1977 National League

The NL kept its lineup while the AL expanded. The Reds fell from the top spot, as the Dodgers returned to the top of the NL West with 98 victories. The Reds were second with 88. Houston went 81-81 to finish third, followed by San Francisco, San Diego, and finally Atlanta with 101 losses. Philadelphia won the East again with 101 wins, with Pittsburgh just behind at 96 victories. St. Louis was 3rd, Chicago 4th, Montreal 5th and the Mets last. The Dodgers then beat the Phillies in the NLCS.

Dave Parker won the batting title with a .338 average, just ahead of teammate Rennie Stennett at .336. However, Stennett played just 114 games before going down with a leg injury (which helped cost Pittsburgh the division) and was never the same player again. George Foster had a monster year with 52 HR, 149 RBI,led in slugging and OPS, and won the MVP. Parker had 44 doubles, Garry Templeton 18 triples, Frank Taveras led in steals with 70. Jeff Burroughs was second in homers with 41, Greg Luzinski third with 39. Luzinski had 130 RBI. Reggie Smith, playing in the pitchers' park of Dodger Stadium, led in on-base, was second in OPS, and had a small lead on Foster for OPS+.

Steve Carlton led in wins with 23, followed by Tom Seaver with 21. Bob Forsch, John Candelaria, Tommy John, and Rick Reuschel each won 20. Candelaria led in ERA with a 2.34 mark, followed by Seaver at 2.58. Phil Niekro had 262 strikeouts, followed by J.R. Richard at 214. Niekro led in innings, starts, and complete games. Rollie Fingers led in saves with 35, followed by Bruce Sutter at 31. Carlton won the Cy Young.

Win Shares leaders, NL, 1977:

Players, Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia) and Dave Parker (Pittsburgh) 33, George Foster (Cincinnati) 32, Greg Luzinski (Philadelphia) and Joe Morgan (Cincinnati) 30 (Bull's were all offensive, I bet), Reggie Smith (Los Angeles) 29, George Hendrick (San Diego) and Ted Simmons (St. Louis) 28, Gary Carter (Montreal) and Gene Tenace (San Diego) 25, Jose Cruz (Houston), Davey Lopes (Los Angeles), Dave Winfield (San Diego) and Keith Hernandez and Garry Templeton (St. Louis) 24, Ken Griffey and Pete Rose (Cincinnati) and Cesar Cedeno and Bob Watson (Houston) 23, Jeff Burroughs (Atlanta) and Johnny Bench (Cincinnati) 22.

For pitchers, it was Bruce Sutter (Chicago) 27, Rick Reuschel (Chicago), John Candelaria and Goose Gossage (Pitsburgh) and Steve Carlton (Philadelphia) 26, Tom Seaver (New York/Cincinnati) 25, J.R. Richard (Houston) and Steve Rogers (Montreal) 21, Phil Niekro (Atlanta) and Ed Halicki (San Francisco) 20, Burt Hooton and Tommy John (Los Angeles) 19, Gary Lavelle (San Francisco) 18.

WARP3, players: Foster 9.1, Schmidt 8.7, Smith 8.2, Parker 8.0, Morgan 7.5, Carter 6.7, Simmons 6.5, Bench 6.3, Dave Concepcion (Cincinnati), Lopes, and Tenace 5.9, Watson 5.2, Cedeno, Joe Ferguson (Los Angeles) and Lenny Randle (New York) 5.1, Hendrick and Rennie Stennett (Pittsburgh) 5.0, Phil Garner (Pittsburgh) 4.9, Winfield and Dusty Baker (Los Angeles) 4.8.

WARP3, pitchers: Reuschel 9.2, Niekro 8.5, Gossage 8.1, Carlton 8.0, Richard 7.1, Sutter 7.0, Halicki 6.9, Candelaria 6.8, Lavelle and Seaver 5.7, Hooton 5.2, Rogers and John 5.0, Rollie Fingers (San Diego) 4.7.

Actual award voting:
MVP (top 15) :1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share|AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+--------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 George Foster CIN 15 291 336 0.87 | 615 197 52 .320 1.013 6|
2 Greg Luzinski PHI 9 255 336 0.76 | 554 171 39 .309 .988 3|
3 Dave Parker PIT 0 156 336 0.46 | 637 215 21 .338 .927 17|
4 Reggie Smith LAD 0 112 336 0.33 | 488 150 32 .307 1.003 7|
5 Steve Carlton PHI 0 100 336 0.30 | 97 26 3 .268 .684 0| 23-10 283 2.64 1.124 198
6 Steve Garvey LAD 0 98 336 0.29 | 646 192 33 .297 .834 9|
7 Bruce Sutter CHC 0 68 336 0.20 | 20 3 0 .150 .377 0| 7-3 107 1.34 0.857 129 31
8 Ron Cey LAD 0 60 336 0.18 | 564 136 30 .241 .797 3|
9 Ted Simmons STL 0 58 336 0.17 | 516 164 21 .318 .908 2|
10 Mike Schmidt PHI 0 48 336 0.14 | 544 149 38 .274 .967 15|
11 Bill Robinson PIT 0 34 336 0.10 | 507 154 26 .304 .862 12|
12 Tommy John LAD 0 33 336 0.10 | 79 14 1 .177 .433 0| 20-7 220 2.78 1.248 123
13 Garry Templeton STL 0 20 336 0.06 | 621 200 8 .322 .786 28|
14 Rollie Fingers SDP 0 17 336 0.05 | 20 1 0 .050 .100 0| 8-9 132 2.99 1.202 113 35
15 Pete Rose CIN 0 15 336 0.04 | 655 204 9 .311 .809 16|
Foster by a fairly small margin over Luzinski. Parker ran a strong third, and the rest were also-rans.

Cy Young: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Steve Carlton PHI 17 104 120 0.87 | 23-10 283 2.64 1.124 198
2 Tommy John LAD 3 54 120 0.45 | 20-7 220 2.78 1.248 123
3 Rick Reuschel CHC 1 18 120 0.15 | 20-10 252 2.79 1.218 166 1
3 Tom Seaver TOT 2 18 120 0.15 |+21-6 261 2.58 1.014 196
5 John Candelaria PIT 1 17 120 0.14 | 20-5 231 2.34 1.071 133
6 Bruce Sutter CHC 0 5 120 0.04 | 7-3 107 1.34 0.857 129 31
Carlton followed by a full comeback season by Tommy John from the surgery that now bears his name. Sutter and Gossage got little attention from their terrific years in relief.

