16 September 2007

1922 National League

The New York Giants again outlasted their pursuers, which included Cincinnati, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Chicago in a pretty good race. Brooklyn was just under .500 with Philadelphia and Boston were at the bottom. The Giants then won another World Series over the Yankees.

Rogers Hornsby dominated the league's stat leader boards. He won the Triple Crown quite easily, and led in slugging percentage by 150 points over second-place Ray Grimes. Hornsby also led in runs, hits, and doubles. About the only key categories Hornsby didn't take were triples, led by Jake Daubert with 22, and steals, led by Max Carey with 51. For an idea of Hornsby's domination, he led the league with 202 Runs Created, and the next guy on the list was Carey with 127. Hornsby nearly lapped the field.

Eppa Rixey led pitchers with 25 wins, followed by Wilbur Cooper at 23 and Dutch Ruether with 21. Phil Douglas led with a 2.63 ERA. Rosy Ryan was a distant second at 3.01 and Pete Donohue third with 3.12. Dazzy Vance topped the loop with 134 strikeouts. Cooper was second with 129.

Win Shares leaders, players; Rogers Hornsby (St. Louis) 47, Ray Grimes (Chicago) and Max Carey (Pittsburgh) 29, Zack Wheat (Brooklyn) and Dave Bancroft (New York) 27, Bob O'Farrell (Chicago) 26, Charlie Hollocher (Chicago) and Jake Daubert (Cincinnati) 24.

WS leaders, pitchers; Wilbur Cooper (Pittsburgh) 27, Eppa Rixey (Cincinnati) 23, Art Nehf (New York), Johnny Morrison (Pittsburgh) and Jeff Pfeffer (St. Louis) 21, Dutch Ruether (Brooklyn) 20.

WARP3: Hornsby 9.5, Bancroft 6.0, O'Farrell 5.3 (best year), Grimes 5.0 (best year, last good year), Frankie Frisch (St. Louis) 4.9, Hollocher 4.7 (best year, last good year), Babe Pinelli (Cincinnati) 4.2, Ross Youngs (New York) 3.8, Rabbit Maranville (Pittsburgh) 3.6, Carey 3.5.

Pitchers, Cooper 6.1 (best year), Ruether 5.1, Pfeffer (last good year) and Lee Meadows (Philadelphia) 5.0, Morrison 4.2 (best year), Pete Alexander (Chicago) 3.6, Babe Adams (Pittsburgh) and Dazzy Vance (Brooklyn) 3.5.

WAR leaders, position players: Hornsby 11.0, Bancroft 7.2, Grimes 6.3, Carey 6.0, Hollocher 5.5, Frisch 5.1, Bigbee, Kelly, and Wheat 4.9, Daubert, O'Farrell, and Youngs 4.8. Pitchers: Cooper 6.0, Morrison 5.4, Ruether 4.6, Alexander 4.4, Rixey 3.9, Meadows and Pfeffer 3.8, Douglas 3.6, Aldridge and Nehf 3.5.

Actual award voting: the AL began MVP voting again in 1922, but the NL didn't start until 1924.

Best player: Rogers Hornsby had one of the all-time great seasons, batting .401 with 42 homers and 152 RBI, easily winning the triple crown. The closest race was RBI, with Irish Meusel 20 behind him. Ray Grimes #2, Bob O'Farrell #3, Max Carey #4, and Dave Bancroft #5.

Best pitcher: Wilbur Cooper was 2nd in wins and strikeouts, 4th in ERA, and the best all-around at 23-14, 3.18. Eppa Rixey #2 at 25-13, 3.53. Pete Donohue at #3, with Dutch Ruether #4 and Johnny Morrison #5.

Best rookie: Andy High, .283 for Brooklyn.

Best manager: John McGraw again. Hard to ignore a World Championship.

1922 American League

The Yankees win their second straight pennant in a tremendous race with the St. Louis Browns decided by a single game. The Browns led as late as September 7h, though the Yankees had compiled a decent lead with a week to go. Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago were just above .500. Washington and Philadelphia were in the second division, and Boston, having sold off their best players, sank to last. Babe Ruth had a series of problems that limited him to 110 games, which no doubt made the race closer.

George Sisler won the batting title at .420, with Ty Cobb second at .401. Not often a .400 hitter finishes second in batting average. Tris Speaker hit .378, Harry Heilmann .356. Sisler also led in runs with 134, hits with 246, triples with 18, and steals with 51. Lu Blue was second with 131 runs, Cobb was second with 211 hits, Cobb and Baby Doll Jacobson second with 17 triples. Ken Williams second with 37 steals. Sisler's teammate Williams led in homers with 39 and RBI with 155. Tillie Walker was second with 37 homers, Ruth third in spite of missed time with 35 HR. Tris Speaker led in doubles with 48, while injury-hampered Babe Ruth still led in OPS, and edged Speaker in OPS+. Sisler and Williams played in a pretty serious hitters' park.

Eddie Rommel led with 27 wins, followed by Joe Bush at 26 and Urban Shocker 24. George Uhle won 22 and Red Faber 21. Faber led in ERA at 2.81, just ahead of Herman Pillette at 2.85. Then came Bob Shawkey at 2.91 and Rasty Wright at 2.92. Urban Shocker's 149 strikeouts edged Faber's 148. Shawkey was third with 130.

Win Shares leaders, players: Tris Speaker (Cleveland) and Ken Williams (St. Louis) 30, Ty Cobb (Detroit), Babe Ruth (New York) and George Sisler (St. Louis) 29, Harry Heilmann (Detroit) 24, Eddie Collins (Chicago) 23, Ray Schalk (Chicago), Bobby Veach (Detroit), Wally Pipp (New York), Bing Miller and Tilly Walker (Philadelphia) 22 each.

WS leaders, pitchers: Red Faber (Chicago) 31, Urban Shocker (St. Louis) 29, Bob Shawkey (New York) and Erwin Rommel (Philadelphia) 27, Joe Bush (New York) 26, Stan Coveleski and George Uhle (Cleveland), Herman Pillette (Detroit), and Elam Vangilder (St. Louis) 22 each.

WARP3: Williams 6.9, Sisler 6.6, Ruth 6.5, Speaker 5.9, Cobb 5.6, Veach 4.9 (last big season), Heilmann and Schalk (best season) 4.7, Chick Galloway (Philadelphia) 4.1, Pipp 3.9 (best year), Baby Doll Jacobson (St. Louis) and Earl Sheely (Chicago) 3.7.

Pitchers, Faber 8.1, Rommel 7.6 (best year), Coveleski 6.5, Uhle and Walter Johnson (Washington) 6.1, Shocker and Pillette (career year) 6.0, Tom Zachary (Washington) 5.3, Vangilder 5.0 (best year), Shawkey and Jack Quinn (Boston) 4.8, Bush 4.6.

WAR leaders, position players: Sisler 8.7, Williams 7.9, Speaker 7.0, Ruth and Cobb 6.7, Heilmann 5.4, Veach 4.9, Pipp 4.7, Miller 4.4, McManus 4.3. Pitchers: Faber 7.9, Shocker 6.5, Shawkey 5.9, Rommel 5.7, Pillette 5.2, Coveleski 4.9, Johnson 4.6, Hoyt, Leverett, and Quinn 3.7.

Actual award voting, MVP:
Place Name Team Points
1 George Sisler SLB 59
2 Eddie Rommel PHA 31
3 Ray Schalk CHW 26
4 Joe Bush NYY 19
5 Eddie Collins CHW 18
6 Johnny Bassler DET 13
6 Steve O'Neill CLE 13
8 Joe Judge WSH 12
8 Wally Pipp NYY 12
10 Lu Blue DET 11
11 Chick Galloway PHA 10
12 Harry Heilmann DET 8
13 Del Pratt BOS 7
13 Wally Schang NYY 7
15 Bob Meusel NYY 6
15 Everett Scott NYY 6
17 Walter Johnson WSH 5
17 Urban Shocker SLB 5
19 Charlie Jamieson CLE 4
19 Joe Sewell CLE 4
21 George Burns BOS 2
21 Jimmie Dykes PHA 2
21 Bucky Harris WSH 2
21 Roger Peckinpaugh WSH 2
21 Bill Wambsganss CLE 2
26 George Cutshaw DET 1
26 Cy Perkins PHA 1

Best player: I will go with the voters and say George Sisler wins, though the top five are very close. St. Louis played in a very good hitters' park for the time, so the stats of Sisler and Williams are boosted a bit. I will still pick Sisler #1, with Speaker #2, Williams #3, Cobb #4, and Ruth #5.

Best pitcher: Red Faber, again. Led league in ERA, 2nd in strikeouts, 5th in wins. Either Rommel or Bush would have won in real life, due to more impressive win totals. Faber was boosting up a still-depleted White Sox team. I'd put Urban Shocker #2 and Rommel #3, followed by Bob Shawkey and Pillette.

Best rookie: Joe Hauser, a .323 hitter for the A's, with Vangilder in his only good year close behind. Hauser is better known as a minor league slugger.

Best manager: Lee Fohl for almost getting the Browns into the winner's circle.