30 December 2007

1923 National League

The Giants won their third straight, with Cincinnati charging into 2nd and Pittsburgh 3rd. Chicago and St. Louis were also over .500, with Brooklyn just below that mark. Boston and Philadelphia were everyone's patsies. The Giants had hitting and decent pitching, the Reds great pitching but little offense.

Rogers Hornsby won the batting title at .384, but was limited to 107 games. He would have qualified by today's rules, but just barely. Jim Bottomley was second in batting at .371. Hornsby also led in the other percentage categories, on-base, slugging, and OPS. Ross Youngs edged Max Carey in runs 121-120, Frankie Frisch led with 223 hits and 311 total bases, Edd Roush had 41 doubles, Carey and Pie Traynor had 19 triples apiece. Cy Williams hit 41 homers in Philadelphia's bandbox, Irish Meusel led the league in RBI with 125, Carey had 51 steals, and Frisch tied Jacques Fornier with 122 runs created, although they didn't know that at the time.

Dolf Luque led the league with 27 wins and a 1.93 ERA, and was second in strikeouts to Dazzy Vance's 197. Luque's 201 ERA+ was way ahead, with teammate Eppa Rixey second at 139. Johnny Morrison was second in wins with 25, Eppa Rixey was second in ERA with a 2.80 mark.

Win Shares leaders, players: Frankie Frisch (New York) 31, Max Carey (Pittsburgh) 29, Edd Roush (Cincinnati) and Pie Traynor (Pittsburgh) 28, Jack Fournier (Brooklyn) 27, Jigger Statz (Chicago) and Rogers Hornsby (St. Louis) 26, Bob O'Farrell (Chicago), Bubbles Hargrave (Cincinnati) and Ross Youngs (New York) 25 each, Jim Bottomley (St. Louis) 24.

WS leaders, pitchers: Dolf Luque (Cincinnati) 39, Pete Alexander (Chicago) 27, Eppa Rixey (Cincinnati) 26, Johnny Morrison (Pittsburgh) 23, Burleigh Grimes (Brooklyn) and Pete Donohue (Cincinnati) 21.

WARP3: Frisch and Hornsby 6.4, Traynor 5.9, O'Farrell 5.7, Hargrave 5.0 (best season), Fournier 4.6, Dave Bancroft (New York) 4.2, Youngs 3.8, Bottomley (first full year) and Heinie Groh (New York) 3.7.

Pitchers, Luque 9.7 (career year), Jimmy Ring (Philadelphia) 8.1, Bernie Friberg (Chicago) 6.2, Rixey and Grimes 4.9, Dazzy Vance (Brooklyn) 4.6, Joe Genewich (Boston) 4.4, Jesse Barnes (Boston) 4.2, Wilbur Cooper and Lee Meadows (both Pittsburgh) 3.6.

WAR leaders, position players: Frisch 7.8, Hornsby 7.3, Fournier 6.1, Carey 5.7, Roush and Traynor 5.0, O'Farrell 4.9, Statz and Johnston 4.6, Bottomley and Youngs 4.5. Pitchers: Luque 9.9, Ring 6.4, Rixey 5.7, Alexander 5.1, Morrison 4.4, Vance 4.3, Cooper 4.0, Haines 3.6, McQuillan 3.5, Keen 3.4.

Best player: Frankie Frisch. Tough choice with Hornsby limited to 107 games by injuries. Frisch led the league in hits and total bases, was 3rd in runs and RBI, 5th in steals and average. He also played a strong 2B. Hornsby, even with the missed time, was #2. Carey led in triples and steals, he's #3. Jack Fournier is #4, Bob O'Farrell #5.

Best pitcher: Dolf Luque had the greatest single season ever by a 20th century Reds pitcher. 27-8, 1.91 ERA, leading in wins, ERA, shutouts, 2nd in strikeouts. Reds also had the second-best pitcher in Eppa Rixey, 20-15 and 2.80. Pete Alexander is #3 at 22-12, 3.19. Jimmy Ring #4, Johnny Morrison #5.

Best rookie: Gus Felix hit .273 in 139 games for Boston, in a bad year for NL rookies.

Best manager: Pat Moran, nearly getting the Reds to the pennant with an offense of Edd Roush and not much else.

26 December 2007

1923 American League

The Yankees won their third straight pennant, and finally took the World Series, their first of 26 in the century. Detroit was second but 16 games back. The Yanks lapped the field, winning 98 games. Detroit won 83 and Cleveland 82, and were the only other teams above .500. The rest were mediocre, not really bad, with Washington, St, Louis, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston in that order.

Harry Heilmann won the batting title at .403, Charlie Jamieson of Cleveland led with 222 hits, Tris Speaker was second with 218 hits and led with 59 doubles, while Washington's Sam Rice and Goose Goslin led with 18 triples, and Eddie Collins paced the loop with 48 steals. Everything else was all Babe Ruth, all the time. Ruth was second in batting at .393, led in runs with 151, homers with 41, RBI with 131. He drew 170 walks, and his 239 OPS+ easily outpaced Heilmann's 194.

For the pitchers, George Uhle's 26 wins easily led the league over the 21 of Hooks Dauss and Sam Jones, Stan Coveleski's 2.76 ERA topped Waite Hoyt's 3.02, while Walter Johnson led with 130 strikeouts.

Win Shares leaders, players; Babe Ruth (New York) 55, Tris Speaker (Cleveland) and Harry Heilmann (Detroit) 35, Joe Sewell (Cleveland) and Ken Williams (St. Louis) 29, Charlie Jamieson (Cleveland) 25, Eddie Collins (Chicago), Ty Cobb (Detroit) and Sam Rice (Washington) 24.

WS leaders, pitchers; George Uhle (Cleveland) 29, Howard Ehmke (Boston), Hooks Dauss (Detroit) and Eddie Rommel (Philadelphia) 25, Joe Bush (New York) 24, Herb Pennock (New York) and Elam Vangilder (St. Louis) 23.

WARP3: Ruth 15.4 (arguably his best year), Heilmann 8.7, Speaker 8.6, Sewell 7.3, Williams 6.5, Collins 6.1, Muddy Ruel (Washington) and Willie Kamm (Chicago) 5.4, Jamieson 5.0 (best year), Aaron Ward (New York) 4.9, Cobb and Johnny Bassler (also Detroit) 4.8, Johnny Mostil (Chicago) 4.7, Rice 4.3.

Pitchers, Uhle 7.7, Ehmke 7.1, Dauss 6.2, Rommel 6.1, Walter Johnson (Washington) 5.4, Urban Shocker (St. Louis) 5.3, Jack Quinn (Boston) 5.0, George Mogridge (Washington) 4.9, Sloppy Thurston (Chicago) 4.8, Vangilder 4.7, Bush 4.4, Pennock 4.3.

WAR leaders, position players: Ruth 15.4, Heilmann 9.7, Speaker 9.2, Williams 7.9, Sewell 7.4, Collins 6.3, Cobb 5.6, Jamieson 5.5, Ward 4.9, Kamm and Harris 4.8. Pitchers: Uhle 5.1, Pennock and Shocker 5.0, Vangilder 4.7, Dauss and Ehmke 4.6, Rommel 4.4, Thurston 4.3, Bush 4.2, Coveleski 4.1.

Actual MVP voting:
Place Name Team 1st place Points
1 Babe Ruth NYY 8 64
2 Eddie Collins CHW 0 37
3 Harry Heilmann DET 0 31
4 Wally Gerber SLB 0 20
4 Joe Sewell CLE 0 20
6 Charlie Jamieson CLE 0 19
7 Johnny Bassler DET 0 17
8 Chick Galloway PHA 0 13
8 George Uhle CLE 0 13
10 George Burns BOS 0 8
11 Howard Ehmke BOS 0 7
11 Muddy Ruel WSH 0 7
13 Roger Peckinpaugh WSH 0 6
14 Urban Shocker SLB 0 5
15 Joe Judge WSH 0 4
15 Marty McManus SLB 0 4
15 Ken Williams SLB 0 4
18 Bucky Harris WSH 0 3
18 Joe Harris BOS 0 3
20 Joe Hauser PHA 0 1
20 Walter Johnson WSH 0 1
20 Cy Perkins PHA 0 1

Top player: Umm, let me think........OK, Babe Ruth. Back to full health, the Babe was easily the best in the league. He had perhaps the finest year ever: .393, 1309 OPS. Heilmann and his .403 average #2, Speaker with his .380 average and league lead in doubles fits at #3, Joe Sewell and his .353 average with good defense at shortstop will fit at #4, while Ken Williams, 4th in OPS+, is #5.

Top pitcher: George Uhle. Big lead in wins and innings, the quantity leader. Uhle was 26-16, 3.77. Hooks Dauss, 21-13, 3.62, is #2. Howard Ehmke was 20-17, 3.78 for #3. Urban Shocker is #4, Herb Pennock #5.

Top rookie: Willie Kamm, .292 in 149 games for Chicago with terrific defense at third base, over Heinie Manush, .334 in 109 games for Detroit. Manush never was much of a fielder.

Top manager: Miller Huggins guided the Yankees to their first World Series victory.