Ed Delahanty
Delahanty was drafted 2nd overall by Venezuela in 1888 and started right away with the big team at the age of 20. However, he only played 31 games for Venezuela, batting .346 before he was shipped off in a trade to New York. Ed didn't seem too bothered by the trade hitting .328 with New York (.331 for the year) and won the Rookie Award. The next 3 years were good, but not great years for Ed before he turned a big corner in '92 upping his home runs to 41 and his average to .330. The following year his home runs dipped back to 27 but his doubles went up to 67, showing that the power was still there and his average rose to .345.
In 1894, Ed won the first of his Slugger Awards, batting .341/.409/.716 with 49 home runs, 124 RBI and 132 runs scored. He backed it up next year with a .360/.419/.735 season before slipping a bit in '96. Ed returned in full force in '97 and has won three straight Slugger Awards bringing his total to 5. He has hit over 50 home runs each of the past 3 years and just finished the '99 season with a Triple Crown performance of 53 home runs, 146 runs scored and 132 runs batted in.
Ed is only 31 and already an 11 time all-star with 2265 hits, 473 home runs and a career line of .331/.396/.669, currently the 3rd best avg, best slug% best OPS, and already 25th in home runs. He is certainly one to watch as he marches towards shattering all previous offensive records.