31 December 2008

1964 National League

Not to be outdone by the terrific AL race, the NL featured five teams fighting for the title. Philadelphia, of all teams, emerged as the leader, holding first place from July 17 through September 27, building a ten-game margin at one point. For September, Phils manager Gene Mauch announced a shift to a three-man starting rotation, to get more mileage out of starters Jim Bunning and Chris Short, but the move backfired as the Phils lose 10 straight down the stretch. The Cardinals trade of pitcher Ernie Broglio to get Lou Brock from the Cubs loomed big, as Brock solidified the lineup and batted .348 in a St. Louis uniform. In the final week, the Cardinals, Reds, Phils, Giants, and Braves were all in it. The defending champion Dodgers fell off the pace with an injury to ace Sandy Koufax, keeping him from the mound for the last six weeks.

The Phils sank, everyone else rose, then the Braves fell off the pace to 5th. The Giants couldn't keep up, and ended up 4th. On the last day, a three-way tie was possible, with the Reds and Cards tied, leading the Phils by one game. But Philly beat Cincy, and St. Louis beat the Mets to win the pennant. LA and Pittsburgh tied for 6th, followed by Chicago, Houston and New York. It may have been the best pennant race ever.

Roberto Clemente won the batting title, his first, with a .339 average. Rico Carty was second at .330, followed by Hank Aaron at .328. The Braves had the top offense in the league. Willie Mays led in slugging, OPS, and homers with 47. Ron Santo led in on-base. Clemente and Curt Flood led in hits with 211. Lee Maye led in doubles with 44. Richie (later Dick) Allen led in runs with 125 and tied with Santo at 13 triples. Maury Wills led in steals with 53. Ken Boyer led in RBI with 119 and won the MVP. He was followed by Santo with 114 RBI and Mays with 111.

Larry Jackson led with 24 wins, followed by Juan Marichal with 21 and Ray Sadecki with 20. Koufax led in ERA with a 1.73 mark, followed by Don Drysdale at 2.18 and Chris Short at 2.20. Bob Veale led in strikeouts with 250, Bob Gibson was second with 245. Hal Woodeshick led in saves with 23. Al McBean had 22, Jack Baldschun 21. Koufax had seven shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players; Dick Allen (Philadelphia) 41, Willie Mays (San Francisco) 38, Ron Santo (Chicago) 36, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati) and Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 33, Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 30, Denis Menke (Milwaukee) and Johnny Callison (Philadelphia) 29, Billy Williams (Chicago), Joe Torre (Milwaukee) and Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 28, Rico Carty (Milwaukee) 27, Willie Davis (Los Angeles) and Bill White (St. Louis) 26, Jim Ray Hart (San Francisco) and Curt Flood (St. Louis) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) 26, Larry Jackson (Chicago) and Juan Marichal (San Francisco) 25, Sandy Koufax (Los Angeles) and Bob Gibson (St. Louis) 24, Jim Bunning (Philadelphia) 22, Chris Short (Philadelphia) and Bob Veale (Pittsburgh) 21, Jim O'Toole (Cincinnati) and Gaylord Perry (San Francisco) 19.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 11.9, Allen 10.5, Santo 10.3, Aaron 9.1, Robinson 8.7, Menke 8.4, Torre 8.2, Davis 8.1, Clemente 7.9, White 7.5, Boyer 7.3, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 7.1, Johnny Roseboro (Los Angeles) 6.6, Carty 6.2, Williams 6.1, Flood 5.7.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Drysdale 9.3, Jackson 8.8, Koufax 7.7, Bob Bruce (Houston) 7.3, Short 6.9, Veale 6.4, Perry 6.3, Bunning 5.9, O'Toole 5.7, Jim Maloney (Cincinnati) 5.5.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 10.9, Santo 9.1, Allen 8.7, Robinson 7.5, Aaron and DAvis 7.1, Clemente 6.5, Boyer and Menke 6.4, Torre 6.2, Callison 6.1, Hart 5.6, Williams 5.4, Carty 5.3, White 5.2, Brock 5.1, Cepeda 5.0, Mathews 4.6. Pitchers (bWAR): Drysdale 8.2, Koufax 7.8, Marichal 6.6, Gibson and Short 6.3, Jackson 6.1, Veale 5.9, Bunning 5.8, O'Toole 5.7, Perry 5.6, Bruce 5.5, Maloney 4.8, Farrell 4.1, Friend 3.7.

