The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award established in 1946 by Sporting News. For the first three years (1946–1948) and again in 1950, there was a single award. In 1949 and since 1951, the award has been given to a rookie from both the American League and National League. In 1961 and from 1963 through 2003, Sporting News split the rookie award into two separate categories, Rookie Pitcher of the Year and Rookie Player of the Year. In 2004 those two awards were discontinued, in favor of a single award, one for each league.

Clinton Dawson Courtney, nicknamed "Scrap Iron", was an American professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1951), St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox (1955), Washington Senators (1955–1959) and Kansas City Athletics (1961). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.