Aaron Judge led the American League in home runs, runs, walks, All-Star voting and jersey sales. He has his own cheering section at Yankee Stadium: 18 seats in the back of Section 104, just behind where he plays right field. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon in May, disguised in glasses, asking Yankees fans what they thought of him. He was charming and affable.
Judge is a no-doubt rookie sensation, but rookie sensations have always been a lot like pornography. Hard to define, “but I know when I see it.”
A Google search for “rookie sensation” returns 4 million results but not one definition. The first entry: “What does rookie sensation mean?”
Indeed. The phrase is a sports writing trope used to connote excitement about a first-year athlete, particularly by headline writers. Sports Illustrated has employed it often.
This is an attempt to sort through the cliché and quantify the unquantifiable. To define the intangible excitement. What does rookie sensation mean?
There are five (or so) levels of rookie sensation status, each represented by various achievements. Some are clear like All-Star selections, MVP and Cy Young awards and playoff success. Others are completely unmeasurable like being one of the game’s eccentric characters. Then there’s my favorite — appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It is both in and out of the rookie’s control, a combination of excellent play, hype and the news judgement of what used to be the sports publication of record in pre-Internet America.
Clint Hurdle’s rookie season wasn’t anything special — seven home runs and 56 RBIs in 133 games — but he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated on March 20, 1978, because he was “This Year’s Phenom.” Deserved or not, Hurdle was a rookie sensation.
There are four perfect rookie sensations, those who checked all the first-year boxes. Or almost all of them. Aaron Judge didn’t make the final cut, but he was close.