Actual award winners;
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+---+----+---+--+
1 Ken Boyer STL 14 243 280 0.87 | 628 185 24 .295 .854 3
2 Johnny Callison PHI 2 187 280 0.67 | 654 179 31 .274 .809 6
3 Bill White STL 2 106 280 0.38 | 631 191 21 .303 .829 7
4 Frank Robinson CIN 0 98 280 0.35 | 568 174 29 .306 .943 23
5 Joe Torre MLN 1 85 280 0.30 | 601 193 20 .321 .863 2
6 Willie Mays SFG 0 66 280 0.24 | 578 171 47 .296 .990 19
7 Dick Allen PHI 0 63 280 0.22 | 632 201 29 .318 .939 3
8 Ron Santo CHC 0 59 280 0.21 | 592 185 30 .312 .962 3
9 Roberto Clemente PIT 0 56 280 0.20 | 622 211 12 .339 .872 5
10 Lou Brock TOT 1 40 280 0.14 | +634 200 14 .315 .821 43
11 Curt Flood STL 0 38 280 0.14 | 679 211 5 .311 .734 8
12 Larry Jackson CHC 0 26 280 0.09 | 114 20 0 .175 .384 0| 24-11 298 3.14 1.085 148
13 Jim Bunning PHI 0 23 280 0.08 | 99 12 0 .121 .261 0| 19-8 284 2.63 1.034 219 2
14 Hank Aaron MLN 0 22 280 0.08 | 570 187 24 .328 .907 22
15 Juan Marichal SFG 0 14 280 0.05 | 97 14 0 .144 .323 1| 21-8 269 2.48 1.089 206
16 Sammy Ellis CIN 0 13 280 0.05 | 24 2 0 .083 .298 0| 10-3 122 2.58 1.055 125 14
17 Sandy Koufax LAD 0 7 280 0.02 | 74 7 0 .095 .236 0| 19-5 223 1.74 0.928 223 1
18 Jim Ray Hart SFG 0 6 280 0.02 | 566 162 31 .286 .840 5
18 Vada Pinson CIN 0 6 280 0.02 | 625 166 23 .266 .764 8
18 Billy Williams CHC 0 6 280 0.02 | 645 201 33 .312 .901 10
21 Ruben Amaro PHI 0 5 280 0.02 | 299 79 4 .264 .648 1
22 Tommy Davis LAD 0 4 280 0.01 | 592 163 14 .275 .708 11
23 Bob Gibson STL 0 2 280 0.01 | 96 15 0 .156 .396 0| 19-12 287 3.01 1.170 245 1
23 Chris Short PHI 0 2 280 0.01 | 65 7 0 .108 .258 0| 17-9 221 2.20 1.019 181 2
25 Ron Hunt NYM 0 1 280 0.00 | 475 144 6 .303 .763 6
25 Barney Schultz STL 0 1 280 0.00 | 6 1 0 .167 .333 0| 1-3 49 1.64 0.933 29 14

Boyer won because the Cardinals won the pennant. If the Phils had won, Callison would have carried the day. Had the Reds finished first, Robinson would likely have won.

Cy Young: the AL guy won.
| Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Dean Chance LAA 17 17 20 0.85 | 20-9 278 1.65 1.006 207 4
2 Larry Jackson CHC 2 2 20 0.10 | 24-11 298 3.14 1.085 148
3 Sandy Koufax LAD 1 1 20 0.05 | 19-5 223 1.74 0.928 223 1

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Dick Allen PHI 18 18 20 0.90 | 632 201 29 .318 .939 3
2 Rico Carty MLN 1 1 20 0.05 | 455 150 22 .330 .942 1
2 Jim Ray Hart SFG 1 1 20 0.05 | 566 162 31 .286 .840 5

Top player: Willie Mays. He hit under .300 and the Giants slipped to a disappointing 5th, so he couldn't win a writers' vote, but he was the best in the league. Nothing unusual here.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Ron Santo, #3 Richie Allen, #4 Hank Aaron, #5 Frank Robinson, #6 Roberto Clemente.

