Baseball Awards

The Mets won the pennant as the Wild Card team, after winning 94 games and finishing one behind Atlanta in the East. St. Louis won the Central with the same 95 victories as the Braves, and the Giants led the league with 97 regular season victories. Los Angeles won 86, Arizona and Cincinnati won 85, and Colorado won 82. The worst teams were Philadelphia and Chicago, with 97 losses, Montreal with 95, and Pittsburgh with 93.

Todd Helton led the league in batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, hits, total bases, doubles and RBI, but was 8th in OPS+. Coors Effect. Helton posted a .372 average, Moises Alou .355, Vlad Guerrero .345. Jeff Bagwell led in runs with 152, followed by Helton with 138. Sammy Sosa hit 50 homers, Barry Bonds 49, Jeff Bagwell 47. Helton had 147 RBI, Sosa 138, Bagwell 132. Luis Castillo had 62 steals. Barry Bonds led in OPS+. Jeff Kent, hitting behind Bonds, won the MVP.

Tom Glavine led in wins with 21, followed by Darryl Kile with 20 then Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux with 19. Kevin Brown had a 2.58 ERA, Johnson 2.64 and Jeff D'Amico 2.66. Randy Johnson led in strikeouts with 347; Chan Ho Park was way behind with 217. Antonio Alfonseca led with 45 saves. Johnson won the Cy Young.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Kent (San Francisco) 37, Edgardo Alfonzo (New York) 36, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 32, Gary Sheffield (Los Angeles) 31, Andruw Jones (Atlanta) and Sammy Sosa (Chicago) 30, Todd Helton (Colorado), Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal) and Jim Edmonds (St. Louis) 29, Mike Piazza (New York) 28, Luis Gonzalez (Arizona), Chipper Jones (Atlanta) and Brian Giles (Pittsburgh) 27, Jeff Bagwell (Houston) and Jose Vidro (Montreal) 25, Ken Griffey Jr. (Cincinnati) and Jason Kendall (Pittsburgh) 24, Bobby Abreu (Philadelphia) and Ryan Klesko (San Diego) 23, Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green (Los Angeles) and Phil Nevin (San Diego) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Randy Johnson (Arizona) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 24, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 21, Kevin Brown (Los Angeles) 20, Mike Hampton (New York) 19, Danny Graves (Cincinnati) and Chan Ho Park (Los Angeles) 18, Ryan Dempster (Florida), Armando Benitez and Al Leiter (New York) and Darryl Kile (St. Louis) 17.

WARP3 scores: Kent 11.4 (peak year), Alfonzo 11.2, Bonds 11.4, Sheffield 9.3, A. Jones 10.3, Sosa 8.2, Helton 10.9, Guerrero 7.8, Edmonds 9.2, Piazza 8.0, Gonzalez 7.5, C. Jones 7.5, Giles 10.3, Bagwell 9.1, Vidro 7.4, Griffey 8.1, Kendall 8.8, Abreu 8.7, Klesko 5.1, Beltre 6.3, Green 6.4, Nevin 6.4. Pitchers, Johnson 9.6, Maddux 10.7, Glavine 8.8, Brown 8.0, Hampton 8.4, Graves 7.8, Park 8.6, Dempster 5.5, Benitez 6.6, Leiter 7.0, Kile 6.5.

WAR, position players (fWAR): Helton 8.6, A.Jones 7.9, Bonds 7.8, Kent 7.6, Hidalgo 7.5, Abreu 7.2, Sheffield 6.8, Alfonzo and Edmonds 6.7, Gile 6.6, Guerrero 6.5, Bagwell and C.Jones 6.2, Sosa 6.1, Piazza 6.0.

Pitchers (fWAR): Johnson 9.7, Maddux 7.2, Brown 6.2, Vazquez 5.2, Glavine and Schilling 4.7, Hernandez and Leiter 4.6, Astacio and Rusch 4.5, Hampton 4.4, Lieber 4.2, Millwood 4.1, Benson and Kile 4.0.

Actual award winners:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---
1 Jeff Kent SFG 22 392 448 0.88 | 587 196 33 .334 1.021 12
2 Barry Bonds SFG 6 279 448 0.62 | 480 147 49 .306 1.127 11
3 Mike Piazza NYM 3 271 448 0.60 | 482 156 38 .324 1.012 4
4 Jim Edmonds STL 0 208 448 0.46 | 525 155 42 .295 .994 10
5 Todd Helton COL 1 198 448 0.44 | 580 216 42 .372 1.162 5
6 Vladimir Guerrero MON 0 117 448 0.26 | 571 197 44 .345 1.074 9
7 Jeff Bagwell HOU 0 102 448 0.23 | 590 183 47 .310 1.039 9
8 Andruw Jones ATL 0 95 448 0.21 | 656 199 36 .303 .907 21
9 Gary Sheffield LAD 0 71 448 0.16 | 501 163 43 .325 1.081 4
9 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 71 448 0.16 | 604 193 50 .320 1.040 7
11 Chipper Jones ATL 0 23 448 0.05 | 579 180 36 .311 .970 14
12 Greg Maddux ATL 0 12 448 0.03 | 80 15 0 .188 .454 0| 19-9 249 3.00 1.07 190
12 Robb Nen SFG 0 12 448 0.03 | | 4-3 66 1.50 0.85 92 41
14 Tom Glavine ATL 0 8 448 0.02 | 68 10 0 .147 .388 0| 21-9 241 3.40 1.19 152
15 Edgardo Alfonzo NYM 0 6 448 0.01 | 544 176 25 .324 .967 3
15 Ellis Burks SFG 0 6 448 0.01 | 393 135 24 .344 1.025 5
17 Randy Johnson ARI 0 5 448 0.01 | 83 13 0 .157 .376 0| 19-7 249 2.64 1.12 347
18 Darryl Kile STL 0 4 448 0.01 | 73 9 0 .123 .366 0| 20-9 232 3.91 1.18 192
19 Brian Giles PIT 0 3 448 0.01 | 559 176 35 .315 1.026 6
20 Moises Alou HOU 0 2 448 0.00 | 454 161 30 .355 1.039 3
20 Richard Hidalgo HOU 0 2 448 0.00 | 558 175 44 .314 1.028 13
22 Antonio Alfonseca FLA 0 1 448 0.00 | | 5-6 70 4.24 1.51 47 45
Kent with a decent margin over Bonds and Piazza a strong third.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Randy Johnson ARI 22 133 160 0.83 | 19-7 249 2.64 1.12 347
2 Tom Glavine ATL 4 64 160 0.40 | 21-9 241 3.40 1.19 152
3 Greg Maddux ATL 3 59 160 0.37 | 19-9 249 3.00 1.07 190
4 Robb Nen SFG 2 20 160 0.12 | 4-3 66 1.50 0.85 92 41
5 Darryl Kile STL 1 8 160 0.05 | 20-9 232 3.91 1.18 192
6 Kevin Brown LAD 0 4 160 0.02 | 13-6 230 2.58 0.99 216

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+
1 Rafael Furcal ATL 25 144 160 0.90 | 455 134 4 .295 .776 40
2 Rick Ankiel STL 6 87 160 0.54 | 68 17 2 .250 .674 0| 11-7 175 3.50 1.30 194
3 Jay Payton NYM 1 37 160 0.23 | 488 142 17 .291 .778 5
4 Pat Burrell PHI 0 10 160 0.06 | 408 106 18 .260 .822 0
5 Mitch Meluskey HOU 0 7 160 0.04 | 337 101 14 .300 .888 1
6 Lance Berkman HOU 0 1 160 0.01 | 353 105 21 .297 .949 6
6 Juan Pierre COL 0 1 160 0.01 | 200 62 0 .310 .673 7
6 Chuck Smith FLA 0 1 160 0.01 | 40 4 0 .100 .200 0| 6-6 123 3.23 1.35 118

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Dusty Baker SFG 30 154 160 0.96 | 97-65 1
2 Tony LaRussa STL 1 59 160 0.37 | 95-67 1
3 Bobby Cox ATL 1 41 160 0.26 | 95-67 1
4 Bobby Valentine NYM 0 16 160 0.10 | 94-68 2
5 John Boles FLA 0 15 160 0.09 | 79-82 3
6 Buddy Bell COL 0 2 160 0.01 | 82-80 4
7 Felipe Alou MON 0 1 160 0.01 | 67-95 4

Top player: Jeff Kent. I was unkind to Kent's selection at the time, but both metastats have him at or tied for the top spot. Kent, Bonds and Alfonzo, who got little mention, are all good choices, but Kent is a little bit better.
#1 Jeff Kent, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Edgardo Alfonzo, #4 Andruw Jones, #5 Todd Helton, #6 Gary Sheffield.

Top pitcher: Randy Johnson had the most impressive year. No one blows away the field.
#1 Randy Johnson, #2 Greg Maddux, #3 Tom Glavine, #4 Mike Hampton, #5 Kevin Brown.

Top rookie: Rafael Furcal led rookies with 17 Win Shares, ahead of Payton and Ankiel with 14 each.

Top manager: Dusty Baker led the Giants to the most victories.

The Yankees won another pennant and World Series although they won just 87 regular season games. New York was 2.5 games ahead of Boston in the East, with Chicago winning the Central at 95 wins five ahead of Cleveland. Oakland took the West with Seattle as the Wild Card. Both won 91 games, the A's won on the tiebreaker of winning the season series. Toronto and Anaheim also finished over .500. The Twins lost 93, the Devil Rays 92, and the Rangers 91 at the bottom.

Nomar Garciaparra won another batting title, at .372, Darin Erstad had his career year with a .355 average, and Manny Ramirez batted .351. Troy Glaus lead in HR with 47, followed by Frank Thomas and Jason Giambi at 43. Edgar Martinez collected 145 RBI, Mike Sweeney 144, Thomas 143. Johnny Damon led in steals (46)and runs (136), Carlos Delgado in doubles and total bases, Darin Erstad in hits with 240. Jason Giambi led in walks, on-base and won the MVP. Manny Ramirez led in slugging and OPS. Giambi edged Ramirez and Delgado in OPS+.