Rookie: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+---------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Andre Dawson MON 10 10 24 0.42 | 525 148 19 .282 .800 21|
2 Steve Henderson NYM 9 9 24 0.38 | 350 104 12 .297 .852 6|
3 Gene Richards SDP 4 4 24 0.17 | 525 152 5 .290 .754 56|
4 Floyd Bannister HOU 1 1 24 0.04 | 48 9 0 .188 .392 0| 8-9 143 4.04 1.444 112

Top player: George Foster. Foster had a year, with 52 HR and 149 RBI, that hadn't been seen in some years. He had by far the most impressive season.
#1 George Foster, #2 Mike Schmidt, #3 Dave Parker, #4 Reggie Smith, #5 Joe Morgan, #6 Ted Simmons.

Top pitcher: Rick Reuschel for a terrific year. He won 20, and was 2nd in ERA+ behind Candelaria, but Candy pitched for a much better team.
#1 Rick Reuschel, #2 Goose Gossage, #3 John Candelaria, #4 Steve Carlton, #5 Tom Seaver, #6 Bruce Sutter.

Top Rookie: with the benefit of hindsight, I'll choose Dawson.

Top manager: Tommy Lasorda was successful in his first year as skipper of the Dodgers.

1977 American League

New York's Yankees won their first World Series since 1962, and started a modern version of their dynasty. The Yanks first had to survive a dogfight in the East Division, besting Boston and Baltimore each by a mere 2.5 games in a race to the end. The Yankees won 100 games, the Red Sox and Orioles 97 each. The rest of the division was under .500, even with the presence of two expansions teams, as Toronto and Seattle entered the league. Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee were the also-rans, and Toronto brought up the rear in the East with 107 losses.

The West was won by Kansas City for the second straight year, as the Royals won 102 games. Texas was 2nd, eight back, while Chicago surged to 3rd after a disastrous season in 1976. Bill Veeck tried shorts, giveaways, and big hitters in their walk years to boost his team. It worked. Minnesota was 4th, California 5th, and Seattle edged Oakland, which looked like an expansion team after being riddled by free agency. Charlie Finley's high-handed tactics came back to haunt him.

Rod Carew led in average, on-base, OPS, and won the MVP as he hit .388, the highest average Ted Williams hit the same in 1957. No one had been higher since Williams' .406 in 1941. Second to Carew in average was teammate Lyman Bostock, all the way back at .336. Carew also led with 239 hits and 128 runs. He was even a surprising second in slugging. Jim Rice led in slugging, and in homers with 39, followed by Bobby Bonds and Graig Nettles at 37. Larry Hisle led in RBI with 119, followed closely by Bonds at 115 and Rice at 114. Hal McRae had 54 doubles and Carew 16 triples. Freddy Patek led in steals with 53, followed by Mitchell Page at 42.

Reliever Sparky Lyle won the Cy Young, while Frank Tanana led in ERA with a 2.54 mark, followed by Bert Blyleven at 2.72. Nolan Ryan led in strikeouts with 341; second was Dennis Leonard with 244. Dave Campbell led in saves with 31, followed by Lyle at 26 and Larrin LaGrow at 25. Dave Goltz, Dennis Leonard and Jim Palmer tied with 20 wins. Tanana had seven shutouts while Palmer and Ryan each had 22 complete games.

The Win Shares leaderboard looks like this:

Players: Rod Carew (Minnesota) 37, Ken Singleton (Baltimore) 36, Carlton Fisk (Boston) and Mitchell Page (Oakland) 30, George Brett (Kansas City) 29, Al Cowens (Kansas City), Lyman Bostock (Minnesota) and Reggie Jackson (New York) 27, Jim Rice (Boston) and Hal McRae (Kansas City) 26, Graig Nettles (New York), Mike Hargrove and Toby Harrah (Texas) 25, Al Bumbry (Baltimore), Carl Yastrzemski (Boston), Bobby Bonds (California) and Larry Hisle (Minnesota) 24, Chet Lemon (Chicago) and Ron LeFlore (Detroit) 23.

Pitchers: Jim Palmer (Baltimore) 29, Dennis Leonard (Kansas City) 24, Bill Campbell (Boston) 23, Nolan Ryan (California) and Dave Goltz (Minnesota) 22, Bert Blyleven (Texas) 21, Frank Tanana (California) and Sparky Lyle (New York) 20, Dennis Eckersley (Cleveland), Dave Rozema (Detroit) and Ron Guidry (New York) 18.

WARP3 leaders, players: Carew 9.4, Singleton 9.0, Brett and Page 8.5, Fisk 8.2, Jim Sundberg (who was not much of a hitter, but a marvelous defensive catcher) 7.8, Nettles 7.0, Hargrove 6.7, Bump Wills (Texas) and Willie Randolph (New York) 6.5, Harrah, Bostock, and Bert Campaneris (Texas) 6.3, Don Money (Milwaukee) 5.9, Hisle 5.8, Andre Thornton (Cleveland) 5.7, Bonds and Jackson 5.6, Rice, Lemon, and Thurman Munson (New York) 5.5.

WARP 3 leaders, pitchers: Tanana 7.5, Ryan 6.9, Campbell and Palmer 6.5, Eckersley 6.0, Rozema 5.6, Wayne Garland (Cleveland) 5.0, Jerry Garvin (Toronto) 4.9, Blyleven and Larrin LaGrow (Chicago) 4.7.

The actual voting results:

MVP (at least 10 points only):
Code:
Finish Name Team First-place Votes Total points
1 Rod Carew MIN 12 273
2 Al Cowens KCR 4 217
3 Ken Singleton BAL 3 200
4 Jim Rice BOS 1 163
5 Graig Nettles NYY 2 112
6 Sparky Lyle NYY 1 79
7 Thurman Munson NYY 1 70
8 Carlton Fisk BOS 1 67
8 Reggie Jackson NYY 1 67
10 Bill Campbell BOS 0 65
11 Mickey Rivers NYY 0 59
12 Larry Hisle MIN 1 54
13 George Brett KCR 0 51
14 Richie Zisk CHW 0 34
15 Jim Sundberg TEX 0 30
16 Bobby Bonds CAL 0 28
17 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 1 25
18 Ron Guidry NYY 0 11

The voting was much like 2003, as a player from an also-ran team won a split decision when no one from the top team stood out. The Series champ Yankees had six players listed here, but none higher than 5th.

Cy Young:
Code:

Place Name Team First-place votes Points
1 Sparky Lyle NYY 9 56
2 Jim Palmer BAL 6 48
3 Nolan Ryan CAL 6 46
4 Dennis Leonard KCR 5 45
5 Bill Campbell BOS 1 25
6 Dave Goltz MIN 1 19
7 Ron Guidry NYY 0 5
8 Dave Rozema DET 0 4
9 Frank Tanana CAL 0 3

The voters assuaged their non-winner MVP guilt by going for Yankees reliever Lyle. Lyle wasn't even the best reliever in the league, although he had a good year.