Top pitcher: Don Drysdale. Sounds odd for an 18-16 pitcher, but Drysdale carried the load and did it well. He didn't even draw a vote for his efforts. 2nd in ERA, 1st in innings, 3rd in strikeouts.
#1 Don Drysdale, #2 Larry Jackson, #3 Sandy Koufax, #4 Juan Marichal, #5 Bob Gibson.

Top rookie: Dick Allen, pretty clearly. Carty and Hart did well, but Allen had one of the all-time great rookie seasons.

Top manager: Johnny Keane held the course through the pennant race and brought the Cardinals home in 1st. He then switched over to the Yankees, and that team promptly fell apart.

26 December 2008

1964 American League

The Yankees won their fifth straight pennant with a 99-win season, although no one knew at the time it would be their last pennant for several years. It was a wild pennant race, with Baltimore and Chicago in it right to the final day. Chicago finished one game out, the Orioles just two. Detroit was 4th and Los Angeles 5th, and the second division had Cleveland and Minnesota tied for 6th, trailed by Boston in 8th with 90 losses, Washington 9th with 100 losses, and Kansas City last with 105 losses.

The Yankees battled adversity in the form of injuries and dissension as Yogi Berra took over as manager. Ralph Houk moved from the manager's chair to the GM slot. Berra made many unorthodox moves, and his players either resented him or still thought of him as a teammate, hardly an ideal situation. The Phil Linz harmonica incident typified the season. Still, Mickey Mantle fueled a late push that took the team back to the top spot.

Mantle led the league in OPS, while Tony Oliva won the batting title at .323, Luis Aparicio led in steals with 57, Harmon Killebrew led in HR with 49, and Brooks Robinson led in RBI with 118 and won the MVP. Robinson was also second in batting average with a .317 mark. Boog Powell was second with 39 homers, and Dick Stuart was second in RBI with 114. Oliva also led with 209 hits and 43 doubles. Rich Rollins and Zoilo Versalles had 10 triples each.

Dean Chance and Gary Peters tied for the wins lead with 20, and Wally Bunker, Juan Pizarro, and Dave Wickersham each won 19. Chance led in ERA with a 1.65 mark, follwed by Joel Horlen's 1.88. Al Downing led in strikeouts with 217, followed closely by Camilo Pascual at 213. Dick Radatz led in saves with 29, edging Hoyt Wilhelm at 27. Chance led in innings, complete games, and with 11 shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 34, Brooks Robinson (Baltimore) 33, Elston Howard (New York) 32, Ron Hansen (Chicago) 30, Boog Powell (Baltimore) 29, Jim Fregosi (Los Angeles) 28, Pete Ward (Chicago) and Tony Oliva (Minnesota) 27, Ed Bressoud (Boston), Floyd Robinson (Chicago), Bill Freehan (Detroit), Bob Allison (Minnesota) and Roger Maris (New York) 25, Al Kaline (Detroit) and Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota) 24, Rocky Colavito (Kansas City) and Don Lock (Washington) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Dean Chance (Los Angeles) 32, Dick Radatz (Boston) and Whitey Ford (New York) 24, Gary Peters (Chicago) 22, Hoyt Wilhelm (Chicago) 21, Bob Lee (Los Angeles) 20, Wally Bunker (Baltimore), Joel Horlen and Juan Pizarro (Chicago) 19, Milt Pappas (Baltimore), Mickey Lolich (Detroit) and Jim Bouton (New York) 18.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Hansen 10.6, Howard 8.0, Freehan 7.3, B. Robinson 6.9, Powell 6.8, Allison and Ward 6.3, Mantle 6.0, Oliva and Dick McAuliffe (Detroit) 5.8, Fregosi 5.5, Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) 5.1, Killebrew 4.9, Kaline 4.5.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Chance 11.5, Radatz 10.5, Ford 6.1, Horlen 5.5, Lee 5.4, Bill Monbouquette (Boston) 5.1, Bunker, Claude Osteen (Washington) and Wes Stock (Kansas City) 5.0.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): B. Robinson 9.4, Hansen 8.5, Fregosi 8.1, Oliva 7.5, Allison and Ward 7.3, Howard 7.1, Powell 6.9, Mantle 6.6, Kaline 6.2, Freehan 6.1, Bressoud and Killebrew 6.0, Yastrzemski 5.7, Aparicio 5.6. Pitchers (bWAR): Chance 8.9, Ford 6.3, Radatz 5.2, Horlen and McDowell 4.6, Peters 4.1, Lee 3.7, Bouton 3.6, Osteen and Tiant 3.5, Roberts 3.4, Kralick and Stock 3.3, Pappas 3.2.