Tim Hudson and David Wells tied for the lead in wins 20, Andy Pettitte won 19, Pedro Martinez 18. Pedro led in strikeouts with 284 and in ERA by nearly two runs, 1.74 to Roger Clemens' 3.70. Pedro won the Cy Young. Todd Jones and Derek Lowe tied for the lead in saves with 42. Mike Mussina pitched 238 innings.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jason Giambi (Oakland) 38, Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 37, Carlos Delgado (Toronto) 36, Frank Thomas (Chicago) 34, Darin Erstad (Anaheim) 30, Nomar Garciaparra (Boston) and Jorge Posada (New York) 29, Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 28, Manny Ramirez (Cleveland) 27, Bobby Higginson (Detroit), Johnny Damon and Mike Sweeney (Kansas City) and Bernie Williams (New York) 26, Troy Glaus (Anaheim) 25, Carl Everett (Boston) and Jose Valentin (Chicago) 24, Tim Salmon (Anaheim), Derek Jeter (New York), Miguel Tejada (Oakland) and Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) 23, Magglio Ordonez (Chicago), Travis Fryman (Cleveland) and John Olerud (Seattle) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Pedro Martinez (Boston) 29, Derek Lowe (Boston) 19, Mike Mussina (Baltimore) and David Wells (Toronto) 18, Keith Foulke (Chicago), Chuck Finley (Cleveland), Roger Clemens (New York) and Billy Koch (Toronto) 16, Bartolo Colon (Cleveland), Brad Radke (Minnesota), Tim Hudson (Oakland), Rick Helling and Kenny Rogers (Texas) 15.

WARP3 scores: Giambi 11.8, Rodriguez 14.3, Delgado 10.3 (last big year), Thomas 9.7, Erstad 10.8 (career year), Garciaparra 11.3, Posada 10.9, E. Martinez 8.9, Ramirez 8.4, Higginson 9.0 (best year), Damon 8.5, Sweeney 7.8, Williams 8.2, Glaus 11.6, Everett 6.9, Valentin 7.1 (peak), Salmon 8.9, Jeter 7.8, Tejada 7.2, Palmeiro 6.1, Ordonez 6.6, Fryman 7.4 (last good year), Olerud 8.4.

Pitchers, P. Martinez 13.7 (best year), Lowe 8.1, Mussina 8.8, Wells 8.1, Foulke 5.4, Finley 7.3, Clemens 7.0, Koch 7.4 (best year), Colon 7.2, Radke 8.1, Hudson 6.8, Helling 7.3, Rogers 8.0.

WAR leaders (bWAR), position players: Rodriguez 9.6, Erstad 8.8, Glaus 8.3, Giambi 7.8, Garciaparra 7.7, Delgado 7.5, Posada 6.2, Thomas 6.0, Martinez 5.4, Justice 5.3, Alomar 5.1, Stewart and Williams 5.0, Ramirez 4.9, Everett 4.8, Fryman 4.7.

Pitchers: Martinez 10.1, Wells 6.8, Mussina 6.4, Radke 5.1, Rogers 5.0, Finley 4.9, Colon 4.7, Burba 4.6, Sele 4.5, Pettitte 4.0, Clemens and Sirotka 3.8, Hudson 3.7, Milton 3.6, Moehler 3.4, Loaiza 3.3.

Actual award winners:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+-
1 Jason Giambi OAK 14 317 392 0.81 | 510 170 43 .333 1.123 2
2 Frank Thomas CHW 10 285 392 0.73 | 582 191 43 .328 1.061 1
3 Alex Rodriguez SEA 4 218 392 0.56 | 554 175 41 .316 1.026 15
4 Carlos Delgado TOR 0 206 392 0.53 | 569 196 41 .344 1.134 0
5 Pedro Martinez BOS 0 103 392 0.26 | | 18-6 217 1.74 0.74 284
6 Edgar Martinez SEA 0 97 392 0.25 | 556 180 37 .324 1.002 3
6 Manny Ramirez CLE 0 97 392 0.25 | 439 154 38 .351 1.154 1
8 Darin Erstad ANA 0 94 392 0.24 | 676 240 25 .355 .951 28
9 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 0 66 392 0.17 | 529 197 21 .372 1.033 5
10 Derek Jeter NYY 0 44 392 0.11 | 593 201 15 .339 .896 22
11 Mike Sweeney KCR 0 33 392 0.08 | 618 206 29 .333 .930 8
12 Magglio Ordonez CHW 0 28 392 0.07 | 588 185 32 .315 .917 18
13 David Justice TOT 0 23 392 0.06 | +524 150 41 .286 .961 2
13 Bernie Williams NYY 0 23 392 0.06 | 537 165 30 .307 .957 13
15 Tim Hudson OAK 0 8 392 0.02 | 3 0 0 .000 .000 0| 20-6 202 4.14 1.24 169
16 Miguel Tejada OAK 0 5 392 0.01 | 607 167 30 .275 .828 6
17 Travis Fryman CLE 0 2 392 0.01 | 574 184 22 .321 .908 1
17 David Wells TOR 0 2 392 0.01 | 6 1 0 .167 .333 0| 20-8 230 4.11 1.29 166
19 Johnny Damon KCR 0 1 392 0.00 | 655 214 16 .327 .877 46

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Pedro Martinez BOS 28 140 140 1.00 | 18-6 217 1.74 0.74 284
2 Tim Hudson OAK 0 54 140 0.39 | 20-6 202 4.14 1.24 169
3 David Wells TOR 0 46 140 0.33 | 20-8 230 4.11 1.29 166
4 Andy Pettitte NYY 0 7 140 0.05 | 19-9 205 4.35 1.46 125
5 Todd Jones DET 0 3 140 0.02 | 2-4 64 3.52 1.44 67 42
6 Roger Clemens NYY 0 1 140 0.01 | 13-8 204 3.70 1.31 188
6 Mike Mussina BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 11-15 238 3.79 1.19 210

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+---+
1 Kazuhiro Sasaki SEA 17 104 140 0.74 | | 2-5 63 3.16 1.16 78 37
2 Terrence Long OAK 7 83 140 0.59 | 584 168 18 .288 .788 5
3 Mark Quinn KCR 4 56 140 0.40 | 500 147 20 .294 .830 5
4 Ben Molina ANA 0 3 140 0.02 | 473 133 14 .281 .739 1
5 Kelly Wunsch CHW 0 2 140 0.01 | | 6-3 61 2.93 1.29 51 1
6 Steve Cox TBD 0 1 140 0.01 | 318 90 11 .283 .832 1
6 Adam Kennedy ANA 0 1 140 0.01 | 598 159 9 .266 .703 22
6 Mark Redman MIN 0 1 140 0.01 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 12-9 151 4.76 1.41 117
6 Barry Zito OAK 0 1 140 0.01 | | 7-4 93 2.72 1.18 78

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Jerry Manuel CHW 25 134 140 0.96 | 95-67 1
2 Art Howe OAK 2 74 140 0.53 | 91-70 1
3 Lou Piniella SEA 1 28 140 0.20 | 91-71 2
4 Mike Scioscia ANA 0 8 140 0.06 | 82-80 3
5 Joe Torre NYY 0 5 140 0.04 | 87-74 1
6 Phil Garner DET 0 2 140 0.01 | 79-83 3
7 Jimy Williams BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 85-77 2

Top player: Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod hit nearly as well as the cleanup guys, plus he played shortstop, and played it well. That makes him the best player in the league.
#1 Alex Rodriguez, #2 Jason Giambi, #3 Darin Erstad, #4 Carlos Delgado, #5 Nomar Garciaparra, #6 Frank Thomas.

Top pitcher: Pedro Martinez lapped the field in this season. His ERA was less than half of the next-best guy.
#1 Pedro Martinez, #2 David Wells, #3 Mike Mussina, #4 Derek Lowe, #5 Brad Radke.

Top rookie: Terrence Long had 18 Win Shares, far ahead of the rest of the field.

Top manager: Jerry Manuel, taking the White Sox to the most victories in the league.

The Atlanta Braves won the pennant, then got swept in the Series. The Braves won 103 regular season games, ahead of the Mets, who won 97 counting the playoff with the Reds to earn the Wild Card spot. Houston won 97 in regulation to take the Central, and Arizona won 100 to take the West. San Francisco, with 86 wins, was the only other team above .500. Florida's Marlins fell from World Champions to the worst team in the league at 98 losses, after selling off their players.

Larry Walker led the league in the percentage categories: batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, from altitude-aided Colorado. Walker batted .379, Luis Gonzalez .336, Bobby Abreu .335, Sean Casey .332. Mark McGwire led in HR and RBI, belting 65 homers while Sammy Sosa hit 63. McGwire had 147 RBI to 142 for Matt Williams and 141 for Sosa. Jeff Bagwell in walks and runs, Craig Biggio in doubles, Luis Gonzalez in hits, Tony Womack in steals. McGwire led in adjusted OPS+, just ahead of Chipper Jones, who led in runs created. Jones won the MVP.

Mike Hampton led in wins, winning 22 with Houston teammate Jose Lima winning 21 and Greg Maddux winning 19. Randy Johnson led in ERA with a 2.48 mark, followed by Kevin Millwood at 2.68 and Hampton at 2.90. Johnson also led in strikeouts with 364, while Kevin Brown had 221 and Pedro Astacio 210. Ugueth Urbina led in saves with 41, Trevor Hoffman had 40 and Billy Wagner 39. Johnson won the Cy Young.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 37, Chipper Jones (Atlanta) 32, Craig Biggio (Houston) 31, Robin Ventura (New York) and Mark McGwire (St. Louis) 30, Edgardo Alfonzo (New York) 29, Andruw Jones (Atlanta) and Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal) 28, Brian Giles (Pittsburgh) 27, Luis Gonzalez and Matt Williams (Arizona), Sammy Sosa (Chicago), John Olerud (New York) and Bobby Abreu (Philadelphia) 26, Carl Everett (Houston) 25, Steve Finley (Arizona), Barry Larkin and Greg Vaughn (Cincinnati), Larry Walker (Colorado), Gary Sheffield (Los Angeles) and Ellis Burks (San Francisco) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Randy Johnson (Arizona) and Mike Hampton (Houston) 26, Kevin Millwood (Atlanta) 22, Billy Wagner (Houston) 20, Pedro Astacio (Colorado), Kevin Brown (Los Angeles) and Armando Benitez (New York) 19, John Smoltz (Atlanta) and Jose Lima (Houston) 18, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) and Scott Williamson (Cincinnati) 17.

WARP3 scores: Bagwell 9.3, C. Jones 8.4, Biggio 7.1, Ventura 9.2, McGwire 9.1, Alfonzo 7.7, A. Jones 9.1, Guerrero 6.7, Giles 9.3, Gonzalez 7.7, Williams 8.2 (last good year), Sosa 7.6, Olerud 9.1, Abreu 6.9, Everett 7.6 (best season), Finley 7.0, Larkin 9.0 (last big season), Vaughn 5.8, Walker 7.9, Sheffield 7.6, Burks 5.8.

Pitchers, Johnson 9.7, Hampton 10.3, Millwood 8.6 (best year), Wagner 7.2, Astacio 6.6 (best year), Brown 7.9, Benitez 5.6, Smoltz 7.5, Lima 6.8 (career year), Maddux 7.1, Williamson 7.0 (rookie, career year).

WAR leaders, players: Bagwell 8.2, Ventura and C. Jones 7.7, A. Jones 7.3, Giles 7.0, Gonzalez 6.9, Abreu 6.7, McGwire 6.4, Alfonzo 6.3, Olerud 6.2, Everett 6.1, Sosa 5.7. Pitchers: Johnson 9.8, Brown 6.8, Reynolds 6.2, Maddux 5.8, Millwood 5.7, Smoltz and Astacio 5.5, Hampton 5.1, Lima 4.9, Lieber 4.5, Glavine 4.4, Hermanson 4.2.

Actual award winners:
MVP: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+
1 Chipper Jones ATL 29 432 448 0.96 | 567 181 45 .319 1.074 25|
2 Jeff Bagwell HOU 1 276 448 0.62 | 562 171 42 .304 1.045 30|
3 Matt Williams ARI 2 269 448 0.60 | 627 190 35 .303 .880 2|
4 Greg Vaughn CIN 0 121 448 0.27 | 550 135 45 .245 .881 15|
5 Mark McGwire STL 0 115 448 0.26 | 521 145 65 .278 1.120 0|
6 Robin Ventura NYM 0 113 448 0.25 | 588 177 32 .301 .908 1|
7 Mike Piazza NYM 0 109 448 0.24 | 534 162 40 .303 .936 2|
8 Edgardo Alfonzo NYM 0 88 448 0.20 | 628 191 27 .304 .886 9|
9 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 87 448 0.19 | 625 180 63 .288 1.002 7|
10 Larry Walker COL 0 35 448 0.08 | 438 166 37 .379 1.168 11|
11 Vladimir Guerrero MON 0 34 448 0.08 | 610 193 42 .316 .978 14|
12 Craig Biggio HOU 0 32 448 0.07 | 639 188 16 .294 .843 28|
13 Jay Bell ARI 0 31 448 0.07 | 589 170 38 .289 .931 7|
14 Sean Casey CIN 0 23 448 0.05 | 594 197 25 .332 .938 0|
15 Randy Johnson ARI 0 21 448 0.05 | 97 12 0 .124 .289 0| 17-9 272 2.48 1.02 364
16 Billy Wagner HOU 0 19 448 0.04 | | 4-1 75 1.57 0.78 124 39
17 Carl Everett HOU 0 15 448 0.03 | 464 151 25 .325 .969 27|
18 Luis Gonzalez ARI 0 12 448 0.03 | 614 206 26 .336 .952 9|
19 Brian Giles PIT 0 11 448 0.02 | 521 164 39 .315 1.032 6|
19 Brian Jordan ATL 0 11 448 0.02 | 576 163 23 .283 .811 13|
21 Mike Hampton HOU 0 10 448 0.02 | 74 23 0 .311 .806 0| 22-4 239 2.90 1.28 177
22 Barry Larkin CIN 0 7 448 0.02 | 583 171 12 .293 .810 30|
23 Bobby Abreu PHI 0 6 448 0.01 | 546 183 20 .335 .995 27|
24 Barry Bonds SFG 0 3 448 0.01 | 355 93 34 .262 1.006 15|
24 Matt Mantei TOT 0 3 448 0.01 | + 1 0 0 .000 .000 0|+ 1-3 65 2.76 1.35 99 32
26 Jeff Kent SFG 0 2 448 0.00 | 511 148 23 .290 .877 13|
26 Kevin Millwood ATL 0 2 448 0.00 | 78 12 1 .154 .393 0| 18-7 228 2.68 1.00 205
28 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 1 448 0.00 | 3 1 0 .333 1.000 0| 2-3 67 2.14 0.94 73 40

Bagwell was a distant second, just behind Chipper in hitting. But Bagwell was a good first baseman, while Jones was a bad third baseman.

Cy Young: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Randy Johnson ARI 20 134 160 0.84 | 17-9 272 2.48 1.02 364
2 Mike Hampton HOU 11 110 160 0.69 | 22-4 239 2.90 1.28 177
3 Kevin Millwood ATL 1 36 160 0.22 | 18-7 228 2.68 1.00 205
4 Jose Lima HOU 0 3 160 0.02 | 21-10 246 3.58 1.22 187
4 Billy Wagner HOU 0 3 160 0.02 | 4-1 75 1.57 0.78 124 39
6 Kevin Brown LAD 0 1 160 0.01 | 18-9 252 3.00 1.07 221
6 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 1 160 0.01 | 2-3 67 2.14 0.94 73 40

Hampton's 2.90 ERA in Houston was actually more impressive than Johnson's 2.48 in Phoenix.

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+-
1 Scott Williamson CIN 17 118 160 0.74 | 7 0 0 .000 .125 0| 12-7 93 2.41 1.04 107 19
2 Preston Wilson FLA 9 88 160 0.55 | 482 135 26 .280 .852 11|
3 Warren Morris PIT 6 69 160 0.43 | 511 147 15 .288 .787 3|
4 Kris Benson PIT 0 5 160 0.03 | 65 10 0 .154 .391 0| 11-14 197 4.07 1.36 139
5 Joe McEwing STL 0 3 160 0.02 | 513 141 9 .275 .730 7|
6 Kevin McGlinchy ATL 0 1 160 0.01 | 2 0 0 .000 .000 0| 7-3 70 2.82 1.36 67

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Jack McKeon CIN 17 115 160 0.72 | 96-67 2
2 Bobby Cox ATL 10 98 160 0.61 | 103-59 1
3 Larry Dierker HOU 4 48 160 0.30 | 97-65 1
4 Buck Showalter ARI 1 17 160 0.11 | 100-62 1
5 Bobby Valentine NYM 0 10 160 0.06 | 97-66 2

Top player: Jeff Bagwell, who tops both the WS and WARP lists. It was a matter of defense, mostly the poor glove of Chipper. He loses status in the meta systems because he doesn't play good defense.
#1 Jeff Bagwell, #2 Chipper Jones, #3 Robin Ventura, #4 Mark McGwire, #5 Andruw Jones, #6 Brian Giles.

Top pitcher: Randy Johnson, still rolling on.
#1 Randy Johnson, #2 Mike Hampton, #3 Kevin Millwood, #4 Kevin Brown, #5 Greg Maddux.

Top rookie: Scott Williamson leads a field of future journeymen. Williamson had 19 WS, Warren Morris 16, Wilson 13, Benson 12.

Top manager: Bobby Cox, another pennant.

The Yankees won the pennant and then swept the World Series. New York won 98 regular season games, down from the previous year but still enough. Boston was 2nd in the East with 94 wins and took the Wild Card. Toronto won 84. Cleveland won the Central with 97 victories and was the only team in the division with a .500 record. Kansas City and Minnesota each lost 97. Texas won the West with 95 victories, eight games ahead of Oakland. In the playoffs, New York topped Texas and Boston overcame Cleveland, then the Yankees beat the Red Sox to make the Series against the Braves.

Nomar Garciaparra won the batting title at .357; Derek Jeter was second at .349, Bernie Williams third with a .342 mark. Ken Griffey led in homers 48, Rafael Palmeiro had 47, Manny Ramirez and Carlos Delgado had 44. Manny Ramirez led in RBI (165), slugging and OPS. Palmeiro had 148 RBI, Delgado and Griffey each 134. Jeter led in hits with 219 (B.J. Surhoff had 202), Roberto Alomar in runs with 138, Shawn Green in total bases and doubles, Brian Hunter in steals with 44 followed by Omar Vizquel with 42. Edgar Martinez edged Manny in on-base. Ivan Rodriguez won the MVP.

Pedro Martinez led in wins, ERA and strikeouts and took the Cy Young. Martinez won 23 while second place was Aaron Sele, Mike Mussina, and Bartolo Colon with 18. Martinez's 2.07 ERA was trailed badly by David Cone at 3.44 and Mussina at 3.50. Strikeouts weren't any closer, as Martinez had 313 while Chuck Finley was second with 200. David Wells led with seven complete games and 232 innings. Mariano Rivera led in saves with 45, Roberto Hernandez and John Wetteland had 43.

Win Shares leaders, players; Roberto Alomar and Manny Ramirez (Cleveland) and Derek Jeter (New York) 35, Bernie Williams (New York) 33, Nomar Garciaparra (Boston) 32, Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle) and Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) 31, Jason Giambi (New York) 30, Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 28, Jim Thome (Cleveland) 26, Chuck Knoblauch (New York) 25, Albert Belle (Baltimore), Fred McGriff (Tampa Bay), Juan Gonzalez and Rusty Greer (Texas) and Shawn Green (Toronto) 24, Brady Anderson (Baltimore) and Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 23, Omar Vizquel (Cleveland), John Jaha (Oakland) and Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 22, Carlos Delgado (Toronto) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Pedro Martinez (Boston) 27, Derek Lowe (Boston) 19, Jaime Moyer (Seattle) 18, Mike Mussina (Baltimore), Brad Radke (Minnesota) and Mariano Rivera (New York) 17, Keith Foulke (Chicago), Bartolo Colon (Cleveland) and Freddy Garcia (Seattle) 16, Dave Burba (Cleveland) and David Cone (New York) 15.

WARP3 scores: Alomar 10.7, Ramirez 10.5, Jeter 11.0, Williams 10.8, Garciaparra 11.0, Griffey 9.0, Palmeiro 8.7, Giambi 7.8, I. Rodriguez 10.6, Thome 8.4, Knoblauch 6.5 (last big season), Belle 10.3, McGriff 6.3, Gonzalez 7.0, Greer 6.4 (last good season), Green 9.3, Anderson 8.8 (last big season), A. Rodriguez 8.1, Vizquel 6.2, Jaha 6.7 (best year), Edgar 7.2, Delgado 7.4.

Pitchers, P. Martinez 12.7, Lowe 6.3, Moyer 8.5, Mussina 7.7, Radke 9.2, Rivera 8.1, Foulke 5.5, Colon 7.1, Garcia 8.0 (rookie), Burba 7.0, Cone 6.7 (last big season).

WAR leaders from Fangraphs: (position players) Ramirez and Jeter 7.5, Alomar 7.4, Rodriguez 6.9, Garciaparra 6.3, Velarde and Vizquel 6.1, Green 6.0, Ordonez and Palmeiro 5.5, E. Martinez 5.4, Anderson 5.3, Giambi 5.2, Griffey and Williams 5.0.

Pitchers: P. Martinez 12.1, Mussina 5.9, Sele 5.2, Finley 4.7, Moyer 4.6, Wells and Radke 4.4, Milton 4.2, Heredia and Rosado 4.1, Colon and Sirotka 4.0.

Actual award winners:
MVP: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+----
1 Ivan Rodriguez TEX 7 252 392 0.64 | 600 199 35 .332 .914 25|
2 Pedro Martinez BOS 8 239 392 0.61 | 2 0 0 .000 .000 0| 23-4 213 2.07 0.92 313
3 Roberto Alomar CLE 4 226 392 0.58 | 563 182 24 .323 .955 37|
3 Manny Ramirez CLE 4 226 392 0.58 | 522 174 44 .333 1.105 2|
5 Rafael Palmeiro TEX 4 193 392 0.49 | 565 183 47 .324 1.050 2|
6 Derek Jeter NYY 1 177 392 0.45 | 627 219 24 .349 .989 19|
7 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 0 137 392 0.35 | 532 190 27 .357 1.022 14|
8 Jason Giambi OAK 0 49 392 0.12 | 575 181 33 .315 .975 1|
9 Shawn Green TOR 0 44 392 0.11 | 614 190 42 .309 .972 20|
10 Ken Griffey SEA 0 42 392 0.11 | 606 173 48 .285 .960 24|
11 Bernie Williams NYY 0 21 392 0.05 | 591 202 25 .342 .971 9|
12 Carlos Delgado TOR 0 16 392 0.04 | 573 156 44 .272 .948 1|
13 Juan Gonzalez TEX 0 10 392 0.03 | 562 183 39 .326 .980 3|
14 Mariano Rivera NYY 0 9 392 0.02 | | 4-3 69 1.83 0.88 52 45
15 Alex Rodriguez SEA 0 4 392 0.01 | 502 143 42 .285 .943 21|
16 Omar Vizquel CLE 0 3 392 0.01 | 574 191 5 .333 .833 42|
17 Matt Stairs OAK 0 2 392 0.01 | 531 137 38 .258 .899 2|
18 John Jaha OAK 0 1 392 0.00 | 457 126 35 .276 .970 2|
18 B.J. Surhoff BAL 0 1 392 0.00 | 673 207 28 .308 .839 5|
One of the most unusual MVP votes in history. Only 19 players received votes, and the most deserving finished 6th, although that in itself is not unheard of. Six players got first-place votes, which is a lot.

Cy Young: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Pedro Martinez BOS 28 140 140 1.00 | 23-4 213 2.07 0.92 313
2 Mike Mussina BAL 0 54 140 0.39 | 18-7 203 3.50 1.27 172
3 Mariano Rivera NYY 0 27 140 0.19 | 4-3 69 1.83 0.88 52 45
4 Bartolo Colon CLE 0 14 140 0.10 | 18-5 205 3.95 1.27 161
5 Aaron Sele TEX 0 4 140 0.03 | 18-9 205 4.79 1.53 186
6 David Cone NYY 0 3 140 0.02 | 12-9 193 3.44 1.31 177
6 Jamie Moyer SEA 0 3 140 0.02 | 14-8 228 3.87 1.24 137
6 John Wetteland TEX 0 3 140 0.02 | 4-4 66 3.68 1.30 60 43
9 Freddy Garcia SEA 0 2 140 0.01 | 17-8 201 4.07 1.47 170
10 Keith Foulke CHW 0 1 140 0.01 | 3-3 105 2.22 0.88 123 9
10 Roberto Hernandez TBD 0 1 140 0.01 | 2-3 73 3.07 1.38 69 43
There, that was easy.

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+----
1 Carlos Beltran KCR 26 133 140 0.95 | 663 194 22 .293 .791 27|
2 Freddy Garcia SEA 1 45 140 0.32 | 4 1 0 .250 .500 0| 17-8 201 4.07 1.47 170
3 Jeff Zimmerman TEX 0 27 140 0.19 | | 9-3 88 2.36 0.83 67 3
4 Brian Daubach BOS 1 16 140 0.11 | 381 112 21 .294 .921 0|
5 Tim Hudson OAK 0 13 140 0.09 | 4 1 0 .250 .650 0| 11-2 136 3.23 1.34 132
6 Chris Singleton CHW 0 9 140 0.06 | 496 149 17 .300 .818 20|
7 Billy Koch TOR 0 4 140 0.03 | 1 0 0 .000 .000 0| 0-5 64 3.39 1.34 57 31
7 Carlos Lee CHW 0 4 140 0.03 | 492 144 16 .293 .775 4|
9 Trot Nixon BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 381 103 15 .270 .830 3|

Manager: 1st Max |
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Jimy Williams BOS 20 115 140 0.82 | 94-68 2
2 Art Howe OAK 5 85 140 0.61 | 87-75 2
3 Joe Torre NYY 0 21 140 0.15 | 98-64 1
4 Johnny Oates TEX 1 18 140 0.13 | 95-67 1
5 Mike Hargrove CLE 2 13 140 0.09 | 97-65 1

Top player: Derek Jeter. Tied for most Win Shares and WAR, and best WARP. It's odd that Jeter could get overlooked, as much attention as he receives, but he was here.
#1 Derek Jeter, #2 Manny Ramirez, #3 Roberto Alomar, #4 Nomar Garciaparra, #5 Ivan Rodriguez, #6 Bernie Williams.

Top pitcher: Pedro Martinez lapped the field. This would have been a good year for a pitcher to win the MVP.
#1 Pedro Martinez, #2 Mike Mussina, #3 Brad Radke, #4 Jamie Moyer, #5 Mariano Rivera.

Top rookie: Carlos Beltran in a strong field. Freddy Garcia also had a strong season, and Tim Hudson, Carlos Lee, and Trot Nixon were among stars to debut here.

Top manager: Mike Hargrove. He was handling a Cleveland mini-dynasty.

Book Review: The Big Show: Charles M. Conlon's Golden Age Baseball Photographs. Published 2011 by Abrams.

It's a picture book: well, more accurately, it's a photography book. Conlon was a newspaper proofreader who dabbled in photography as a hobby, when one day the editor of the New York Telegram asked him to take some shots of baseball games and players, to be published in the newspaper and in the annual Spalding's Guides. What followed was a career that lasted from 1904 to 1942 and produced the most memorable collection of photographs in baseball history.

Many of Conlon's photos were printed in the 1993 book Baseball's Golden Age, but this is a different selection, though by the same authors. Constance McCabe has prepared the photos for publication, and brother Neal McCabe provides the captions. Roger Kahn writes the foreword, as Roger Angell did for the first book.

The photographs are often stark and frequently stunning. Each takes up the better part of a page, with the captioning to the side. The black-and-whites are stunningly reproduced. Most are posed shots, but there are some action pics, and I find those the most compelling. A good photograph reveals much about the subject. That often seems the case here.

In these pages you will find pictures of the well-knowns, like Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Rogers Hornsby, and those you have likely never heard of before, like Buddy Gremp, Al Spohrer, and Jackie Hayes. Most are players, but there are also umpires, managers, and a traffic control officer at a Yankees game. You will find Kid Nichols at the end of his career, Amos Rusie in a picture from after his career had ended, and DiMaggio as a rookie.

One of my favorite parts of the book is how the subjects on facing pages often complement each other. Several times we get a set like on pages 66 and 67, one of a young Hank Gowdy in 1911, the other of a veteran Gowdy in 1936 as a coach. We also get sets of Vince DiMaggio and brother Joe on facing pages, both from 1937. There's Herb Pennock in 1916 facing a Pennock from 1934. And, another favorite, the Bob Feller of 1937 across from the Walter Johnson of 1916. Sheer joy.

The captions convey myth more than information. The story of the invention of catcher shin guards by Roger Bresnahan is repeated with his photograph, even though it is provably false. Still, the book is more about myth than truth, and imagery over cold hard fact. It is a spectacular collection of photographs from a century past. I think you will enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book, and thus did not pay for it. The list price is $35, but it is available from various retailers such as amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, walmart.com, and others for about $10 less.

It was the year of the home run chase in the NL, as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa waged war on Roger Maris' single-season home run record. McGwire finished with 70, and Sosa with 66, as both surpassed the record. The Padres won the pennant, although they had the least victories of any division winner, but that total was still 98. It served as a capstone for Tony Gwynn's career. Atlanta won 106 games to take the East, Houston won 102 to claim the Central, and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants in a one-game playoff to claim the Wild Card spot when both finished the regular schedule with 89 wins. The Mets won 88. Meanwhile, the stripped Florida Marlins lost 108 games, the new Arizona Diamondbacks lost 97, as did the Expos, and the new (to the NL) Brewers were also-rans in the Central.

The big story, of course, was the assault on the home run record, with Mark McGwire's 70 and Sammy Sosa's 66 both topping the all-time mark of 61. Steroids were barely a whisper, but would become a shout a few years later. Greg Vaughn was third in homers with 50.

In other categories, to which scant attention was paid at the time, Larry Walker won the batting title with a .363 mark while John Olerud hit .354. Third was Dante Bichette at .331. Sosa led with 134 runs, McGwire had 130, Jeff Bagwell 124. Bichette had 219 hits, Craig Biggio 210. Biggio had 51 doubles, Bichette and Dmitri Young 48. David Delucci had 12 triples and Barry Larkin 10. Sosa posted 158 RBI, McGwire 147, Vinny Castilla 144. Tony Womack had 58 steals, Biggio 50.

Tom Glavine was the sole 20-game winner, Shane Reynolds and Kevin Tapani won 19, Kevin Brown and Greg Maddux won 18 each. Maddux led with a 2.22 ERA followed by Brown at 2.38 then Glavine and Al Leiter at 2.47. Curt Schilling had 300 strikeouts, Brown 257 and Kerry Wood 233. Trevor Hoffman set the pace with 53 saves and Rod Beck had 51.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mark McGwire (St. Louis) 41, Sammy Sosa (Chicago) and Craig Biggio (Houston) 35, John Olerud (New York) and Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 34, Mike Piazza (Los Angeles/Florida/New York) 33, Fernando Vina (Milwaukee), Scott Rolen (Philadelphia) and Greg Vaughn (San Diego) 30, Chipper Jones (Atlanta), Moises Alou and Jeff Bagwell (Houston) and Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal) 29, Andres Galarraga (Atlanta), Mark Grace (Chicago) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 27, Andruw Jones (Atlanta), Jeff Cirillo (Milwaukee), Bobby Abreu (Philadelphia) and Jason Kendall (Pittsburgh) 26, Javier Lopez (Atlanta), Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) and Jeff Kent (San Francisco) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Kevin Brown (San Diego) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 25, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 23, Curt Schilling (Philadelphia) 22, Al Leiter (New York) 21, Trevor Hoffman (San Diego) 20, Robb Nen (San Francisco) 19, Ugueth Urbina (Montreal) 17, John Smoltz (Atlanta), Pete Harnisch (Cincinnati), Shane Reynolds (Houston) and Rick Reed (New York) 16.

WARP3 scores: McGwire 11.5 (best season), Sosa 9.6, Biggio 9.6, Olerud 10.9, Bonds 12.5, Piazza 9.4, Vina 8.3 (best season), Rolen 10.1, Vaughn 9.9 (career year), C. Jones 8.7, Alou 9.0 (best season), Bagwell 9.3, Guerrero 6.7, Galarraga 6.1 (last big year), Grace 7.9, Lankford 7.5 (last big year), A. Jones 9.1, Cirillo 9.3 (best year), Abreu 6.7, Kendall 9.3 (best year), Lopez 8.3, Larkin 7.7, Kent 7.3.

Pitchers, Brown 9.8, Maddux 10.6, Glavine 9.9, Schilling 8.8, Leiter 8.0 (best season), Hoffman 8.2, Nen 8.3 (best season), Urbina 8.0, Smoltz 6.1, Harnisch 6.1, Reynolds 5.7, Reed 6.1.

WAR leaders, position players: Bonds and McGwire 8.8, Olerud 8.4, C. Jones and Sosa 7.4, A. Jones and Rolen 7.3, Brian Jordan (Atlanta) 7.2, Alou 7.1, Bagwell and Guerrero 7.0, Piazza 6.8, Biggio, Cirillo, and Abreu 6.7.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Brown 9.3, Schilling 8.6, Maddux 7.6, Smoltz 5.3, Glavine 4.9, Leiter 4.7, Reynolds 4.6, Darryl Kile (Colorado) and Kerry Wood (Chicago) 4.4, Mark Clark (Chicago) 4.1.

Actual award winners:
MVP: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+---+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Sammy Sosa CHC 30 438 448 0.98 | 643 198 66 .308 1.024 18|
2 Mark McGwire STL 2 272 448 0.61 | 509 152 70 .299 1.222 1|
3 Moises Alou HOU 0 215 448 0.48 | 584 182 38 .312 .981 11|
4 Greg Vaughn SDP 0 185 448 0.41 | 573 156 50 .272 .960 11|
5 Craig Biggio HOU 0 163 448 0.36 | 646 210 20 .325 .906 50|
6 Andres Galarraga ATL 0 147 448 0.33 | 555 169 44 .305 .991 7|
7 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 117 448 0.26 | 3 0 0 .000 .000 0| 4-2 73 1.48 0.85 86 53
8 Barry Bonds SFG 0 66 448 0.15 | 552 167 37 .303 1.047 28|
9 Chipper Jones ATL 0 56 448 0.12 | 601 188 34 .313 .951 16|
9 Jeff Kent SFG 0 56 448 0.12 | 526 156 31 .297 .914 9|
11 Vinny Castilla COL 0 49 448 0.11 | 645 206 46 .319 .951 5|
12 John Olerud NYM 0 38 448 0.08 | 557 197 22 .354 .998 2|
13 Vladimir Guerrero MON 0 25 448 0.06 | 623 202 38 .324 .960 11|
14 Mike Piazza TOT 0 15 448 0.03 | +561 184 32 .328 .960 1|
15 Tony Gwynn SDP 0 11 448 0.02 | 461 148 16 .321 .865 3|
16 Kevin Brown SDP 0 8 448 0.02 | 82 17 0 .207 .488 0| 18-7 257 2.38 1.07 257
17 Larry Walker COL 0 7 448 0.02 | 454 165 23 .363 1.075 14|
18 Rod Beck CHC 0 5 448 0.01 | 1 0 0 .000 .000 0| 3-4 80 3.02 1.32 81 51
19 Jeromy Burnitz MIL 0 4 448 0.01 | 609 160 38 .263 .838 7|
20 Scott Rolen PHI 0 3 448 0.01 | 601 174 31 .290 .923 14|
21 Dante Bichette COL 0 2 448 0.00 | 662 219 22 .331 .866 14|
21 Tom Glavine ATL 0 2 448 0.00 | 71 17 0 .239 .532 0| 20-6 229 2.47 1.20 157
21 Randy Johnson TOT 0 2 448 0.00 | 32 2 0 .062 .156 0| 10-1 84 1.28 0.98 116
24 Javy Lopez ATL 0 1 448 0.00 | 489 139 34 .284 .868 5|
24 Mickey Morandini CHC 0 1 448 0.00 | 582 172 8 .296 .765 13|

Sosa easily won, probably because of the combination of RBI total and the Cubs making the postseason.

Cy Young: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Tom Glavine ATL 11 99 160 0.62 | 20-6 229 2.47 1.20 157
2 Trevor Hoffman SDP 13 88 160 0.55 | 4-2 73 1.48 0.85 86 53
3 Kevin Brown SDP 8 76 160 0.48 | 18-7 257 2.38 1.07 257
4 Greg Maddux ATL 0 10 160 0.06 | 18-9 251 2.22 0.98 204
4 John Smoltz ATL 0 10 160 0.06 | 17-3 168 2.90 1.13 173
6 Al Leiter NYM 0 3 160 0.02 | 17-6 193 2.47 1.15 174
7 Randy Johnson TOT 0 2 160 0.01 | 10-1 84 1.28 0.98 116

Interesting three-way race, but they ignored the ERA leader.

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Kerry Wood CHC 16 128 160 0.80 | 54 7 2 .130 .386 0| 13-6 167 3.40 1.21 233
2 Todd Helton COL 15 119 160 0.74 | 530 167 25 .315 .911 3|
3 Travis Lee ARI 0 21 160 0.13 | 562 151 22 .269 .775 8|
4 Kerry Ligtenberg ATL 1 18 160 0.11 | | 3-2 73 2.71 1.03 79 30
5 Brad Fullmer MON 0 2 160 0.01 | 505 138 13 .273 .773 6|

Manager: 1st Max |
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Larry Dierker HOU 16 102 160 0.64 | 102-60 1
2 Bruce Bochy SDP 5 70 160 0.44 | 98-64 1
3 Jim Riggleman CHC 5 55 160 0.34 | 90-73 2
4 Dusty Baker SFG 6 39 160 0.24 | 89-74 2
5 Bobby Cox ATL 0 17 160 0.11 | 106-56 1
6 Bobby Valentine NYM 0 5 160 0.03 | 88-74 2

Top player: Mark McGwire. I just can't ignore the 70-homer year.
#1 Mark McGwire, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Sammy Sosa, #4 John Olerud, #5 Craig Biggio, #6 Scott Rolen.

Top pitcher: Greg Maddux won the ERA title and was the best all-around.
#1 Greg Maddux, #2 Kevin Brown, #3 Tom Glavine, #4 Curt Schilling, #5 Trevor Hoffman.

Top rookie: Todd Helton, over Kerry Wood. Hindsight helps here.

Top manager: Larry Dierker for me as well. Bochy, Cox and Riggelman are also good choices.

The New York Yankees had an incredible season, winning 114 games in the regular season and then eleven more in the postseason to win the World Series, their second in three years. The Yankees finished 22 games in front of Boston, which had the second-best record in the league and won the Wild Card. Toronto was 3rd in the division with 88 wins. Baltimore won 79 and new entry Tampa Bay lost 99 games, as Detroit moved to the Central and Milwaukee to the NL. Cleveland took the Central crown with 89 wins, 9 ahead of the White Sox. Texas won 88 games to take the West, three ahead of Anaheim.

Bernie Williams took the batting title with a .339 average even though he missed nearly a month with injuries. Mo Vaughn was second at .337, Albert Belle third at .328, then Eric Davis at .327 and Derek Jeter at .324. Jeter led with 127 runs scored, followed by Ray Durham at 126. Alex Rodriguez had 213 hits, Vaughn 205, Jeter 203 and Belle 200. Juan Gonzalez led with 50 doubles followed by Belle at 48 and Edgar Martinez at 46. Jose Offerman had 13 triples and Johnny Damon 10. Ken Griffey, Jr. belted 56 home runs, leading an early charge on Roger Maris. Belle had 49 and Jose Canseco 46. Gonzalez had 157 RBI, Belle 152 and Griffey 146. Rickey Henderson had 66 steals, Kenny Lofton 54 and Shannon Stewart 51.

Roger Clemens, David Cone, and Rick Helling tied with 20 wins each. Pedro Martinez and Aaron Sele won 19 apiece. Clemens led with a 2.65 ERA, Pedro was at 2.89, Kenny Rogers 3.17. Clemens completed a pitchers' triple crown with 271 strikeouts, Pedro had 251 and Randy Johnson 213 with Chuck Finley at 212. Tom Gordon led relievers with 46 saves, Troy Percival and John Wetteland had 42.

Win Shares leaders, players; Albert Belle (Chicago) 37, Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 30, Jose Offerman (Kansas City) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (Seattle) 29, Nomar Garciaparra (Boston), Scott Brosius, Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams (New York) and Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 27, Paul O'Neill (New York) 26, Mo Vaughn (Boston), Ray Durham and Frank Thomas (Chicago), Manny Ramirez (Cleveland) and Juan Gonzalez (Texas) 25, Jim Edmonds (Anaheim), Rafael Palmeiro (Baltimore), Edgar Martinez (Seattle) and Carlos Delgado (Toronto) 24, Damion Easley (Detroit) and Jason Giambi (Oakland) 23, Tim Salmon (Anaheim), Chuck Knoblauch (New York) and Ben Grieve (Oakland) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Roger Clemens (Toronto) 25, Pedro Martinez (Boston) 21, Kenny Rogers (Oakland) 19, Chuck Finley (Anaheim), Tom Gordon (Boston), Brian Moehler (Detroit), Tim Belcher (Kansas City), David Cone (New York) and Rolando Arrojo (Tampa Bay) 17, Bartolo Colon and Mike Jackson (Cleveland) 16.

WARP3 scores: Belle 11.7, A. Rodriguez 11.3, Offerman 8.7 (best season), Griffey 12.5, Garciaparra 9.3, Brosius 8.3 (best season), Jeter 9.1, Williams 9.2, I. Rodriguez 11.0, O'Neill 8.9 (last big season), Vaughn 8.7 (last big season), Durham 9.1, Thomas 6.7, Ramirez 8.7, Gonzalez 7.6, Edmonds 9.2, Palmeiro 10.3, E. Martinez 9.2, Delgado 8.6, Easley 8.0 (best season), Giambi 5.8, Salmon 7.0, Knoblauch 7.7, Grieve 5.5 (rookie).

Pitchers, Clemens 11.2, P. Martinez 9.8, Rogers 10.3 (best season), Finley 7.4, Gordon 7.9 (best season), Moehler 8.2 (career year), Belcher 7.2, Cone 7.1, Arrojo 8.2 (rookie, career year), Colon 7.9, Jackson 6.7 (career year).

WAR position player leaders: A. Rodriguez 8.4, Garciaparra 7.5, Belle 7.4, Palmeiro 7.2, Griffey 7.1, I. Rodriguez 6.7, Vaughn 6.6, Jeter 6.5, Ventura 6.1, E. Martinez 6.0, Delgado and Lofton 5.9, O'Neill 5.8, Ramirez 5.7.

WAR pitching leaders: Clemens 8.8, P. Martinez 6.7, Moyer, Cone, Erickson, and Sele 5.3, Mussina 5.2, Colon and Radke 5.0, Rogers 4.9, Finley 4.8.

Actual award winners:
MVP: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----++-----+-----+---+--+
1 Juan Gonzalez TEX 21 357 392 0.91 | 606 193 45 .318 .997 2|
2 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 5 232 392 0.59 | 604 195 35 .323 .946 12|
3 Derek Jeter NYY 2 180 392 0.46 | 626 203 19 .324 .864 30|
4 Ken Griffey SEA 0 135 392 0.34 | 633 180 56 .284 .977 20|
4 Mo Vaughn BOS 0 135 392 0.34 | 609 205 40 .337 .993 0|
6 Manny Ramirez CLE 0 127 392 0.32 | 571 168 45 .294 .976 5|
7 Bernie Williams NYY 0 103 392 0.26 | 499 169 26 .339 .997 15|
8 Albert Belle CHW 0 98 392 0.25 | 609 200 49 .328 1.055 6|
9 Alex Rodriguez SEA 0 92 392 0.23 | 686 213 42 .310 .919 46|
10 Ivan Rodriguez TEX 0 50 392 0.13 | 579 186 21 .321 .871 9|
11 Roger Clemens TOR 0 49 392 0.12 | 4 0 0 .000 .200 0| 20-6 235 2.65 1.10 271
12 Paul O'Neill NYY 0 36 392 0.09 | 602 191 24 .317 .882 15|
13 Tom Gordon BOS 0 27 392 0.07 | | 7-4 79 2.72 1.01 78 46
14 Darin Erstad ANA 0 7 392 0.02 | 537 159 19 .296 .839 20|
14 Tim Salmon ANA 0 7 392 0.02 | 463 139 26 .300 .943 0|
16 David Wells NYY 0 3 392 0.01 | 4 1 0 .250 .500 0| 18-4 214 3.49 1.05 163
16 John Wetteland TEX 0 3 392 0.01 | | 3-1 62 2.03 0.98 72 42
18 Eric Davis BAL 0 2 392 0.01 | 452 148 28 .327 .970 7|
18 Travis Fryman CLE 0 2 392 0.01 | 557 160 28 .287 .845 10|
18 Rafael Palmeiro BAL 0 2 392 0.01 | 619 183 43 .296 .945 11|
21 Carlos Delgado TOR 0 1 392 0.00 | 530 155 38 .292 .978 3|
21 Rick Helling TEX 0 1 392 0.00 | 5 1 0 .200 .400 0| 20-7 216 4.41 1.33 164
21 Mike Jackson CLE 0 1 392 0.00 | | 1-1 64 1.55 0.88 55 40
21 Pedro Martinez BOS 0 1 392 0.00 | 7 0 0 .000 .000 0| 19-7 234 2.89 1.09 251
21 Jim Thome CLE 0 1 392 0.00 | 440 129 30 .293 .997 1|

Cy Young: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Roger Clemens TOR 28 140 140 1.00 | 20-6 235 2.65 1.10 271
2 Pedro Martinez BOS 0 65 140 0.46 | 19-7 234 2.89 1.09 251
3 David Wells NYY 0 31 140 0.22 | 18-4 214 3.49 1.05 163
4 David Cone NYY 0 16 140 0.11 | 20-7 208 3.55 1.18 209

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1stPlace Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+-
1 Ben Grieve OAK 23 130 140 0.93 | 583 168 18 .288 .844 2|
2 Rolando Arrojo TBD 4 61 140 0.44 | 3 0 0 .000 .000 0| 14-12 202 3.56 1.29 152
3 Mike Caruso CHW 0 34 140 0.24 | 523 160 5 .306 .721 22|
4 Orlando Hernandez NYY 1 25 140 0.18 | 7 0 0 .000 .000 0| 12-4 141 3.13 1.17 131
5 Magglio Ordonez CHW 0 1 140 0.01 | 535 151 14 .282 .741 9|
5 Sidney Ponson BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 4 2 0 .500 1.000 0| 8-9 135 5.27 1.47 85 1

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Joe Torre NYY 23 128 140 0.91 | 114-48 1
2 Jimy Williams BOS 3 59 140 0.42 | 92-70 2
3 Terry Collins ANA 2 38 140 0.27 | 85-77 2
4 Johnny Oates TEX 0 11 140 0.08 | 88-74 1
5 Mike Hargrove CLE 0 8 140 0.06 | 89-73 1
6 Tim Johnson TOR 0 4 140 0.03 | 88-74 3
6 Jerry Manuel CHW 0 4 140 0.03 | 80-82 2

Top player: Albert Belle. Belle didn't win because his team was below .500 and the writers didn't like him, but he was the best in the league. A-Rod and Griffey were close.
#1 Albert Belle, #2 Alex Rodriguez, #3 Ken Griffey, #4 Ivan Rodriguez, #5 Nomar Garciaparra, #6 Bernie Williams.

Top pitcher: Roger Clemens, easily.
#1 Roger Clemens, #2 Pedro Martinez, #3 Kenny Rogers, #4 David Cone, #5 Chuck Finley.

Top rookie: Ben Grieve, although Magglio Ordonez would have the better career.

Top manager: Joe Torre. It's tough to win 114 games.

The Florida Marlins won the pennant and the World Series in just their fifth year of existence, coming from the Wild Card spot. The team was almost immediately dismantled by an owner crying poverty in spite of obscene profits, and was soon sold, then won another title six years later. Puts a lie to teams crying poverty and poor stadiums, doesn't it? At any rate, Atlanta won the NL East and had the league's most victories with 101, with Florida nine games behind and the Mets 13 games back. Houston won the Central with but 84 victories, five games ahead of Pittsburgh, and San Francisco won the West with 90 victories, two games ahead of Los Angeles and seven games ahead of Colorado. The Marlins, although they were the Wild Card winners, actually had the second-best record in the league.

Tony Gwynn won the batting title with a .372 mark, finishing just ahead of Larry Walker (.366) and Mike Piazza (.362). Walker led in home runs (49), OPS and total bases and won the MVP. Andres Galarraga led in RBI (140) followed by Jeff Bagwell with 135 and Walker with 130, Tony Womack in steals with 60 trailed by Deion Sanders at 56 and Delino Deshields at 55, Craig Biggio in runs with 146 followed by Walker with 143, and Mark Grudzielanek in doubles with 54 as next was Gwynn with 49. Second in homers was Bagwell with 43, then Galarraga at 41 and Piazza, Barry Bonds, and Vinny Castilla at 40 each.

Pedro Martinez won the ERA title (1.90) and the Cy Young, with Greg Maddux (2.20) second, Darryl Kile third (2.57) Ismael Valdes fourth (2.65) and Kevin Brown fifth (2.69). Denny Neagle led in victories with 20, then came Maddux, Kile, and Shawn Estes at 19 and Martinez, Curt Schilling, and Alex Fernandez at 17. Schilling led in strikeouts with 319 trailed by Pedro at 305. Jeff Shaw led in saves with 42 followed by Trevor Hoffman and Rod Beck at 37.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) and Tony Gwynn (San Diego) 39, Craig Biggio (Houston) 38, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 36, Larry Walker (Colorado) and Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 32, Scott Rolen (Philadelphia) 29, Edgardo Alfonzo (New York) and J.T. Snow (San Francisco) 28, Jeff Blauser (Atlanta) and John Olerud (New York) 27, Ken Caminiti (San Diego) 26, Raul Mondesi (Los Angeles) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 24, Chipper Jones (Atlanta) and Moises Alou (Florida) 23, Gary Sheffield (Florida), Todd Hundley (New York), Jason Kendall (Pittsburgh) and Jeff Kent (San Francisco) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Greg Maddux (Atlanta) and Pedro Martinez (Montreal) 26, Kevin Brown (Florida) 23, Curt Schilling (Philadelphia) 22, Tom Glavine, Denny Neagle and John Smoltz (Atlanta), Jeff Shaw (Cincinnati) and Darryl Kile (Houston) 21, Rick Reed (New York) 17.

WARP3 scores: Piazza 12.4 (best season), Gwynn 7.6 (last big year), Biggio 12.3 (best season), Bonds 11.4, Walker 10.5 (best season), Bagwell 9.3, Rolen 8.3 (rookie), Alfonzo 7.4 (breakout year), Snow 5.5, Blauser 8.7 (best year, last good year), Olerud 7.3, Caminiti 8.4 (last good year), Mondesi 8.5, Lankford 7.4, Jones 5.4, Alou 5.9, Sheffield 6.7, Hundley 7.5 (last good year), Kendall 8.3.

Pitchers, Maddux 10.5, Martinez 10.9, Brown 8.7, Schilling 9.4, Glavine 8.0, Neagle 7.6 (best year), Smoltz 8.5, Shaw 7.2 (best year), Kile 8.3 (best year), Reed 6.9.

WAR leaders, players: Biggio 9.7, Walker and Piazza 9.4, Bonds 9.2, Bagwell 8.3, Mondesi 6.0, Alfonso and Lankford 5.9, Blauser and Kenny Lofton (Atlanta) 5.5, Rondell White (Expos) 5.1, Mark Grace (Cubs) 5.0.

Pitchers: Martinez 8.8, Schilling 8.6, Maddux 8.2, Smoltz 6.9, Brown 6.4, Neagle 5.4, Andy Benes (St. Louis) 5.1, Matt Morris (St. Louis) 4.9, Kile 4.3, John Thomson (Rockies) 4.2.
Actual award winners:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+-
1 Larry Walker COL 22 359 392 0.92 | 568 208 49 .366 1.172 33|
2 Mike Piazza LAD 3 263 392 0.67 | 556 201 40 .362 1.070 5|
3 Jeff Bagwell HOU 3 233 392 0.59 | 566 162 43 .286 1.017 31|
4 Craig Biggio HOU 0 157 392 0.40 | 619 191 22 .309 .916 47|
5 Barry Bonds SFG 0 123 392 0.31 | 532 155 40 .291 1.031 37|
6 Tony Gwynn SDP 0 113 392 0.29 | 592 220 17 .372 .957 12|
7 Andres Galarraga COL 0 85 392 0.22 | 600 191 41 .318 .974 15|
8 Jeff Kent SFG 0 80 392 0.20 | 580 145 29 .250 .789 11|
9 Chipper Jones ATL 0 70 392 0.18 | 597 176 21 .295 .850 20|
10 Moises Alou FLA 0 60 392 0.15 | 538 157 23 .292 .866 9|
11 Charles Johnson FLA 0 22 392 0.06 | 416 104 19 .250 .802 0|
12 Greg Maddux ATL 0 16 392 0.04 | 67 7 0 .104 .301 1| 19-4 233 2.20 0.95 177
13 Edgardo Alfonzo NYM 0 10 392 0.03 | 518 163 10 .315 .823 11|
14 Curt Schilling PHI 0 9 392 0.02 | 81 14 0 .173 .366 1| 17-11 254 2.97 1.05 319
15 Raul Mondesi LAD 0 8 392 0.02 | 616 191 30 .310 .901 32|
16 Ray Lankford STL 0 6 392 0.02 | 465 137 31 .295 .996 21|
16 Pedro Martinez MON 0 6 392 0.02 | 69 8 0 .116 .327 0| 17-8 241 1.90 0.93 305
16 Mark McGwire TOT 0 6 392 0.02 | 174 44 24 .253 1.095 2|
19 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 5 392 0.01 | 642 161 36 .251 .779 22|
19 Kevin Young PIT 0 5 392 0.01 | 333 100 18 .300 .867 11|
21 Jeff Blauser ATL 0 4 392 0.01 | 519 160 17 .308 .886 5|
22 Vinny Castilla COL 0 3 392 0.01 | 612 186 40 .304 .904 2|
22 Darryl Kile HOU 0 3 392 0.01 | 89 11 0 .124 .336 0| 19-7 256 2.57 1.18 205
24 Rod Beck SFG 0 2 392 0.01 | | 7-4 70 3.47 1.07 53 37
24 Tony Womack PIT 0 2 392 0.01 | 641 178 6 .278 .700 60|
26 Kenny Lofton ATL 0 1 392 0.00 | 493 164 5 .333 .837 27|
26 J.T. Snow SFG 0 1 392 0.00 | 531 149 28 .281 .898 6|


