November 21st is the home of a day filled with glorious accolades and achievements particularly in Major League Baseball. Over 60 years ago, the first ever Cy Young Award was given out to an extremely special player. Also, the first ever unanimously voted Rookie of the Year was crowned just under a half century ago. The events that went down far before many of today’s biggest sports fans were born laid the groundworks for the game everybody enjoys today.

Alex Raphael covered the NBA sections in this article.

1st Ever Cy Young

Over a two season stretch (1955-56) Don "Newk" Newcombe dominated the NL. The Negro League vet was 47-12 with (35) CG, (6) Shutouts, and led the League in WHIP each season. The #Dodgers ace captured the '56 Cy Young and MVP awards pic.twitter.com/kgFJFrOkKU
— OldTimeHardball (@OleTimeHardball) June 18, 2020

YEAR: 1956

SIGNIFICANCE: Don Newcombe was awarded the 1st ever Cy Young award and was also named NL MVP

The first-ever Cy Young award in MLB history was awarded to Brooklyn Dodgers SP Don Newcombe on this day in 1956. Newcombe won a MLB-best 27 games while only losing seven. Over his 268 innings of work, Newk had a 3.06 ERA and a MLB-low 0.989 WHIP. He was the leader of the staff that led Brooklyn to the World Series, which they lost in seven games to their cross-town rival Yankees.

Newcombe also won the NL MVP award in 1956, obviously making him the first pitcher ever to win the MVP and Cy Young in the same year. Seven years later, fellow Dodger Sandy Koufax became the second pitcher to win both awards as he continued the Dodgers’ long list of excellent pitchers.

Unanimous AL ROY

It didn’t take long for Carlton Fisk to show his baseball excellence. The @RedSox youngster became the first unanimous AL Rookie of the Year #OTD in 1972. https://t.co/6Qpiw615PD pic.twitter.com/TxU6uqdMEP
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) November 20, 2020

YEAR: 1972

SIGNIFICANCE: Carlton Fisk was voted as the 1st-ever unanimous AL Rookie of the Year

For the first time in American League history, the Rookie of the Year award was won unanimously when Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk won the honors in 1972. Fisk became the first AL player to gain 100% of the Rookie of the Year votes, but he was the third overall in the Major Leagues (Frank Robinson in 1956 and Willie McCovey in 1959).

Fisk led all AL rookies with 22 HR and 65 RBI. The Boston catcher also led all Major League rookies with a 165 wRC+. Fisk hit .293/.370/.909 in 131 games, helping lead the Sox to an 85-70 season. Since Fisk, there have been 10 unanimous AL ROYs, with Kyle Lewis being the most recent winner.

G-League Call-Up

Birdman photoshoot! #FunFact: In 2001, Chris Andersen became the first ever #NBADLeague Call Up to the #NBA pic.twitter.com/YNfadfiG5X
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) September 27, 2014

YEAR: 2001

SIGNIFICANCE: Chris “Birdman” Anderson became the 1st player to be called up to the NBA from the D-League

In the year of the NBA development league’s inception Chris “Birdman” Anderson was the first overall pick in the inaugural draft, chosen by the Fayetteville Patriots. The “Birdman”, however, had bigger plans that superseded his three-game stint in the D-League (current day G-League) as he was the first player ever to be called up to the NBA. The Denver Nuggets took a chance on the iconically tattooed Anderson who went on to pave out a career in the league that lasted all the way until 2017.

He wouldn’t publish the most spectacular numbers for Denver his rookie year, chalking up 3.0 points per game while averaging 10.9 minutes through 24 games. There is no doubt, though, that Chris Anderson will forever be engraved in the history of the game as the first player to jump from the minors to the major leagues of the NBA.

Cousy's Coaching Debut

After a six-year absence from the #NBA (during which he coached Boston College to four 20-win seasons), player/coach Bob Cousy played in seven games for Cincinnati during the 1969-70 season. He served as the Royals’ head coach from May 9, 1969 to November 22, 1973. pic.twitter.com/6YSgHZDBle
— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) March 1, 2020

YEAR: 1969

SIGNIFICANCE: HOF PG Bob Cousy played for the Cincinnati Royals at 41 years old in his coaching debut

The legendary HOF point guard Bob Cousy is a certified hero to the people of Boston as he was the heart and soul of the 1950s-1960s Celtics dynasty made up of Bill Russell, Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Bill Sharman, and Satch Sanders. In the summer following Cousy’s retirement, he landed a coaching gig with Boston College, logging an impeccable 117-38 record over the course of six seasons.

Then, the admired Cousy secured a head coaching position with the NBA’s Cincinnati Royals and on this date, in 1969 he made his coaching debut. While coaching fellow future HOFer Oscar Robertson, the 41-year-old Bob Cousy even played sparingly throughout the season with minimal production — averaging 4.9 minutes per game — to spark ticket sales which jumped a drastic 77 percent thanks to his presence as a coach/player.

Pete Rose's MVP

https://twitter.com/DugoutChatter1/status/932995276813492224?s=20

YEAR: 1973

SIGNIFICANCE: Pete Rose was named MVP for the only time in his 24-year career

After a very close battle between Cincinnati Reds OF Pete Rose and Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Willie Stargell, Rose emerged victorious after receiving 12 of the 24 first-place votes available. Rose was the heart and soul of Cincy’s lineup by hitting .338/.401/.838. This was Rose’s only MVP award during his Hall of Fame-caliber career.

However, there exists some controversy with this selection, as some believe that Stargell (1.038 OPS) was a better hitter than Rose in 1973, and that he wasn’t even the best hitter on the Reds’ lineup. Teammate Tony Perez hit 27 HRs, drove in 101 RBI, and had a .919 OPS. Joe Morgan had 26 HRs and a .899 OPS (Rose only had 5 HRs and 64 RBI). One thing is true, however, and that’s that the Big Red Machine was absolutely stacked.