MLS Rookies: Out Of The Gate

Last weekend, a total of six rookies started for MLS teams in their opening matches. It seems like the only ones that started based 100% on merit and not due to injury were Ty Harden of the Galaxy and Andrew Boyens of Toronto FC. Another four saw time off the bench. So that's ten rookies total who saw action in their team's first game, not counting any for Kansas City this week (so the total could still change). How does that compare to previous years? I haven't done the research for all eleven previous seasons (BTW, I'm sure 1996 will be fun), but I have done it for the past five years. What follows is a list of the "first game" rookie starters for the post-contraction era. None of those guys want to be like Casey Schmidt (remember that preseason?) who never started another MLS game. There's plenty of forgettable players below. However, it's important to point out that for the last five years, every rookie of the year has played in the first game. Overall, 9 of 11 rookie of the year winners and 21 of 33 finalists have played the first game. 2002 was a hard year for rookies following contraction, while 2005 was an expansion year and therefore there's more on that year's list. I'm using MLS' definition of a "rookie" so that's why Taylor Twellman isn't here. Also, I'll be sure to edit this post after the Wizards game this week (done). 2007 Team Player Role Min CHV John Cunliffe sub 5 CLB Brad Evans sub 2 KC Michael Harrington start 90 KC Kurt Morsink sub 2 KC Aaron Hohlbein start 90 LA Robbie Findlay sub 30 LA Ty Harden start 90 NE Adam Cristman start 71 NE Gary Flood start 80 NE Wells Thompson start 90 NY Dane Richards start 84 NY Sinisa Ubiparipovic sub 6 TOR Andrew Boyens start 90 2006 Team Player Role Min CHI Calen Carr sub 11 CHI Floyd Franks sub 1 CHV Lawson Vaughn start 90 CHV Jonathan Bornstein start 90 CHV Sacha Kljestan start 90 CHV Drew Helm sub 2 CLB Brandon Moss start 90 CLB Jason Garey sub 18 CLB Kei Kamara start 90 KC Matt Groenwald start 90 LA Nathan Sturgis start 71 NE Kyle Brown sub 7 NY Marvell Wynne start 90 RSL Mehdi Ballouchy start 73 RSL Ryan Johnson sub 17 2005 Team Player Role Min CHI Chris Rolfe sub 24 CHI Chad Barrett sub 10 CHV Brad Guzan start 90 CHV Aaron Lopez start 74 CLB Ryan Kelly sub 3 CLB Domenic Mediate sub 13 CLB Knox Cameron sub 2 COL Hunter Freeman start 90 COL Guy Melamed start 90 DC Bobby Boswell start 90 KC Scott Sealy sub 9 LA Mubariki Chisoni sub 45 NE Michael Parkhurst start 90 NE James Riley sub 34 RSL Luke Kreamalmeyer sub 18 SJ Danny O'Rourke start 90 2004 Team Player Role Min COL Gary Sullivan start 90 DC Freddy Adu sub 29 DC Josh Gros sub 5 NE Clint Dempsey sub 6 NY Jeff Parke start 90 2003 Team Player Role Min CHI Nate Jaqua sub 2 CHI Damani Ralph sub 15 COL Matt Crawford start 45 COL Casey Schmidt start 90 NE Pat Noonan sub 8 NY Jacob LeBlanc start 90 NY Ricardo Clark start 90 NY Mike Magee start 90 SJ Todd Dunivant start 90 2002 Team Player Role Min CHI Kelly Gray sub 15 CLB Kyle Martino sub 3 COL Jeff Stewart start 100 LA Gavin Glinton sub 2 NY Sam Forko start 90 Team Breakdown (2002-7) Start Sub CHI 7 CHV 5 2 CLB 2 7 COL 6 DC 1 2 KC 3 2 LA 2 3 NE 4 4 NY 7 1 RSL 1 2 SJ 2 TOR 1 Year Breakdown Start Sub 2007 8 5 2006 9 6 2005 7 9 2004 2 4 2003 6 3 2002 2 3