Scott Rolen

SCOTT ROLEN - ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

Third Base
Age: 27 (April 4, 1975)
Height: 6-4 Weight: 226
Throws: Right Bats: Right



History

A large number of MLB teams are all hot and bothered about the impending free agency of Scott Rolen. Rolen, himself, is just hot and bothered - about the city of Philadelphia, about Veterans Stadium and its hideous field, about Larry Bowa, about wanting to play somewhere pretty, with a grass field, for a contender, for lots o’ moola, yada, yada, yada.

All this while he’s not having his best season. But that’s all we hear about him now, so let’s talk about the road he took to get here. Rolen was born and raised in Jasper, Indiana. The 1993 graduate of Jasper High School played baseball and basketball, and won the "Mr. Baseball" award given to the top high school player in Indiana. During his senior year, Rolen received basketball scholarship offers from several colleges, including Oklahoma State and Georgia. But Rolen chose to pursue baseball after he was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies organization in the second round of the free-agent draft.

The Talent

Rolen finished up his 1993 season having played 25 games for rookie-league Martinsville, hitting .313 with 12 RBI. In 1994, he led all Phillies minor leaguers in hits (151) and total bases (237) with Spartanburg (Class A), and tied the South Atlantic League for 2nd in hits and doubles (34), 3rd in total bases, tied for 5th in extra-base hits (53) and tied for 7th in average (.294). Rolen was named Best Defensive Third Baseman by SAL managers, a SAL All-Star, and was named SAL's 9th-best prospect by Baseball America.

Rolen began the 1995 on the DL with Class A Clearwater after fracturing a bone in his left hand. He came back in June and proceeded to go on a six-game hitting streak. He played 66 games and hit .290 with 10 HR and 39 RBI before a promotion to Double-A Reading, where he hit .289 in 20 games with three HR and 15 RBI. Rolen was named the best prospect in the Florida State League (Class A) by Baseball America.

In 1996, Rolen started the season in Reading, having hit .361 with nine homers and 42 RBI in 61 games, and he was named the Phillies best prospect by Baseball America. Rolen, selected by the Eastern League managers as the best defensive third baseman and to the Eastern League All-Star team, was leading the Eastern League in hits (83), doubles (22), slugging percentage (.568) and extra base hits (33) and was second in on-base percentage (.435) at the time of his promotion to Triple-A Scranton.

Once in Scranton, he hit safely in his first 12 games, batting .444 in the process. Rolen played 45 games at Scranton, hitting .274 with two homers and 19 RBI before being called up to the Phillies on August 1st. He hit his first two homers of his Major League career in the same game against the Dodgers on August 21st, and batted .325 in his first 23 games. But he was lost for the season when he was struck on his ulnar bone on his right arm by a pitch on September 7th.

Rolen was recognized by the Phillies organization by being named the winner of the Paul Owens Award for best player in the Phillies Minor League system. He led all Phillies’ minor leaguers in hitting (.324), his 39 doubles was tied for 7th among all minor leaguers, and he was named to the Howe Sportsdata AAA All-Star team.

The 1997 season was a big one for Rolen. He was unanimously selected as NL Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America and as Outstanding NL Rookie of the Year at the Players' Choice Awards. He led all NL rookies in BA (.283), HR (21), RBI (92), R (93), H (159), 2B (35), TB (263), OBP (.377), SLG (.469), XBH (59) and longest hit streak (14 games). His 92 RBI made him the 1st NL player 22 years old or younger to reach 90-RBI mark since Darryl Strawberry in '84, became the 1st Phils rookie to lead the club in HR and RBI since Greg Luzinski in '72 (18 HR, 72 RBI), and his 21 HR and 92 RBI were the most by a Phils rookie since Willie Montanez in '71 (30 HR, 99 RBI).

Rolen was awarded his 1st Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 1998 to become the 1st Phillie since Schmidt in 1986 to capture the award, and at 23, matched Brooks Robinson as the youngest 3rd baseman ever to win it. He became the youngest Phillie in modern history (since 1900) to reach 100 RBI in a season, and became just the 2nd Phillie ever to reach 100 R, 40 2B, 30 HR and 100 RBI in the same season (Chuck Klein did it in 1929-30 & '32). His HR (31) and RBI (110) totals made him the 1st Phillie to reach 30 HR, 100 RBI in a season since Mike Schmidt in 1987 (35, 113), and he set a club record for doubles by a 3rd baseman with 45, tying for 5th in the NL (most by a RH Phillie since Ethan Allen's 46 in 1935). Rolen’s 120 runs tied for 6th in the NL and were most by a RH Phillie since Dick Allen's NL-leading 125 in 1964 and the 2nd-highest total since '64 (Lenny Dykstra had 143 in '93). And, finally, his 80 extra-base hits ranked 6th in NL and were the most by a Phillie since Juan Samuel had 80 in '87.

Rolen was on pace to reach career highs in HR and RBI when his 1999 season was interrupted with a lower back injury on July 21st. He had his 2nd 4-hit game (2 HR), 7/2 vs CHI, and became just the 3rd Phillie in 20th century to collect both an inside-the-park and outside-the-park HR in the same game, joining Johnny Callison (6/9/63) and Dick Allen (7/2/66). Rolen’s 19 HR prior to the All-Star break were the most by a Phillie since Mike Schmidt had 19 in '87. Despite missing 6 games, his 11 HR in July were the most in any month by a Phillie since Mike Schmidt hit 12 in July, 1982, and he became the 1st Phillie since Schmidt to reach 20 HR in 3 consecutive seasons (Schmidt did it a club-record 14 times (1974-87)).

The year 2000 became more of the same, as Rolen’s back injury became chronic. His games played only increased from 112 to 128, had the same number of HR (26) as 1999, had ust a few more RBI (77 to 89) and 2B (28 to 32), but had a healthy increase in BA (.268 to .298). He also won his 2nd Gold Glove.

2001 Season

Rolen won his 3rd Rawlings Gold Glove in 2001. His 25 HR gave him 132 career HR, 10th on the Phillies’ all-time list, trailing Darren Daulton's 134. He led the NL with 39 go-ahead RBI. Rolen played in the most games (151) since 1998 (career-high 160), became just the 5th player ever to hit 2 HR off Greg Maddux, 9/17 vs ATL, joining Cal Daniels, Luis Gonzalez, Benito Santiago and Eric Karros. 18 of his 25 HR came after the All-Star break.

2002 Outlook

The development of Rolen, playing out the last year of his contract without distraction, will be key to this team stepping up offensively enough to keep up with the new power struggle in the East. Rolen's discontent with Bowa and the front office seem to be more important what kind of stats he could have,

The Projection

This season for Rolen has been somewhat consistent, but not spectacular. He was horrible in May, but he’s still just off the pace of his 1998 season highs in 2B, HR and RBI. For the first time this year, he’s hitting over .300 for the month. Only two other players have played in more games than Rolen. So, if he has a strong finish like he did last season, it will be a fantastic season. It depends on his situation, and attitude after the trade deadline passes.

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Jeff Brown
Cubs/Rockies Correspondent