According to a recent poll conducted in various DMBL ballparks, the leading candidate for the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award is Vatican City's Kazuhiro Sasaki, with Arkansas's Lance Berkman and Phoenix's Rafael Furcal leading the balloting for batters. This week we asked a panel of baseball experts who their ROY candidates are among batters; next week, we'll look at the pitchers.

Paul Eells, KATV (Little Rock) Channel 7 Sports anchor
Lance Berkman was Arkansas's first-round pick this season, but few thought he'd find a chance to start in an outfield that already featured Barry Bonds, Juan Gonzalez and Larry Walker. OK, I'll admit it: I was one of the media pundits calling owner Stump Matiash "a moron" for passing up rookie pitching prospects like Ray King, Kelly Wunsch or Chuck Smith to draft another outfielder.
But who's the moron now? The 24-year-old switch-hitter vaulted Triple-A Texarkana to land in the big leagues, then forced his way into a right field platoon with Gonzalez. Berkman leads rookies in OPS (.905) and slugging percentage (.510), is third in batting average (.287), second in OBP (.395), second in home runs (18) and third in walks (57). He's certainly done his job in the platoon: Against RHP, he's hitting .292 with 18 HR, 49 RBI and a .400 OBP in 291 ABs.

Gina Gershon, model and actress
In his (in)famous interview with Penthouse Magazine, Carolina slugger Pat Burrell said I was his dream girl. Well, Pat, surprise: You're my dream rookie!
Carolina's second-round draft pick, one of just three rookies to play every game this season, leads the freshman class in HRs (20) and RBIs (64), is tied for second in at-bats (433) and is third in doubles (24), runs (63), slugging percentage (.455) and OPS (.804), earning him the nickname "Pat the Bat." If there's one hole in his game, it's his 149 Ks in 126 games, showing he's still got a lot of learning left to do. Hey, Pat: Can I be the Annie Savoy to your Nuke LaLoosh?

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz
Many of my constituents were overjoyed when 2B/SS Rafael Furcal was still on the board when it was time for the Phoenix Dragons to make a selection in the 2001 draft. Given quality middle-infield prospects are about as rare as Capitol Hill reform these days, the 19-year-old looked like a fine addition to the Dragons' infield in 2003 or 2004. Who knew he would skip all three levels of minor league baseball to start in the majors this year?
Furcal isn't just holding his own. He's been one of the best second baseman in baseball! Furcal leads rookies in runs scored (73), on-base percentage (.411), walks (85) and stolen bases (24), is second in batting average (.293) and triples (4), third in hits (127) and has played in every game this season. Remember, my fellow Americans, he's put up those rookie-leading numbers while playing a great glove at second base.

Allen Iverson, shooting guard, Philadelphia 76ers
My boy Terrence Long was buggin' when he didn't get picked up until the fourth round, but I was like, aaaang, bizitch, you got mad-crazy skillz. YaknowwhatI'msayin'? Word, now he's the starting center fielder yo. He's playing every day and now he won't even chill with me and my homeys when we're riding in my Benzo. We still tight though. Let me drop some of Terrence's phat-ass digits: How bout leading rookies in hits (137). How bout second in runs scored (65), RBIs (54) and doubles (27). How bout third in home runs (11). How bout first in smackin' back-talkin' hos -- psych! Everybody knows I lead the league in that category. Y'all better better give it up for my boy T.L. Now I wanna give a shout out to all my crew, yo yo yo! The Answer is in da haawwse! Peace! I'm out.

Terry Steinbach, former DMBL catcher
I caught over 2,500 baseball games for six different DMBL teams, from 1991 to last year. I've seen some great ones come and go: Brian Harper, Mike Piazza, Pudge Rodriguez. Pencil this kid Mitch Meluskey into their company. He's started his major-league career with as much promise as any of them.
In the 10-year history of the Austin Outlaws, the only catcher to last more than one season as a regular was Mike Stanley, and he's been gone for three years! A new ownership group and a new city calls for a new strategy, and the Harrison Rats made sure to center their franchise around the catcher position. The 26-year-old switch-hitter from Yakima, Washington, fit the bill perfectly. He's hitting .268 with 17 2B, 10 HR and 52 runs in 317 ABs, plus his 55 walks have given him a .378 on-base percentage. Who would DMBL pitchers give the Listach to? Well, M&M leads rookies in intentional walks, with 15.

Rodney Dangerfield, comedian and actor
Let me tell you, I feel for this kid Herb Perry. Just like him, I don't get any respect, no respect at all. I tell ya, when I played hide-and-seek, the other kids wouldn't even look for me! You wanna talk about rejection? My yo-yo won't even come back to me. When I was a kid, my old man took me to the zoo. He was trying to make a trade!
Where was I? Oh yeah, Perry. The 30-year-old minor league journeyman thought he'd locked up a starting job somewhere in the DMBL after an impressive year with the independent league St. Paul Saints (.302, 30 2B, 12 HR), but wasn't drafted until the 6th round by Harrison, where he'd likely spend the year in Triple-A behind Fred McGriff, Mike Sweeney and Matt Williams. But Perry had such an impressive spring training that the Rats had to play him somewhere, and look at him now: He leads rookie regulars in batting average (.301) and doubles (35), is second in OPS (.809), slugging percentage (.462), hits (129) and stolen bases (8) and is third in RBIs (54). He's not only playing better than most rookies, you can make a case he's one of the top third baseman in the DMBL!
So now Perry's getting some respect. Me? I called my doctor to say I swallowed some sleeping pills. He told me to have a few drinks and get some rest! I tell ya, no respect at all.

Other candidates receiving attention: