'd be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of catchers or young players that you'd rather have instead of Posey.

Let's just throw out a quick list, just for fun, of the top catchers in the world.

Joe Mauer
Brian McCann
Victor Martinez
Kurt Suzuki
Jorge Posada
Mike Napoli
Yadier Molina
Carlos Ruiz
Matt Wieters
Miguel Montero
Geovany Soto

That's it. Seriously. That is the list of desirable catchers in the entire league. Is that ridiculous or what?

--Mauer and McCann are in a class of their own. They are truly the two best in baseball right now.

--Suzuki of the A's is a great player, but certainly not in the class of the first two, and is closer to Yadier Molina in ability.

--Napoli, Martinez, and Posada can hit, but can't throw anyone out to save their lives.

--Wieters and Soto are slow to develop and are inconsistent despite their talent.

Honestly? I put Posey on that list at number 3. Right here, right now, as a rookie, Buster is only behind MVP Joe Mauer and all-star Brian McCann. Simply awe inspiring.

As for Buster's rookie of the year competition, it really comes down to one guy: Jason Heyward.

I'm as big a Heyward fan as any. Like Posey, he too is a Georgia boy, a fan favorite, and has drool-inducing physical skills and talent. There is no doubt that Heyward will be very good for a very long time. He respects history and has a high baseball IQ, plays the game the right way, isn't cocky or flashy, and is generally the prototype for a baseball player.

He garnered 10 times the hype Buster did. Perhaps it's because the Braves have a higher profile than the Giants (for some unknown reason). Perhaps it's because the Braves are always on TV, or that they are in the Eastern Time Zone. Perhaps it's because he started the year with the club and hit a monstrous home run in his first game. Or maybe it is all those things PLUS the fact that from far away, it really does look like Dwight Howard in a baseball uniform.

It's time to look at some stats. I put effort into this, so read AND digest them! I'll even include some Saberjerk Fangraph stats for you nerds/fruitcakes that hate RBIs.

Heyward leads in all cumulative categories... as he should. The guy has over 100 more AB's than Posey. The argument to be made, other than Posey's defensive abilities and exponentially more important position, is that Posey has done more in less time.

But what about Buster's rates and percentages? They're higher/better than Heyward's, What if they had the same amount of AB's?

To demonstrate this argument, I have adjusted Heyward's stats to what they would look like in the amount of AB's that Buster has taken. So basically, Buster has 77% of the AB's that Heyward's had, and this is what Heyward's stats would look like in the same amount of AB's. Not perfect, but it helps illustrate how incredible Posey has been, and shows his production rate.


Very intriguing indeed.

The other argument in favor of Posey is his position. I mean come on. There really is no argument. To produce at Posey's clip while catching one of the most prolific pitching staffs in the world, and throwing out would be base stealers left and right is truly impressive. Not only that, but the physical demands of getting down in a Saigon Squat for 9 innings a day, taking foul balls to the mask and getting bruised up on the regular basis makes the argument even stronger for Posey.

Heyward has played a good right field, and he's got a great arm, but the sheer rigors and demands of playing catcher full time are in a whole 'nother stratosphere. In addition, we forget that Buster has also played a flawless first base from time to time, a new position.

There have been a ton of good rookies this year, particularly in the National League. Jaime Garcia, Stephen Strasburg, Michael Stanton, Madison Bumgarner and others have definitely impressed, but when it comes down to what Buster Posey means to the Giants, it is no contest. He single handedly beat the Cubs the other day, and has meant more to the Giants than any other hitter. While Heyward's bat and presence in RF could be replaced, Posey's could not.

Isn't that the definition of value? Buster for ROY.