Rookie:
Code:

Place Name Team First-place votes Points
1 Eddie Murray BAL 12 12
2 Mitchell Page OAK 9 9
3 Bump Wills TEX 4 4
4 Dave Rozema DET 2 2

Top player: Rod Carew, in his best year. Fisk and Singleton were also terrific, but Carew was the best. The .388 average lost its place in folklore when George Brett hit .390 three years later, but it was a terrific season for the Panamanian.
#1 Rod Carew, #2 Ken Singleton, #3 Carlton Fisk, #4 George Brett, #5 Mitchell Page, #6 Lyman Bostock.

Top pitcher: Jim Palmer, although he has competition. I've taken awards from Palmer, but I give him one here.
#1 Jim Palmer, #2 Nolan Ryan, #3 Frank Tanana, #4 Bill Campbell, #5 Dennis Leonard.

Top rookie: Mitchell Page had a great year, although Eddie Murray would have the Hall of Fame career.

Top manager: Credit Billy Martin here, managing a real team without a big star through a tough pennant race.

1976 National League

Cincinnati repeated as World Series champs by going undefeated in the postseason, and Joe Morgan repeated as MVP. Philadelphia made the postseason for the first time since 1950, taking the East Division title. Neither division race was especially close. The Reds won 102 games and led the Dodgers by 10 at the end. The rest of the division was under .500, with Houston, San Francisco, San Diego, and Atlanta trailing behind. The Phillies beat out the Pirates by 9 games, 101 wins to 92, with New York 3rd at 86 wins. Chicago and St. Louis trailed, and Montreal lost 107 games.

Morgan led in OPS by a large margin, leading in both on-base and slugging. Bill Madlock won the batting title by three points over Ken Griffey (Senior) .339 to .336. Garry Maddox was third at .330. Mike Schmidt led in homers with 38 to Dave Kingman's 37, while George Foster led in RBI with 121 to Morgan's 111. Pete Rose scored 130 runs and had 215 hits and 42 doubles, and Davey Lopes led in steals with 63 to Morgan's 60.

Randy Jones led in wins with and took the Cy Young Award. Don Sutton and Jerry Koosman won 21, while J.R. Richard and Steve Carlton won 20 apiece. John Denny led in ERA at 2.52 to Doug Rau's 2.57, Tom Seaver in strikeouts with 235, and Rawly Eastwick in saves. Jones had 25 complete games.

Win Shares leaderboard:
Players; Joe Morgan (Cincinnati) 37, Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia) 35, Bob Watson (Houston) 31, Pete Rose (Cincinnati) and Cesar Cedeno (Houston) 30, Ron Cey (Los Angeles) 27, Garry Maddox (Philadelphia) and Steve Garvey (Los Angeles) 26, Bill Madlock (Chicago), George Foster and Ken Griffey (Cincinnati) and Dave Winfield (San Diego) 25, Richie Zisk (Pittsburgh) and Gary Mathews (San Francisco) 24, Rick Monday (Chicago), Dave Concepcion (Cincinnati), Greg Luzinski (Philadelphia), and Dave Parker (Pittsburgh) 23, Jose Cruz (Houston) and Al Oliver (Pittsburgh) 22.

Pitchers; Phil Niekro (Atlanta), Doug Rau (Los Angeles), Randy Jones (San Diego) and John Montefusco (San Francisco) 21 each, Charlie Hough and Don Sutton (Los Angeles), Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver (New York) and Jim Barr (San Francisco) 20 each, Ray Burris and Rick Reuschel (Chicago) 19, Jon Matlack (New York), Steve Carlton (Philadelphia) and John Denny (St. Louis) 18.

WARP3 leaders, players: Morgan 11.3, Schmidt 11.2, Concepcion 9.4, Rose 8.8, Foster 8.5, Cedeno 7.1, Maddox 6.7, Bench and Griffey 6.6, Watson 6.3, Cesar Geronimo (Cincinnati) 6.2, Garvey 5.8, Zisk 5.7, Cey 5.6, Winfield 5.4, Oliver 5.3, Cruz 5.2.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Montefusco 8.3, Niekro 7.8, Barr, Burris, and Jones 7.1, Messersmith 6.9, Koosman and Reuschel 6.2, Seaver 6.1, Woodie Fryman (Montreal) 5.8, Dick Ruthven (Philadelphia) 5.6, Rau 5.4, Matlack 5.0, Hough 4.7.

Award voting:
MVP (top 15);

Place Name Team 1st place Points
1 Joe Morgan CIN 19 311
2 George Foster CIN 5 221
3 Mike Schmidt PHI 0 179
4 Pete Rose CIN 0 131
5 Garry Maddox PHI 0 98
6 Steve Garvey LAD 0 51
6 Bill Madlock CHC 0 51
8 Ken Griffey Sr. CIN 0 49
8 Greg Luzinski PHI 0 49
10 Randy Jones SDP 0 48
11 Bob Watson HOU 0 38
12 Al Oliver PIT 0 30
13 Rawly Eastwick CIN 0 26
14 Jerry Koosman NYM 0 20
15 Steve Carlton PHI 0 16

Cy Young;

Place Name Team 1st Place Points
1 Randy Jones SDP 15 96
2 Jerry Koosman NYM 7 69
3 Don Sutton LAD 1 25
4 Steve Carlton PHI 0 11
5 Rawly Eastwick CIN 0 6
6 Jon Matlack NYM 1 5
7 J.R. Richard HOU 0 2
8 Tom Seaver NYM 0 1

Rookie;

Place Name Team Points
1 Butch Metzger SDP 11
1 Pat Zachry CIN 11
3 Hector Cruz STL 2

Top player: Joe Morgan. It's pretty clear that Morgan is again the best player in the league, and his team won 108 games besides. An easy pick. Schmidt is a clear 2nd.
#1 Joe Morgan, #2 Mike Schmidt, #3 Pete Rose, #4 Cesar Cedeno, #5 Garry Maddox, #6 George Foster.

Top pitcher: Randy Jones. In DIPS, Jones is lousy in Ks of course. But he does well in the other two categories as he walked very few and kept the ball in the park. He also was working with a lousy team behind him, save Winfield. Well, Johnny Grubb was OK.
#1 Randy Jones, #2 John Montefusco, #3 Phil Niekro, #4 Jim Barr, #5 Jerry Koosman.

