Give a rookie a chance

In recent years, the great influx of international talent into Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association has created some controversy when it comes to first-year players. The debate often surfaces toward the end of the season when analysts begin to make their predictions for end-of-the-season awards, specifically the Rookie of the Year award.\nThis issue seems to be a much larger deal in MLB than in the NBA, as so-called "purists" of the game have recently begun to argue that overseas players should not be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. These purists claim that since the international players have played in professional leagues overseas, they are not new to the professional ranks and therefore should not be eligible for a rookie award.\nThe purists' claim is absurd. I am as big a fan as any, but this is just such a stupid assertion. First of all, the award was first given out by the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1947, and the original winner was none other than the great Jackie Robinson. Ironically, Robinson also played in another professional league prior to being named Rookie of the Year for MLB. Robinson broke the color barrier of baseball in 1947 -- after coming over from the Negro League.\nIf it was okay for Robinson to win the award, and it should have been, then there should not be a problem with the Yankees' Hideki Matsui winning the award this season. There have been three recent international stars to claim the Rookie of the Year prize; Hideo Nomo won the National League award in 1995 and Kazuhiro Sasaki and Ichiro Suzuki won the American League award in 2000 and 2001, respectively.\nDebates began to stir with both Sasaki and Suzuki's victories, and with Matsui the likely leader for the AL award again this year, the water-cooler arguments have been resurrected. They should be laid to rest right now. Whether players have played in professional leagues prior to coming to MLB is irrelevant. They are rookies to MLB, and that is all that should matter.\nFor some reason, there is not as much argument over the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Only Pau Gasol has won the award as an international player in recent years, in 2002. Much of it seems to do with the fact that international players in the NBA often struggle for a couple of seasons before adjusting to the American game. Dirk Nowitzki is a prime example of a successful player needing time to adjust, as it was not until his third season in the NBA that Nowitzki broke the 20 points per game plateau.\nBaseball players have not all had the great success of Matsui or Ichiro either: just ask Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who entered the National League for the Mets in 2001 and has had a measly .245 career batting average in three seasons.\nAlso, American players have likely played ball for as much of their lives as their international counterparts, and some would argue their competition has been superior. In this case, why should international players be punished just because they played in a professional league in their home countries?\nGive these players recognition for what they have done in their sports against the best players in the world. MLB and the NBA are played at a different pace, and with a different aura and atmosphere than any other baseball or basketball in the world. Making the adjustments culturally and still performing in such a successful manner should be more than enough for these players to be noted as Rookies of the Year -- if their statistics warrant them so.