Recently I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to interview 1995 AL Rookie of the Year Marty Cordova. We talked about Marty’s nine-year big league career from the time he was drafted by Minnesota in the tenth round of the 1989 draft until he retired from baseball in 2005. Cordova played for the Twins (1995-1999), Blue Jays (2000), Indians (2001), and the Orioles (2002-2003).
Cordova was the American League Rookie of the Year winner in 1995 in a close vote (105 to 99) over Angels outfielder Garret Anderson. Other players receiving more than ten votes that year were pitchers Andy Pettitte and Troy Percival. Cordova was the fifth and most recent Minnesota Twin to win ROY honors. Other Twins to win the award were Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, John Castino, and Chuck Knoblauch.
1996 may have been Cordova’s best season with Minnesota before a variety of injuries started taking their toll. After leaving Minnesota as a free agent after the 1999 season, Cordova signed with the Red Sox but never played there and then moved on to Toronto, Cleveland and Baltimore. Cordova signed a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005 but retired before just as spring training was about to begin.
To learn more about Marty Cordova past and present, find out why his first baseball card at Elizabethton was unique, and to listen to the interview, just click here.