Top rookie: Pat Zachry. Call me a homer, but I'll go for the Reds' guy. It was a thin group.

Top manager: Danny Ozark, for finally getting the Phillies to the endgame.

1976 American League

The Yankees won the pennant for the first time in 12 years, their longest drought since the dynasty began in 1921. The free agent era dawned, after an arbitrator ruled in the offseason that clubs could renew contracts for one season only, not in perpetuity. This led the A's stars to play out their option years en masse, and set off the preseason trade of Reggie Jackson and Ken Holtzman to Baltimore for Don Baylor and Mike Torrez. The Yankees then picked Holtzman up at midseason in a huge 10-player trade.

New York won 97 and outdistanced Baltimore by 10.5 games in the East, with Boston 3rd, Cleveland 4th, then Detroit and Milwaukee. The Royals broke the A's stranglehold in the West by a 2.5 game margin. Minnesota was 3rd, California and Texas tied for 4th. Chicago lost 97 games and were sold to Bill Veeck, his last team ownership. Veeck still made for an interesting story, and zany promotions.

George Brett won the batting title in a tight three-way race with Hal McRae and Rod Carew that ended in some controversy tinged with charges or racism, that Caucasian Brett was favored over his teammate, African-American McRae. Brett batted .333, McRae .332, and Carew .331 is an insanely tight race. McRae led the league in on-base and OPS. Jackson led in slugging, with Graig Nettles leading in homers with 32, and Lee May in RBI with 109 just ahead of Thurman Munson at 105. Roy White scored 104 runs, Amos Otis had 40 doubles, and Brett 14 triples. Bill North led in steals with 75. Jackson edged McRae in OPS+.

Jim Palmer led in wins with 22, one more than Luis Tiant, as Wayne Garland also won 20 and a big free agent payday. Rookie Mark (The Bird) Fidrych led in ERA by 0.01 over Vida Blue, 2.33 to 2.34. Nolan Ryan led in strikeouts with 327 and Sparky Lyle in saves with 23 to Dave LaRoche's 21. Fidrych led with 24 complete games, Ryan with 7 shutouts.

Win Shares leaderboard:
Players; George Brett (Kansas City) 33, Bobby Grich (Baltimore) 31, Rod Carew (Minnesota) 30, Graig Nettles (New York) 28, Ron LeFlore and Rusty Staub (Detroit), Hal McRae (Kansas City) and Mickey Rivers and Roy White (New York) 26 each, Reggie Jackson (Baltimore) and Amos Otis (Kansas City) 25, Ken Singleton (Baltimore), Rico Carty (Cleveland), Thurman Munson (New York), Sal Bando (Oakland), Mike Hargrove and Toby Harrah (Texas) 24, Mark Belanger (Baltimore) 23, Fred Lynn (Boston) and Gene Tenace (Oakland) 22.

Pitchers; Jim Palmer (Baltimore), Frank Tanana (California) and Mark Fidrych (Detroit) 27 each, Vida Blue (Oakland) 25, Luis Tiant (Boston) 22, Wayne Garland (Baltimore), Bert Blyleven (Minnesota/Texas) and Mike Torrez (Oakland) 20, Nolan Ryan (California), John Hiller (Detroit), Bill Campbell (Minnesota), Rollie Fingers (Oakland) and Gaylord Perry (Texas) 17.

WARP3 leaders, players: Brett 10.8, Nettles 9.7, Grich 8.1, White 7.8, McRae 7.0, Carew and Jackson 6.8, Munson and Phil Garner (Oakland) 6.7, Rivers 6.6, Carlton Fisk (Boston) 6.4, LeFlore 6.0, Carty 5.7, Otis and Willie Randolph (New York) 5.4, Lynn 5.3, Bando and Harrah 5.2, Tenace, Freddie Patek (Kansas City) and Mark Belanger (Baltimore) 5.1.

WARP 3 leaders, pitchers: Tanana 9.7, Fidrych 9.0, Palmer 8.1, Blue 7.1, Bill Travers (Milwaukee) 5.4, Tiant 5.2, Torrez 5.1, Perry 5.0, Blyleven and Gary Ross (California) 4.8, Hiller 4.6, Ryan 4.5, Garland 4.2, Ken Brett (Chicago) 4.0, Fingers 3.9.

Award Voting:
MVP (top 20);
Code:

Place Name Team 1st Place Points
1 Thurman Munson NYY 18 304
2 George Brett KCR 2 217
3 Mickey Rivers NYY 1 179
4 Hal McRae KCR 0 99
5 Rod Carew MIN 1 71
5 Chris Chambliss NYY 0 71
7 Amos Otis KCR 1 58
8 Bill Campbell MIN 0 56
9 Lee May BAL 0 51
10 Jim Palmer BAL 0 47
11 Mark Fidrych DET 1 41
12 Joe Rudi OAK 0 35
13 Sal Bando OAK 0 31
14 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 0 26
15 Frank Tanana CAL 0 19
16 Reggie Jackson BAL 0 17
16 Graig Nettles NYY 0 17
18 Gene Tenace OAK 0 13
19 Rollie Fingers OAK 0 12
20 Vida Blue OAK 0 10

Cy Young (top 7);
Code:

Place Name Team 1st place Points
1 Jim Palmer BAL 19 108
2 Mark Fidrych DET 5 51
3 Frank Tanana CAL 0 18
4 Ed Figueroa NYY 0 12
5 Luis Tiant BOS 0 10
6 Vida Blue OAK 0 8
7 Bill Campbell MIN 0 7

Rookie:
Code:

Place Name Team Points
1 Mark Fidrych DET 22 22
2 Butch Wynegar MIN 2 2

Top player; George Brett, now the best player in the league. McRae was a better hitter, but Brett added good defense. Nettles, not Munson, was the top force on the Yankees.
#1 George Brett, #2 Graig Nettles, #3 Bobby Grich, #4 Rod Carew, #5 Hal McRae, #6 Thurman Munson.

Top pitcher; Mark Fidrych. A rookie for a bad team, The Bird was the biggest thing to hit baseball in years. Fans flocked to see the kooky kid, he was on TV all the time, and this before ESPN, and he was great! He may never have been destined for a Hall of Fame career, with a low strikeout rate, but he was amazing.
#1 Mark Fidrych, #2 Frank Tanana, #3 Jim Palmer, #4 Vida Blue, #5 Luis Tiant.

Top rookie: Mark Fidrych. He was not a good bet to last long with that K rate, but he was something to watch. And he was very good in 1976.

Top manager: Billy Martin got the Yankees their first win since 1964.

