Rookie of the Year: Eric Karros, 1992

First Baseman, Los Angeles Dodgers

 

Age:  24

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 205

Prior to 1992:

Born in New Jersey, Karros (pronounced Kare-ose) moved to California with his family during his youth. A good student at San Diego’s Patrick Henry High School, he played baseball as well. Going on to college at UCLA, Karros made the baseball team as a walk-on. Developing into a solid line drive hitter, he was chosen by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 1988 amateur draft, following his junior year. Starting out professionally with Great Falls of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, Karros batted .366 with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs. Advancing to Bakersfield of the Class A California League in 1989, he hit .303 with a league-leading 40 doubles, 15 home runs, and 86 RBIs along with 18 stolen bases. Karros spent 1990 with San Antonio of the Class AA Texas League where he batted .352 with 45 doubles, 18 home runs, and 78 RBIs. In 1991 he moved up to the Albuquerque Dukes of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League where he hit .316 with 33 doubles, 8 triples, 22 home runs, and 101 RBIs. Called up by the Dodgers for the September stretch run, he had one hit in 15 plate appearances. With veteran first baseman Eddie Murray having departed via free agency, Karros beat out Todd Benzinger for the starting job for 1992.  

1992 Season Summary

Appeared in 149 games

1B – 143, PH – 7

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 589

At Bats – 545 [18]

Runs – 63

Hits – 140

Doubles – 30

Triples – 1

Home Runs – 20 [11, tied with Ray Lankford & Matt Williams]

RBI – 88 [12]

Bases on Balls – 37

Int. BB – 3

Strikeouts – 103 [9, tied with Darren Daulton & Jay Bell]

Stolen Bases – 2

Caught Stealing – 4

Average - .257

OBP - .304

Slugging Pct. - .426

Total Bases – 232 [20, tied with John Kruk]

GDP – 15 [5, tied with four others]

Hit by Pitches – 2

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 5

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 13, HR - 10, RBI – 33, AVG - .259, SLG – .430, OBP - .289

---

Most hits, game – 3 on nine occasions

Longest hitting streak – 7 games

Most HR, game – 1 on twenty occasions

HR at home – 6

HR on road – 14

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 4 at Cincinnati 8/11

Pinch-hitting – 4 for 7 (.571) with 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR & 4 RBI

Fielding

Chances – 1346

Put Outs – 1211

Assists – 126

Errors – 9

DP - 98

Pct. - .993 

Awards & Honors:

NL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

NL ROY Voting (Top 5):

Eric Karros, LAD: 116 pts. – 22 of 24 first place votes, 97% share

Moises Alou, Mon.: 30 pts. – 25% share

Tim Wakefield, Pitt.: 29 pts. – 2 first place votes, 24% share

Reggie Sanders, Cin.: 23 pts. – 19% share

Donovan Osborne, StL.: 12 pts. – 10% share 

---

Dodgers went 63-99 to finish sixth in the NL Western Division, 35 games behind the division-winning Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers were at .500 on June 1 but a 10-game losing streak in June dropped them into last place for good.

Aftermath of ‘92:

Following his impressive rookie season, Karros remained a dependable run producer in 1993 with 27 doubles, 23 home runs, and 80 RBIs while his average dropped to .247 and his OBP to .287. He remained dependable in the field as he led NL first basemen with 147 assists. The steady Karros hit .266 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs during the strike-shortened 1994 season but in 1995, aided by a strong second half, he batted .298 with 32 home runs and 105 RBIs. He finished fifth in NL MVP voting. The power production remained strong in 1996 as Karros hit .260 with 34 home runs and 111 RBIs. In 1997 he batted .266 with 31 home runs and 104 RBIs but still found himself exposed in the expansion draft. Remaining with the Dodgers in 1998, but due to missing the first 21 games of the season due to injury, his production dropped to 23 home runs and 87 RBIs with a .296 batting average and .355 OBP. Karros rebounded in 1999 by hitting .304 with 40 doubles, 34 home runs, and 112 RBIs. Lacking adequate protection in the batting order in 2000, he had a disappointing second half on his way to batting .250 with 31 home runs and 106 RBIs. Karros spent two more years in Los Angeles with diminishing production before being traded to the Chicago Cubs following the 2002 season. He hit .286 in 2003 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs. Moving on to the Oakland Athletics in 2004 he primarily appeared as a DH and pinch-hitter in just 40 games prior to his retirement in August. For his major league career, Karros batted .268 with 1724 hits that included 324 doubles, 11 triples, and 284 home runs. He also scored 797 runs and compiled 1027 RBIs while producing a .325 on-base percentage. With the Dodgers, where he spent eleven full seasons, he batted .268 with 752 runs scored, 1608 hits, 302 doubles, 10 triples, 270 home runs, and 976 RBIs. Appearing in 15 postseason games, Karros hit .300 with 4 home runs and 6 RBIs. Never an All-Star, he received MVP votes following two seasons and was awarded one Silver Slugger. Following his playing career, he went into broadcasting.

---

Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.