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.

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