1975 National League

The Dodgers were hailed as the new dynasty over the winter and into May. Then the Reds moved Pete Rose to third base, installed George Foster in the lineup and kicked into high gear, not stopping until they won 108 games. They went on to win their first World Series since 1940. LA was left in the dust with 88 wins. San Francisco was 3rd, San Diego 4th, then Atlanta and Houston. Pittsburgh won the East, 6.5 games ahead of the renewed Phillies. The Mets and Cardinals tied for 3rd, with Chicago and Montreal tied for 5th.

Bill Madlock led the league in average, Mike Schmidt in home runs, Greg Luzinski in RBI, Dave Lopes in steals. Joe Morgan led in on-base and OPS and won the MVP. Tom Seaver led in wins and strikeouts and won the Cy Young. Randy Jones led in ERA while Rawly Eastwick and Al Hrabosky tied in saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Joe Morgan (Cincinnati) 44, Pete Rose (Cincinnati) 31, Johnny Bench (Cincinnati) 30, Darrell Evans (Atlanta), Greg Luzinski and Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia) and Ted Simmons (St. Louis) 28 each, Ron Cey (Los Angeles) 27, Jose Cardenal and Bill Madlock (Chicago) and Dave Parker (Pittsburgh) 26, Steve Garvey and Dave Lopes (Los Angeles) and Rusty Staub (New York) 25, Dave Cash (Philadelphia) 24, Andre Thornton (Chicago) and Manny Sanguillen (Pittsburgh) 23, Rick Monday (Chicago), Willie Stargell and Richie Zisk (Pittsburgh) 22.

Pitchers; Andy Messersmith (Los Angeles) and Randy Jones (San Diego) 28, Tom Seaver (New York) 26, Bob Forsch (St. Louis) 21, Jerry Reuss (Pittsburgh) and John Montefusco (San Francisco) 20, Phil Niekro (Atlanta), Steve Rogers (Montreal) and Al Hrabosky (St. Louis) 19, Carl Morton (Atlanta), Burt Hooton (Chicago/Los Angeles), Don Sutton (Los Angeles) and Jim Barr (San Francisco) 17.

WARP3, players: Morgan 13.0 in a season for the ages; Bench 9.8, Schmidt 8.8, Lopes 7.9, Dave Concepcion (Cincinnati) 7.6, Parker 7.4, Cey 7.1, Luzinski 7.0, Rose and George Foster (Cincinnati) 6.7, Cesar Cedeno (Houston) 6.2, Garvey 6.1, Cash 5.9, Jimmy Wynn (Los Angeles) 5.7, Simmons and Sanguillen 5.6, Staub 5.4, Bob Watson (Houston) 5.2, Rennie Stennett (Pittsburgh) 4.8, Chris Speier (San Francisco) 4.7.

WARP3, pitchers: Jones 10.7, Niekro and Morton 9.5, Seaver 8.4, Messersmith 6.8, Forsch 6.6, Montefusco 6.4, Barr 6.3, Reuss 5.4, Rick Reuschel (Chicago) 5.3, Hrabosky 5.2, Rogers 4.7, Steve Stone and Ray Burris (both Chicago) 4.6, Dan Warthen (Montreal) 4.4, Brent Strom (San Diego) 4.3, Bob Apodaca (New York) 4.1, Sutton, Hooton, and Woodie Fryman (Montreal) 3.7.

Actual award voting:
MVP (top 12)

Place Name Team 1st Place Points
1 Joe Morgan CIN 21 321
2 Greg Luzinski PHI 0 154
3 Dave Parker PIT 0 120
4 Johnny Bench CIN 0 117
5 Pete Rose CIN 2 114
6 Ted Simmons STL 0 103
7 Willie Stargell PIT 0 69
8 Al Hrabosky STL 0 66
9 Tom Seaver NYM 0 65
10 Randy Jones SDP 0 54
11 Steve Garvey LAD 0 50
12 Bill Madlock CHC 0 45

Cy Young

Place Name Team 1st Place Points
1 Tom Seaver NYM 15 98
2 Randy Jones SDP 7 80
3 Al Hrabosky STL 2 33
4 John Montefusco SFG 0 2
5 Don Gullett CIN 0 1
5 Andy Messersmith LAD 0 1
5 Don Sutton LAD 0 1

Rookie

Place Name Team Votes
1 John Montefusco SFG 12
2 Gary Carter MON 9
3 Rawly Eastwick CIN 1
3 Larry Parrish MON 1
3 Manny Trillo CHC 1

Best player: Joe Morgan is head and shoulders above the crowd. Rose got a couple of first-place votes based on his in-season move to 3B, but Morgan should have swept this award.
#1 Joe Morgan, #2 Johnny Bench, #3 Mike Schmidt, #4 Pete Rose, #5 Ron Cey, #6 Dave Parker.

Best Pitcher: Randy Jones. It's between Seaver, Messersmith and Jones. No one else is close. Jones was the best, though the margin is not large.
#1 Randy Jones, #2 Tom Seaver, #3 Andy Messersmith, #4 Jerry Reuss, #5 Phil Niekro, #6 Bob Forsch.

Best rookie: John Montefusco was the top rookie. He burned out, and Gary Carter would have the better career. But for one season, it was Montefusco.

Best manager: Sparky Anderson had the courage to move Rose to 3B, and it proved the catalyst for the team. He also nursemaided a mediocre pitching staff through the long season, and then the postseason.

1975 American League

Oakland won its fifth straight division title, even without the first free agent (on a contract violation technicality by A's owner Charlie Finley) of the modern era, Catfish Hunter. Hunter signed a multi-year contract with the Yankees. But the story of the year was the Red Sox, who produced two slugging rookies and won the East, then swept the A's in the ALCS. The Orioles were 2nd, 4.5 games back. The Yankees slipped to third, 12 out, even though Hunter tied for the league lead in victories. Cleveland was 4th with Milwaukee 5th and Detroit last, with 102 losses. Oakland took the West by 7 games over Kansas City, with Texas, Minnesota, Chicago and California closely grouped as also-rans.

Fred Lynn led in OPS and won the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards. Rod Carew led in batting average, Reggie Jackson and George Scott tied for the home run lead, Scott led in RBI, and Mickey Rivers led in steals. Jim Palmer tied Hunter for the wins lead and led in ERA, Frank Tanana led in strikeouts and Goose Gossage in saves. Palmer won the Cy Young.

