Historic season for the Hebrew Hammer?

As one of the most charismatic and talented Jewish athletes in recent memory, Milwaukee Brewers 3b Ryan Braun appears on the cusp of superstardom. And he has gotten there on the barrel of his mighty bat.

Since coming up from AAA Nashville in May, Braun has electrified the city of Milwaukee and the baseball world with his productive skills and raw power. To Brewer opponents, he has come to be known as the Hebrew Hammer... the Kosher Krusher. (for Brewer pitchers, of course, his glove has become known as "The Skillet of Doom", but that's a discussion for another day).

All summer long we kept expecting him to slow down, and it never happened. He has just kept knocking cover after cover off of ball after ball. And in doing so, he has put together one of the most historically significant offensive rookie campaigns in baseball history. The National League Rookie of the Year award had better be a foregone conclusion, his accomplishments clearly transcend that.

Indeed, if you use "Adjusted OPS" as your ranking criteria, I believe Braun's rookie season is not just the best this year, it is among the top ten best of all time. My composite list is featured below.

Bear in mind when you're reading the list that I tried my best to identify and consider each and every huge offensive rookie season in baseball history. I then ranked them in order, according to each player's rookie year adjusted OPS (in parenthesis):

Greatest Offensive Rookie Seasons in Baseball History

1. 1911 Shoeless Joe Jackson, Chicago White Sox (OPS+ 192)

2. 1987 Mark McGwire, Oakland Athletics (OPS+ 164)

3. 1964 Richie Allen, Philadelphia Phillies (OPS+ 162)

4. 1939 Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox (OPS+ 160)

5. 2001 Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (OPS+ 158)

6. 2007 Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers (OPS+ 156)

7. 1964 Tony Oliva, Minnesota Twins (OPS+ 150)

8. 1934 Hal Trosky, Cleveland Indians (OPS+ 149)

9. 1930 George Watkins, St. Louis Cardinals (OPS+ 143)

10. 1956 Frank Robinson, Cincinnati Reds (OPS+ 142)

Footnote: If I have omitted anyone who ought to be on this list, please comment. I did my best parsing lists of rookie record holders, but I certainly didn't peruse every single rookie campaign in history, although with that said I am still pretty confident in the list's accuracy. BTW, I did not ignore Ichiro. But he is just a singles hitter; I was looking for all around offensive excellence.