Actual award winners:
MVP (top 20): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Brooks Robinson BAL 18 269 280 0.96 | 612 194 28 .317 .889 1
2 Mickey Mantle NYY 2 171 280 0.61 | 465 141 35 .303 1.015 6
3 Elston Howard NYY 0 124 280 0.44 | 550 172 15 .313 .825 1
4 Tony Oliva MIN 0 99 280 0.35 | 672 217 32 .323 .916 12
5 Dean Chance LAA 0 97 280 0.35 | 89 7 0 .079 .187 0| 20-9 278 1.65 1.006 207 4
6 Pete Ward CHW 0 67 280 0.24 | 539 152 23 .282 .821 1
7 Bill Freehan DET 0 44 280 0.16 | 520 156 18 .300 .812 5
7 Gary Peters CHW 0 44 280 0.16 | 120 25 4 .208 .594 0| 20-8 274 2.50 1.173 205
9 Dick Radatz BOS 0 37 280 0.13 | 37 6 0 .162 .373 0| 16-9 157 2.29 1.025 181 29
10 Harmon Killebrew MIN 0 31 280 0.11 | 577 156 49 .270 .925
11 Boog Powell BAL 0 28 280 0.10 | 424 123 39 .290 1.005 0
12 Wally Bunker BAL 0 23 280 0.08 | 72 5 0 .069 .280 0| 19-5 214 2.69 1.042 96
13 Jim Fregosi LAA 0 21 280 0.08 | 505 140 18 .277 .833 8
14 Al Kaline DET 0 17 280 0.06 | 525 154 17 .293 .851 4
15 Floyd Robinson CHW 0 14 280 0.05 | 525 158 11 .301 .795 9
16 Ron Hansen CHW 0 10 280 0.04 | 575 150 20 .261 .766 1
17 Bobby Richardson NYY 0 9 280 0.03 | 679 181 4 .267 .626 11
17 Leon Wagner CLE 0 9 280 0.03 | 641 162 31 .253 .750 14
19 Juan Pizarro CHW 0 8 280 0.03 | 90 19 3 .211 .540 0| 19-9 239 2.56 1.038 162
19 Hoyt Wilhelm CHW 0 8 280 0.03 | 21 3 0 .143 .325 0| 12-9 131 1.99 0.944 95 27
The voters quickly identified the three best players in the league; Mantle, Robinson, and Howard. Dean Chance, who would also have been a good selection, comes in 5th.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Dean Chance LAA 17 17 20 0.85 | 20-9 278 1.65 1.006 207 4
2 Larry Jackson CHC 2 2 20 0.10 | 24-11 298 3.14 1.085 148
3 Sandy Koufax LAD 1 1 20 0.05 | 19-5 223 1.74 0.928 223 1
Chance manhandles this category, with Koufax missing significant time.

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Tony Oliva MIN 19 19 20 0.95 | 672 217 32 .323 .916 12
2 Wally Bunker BAL 1 1 20 0.05 | 72 5 0 .069 .280 0| 19-5 214 2.69 1.042 96
Bob Lee goes unnoticed here.

Top player: Brooks Robinson. I'll go along with the writers here, as Mantle and Brooksy are pretty close with Howard not far behind. They go one way in WS, the opposite in WARP. I'll let the voters of the time break the tie for me.
#1 Brooks Robinson, #2 Mickey Mantle, #3 Elston Howard, #4 Ron Hansen, #5 Jim Fregosi, #6 Bob Allison.

Top pitcher: Dean Chance leads the field here, Dick Radatz also has a strong season.
#1 Dean Chance, #2 Dick Radatz, #3 Whitey Ford, #4 Gary Peters, #5 Hoyt Wilhelm.

Top rookie: Tony Oliva tops a strong field.