And now, over to the Win Shares desk for this update:
Players; Ken Singleton (Baltimore), Fred Lynn (Boston) and John Mayberry (Kansas City) 33 each, Gene Tenace (Oakland) and Toby Harrah (Texas) 32, Rod Carew (Minnesota) 30, Bobby Grich (Baltimore) 29, Reggie Jackson (Oakland) 27, George Brett (Kansas City) 25, Don Baylor (Baltimore) and Bobby Bonds (New York) 24, Boog Powell (Cleveland), George Scott (Milwaukee) and Thurman Munson (New York) 23, Mickey Rivers (California), Billy North and Claudell Washington (Oakland) and Mike Hargrove (Texas) 22, Jorge Orta (Chicago), Graig Nettles and Roy White (New York) 21.

Pitchers; Jim Palmer (Baltimore) 31, Catfish Hunter (New York) 29, Goose Gossage (Chicago) 23, Frank Tanana (California), Jim Kaat (Chicago) and Steve Busby (Kansas City) 22 each, Bert Blyleven (Minnesota) 21, Mike Torrez (Baltimore) and Vida Blue (Oakland) 19, Bill Lee (Boston) and Ed Figueroa (California) 18, Luis Tiant and Rick Wise (Boston) and Dennis Eckersley (Cleveland) 17.

WARP3 position leaders: Grich 11.1, Harrah 9.9, Lynn 9.0, Tenace 8.8, Mayberry and Carew 8.7, Singleton 8.2, Munson 8.1, Jackson and Nettles 7.0, Bonds 6.8, North and White 6.2, Bucky Dent (Chicago) 6.0, Bert Campaneris (Oakland) 5.5, Brett 5.2, Scott 5.1, Rivers 4.9, Powell 4.8, Washington 4.7, Baylor and Darrell Porter (Kansas City) 4.6.

WARP3 pitching leaders: Hunter 7.8, Palmer 7.7, Gossage 7.6, Tanana 6.6, Busby 6.3, Kaat 6.2, Eckersley 5.7, Blyleven 5.4, Figueroa 5.0, Mickey Lolich (Detroit) 4.7, Gaylord Perry (Texas) and Al Fitzmorris (Kansas City) 4.3.

Actual Award voting, beginning with MVP (top 17):

Place Name Team 1st place Points
1 Fred Lynn BOS 22 326
2 John Mayberry KCR 0 157
3 Jim Rice BOS 0 154
4 Rollie Fingers OAK 2 129
5 Reggie Jackson OAK 0 118
6 Jim Palmer BAL 0 82
7 Thurman Munson NYY 0 69
8 George Scott MIL 0 64
9 Rod Carew MIN 0 54
10 Ken Singleton BAL 0 44
11 George Brett KCR 0 37
12 Catfish Hunter NYY 0 31
13 Rick Burleson BOS 0 28
14 Claudell Washingt OAK 0 22
15 Toby Harrah TEX 0 16
16 Mike Torrez BAL 0 12
17 Rich Gossage CHW 0 11

Cy Young:

Place Name Team 1st Place Points
1 Jim Palmer BAL 15 98
2 Catfish Hunter NYY 7 74
3 Rollie Fingers OAK 2 25
4 Jim Kaat CHW 0 7
4 Frank Tanana CAL 0 7
6 Vida Blue OAK 0 2
6 Rich Gossage CHW 0 2
8 Rick Wise BOS 0 1

Rookie:

Place Name Team 1st Place Points
1 Fred Lynn BOS 23 23
2 Jim Rice BOS 1 1

Addenda: Rollie Fingers (3rd in Cy voting) had 15 Win Shares and a WARP3 of 3.5.

Top player: Fred Lynn. You can make a case for Singleton, Mayberry, or Carew for MVP, even Munson or Tenace. Different metrics show them outperforming Lynn, depending on where you look. However, if you include the nebulous "impact," it's Fred Lynn for a landslide.
#1 Fred Lynn, #2 Ken Singleton, #3 Gene Tenace, #4 Rod Carew, #5 John Mayberry, #6 Toby Harrah.

Top pitcher: Jim Palmer was the best. Not really close there, although a number of hurlers had good years.
#1 Jim Palmer, #2 Catfish Hunter, #3 Goose Gossage, #4 Frank Tanana, #5 Jim Kaat, #6 Steve Busby.

Top rookie: Fred Lynn, of course. Eckersley had a good rookie year, and Rice played well.

Top manager: Darrell Johnson got the Red Sox into the World Series. He did a nice job.

1974 National League

Lou Brock took aim at Ty Cobb's single-season steals record, and trashed it with 118 bags swiped. The Cards still finished 2nd to the Pirates in the East. The story of the year was the Dodgers, an emerging young team that won 102 games and the pennant with a 4-game NLCS triumph. The Reds were just 4 games behind the Dodgers. The Braves also had a solid year at 88 victories. Houston was 4th in the West at .500, while the Giants lost 90 and the Padres 102, again. The Pirates won 88 and the Cards were 1.5 back, and the Phillies were third and just under .500. Montreal was right behind them, while New York slipped back to 5th, and Chicago was last with 96 losses.

Ralph Garr led in batting average, Willie Stargell in OPS, Johnny Bench in RBI, Mike Schmidt in home runs. Steve Garvey won the MVP. Buzz Capra led the league in ERA, Andy Messersmith and Phil Niekro each won 20, Steve Carlton led in strikeouts, Mike Marshall led in saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia) 39, Joe Morgan (Cincinnati) 37, Johnny Bench (Cincinnati) 34, Jimmy Wynn (Los Angeles) 32, Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh) 29, Darrell Evans (Atlanta) 28, Ralph Garr (Atlanta), Pete Rose (Cincinnati), Cesar Cedeno (Houston) and Steve Garvey (Los Angeles) 27, Dave Cash (Philadelphia) and Al Oliver (Pittsburgh) 26, Dave Concepcion (Cincinnati), Richie Zisk (Pittsburgh), Willie McCovey (San Diego) and Reggie Smith (St. Louis) 25, Ron Cey (Los Angeles) and Bobby Bonds (San Francisco) 23, Rick Monday (Chicago), Richie Hebner (Pittsburgh), Lou Brock and Bake McBride (St. Louis) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Phil Niekro (Atlanta) 28, Andy Messersmith (Los Angeles) 25, Jon Matlack (New York) 24, Jim Barr (San Francisco) 23, Steve Carlton (Philadelphia) 22, Buzz Capra (Atlanta), Mike Marshall (Los Angeles), Jim Lonborg (Philadelphia), Jim Rooker (Pittsburgh) and Lynn McGlothen (St. Louis) 21, Don Gullett (Cincinnati) 18, Carl Morton (Atlanta), Larry Dierker (Houston) and Jerry Koosman (New York) 17.

