Parts I and II

Next in our pursuit of the worst award vote-getters of all time are the Charboneaus, the worst Rookie of the Year candidates, or at least the ones that someone was foolish enough to vote for. Of course, it is named for Joe Charboneau, the Cleveland Indians slugger who set the bar for sophomore slumps.

Here are the worst ROY candidates by career Win Shares. You'll notice that this year's batch gets short shrift: everyone but Jason Bay and Khalil Greene is on the list:

Shooty Babitt was a 22-year-old, sub-par fielding and hitting second baseman who bridged the Dave McKay and Davey Lopes eras in Oakland. He played in 52 of the A's 109 games that strike-shortened year, but yielded to McKay for the postseason, was not even apparently on the postseason roster, and never played in the majors again. He did have a great nickname though. Shooty is now a scout, I believe, in the D-Backs organization.

Now for the single-season leaders:

Buck is the only 2004 player on the list. George Bell took a couple of years, but you'll probably remember was a great player for a time. You have to love that the Benes brothers ended up right next to each other.

I'm actually more encouraged by this list than the career list. There are a number of players who must have shown flashes of if not greatness at least goodness even though their overall performance may not have been overwhelming. I;m talking about guys who became productive major-leagues like Bell, Javy Lopez, Jermaine Dye, Bob Ojeda, Bob Walk, Andy Benes, Floyd Bannister, Dick Groat, Juan Pierre, Sidney Ponson, and Nelson Liriano. There is also a good bit of the Brian Williams-Bud Smith variety of player, but someone got it right when he picked those guys.

The Buddies

The Buddy is named for Buddy Bell, who had one winning record in parts of six seasons as a manager, but always seemed to get decent support in the Manager of the Year award.

Win Shares don't really apply here. Let's try something new. First, let's look at the worst record for a manager who garnered at least a point in the MOY vote:

Someone felt bad for Trammell, Wedge, and Piniella last year. Somehow Mike Hargrove amassed more points in 1993 than 1992 after finishing with the exact same sub-.500 record as the year before.

Next are the worst career records for a MOY candidate:

And just for good measure, here are the managers who received some consideration even though their team's record was worse (or at the same) as the previous year:

Someone was a big Dusty Baker fan. The Giants lost one more game in 1994 than 1993, playing 47 fewer games, their winning percentage dropped 158 points, and yet someone thought Baker was the third best manager in the NL.

Mike Hargrove appears on the list three times. His team declined by at least 80 percentage points in two successive seasons (1996-97). Maybe I should have called it the award the Mikes, but modesty prevailed.

Bobby Cox and Felipe Alou made the list this year. But they represent the contingent, like Jim Leyland in 1992 and Torre post-1998, of managers continuing to win after major losses—free agency, retirement, etc.—to the team. So clearly this comparing the team's record to the previous season's is an imperfect tool at best.