Cy Young:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points MaxPoints Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Pedro Martinez MON 25 134 140 0.96 | 17-8 241 1.90 0.93 305
2 Greg Maddux ATL 3 75 140 0.54 | 19-4 233 2.20 0.95 177
3 Denny Neagle ATL 0 24 140 0.17 | 20-5 233 2.97 1.08 172
4 Curt Schilling PHI 0 12 140 0.09 | 17-11 254 2.97 1.05 319
5 Darryl Kile HOU 0 7 140 0.05 | 19-7 256 2.57 1.18 205

Rookie:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+-
1 Scott Rolen PHI 28 140 140 1.00 | 561 159 21 .283 .846 16|
2 Livan Hernandez FLA 0 25 140 0.18 | 29 5 0 .172 .441 0| 9-3 96 3.18 1.24 72
2 Matt Morris STL 0 25 140 0.18 | 73 15 0 .205 .489 0| 12-9 217 3.19 1.28 149
4 Rich Loiselle PIT 0 22 140 0.16 | 1 0 0 .000 .000 0| 1-5 73 3.10 1.38 66 29
5 Andruw Jones ATL 0 15 140 0.11 | 399 92 18 .231 .745 20|
6 Vladimir Guerrero MON 0 9 140 0.06 | 325 98 11 .302 .833 3|
7 Jose Guillen PIT 0 4 140 0.03 | 498 133 14 .267 .712 1|
7 Brett Tomko CIN 0 4 140 0.03 | 36 5 0 .139 .329 0| 11-7 126 3.43 1.21 95
9 Jeremi Gonzalez CHC 0 3 140 0.02 | 40 4 0 .100 .263 0| 11-9 144 4.25 1.35 93
9 Tony Womack PIT 0 3 140 0.02 | 641 178 6 .278 .700 60|
11 Kevin Orie CHC 0 1 140 0.01 | 364 100 8 .275 .781 2|
11 Neifi Perez COL 0 1 140 0.01 | 313 91 5 .291 .777 4|

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Dusty Baker SFG 17 110 140 0.79 | 90-72 1
2 Gene Lamont PIT 10 92 140 0.66 | 79-83 2
3 Larry Dierker HOU 1 34 140 0.24 | 84-78 1
4 Bobby Valentine NYM 0 7 140 0.05 | 88-74 3
5 Bobby Cox ATL 0 6 140 0.04 | 101-61 1
6 Terry Francona PHI 0 2 140 0.01 | 68-94 5
7 Jim Leyland FLA 0 1 140 0.01 | 92-70 2

Top player: Mike Piazza. The two best players in the league were Piazza and Biggio. Biggio played for a division-winning team, but Piazza's team actually won more games. That's the trouble with these three-division setups, they make things more confusing. I'll go with Piazza by a nose.
#1 Mike Piazza, #2 Craig Biggio, #3 Larry Walker, #4 Barry Bonds, #5 Jeff Bagwell, #6 Jeff Blauser.

Top pitcher: Pedro Martinez. Like with the players, it could have been either of two, here Pedro and Maddux. I'll go with Pedro, but just barely.
#1 Pedro Martinez, #2 Greg Maddux, #3 Curt Schilling, #4 Kevin Brown, #5 John Smoltz.

Top rookie: Scott Rolen, who was almost not a rookie off the previous year's strong performance.

Top manager: With the benefit of the postseason to work with, Jim Leyland.

Baltimore and New York had the best regular season records as East Division and Wild Card winners, respectively, but Cleveland won the Central crown and their second pennant in three years. Seattle took the West, and Anaheim was the only other AL team over .500. Oakland lost 97 games for the league's worst record. Baltimore beat Seattle and Cleveland beat New York in the Division Series, then the Indians topped the Orioles in six in the ALCS.

Frank Thomas easily took the batting average race with a .347 mark. Edgar Martinez was second at .330, followed by David Justice at .329 and Manny Ramirez and Bernie Williams at .328. Ken Griffey, Jr. led the loop with 125 runs and Nomar Garciaparra was second with 122. Garciaparra led the way with 209 hits. John Valentin led with 47 doubles and Jeff Cirillo had 46. Garciaparra produced 11 triples, Chuck Knoblauch 10.

Griffey chased history and ended with 56 home runs, Tino Martinez placing second with 44. Juan Gonzalez had 42, Jay Buhner and Jim Thome 40. Griffey also led with 147 RBI, Martinez had 141, Gonzalez 131. Brian Hunter had 74 steals, Knoblauch 62 and Tom Goodwin 50. Martinez and Thomas posted .456 on-base averages, Griffey led with a .647 slugging.

Roger Clemens led the way with 21 wins, while Randy Johnson and Brad Radke were 20-game winners. Clemens completed a pitcher's Triple Crown by leading in ERA with 2.05 and strikeouts with 292. Johnson was second in ERA with 2.29 and strikeouts with 291. Third place in ERA went to David Cone at 2.82 and Andy Pettitte put up a 2.88 mark. Cone was also third in strikeouts with 222, Mike Mussina fourth with 218. Randy Myers led with 45 saves, Mariano Rivera had 43.

Win Shares leaders, players; Frank Thomas (Chicago) 39, Ken Griffey (Seattle) 36, Tim Salmon (Anaheim) 29, Paul O'Neill (New York) 28, Tino Martinez (New York) and Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 27, Brady Anderson (Baltimore), Nomar Garciaparra (Boston), David Justice and Jim Thome (Cleveland) and Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 26, Bobby Higginson (Detroit) 25, Tony Clark (Detroit), Jeff Cirillo (Milwaukee) and Bernie Williams (New York) 24, Chuck Knoblauch (Minnesota) 23, Mo Vaughn (Boston) and Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 22, Roberto Alomar (Baltimore), John Valentin (Boston), Manny Ramirez (Cleveland), Jay Bell (Kansas City) and Dan Wilson (Seattle) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Roger Clemens (Toronto) 32, Randy Johnson (Seattle) 23, Justin Thompson (Detroit) 21, Andy Pettitte (New York) 20, Mike Mussina (Baltimore), Doug Jones (Milwaukee) and Pat Hentgen (Toronto) 19, Kevin Appier (Kansas City) 18, Jimmy Key (Baltimore) and Jeff Fassero (Seattle) 17, Scott Erickson (Baltimore), Brad Radke (Minnesota), David Cone (New York) and John Wetteland (Texas) 16.

WARP3 scores: Thomas 10.4, Griffey 12.4, Salmon 8.3, O'Neill 9.0, T. Martinez 10.2 (peak season), E. Martinez 9.6, Anderson 7.8, Garciaparra 9.0 (rookie), Justice 8.4 (best year), Thome 7.9, I. Rodriguez 10.7, Higginson 8.4, Clark 6.8 (best season), Cirillo 8.5, Williams 8.6, Knoblauch 7.8, Vaughn 7.0, A. Rodriguez 7.5, Alomar 7.5, Valentin 9.4, Ramirez 9.1, Bell 10.2, Wilson 7.6 (best year).

Pitchers, Clemens 14.8 (best year), Johnson 11.1, Thompson 9.7 (career year), Pettitte 9.9 (best year), Mussina 8.2, Jones 8.2 (last big year), Hentgen 8.8, Appier 8.4, Key 7.7 (last good year), Fassero 8.2, Erickson 6.9, Radke 8.3, Cone 7.3, Wetteland 6.8.

WAR for position players: Griffey 9.4, Thomas 7.3, Garciaparra 6.6, Martinez and I. Rodriguez 6.4, Knoblauch 6.3, Bell 5.6, T. Martinez 5.5, Thome and B. Williams 5.3, Cirillo 5.1, Jeromy Burnitz (Milwaukee) 5.0, Ramirez 4.8, Salmon 4.7, A. Rodriguez 4.6, Valentin 4.5, Greer and Justice 4.4, M. Williams and Jeter 4.3

WAR for pitchers: Clemens 11.1, Pettitte 7.4, Johnson 7.0, Mussina and Radke 5.5, Appier 5.3, Burkett, Gordon, and Cone 5.0, Fassero and Thompson 4.9, Erickson 4.7.

Actual award winners:
MVP (top 15): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+
1 Ken Griffey SEA 28 392 392 1.00 | 608 185 56 .304 1.028 15|
2 Tino Martinez NYY 0 248 392 0.63 | 594 176 44 .296 .948 3|
3 Frank Thomas CHW 0 172 392 0.44 | 530 184 35 .347 1.067 1|
4 Randy Myers BAL 0 128 392 0.33 | | 2-3 60 1.51 1.16 56 45
5 David Justice CLE 0 90 392 0.23 | 495 163 33 .329 1.013 3|
6 Jim Thome CLE 0 89 392 0.23 | 496 142 40 .286 1.001 1|
7 Tim Salmon ANA 0 84 392 0.21 | 582 172 33 .296 .911 9|
8 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 0 83 392 0.21 | 684 209 30 .306 .875 22|
9 Juan Gonzalez TEX 0 66 392 0.17 | 533 158 42 .296 .924 0|
10 Roger Clemens TOR 0 56 392 0.14 | 2 1 0 .500 1.667 0| 21-7 264 2.05 1.03 292
11 Randy Johnson SEA 0 42 392 0.11 | | 20-4 213 2.28 1.05 291
12 Paul O'Neill NYY 0 37 392 0.09 | 553 179 21 .324 .912 10|
13 Rafael Palmeiro BAL 0 36 392 0.09 | 614 156 38 .254 .815 5|
14 Sandy Alomar CLE 0 22 392 0.06 | 451 146 21 .324 .900 0|
14 Edgar Martinez SEA 0 22 392 0.06 | 542 179 28 .330 1.009 2|
Griffey was an easy winner.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Roger Clemens TOR 25 134 140 0.96 | 21-7 264 2.05 1.03 292
2 Randy Johnson SEA 2 77 140 0.55 | 20-4 213 2.28 1.05 291
3 Brad Radke MIN 0 17 140 0.12 | 20-10 240 3.87 1.19 174
4 Randy Myers BAL 1 14 140 0.10 | 2-3 60 1.51 1.16 56 45
5 Andy Pettitte NYY 0 9 140 0.06 | 18-7 240 2.88 1.24 166
6 Mike Mussina BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 15-8 225 3.20 1.12 218
What idiot voted for Myers?

