1. As a rook in '26, he went 9-0, all in relief, an American League record. Those were the only wins he would ever record though. After going 0-3 in '27 he was gone. Who was this one year wonder?

2. Runner-up in 1954 as Rookie of the Year, this third sacker stroked .302 and looked like a comer but his average was down to .216 by 1956 and, after a couple of more lackluster seasons, he closed his career as a part-timer for the '59 Orioles.

3. Besides Ben Grieve and the A's trifecta of Canseco, McGwire, and Weiss in the late '80's who is the only other Athletics player to be elected Rookie of the Year?

4. This slick-fielding shortstop scored 108 runs and stole 37 bases and missed out on the 1961 ballot for top Rook by just one vote. He was later a very successful big league manager.

5. Another Athletic who finished second in the voting for Rookie of the Year, he clubbed 21 home runs, stole 42 bases and batted a nifty .307 in 1977.

6. Talk about auspicious debuts! This rooke left-hander won his first 10 starts, six by shutout (and four of those were 1-0 ballgames) in 1909. He finished the year 18-8 with a rookie record 1.39 E.R.A. Yet on the staff assembled by the Mackmen at that time he still couldn't find a home and was sent to the minors in 1912, where he won 249 games in the Pacific Coast League in 16 seasons.

7. Signed by his father, an A's scout and former pitcher, to a whopping $125,000 bonus in 1961, he was brought straight from high school to the bigs and promptly shut out the expansion Angels in his major league debut.

8. This flame throwing lefty was picked first by the A's in the '78 draft and brought straight to the major leagues for 2 games before being shipped to the minors for four seasons. His best year was 1983, when he finished 7-10. He was part of the trade for Joaquin Andujar with the Cardinals after the '85 season; arm troubles ended his career in 1987.

9. In his only season in the bigs, this 31-year-old Mississippi native handled the hot corner for the '42 A's, batting .279 in 137 games. Drafted after the season, he never returned to the show again.

10. This rookie took over for Bert Campaneris at short in 1977 and stroked an even .200 in 148 games. The A's starting shortstop in the '81 play-offs, he had trials with the Brewers and the Angels before closing out his career in '85 back in an A's uniform.

1. He made the jump from Class D to the Bigs in 1940, posting 17 wins for the Senators, including a one-hitter against my beloved A's. An All-Star in '41, he hung around until 1954, closing out his career with over 100 wins.

2. Nicknamed "The Rabbi of Swat", the N.Y. Giants hoped this minor league slugger (he hit 49 homers in a season, the most by anyone, anywhere other than the Babe, in 1923) would put up some big power numbers and, more importantly, help bring Jewish fans into the ballpark. A poor fielder, he did manage to hit .375 during his career. Unfortunately, his career consisted of just eight trips to the plate. Who was this minor league wonder?

3. This Cardinal rook went 12-2 with a 2.73 E.R.A. in 1952. Arm troubles ended his career after pitching only one inning the following season.

4. The N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1962, this Cub second sacker was tragically killed in a plane crash near Provo, Utah, on February 15, 1964. He was only 22 years old.

5. Incredibly, another former Rookie of the Year lost his life in a private plane crash 15 years later. Who was this Canton, Ohio, native?

6. It was Ladies Day in Cleveland and "Rapid Robert" Feller was on the mound, but this Tiger rookie fashioned an old-fashioned whoopin' on the Indians, beating them 2-0, in the process clinching the 1940 American League pennant. It was this pitcher's third--and last--major league victory.

7. He hit home runs in his first two big league at-bats on September 14, 1951.

8. He came within one pitch of immortality. In his big league debut, on April 14, 1967, he was one strike from completing a no-hitter against the Yanks in Yankee Stadium when Elston Howard drilled a 3-2 pitch into right field for a single. He will be back in the minors within the month. His major league totals: 3 wins and 3 losses.

9. Oh what a season. In 1961, he won the N.L. Rookie of the Year award and pitched an inning in the World Series. He will never make an appearance in a major league uniform again.

10. The top pick in the 1973 free-agent draft, the attendance-starved Rangers rushed this high school phenom to the bigs. Before a crowd of 35,698, the largest of the year, this 18-year-old hurler walks 7 but strikes out 8 in 5 innings, picking up the win, 4-3, against the Minnesota Twins. After a couple of up-and-down years, he will resurface again in the late '70's with the Cleveland Indians.

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