Roy Sievers, winner of the first AL Rookie of the Year award, dies

Roy Sievers, winner of the first American League Rookie of the Year award, has passed away at age 90.

Sievers, who played in the majors for 17 seasons, won the inaugural award in 1949 over Alex Kellner of the Philadelphia Athletics and Jerry Coleman of the New York Yankees. The first baseman-left fielder batted .306 with 16 home runs and 91 RBI that season for the St. Louis Browns.

Sievers had his best season in 1957 with the Washington Senators. He finished third on the AL MVP ballot behind future Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams. That season, he batted .301 and led the league in home runs (42), RBI (114), extra-base hits (70) and total bases (331).

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The St. Louisan, known as Squirrel, played his last game in 1965 and finished with a career batting average of .267, with 318 home runs and 1,147 RBI. He was named to the All-Star team five times.

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