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+----
1 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 28 140 140 1.00 | 684 209 30 .306 .875 22|
2 Jose Cruz TOT 0 61 140 0.44 | +395 98 26 .248 .814 7|
3 Jason Dickson ANA 0 27 140 0.19 | 2 0 0 .000 .000 0| 13-9 204 4.29 1.43 115
4 Deivi Cruz DET 0 12 140 0.09 | 436 105 2 .241 .577 3|
5 Jaret Wright CLE 0 7 140 0.05 | 3 0 0 .000 .000 0| 8-3 90 4.38 1.28 63
6 Mike Cameron CHW 0 5 140 0.04 | 379 98 14 .259 .789 23|

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Davey Johnson BAL 10 88 140 0.63 | 98-64 1
2 Buddy Bell DET 4 50 140 0.36 | 79-83 3
3 Phil Garner MIL 5 42 140 0.30 | 78-83 3
4 Lou Piniella SEA 3 30 140 0.21 | 90-72 1
5 Terry Collins ANA 4 24 140 0.17 | 84-78 2
6 Mike Hargrove CLE 2 13 140 0.09 | 86-75 1
7 Joe Torre NYY 0 5 140 0.04 | 96-66 2

A very divided vote.

Top player: Ken Griffey, Jr. is the tops. Thomas was actually a better hitter, but had no defensive value.
#1 Ken Griffey, #2 Frank Thomas, #3 Tino Martinez, #4 Ivan Rodriguez, #5 Edgar Martinez, #6 Paul O'Neill.

Top pitcher: Roger Clemens is the clear winner.
#1 Roger Clemens, #2 Randy Johnson, #3 Andy Pettitte, #4 Justin Thompson, #5 Mike Mussina.

Top rookie: Nomar Garciaparra was head and shoulders above the rest.

Top manager: Dave Johnson, who managed Baltimore to the most wins in the league.

Atlanta was the best team in the league, with 96 regular season wins and a pennant for winning two rounds of playoffs. The Braves finished eight games ahead of Montreal in the East, while St. Louis won 88 games to take the Central, six ahead of Houston and seven ahead of Cincinnati. San Diego won the West with 91 victories, while Los Angeles took the Wild Card with 90 wins. Philadelphia had the worst record, losing 95 games.

Tony Gwynn won the batting title, even though he did not have enough plate appearances to qualify. He still led, even after a few at-bats were added to his total. He batted .353, still ahead of Ellis Burks at .344 even with extra ABs. Andres Galarraga led in HR and RBI with a Coors-aided 47 and 150. Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds tied for second in homers with 42, Dante Bichette was second in RBI with 141. Eric Young led in steals with 53, ahead of Lance Johnson at 50. Ellis Burks ledin slugging, Gary Sheffield in on-base and OPS. Jeff Bagwell had 48 dobules, Lance Johnson 227 hits. Sheffield edged Barry Bonds in OPS+. Ken Caminiti won the MVP for a strong performance, which he later admitted was at least partly attributable to steroid use.

John Smoltz won the MVP with his lead in wins (24) and strikeouts (276). Kevin Brown led in ERA with a 1.89 mark, with Gary Maddux second at 2.72. Andy Benes was second in wins with 18. Jeff Brantley and Todd Worrell tied for the saves lead with 44. Smoltz led in innings with 254. Curt Schilling had 8 complete games and Brown three shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 41, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 39, Ken Caminiti (San Diego) 38, Gary Sheffield (Florida) 34, Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) 33, Craig Biggio (Houston) 32, Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) 31, Bernard Gilkey (New York) 30, Ellis Burks (Colorado) 28, Steve Finley (San Diego) and Brian Jordan (St. Louis) 27, Chipper Jones (Atlanta) and Lance Johnson (New York) 26, Andres Galarraga (Colorado), Raul Mondesi (Los Angeles) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 25, Marquis Grissom (Atlanta) and Todd Hundley (New York) 24, Vinny Castilla (Colorado) 23, Eric Davis (Cincinnati) and Jeff King (Pittsburgh) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; John Smoltz (Atlanta) 27, Kevin Brown (Florida) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 23, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 22, Trevor Hoffman (San Diego) 20, Al Leiter and Robb Nen (Florida) 19, Jeff Fassero and Mel Rojas (Montreal) 18, Denny Neagle (Pittsburgh/Atlanta) 17, Hideo Nomo and Ismael Valdes (Los Angeles) 16.

WAR (Wins Against Replacement) scores: Bonds 10.8, Bagwell 8.3, Gilkey 8.1 (career year), Caminiti 7.9 (career year), Burks 7.6 (best year), Larkin 7.4, Johnson 6.8 (best year), Sheffield and Piazza 6.1, Jordan and Jones 6.0, Sammy Sosa (Chicago) 5.9, Finley 5.8 (best year), Lankford 5.4, Biggio 5.1, Hundley 5.0 (career year), Mark Grace (Chicago) 4.9, Mondesi 4.7, Brian McRae (Chicago) 4.6, Grissom 3.9, Galarraga tied for 21st at 3.8. Runs were cheap in Coors.

Pitchers, Brown 7.5 (career year), Maddux 6.3, Smoltz 6.1 (best year), Glavine 5.6, Fassero 5.2, Leiter and Neagle 5.1, Nomo 4.4, Curt Schilling (Philadelphia) 4.3, Pedro Astacio (Los Angeles) 4.2, Valdes 4.1, Hoffman and John Smiley (Cincinnati) 4.0.

Actual award winners:
MVP (top 15): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+----
1 Ken Caminiti SDP 28 392 392 1.00 | 546 178 40 .326 1.028 11|
2 Mike Piazza LAD 0 237 392 0.60 | 547 184 36 .336 .985 0|
3 Ellis Burks COL 0 186 392 0.47 | 613 211 40 .344 1.047 32|
4 Chipper Jones ATL 0 158 392 0.40 | 598 185 30 .309 .923 14|
5 Barry Bonds SFG 0 132 392 0.34 | 517 159 42 .308 1.076 40|
6 Andres Galarraga COL 0 112 392 0.29 | 626 190 47 .304 .958 18|
6 Gary Sheffield FLA 0 112 392 0.29 | 519 163 42 .314 1.090 16|
8 Brian Jordan STL 0 69 392 0.18 | 513 159 17 .310 .833 22|
9 Jeff Bagwell HOU 0 59 392 0.15 | 568 179 31 .315 1.021 21|
10 Steve Finley SDP 0 38 392 0.10 | 655 195 30 .298 .885 22|
11 John Smoltz ATL 0 33 392 0.08 | 78 17 1 .218 .548 0| 24-8 254 2.94 1.00 276
12 Barry Larkin CIN 0 29 392 0.07 | 517 154 33 .298 .977 36|
13 Marquis Grissom ATL 0 23 392 0.06 | 671 207 23 .308 .838 28|
14 Bernard Gilkey NYM 0 13 392 0.03 | 571 181 30 .317 .955 17|
15 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 12 392 0.03 | 498 136 40 .273 .888 18|


Cy Young: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 John Smoltz ATL 26 136 140 0.97 | 24-8 254 2.94 1.00 276
2 Kevin Brown FLA 2 88 140 0.63 | 17-11 233 1.89 0.94 159
3 Andy Benes STL 0 9 140 0.06 | 18-10 230 3.83 1.27 160 1
4 Hideo Nomo LAD 0 5 140 0.04 | 16-11 228 3.19 1.16 234
5 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 4 140 0.03 | 9-5 88 2.25 0.92 111 42
5 Greg Maddux ATL 0 4 140 0.03 | 15-11 245 2.72 1.03 172
5 Todd Worrell LAD 0 4 140 0.03 | 4-6 65 3.03 1.30 66 44
8 Denny Neagle TOT 0 2 140 0.01 |+16-9 221 3.50 1.24 149
9 Jeff Fassero MON 0 1 140 0.01 | 15-11 232 3.30 1.17 222
9 Al Leiter FLA 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-12 215 2.93 1.26 200
9 Shane Reynolds HOU 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-10 239 3.65 1.13 204

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---
1 Todd Hollandsworth LAD 15 105 140 0.75 | 478 139 12 .291 .785 21|
2 Edgar Renteria FLA 10 84 140 0.60 | 431 133 5 .309 .757 16|
3 Jason Kendall PIT 1 30 140 0.21 | 414 124 3 .300 .773 5|
4 F.P. Santangelo MON 1 15 140 0.11 | 393 109 7 .277 .776 5|
5 Rey Ordonez NYM 1 7 140 0.05 | 502 129 1 .257 .592 1|
6 Jermaine Dye ATL 0 6 140 0.04 | 292 82 12 .281 .763 1|
7 Alan Benes STL 0 5 140 0.04 | 61 9 0 .148 .371 0| 13-10 191 4.90 1.46 131

Manager: |
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Bruce Bochy SDP 10 76 140 0.54 | 91-71 1
2 Felipe Alou MON 8 74 140 0.53 | 88-74 2
3 Tony LaRussa STL 7 69 140 0.49 | 88-74 1
4 Bobby Cox ATL 3 24 140 0.17 | 96-66 1
5 Bill Russell LAD 0 6 140 0.04 | 49-37 2
6 Terry Collins HOU 0 3 140 0.02 | 82-80 2

Top player: The two best in the league by Win Shares and WAR were Jeff Bagwell and Barry Bonds. Bonds' team finished last, Bagwell's was second. Ken Caminiti won the MVP with a team that won its division. It's a tough choice, but I will take Bagwell as a compromise choice.
#1 Jeff Bagwell, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Ken Caminiti, #4 Barry Larkin, #5 Gary Sheffield, #6 Mike Piazza.

Top pitcher: Kevin Brown's super ERA ahead of John Smoltz' excellence, which was more team-aided.
#1 Kevin Brown, #2 John Smoltz, #3 Greg Maddux, #4 Tom Glavine, #5 Trevor Hoffman.

Top rookie: Edgar Renteria, who combined offensively value with a key defensive position.

Top manager: Bruce Bochy got the Padres to the division title.