WARP3 scores, players: Morgan 11.3, Bench 11.2, Schmidt 9.3, Wynn 9.1, Concepcion 8.9, Stargell 8.5, Davey Lopes (Los Angeles) 7.9, Cedeno and Smith 7.5, Oliver 7.2, Cey 7.1, Zisk 7.0, Hebner 6.7, Cash 6.2, Evans 6.1, Garvey 5.6, Rose and McBride 5.2, Greg Gross (Houston) 4.6.

WARP3 scores, pitchers: Matlack 11.1, Niekro 9.9, Barr, Capra, and Tom Seaver (New York) 7.1, Koosman 6.3, Carlton 5.9, Dave Freisleben (San Diego) 5.6, Messersmith, Lonborg, and McGlothen 5.5, Rooker 5.4, Dierker 5.0.

Actual award winners:
MVP (top 20): 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+---+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Steve Garvey LAD 13 270 336 0.80 | 642 200 21 .312 .811 5|
2 Lou Brock STL 8 233 336 0.69 | 635 194 3 .306 .749 118|
3 Mike Marshall LAD 1 146 336 0.43 | 34 8 0 .235 .471 0| 15-12 208 2.42 1.186 143 21
4 Johnny Bench CIN 0 141 336 0.42 | 621 174 33 .280 .870 5|
5 Jimmy Wynn LAD 0 137 336 0.41 | 535 145 32 .271 .884 18|
6 Mike Schmidt PHI 0 136 336 0.40 | 568 160 36 .282 .941 23|
7 Al Oliver PIT 0 87 336 0.26 | 617 198 11 .321 .832 10|
8 Joe Morgan CIN 0 72 336 0.21 | 512 150 22 .293 .921 58|
9 Richie Zisk PIT 0 54 336 0.16 | 536 168 17 .313 .862 1|
10 Willie Stargell PIT 0 43 336 0.13 | 508 153 25 .301 .944 0|
11 Reggie Smith STL 0 39 336 0.12 | 517 160 23 .309 .917 4|
12 Ralph Garr ATL 0 11 336 0.03 | 606 214 11 .353 .886 26|
13 Ted Simmons STL 0 7 336 0.02 | 599 163 20 .272 .774 0|
14 Dave Cash PHI 0 6 336 0.02 | 687 206 2 .300 .729 20|
15 Dave Concepcion CIN 0 5 336 0.01 | 594 167 14 .281 .732 41|
16 Jack Billingham CIN 0 4 336 0.01 | 67 5 0 .075 .163 0| 19-11 212 3.94 1.399 103
16 Cesar Cedeno HOU 0 4 336 0.01 | 610 164 26 .269 .799 57|
16 Al Hrabosky STL 0 4 336 0.01 | 13 4 0 .308 .769 0| 8-1 88 2.96 1.234 82 9
16 Andy Messersmith LAD 0 4 336 0.01 | 96 23 1 .240 .666 0| 20-6 292 2.59 1.098 221
20 Buzz Capra ATL 0 3 336 0.01 | 67 11 0 .164 .418 0| 16-8 217 2.28 1.138 137 1
Garvey vs. Brock, with Marshall, then the deserving players like Bench, Wynn and Schmidt. Garvey won with good triple crown stats, Brock impressed with the steals record, and Marshall with the 208 innings in relief. Others were better if less flashy.

Cy Young: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Mike Marshall LAD 17 96 120 0.80 | 15-12 208 2.42 1.186 143 21
2 Andy Messersmith LAD 5 66 120 0.55 | 20-6 292 2.59 1.098 221
3 Phil Niekro ATL 1 15 120 0.12 | 20-13 302 2.38 1.115 195 1
4 Don Sutton LAD 1 12 120 0.10 | 19-9 276 3.23 1.163 179
5 Al Hrabosky STL 0 9 120 0.08 | 8-1 88 2.96 1.234 82 9
6 Jack Billingham CIN 0 8 120 0.07 | 19-11 212 3.94 1.399 103
7 Don Gullett CIN 0 5 120 0.04 | 17-11 243 3.04 1.189 183
8 Clay Carroll CIN 0 2 120 0.02 | 12-5 101 2.14 1.251 46 6
9 Buzz Capra ATL 0 1 120 0.01 | 16-8 217 2.28 1.138 137 1
9 Dave Giusti PIT 0 1 120 0.01 | 7-5 106 3.32 1.334 53 12
9 Lynn McGlothen STL 0 1 120 0.01 | 16-12 237 2.69 1.268 142
Marshall outpolled teammate Messersmith over the deserving Niekro.

Rookie: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-+---+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Bake McBride STL 16 16 24 0.67 | 559 173 6 .309 .763 30|
2 Greg Gross HOU 7 7 24 0.29 | 589 185 0 .314 .770 12|
3 Bill Madlock CHC 1 1 24 0.04 | 453 142 9 .313 .815 11

Top Player: Johnny Bench. There are a number of good candidates, like Schmidt and Morgan, who would dominate the league over the next few years, and Wynn, the best player on the pennant winners. But none was any better than the greatest catcher ever.
#1 Johnny Bench, #2 Mike Schmidt, #3 Joe Morgan, #4 Jimmy Wynn, #5 Cesar Cedeno, #6 Willie Stargell.

Top pitcher: Phil Niekro, robbed in the award voting. Easily the best in the league, overshadowed by Mike Marshall's record (for the time) 106 games pitched.
#1 Phil Niekro, #2 Andy Messersmith, #3 Jon Matlack, #4 Jim Barr, #5 Mike Marshall, #6 Buzz Capra.

Top rookie: Bake McBride was a better all-around player than Greg Gross.

Top manager: Walter Alston returned to the top spot.

1974 American League

Oakland made it three World Championships in a row, a feat not managed since the Yankees took five in a row 1949-53. The A's had an underwhelming 90 regular season wins, but featured a balanced team with excellent hitting, pitching and defense. The A's held off upstart Texas in the West by 5 games, with Minnesota 3rd, Chicago 4th, Kansas City 5th and California last. The A's beat the East Division champion Orioles in the ALCS, after Baltimore had captured 91 regular season wins. New York was second in a close race, 2 games back. Boston was 3rd, Cleveland 4th, Milwaukee 5th and Detroit last.

