07 July 2007

1910 National League

Chicago got catcher Johnny Kling back and roared to another pennant, winning 104 games. They lost the World Series to Philadelphia, though. New York and Pittsburgh were the other good teams again, with Philadelphia and Cincinnati around .500. Brooklyn, St. Louis, and Boston trailed. The Cubs had their best offense in years, topping the league in runs per game as well as their usual fielding dominance, but were an old team that would soon need rebuilt.

Statistical leaders: Sherry Magee batted .331 to beat out Vin Campbell's .326 and Solly Hofman's .325. Magee also led in on-base, slugging, total bases, runs (110), and RBI (123 to Mike Mitchell's 88). Bobby Byrne led in doubles with 43, Mitchell in triples with 18, and Bob Bescher in steals with 70. Byrne and Honus Wagner tied for the hits lead with 178.

Christy Mathewson led the way with 27 wins to Mordecai Brown's 25, while King Cole led with a 1.80 ERA to edge Brown's 1.86 and Mathewson's 1.89. Earl Moore had 185 strikeouts to edge Matty by one. Nap Rucker pitched 320 innings, Mathewson 318.

Win Shares leaderboard:
Players; Sherry Magee (Philadelphia) 36, Solly Hofman (Chicago) 31, Honus Wagner (Pittsburgh) 30, Bobby Byrne (Pittsburgh) and Ed Konetchy (St. Louis) 27, Wildfire Schulte (Chicago) 26, Larry Doyle (New York) 25, Dode Paskert (Cincinnati) and Johnny Bates (Philadelphia) 24.

Pitchers; Christy Mathewson (New York) 30, Mordecai Brown (Chicago) 29, King Cole (Chicago) 25, Nap Rucker (Brooklyn) 23, Earl Moore (Philadelphia) and Babe Adams (Pittsburgh) 21.

WARP3 leaderboard: Wagner 6.6 (an off-year for him), Magee 6.1, Konetchy 6.0 (best year), Hofman 5.4, George Gibson (Pittsburgh) 4.7, Schulte 4.4, Bates 4.3, Fred Snodgrass (New York) 4.2, Byrne and Mike Mowrey (St. Louis) 4.1, Paskert 4.0 (best year), Joe Tinker (Chicago) 3.9.

For the pitchers, Mathewson 9.2, Rucker 6.7, Moore 6.3, George Suggs (Cincinnati) 6.1, Brown 5.7, Cy Barger (Brooklyn) 5.4, Harry Gaspar (Cincinnati) 4.9, Cole 4.8 (rookie, best year), Mordecai Brown (Chicago) 4.7, Louis Drucke (New York) 4.6, Doc Scanlan (Brooklyn) and Al Mattern (Boston) 4.4.

WAR leaders, players: Magee 8.8, Wagner 7.3, Hofman 6.7, Byrne and Konetchy 6.3, Snodgrass 6.1, Paskert 5.8, Bates 5.7, Doyle 5.5.

Pitchers: Mathewson 7.2, Rucker 6.2, Cole 5.9, Moore 5.6, Brown 5.4, Suggs 4.4, Drucke 4.3, Barger, McQuilan, and Scanlan 4.3.

Best Player: Sherry Magee by default. He was the best hitter, though a butcher afield. Magee led in RBI by a margin of 35, and that's quite impressive. I'd like to pick a Cub, but again no one stands out from the rest. They had a team effort all the way, as usual. Honus Wagner fell out seriously but was still #2. Ed Konetchy #3, Solly Hofman #4, Fred Snodgrass #5.

Best Pitcher: Christy Mathewson. Christy is always a safe pick, in 1910 he led in wins, 2nd in strikeouts, 3rd in ERA. Mordecai Brown was 2nd in wins, 2nd in ERA, and second on my ballot. Earl Moore, the strikeout leader, #3 with Nap Rucker #4 and King Cole #5.

Rookie of the Year: King Cole. Here's a Cub! The young pitcher was 20-4 with a league-leading 1.80 ERA. He walked 130 against 114 Ks, though. Bad omens for the future.

Best manager: Frank Chance guided this Cub team with a steady hand.

No comments: