Did you know...?

Here's a fun little fact that few may know. I certainly didn't until just a few moments ago. Between 1992 and 1996 the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the National League Rookie of the Year award. The five winning players were '92-Eric Karros, '93-Mike Piazza, '94-Raul Mondesi, '95-Hideo Nomo, and '96-Todd Hollandsworth. Which begs the question, why didn't the Dodgers have a more dominate team during that time period? One would think that even if three of those five rookies panned out to be a reliable MLB force, that a future dynasty might have been born. So let us examine a little closer, and maybe we'll learn something.
First Eric Karros. I've never liked Eric Karros because while he played he thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. And he had incredibly stupid sideburns as well. But more to the point, he just wasn't that good. While he played 12 of his 14 years with the Dodgers, he only batted over .272 three times. And his power numbers were only from 1995 until 2000. So while he wasn't a complete bust, he didn't turn out to be a lasting phenom.
Mike Piazza on the other hand started hot and stayed hot, hitting consistently over .300 while with the Dodgers and averaging about 33.5 home runs during his first four full time years as catcher. And then he just had a pig-of-a-year in '97 when he belted 40 HRs, 124 RBIs and batted a monstrous .362. It was no surprise when he was traded the next year, along with Todd Zeile to the Marlins for five players, including Gary Sheffield and Bobby Bonilla. After 8 days he was traded to the Mets where he spent the bulk of the rest of his career, racking up big offensive numbers. So while he was huge for the Dodgers, he didn't stick around quite long enough.
Raul Mondesi remained with the team until 1999 and was a fine player putting up solid batting numbers, adding some pop, a little speed and some fine glove work to the organization. He won two Gold Gloves while with the Dodgers and appeared in an All-Star game as well. His average dipped and his strikeouts climbed in his final season with LA, and even though he hit a career-high 33 dingers that year, the Trolley Dodgers decided to let him go, and he made the circuit around the league.
Hideo Nomo only stayed with LA for three and a half years. While his rookie campaign was stellar and he followed it up with 16 wins the next year, his walks and ERA climbed. He was then shipped out in 1998 where he played for a new team every year until making a return stint with LA between 2002 and 2004, where he won 16 games twice more, and his ERA briefly returned to earth.
Todd Hollandsworth was a top prospect in the minors and shined when he came up in '96, but injuries and a permanently low batting average did little to cement him a place in La-La-Land. He, like Hideo Nomo made many-a-travel around the majors. He never found a permanent home, but did manage to win a title with the Marlins in 2003, which none of the other players mentioned can say they've done.
It must also be mentioned that the players' strike in 1994 and early '95 did throw a wrench in the plans for many clubs, so the development process for young players would've been impeded heavily.
Still, it's amazing that a team could have so much potential and still not be able to put it all together. Mike Piazza was a great success story and eventually turned out to be one of, if not thee, greatest hitting catcher of all time. Nomo had some brief success, and while Karros and Mondesi stayed with the team for a while, neither was a building block for other young talent to follow. This is precisely why some folks prefer veteran experience over young prospective talent. There have been thousands of players who were supposed to be the next Joe DiMaggio or Bob Gibson, but couldn't perform on the Major League level. Which is quite understandable really, because after all, baseball is hard. It's just shocking to me that one team can have five ROYs in a row, and not have much to show for it. Dems da breaks.
P.S. Thanks to www.mikesciosciastragicillness.com I've learned that ESPN once did a report on this topic, but failed to recognize Todd Hollandsworth, stating instead that LA had four Rookie of the Year winners in a row. Good reporting ESPN. Just for that, your picture is headlining Mr. Hollandsworth.