Oakland had switched managers after Dick Williams resigned, frustrated over owner Charlie Finley's meddling. Al Dark took over the A's helm, but Finley dictated most managerial moves through his young assistant, who would become the artist known as M.C. Hammer. Williams would resurface as the Angels manager around midseason. Jeff Burroughs won the RBI title and the MVP, while Dick Allen led the loop in homers and OPS despite missing the month of September. Rod Carew won the batting title and Bill North led in steals. Catfish Hunter led in ERA and tied for the lead in wins with Fergie Jenkins. Nolan Ryan led in strikeouts, Terry Forster in saves. Gaylord Perry was the leader in ERA+.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Burroughs (Texas) 33, Bobby Grich (Baltimore) and Rod Carew (Minnesota) 32, Reggie Jackson (Oakland) 30, Ken Henderson (Chicago) and Don Money (Milwaukee) 26, Carl Yastrzemski (Boston), Dick Allen (Chicago) and Joe Rudi (Oakland) 24, Brooks Robinson (Baltimore), Bill Freehan (Detroit) and Elliot Maddox (New York) 23, Jorge Orta (Chicago), Amos Otis (Kansas City), Graig Nettles (New York), Bert Campaneris and Gene Tenace (Oakland) and Cesar Tovar (Texas) 22, Paul Blair (Baltimore) and Sal Bando (Oakland) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Gaylord Perry (Cleveland) 30, Luis Tiant (Boston) 29, Catfish Hunter (Oakland) 27, Fergie Jenkins (Texas) 26, Bert Blyleven (Minnesota) 23, Steve Busby (Kansas City) 22, Ross Grimsley (Baltimore), Nolan Ryan (California) and Jim Kaat (Chicago) 21, Jim Perry (Cleveland) and John Hiller (Detroit) 20, Mike Cuellar (Baltimore), Bill Lee (Boston), Wilbur Wood (Chicago), Tom Murphy (Milwaukee) and Pat Dobson (New York) 19.

WARP3 scores, players: Grich 9.3, Jackson 8.1, Carew 7.4, Tenace 6.1, Burroughs 6.0, Henderson 5.9, Billy North (Oakland) 5.8, Nettles 5.7, Campaneris 5.4, Bando 5.3, George Scott (Milwaukee) 5.2, Ellie Rodriguez (Milwaukee) and Amos Otis (Kansas City) 5.0, Bucky Dent (Chicago) and Hal McRae (Kansas City) 4.9.

WARP3 scores, pitchers: G. Perry 9.3, Tiant 8.0, Jenkins 6.7, Hunter and Murphy 6.4, Blyleven and Hiller 6.0, Kaat 5.9, Ryan 5.0, J. Perry and Wood 4.5, Busby and Bill Campbell (Minnesota) 4.0, Joe Decker (Minnesota) 3.9.

Actual award winners:
MVP (top 20): 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+---+-----+-----+
1 Jeff Burroughs TEX 10 248 336 0.74 | 554 167 25 .301 .901 2|
2 Joe Rudi OAK 5 161 336 0.48 | 593 174 22 .293 .818 2|
3 Sal Bando OAK 3 143 336 0.43 | 498 121 22 .243 .778 2|
4 Reggie Jackson OAK 1 119 336 0.35 | 506 146 29 .289 .905 25|
5 Fergie Jenkins TEX 3 118 336 0.35 | 2 1 0 .500 1.000 0| 25-12 328 2.82 1.008 225
6 Catfish Hunter OAK 1 107 336 0.32 | | 25-12 318 2.49 0.986 143
7 Rod Carew MIN 0 70 336 0.21 | 599 218 3 .364 .879 38|
8 Elliott Maddox NYY 0 59 336 0.18 | 466 141 3 .303 .781 6|
9 Bobby Grich BAL 0 49 336 0.15 | 582 153 19 .263 .807 17|
10 Mike Cuellar BAL 0 42 336 0.12 | | 22-10 269 3.11 1.259 106
11 Luis Tiant BOS 0 41 336 0.12 | | 22-13 311 2.92 1.166 176
12 Brooks Robinson BAL 0 30 336 0.09 | 553 159 7 .288 .728 2|
13 Paul Blair BAL 0 27 336 0.08 | 552 144 17 .261 .730 27|
14 Nolan Ryan CAL 0 24 336 0.07 | | 22-16 333 2.89 1.271 367
15 Bert Campaneris OAK 0 23 336 0.07 | 527 153 2 .290 .713 34|
16 Rollie Fingers OAK 0 21 336 0.06 | | 9-5 119 2.65 1.118 95 18
17 Gaylord Perry CLE 0 18 336 0.05 | | 21-13 322 2.51 1.021 216
18 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 0 14 336 0.04 | 515 155 15 .301 .859 12|
19 Ken Henderson CHW 0 12 336 0.04 | 602 176 20 .292 .827 12|
20 John Hiller DET 0 11 336 0.03 | | 17-14 150 2.64 1.260 134 13

Cy Young: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Catfish Hunter OAK 12 90 120 0.75 | 25-12 318 2.49 0.986 143
2 Fergie Jenkins TEX 10 75 120 0.62 | 25-12 328 2.82 1.008 225
3 Nolan Ryan CAL 1 28 120 0.23 | 22-16 333 2.89 1.271 367
4 Gaylord Perry CLE 1 8 120 0.07 | 21-13 322 2.51 1.021 216
4 Luis Tiant BOS 0 8 120 0.07 | 22-13 311 2.92 1.166 176
6 Mike Cuellar BAL 0 6 120 0.05 | 22-10 269 3.11 1.259 106
7 John Hiller DET 0 1 120 0.01 | 17-14 150 2.64 1.260 134 13

Rookie: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Mike Hargrove TEX 16 16 24 0.67 | 415 134 4 .323 .819 0|
2 Bucky Dent CHW 3 3 24 0.12 | 496 136 5 .274 .662 3|
3 George Brett KCR 2 2 24 0.08 | 457 129 2 .282 .676 8|
4 Rick Burleson BOS 1 1 24 0.04 | 384 109 4 .284 .693 3|
4 Jim Sundberg TEX 1 1 24 0.04 | 368 91 3 .247 .678 2|

Top player: Reggie Jackson, for the second year in a row. The writers went for RBI man Burroughs on the surprising Rangers, but Jackson was the leader on the three-time champs. I'll take that.
#1 Reggie Jackson, #2 Rod Carew, #3 Bobby Grich, #4 Jeff Burroughs, #5 Don Money.

Top pitcher: Catfish Hunter. Gaylord, Luis, Catfish and Fergie were all pretty close to even, so I'll send another one the winners' way.
#1 Catfish Hunter, #2 Gaylord Perry, #3 Luis Tiant, #4 Ferguson Jenkins, #5 John Hiller.

Top rookie: Mike Hargrove had the best rookie season. George Brett would be the superstar. Five good players in the voting.

Top manager: Billy Martin revived the Rangers from the dead.