Top manager: Yogi Berra went through an awful lot for this pennant, and got fired for his trouble. I'll cast a vote for him here.

25 December 2008

1963 National League

After ending 1962 in a tie and then losing the playoff, the Dodgers captured the 1963 pennant, then swept the Yankees in the World Series. The Cardinals made it a race, but finished second, six games off the pace. San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati were in a knot for the 3-5 spots, with Milwaukee 6th and Chicago springing up to an above-.500 7th. Pittsburgh dropped to 8th, with Houston 9th and the Mets losing 111 for last. Sandy Koufax won the MVP with a strong season for the winners.

The Dodgers were 6th in the 10-team league in runs scored, while allowing the least runs, but a lot of that was the effect of their park, heavily weighted toward pitchers. In road games, the Dodgers were second in runs scored, fifth in runs allowed. They were actually a stronger offensive team than on their pitching or defense for the year.

Tommy Davis won the batting title at .326, and Roberto Clemente was second at .320. Hank Aaron lead in RBI with 130 and tying for the HR lead with Willie McCovey at 44. Aaron also led in slugging and OPS, and runs with 121. Ken Boyer was second in RBI with 111. Vada Pinson led with 204 hits and 14 triples, and Dick Groat with 43 doubles. Maury Wills led in steals, but was down to a more normal-looking 40.

Koufax and Juan Marichal tied for the wins lead at 25, while Jim Maloney and Warren Spahn won 23. Dick Ellsworth posted 22 victories. Koufax lead in ERA with a Chavez Ravine-aided 1.88. Ellsworth was second at 2.11. Koufax also led in strikeouts, with 306, while Lindy McDaniel led in saves with 22, followed by Ron Perranoski at 21. Spahn pitched 22 complete games, while Koufax tossed 11 shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players; Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 41, Willie Mays, (San Francisco) 38, Johnny Callison (Philadelphia) 32, Vada Pinson (Cincinnati), Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) and Dick Groat (St. Louis) 31, Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 30, Tommy Davis (Los Angeles) and Willie McCovey (San Francisco) 29, Billy Williams (Chicago) and Junior Gilliam (Los Angeles) 28, Maury Wills (Los Angeles) and Bill White (St. Louis) 27, Ron Santo (Chicago) and Tony Gonzalez (Philadelphia) 26, Curt Flood (St. Louis) 24.

WS leaders, pitchers; Dick Ellsworth (Chicago) and Sandy Koufax (Los Angeles) 32, Juan Marichal (San Francisco) 27, Larry Jackson (Chicago), Jim Maloney (Cincinnati) and Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 22, Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) and Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) 21, Ron Perranoski (Los Angeles) 20, Joe Nuxhall (Cincinnati) 19.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 11.5, Groat 10.0, Aaron 9.8, Mathews 9.5, Flood 7.8, Callison, McCovey, and Pinson 7.7, Williams 7.5, Cepeda 6.9, White 6.6, Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 6.2, Gilliam and Santo 6.1, Johnny Edwards (Cincinnati) 6.0.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Koufax 10.3, Ellsworth 9.8, Marichal 8.0, Friend 6.9, Hal Woodeshick (Houston) 6.6, Carl Willey (New York) 6.0, Turk Farrell (Houston) 5.7, Perranoski and Maloney 5.6, Spahn 5.5.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 10.2, Aaron 8.8, Mathews 8.2, Groat 7.6, Callison 7.5, Pinson 6.9, Santo 6.7, McCovey 6.6, Williams 6.2, Cepeda 5.7, White 5.5, Boyer 5.3, Flood 5.1, Clemente 4.9, Taylor 4.7, Alou and Torre 4.6. Pitchers, (bWAR): Koufax 10.8, Ellsworth 10.3, Marichal 8.1, Friend 6.2, Maloney 5.3, Jackson 5.2, Nuxhall 5.1, Drysdale 5.0, Simmons 4.8, Johnson 4.7, O'Toole and Spahn 4.6, Perranoski 4.3.

Actual award voting:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Sandy Koufax LAD 14 237 280 0.85 | 110 7 1 .064 .202 0| 25-5 311 1.88 0.875 306
2 Dick Groat STL 4 190 280 0.68 | 631 201 6 .319 .827 3
3 Hank Aaron MLN 1 135 280 0.48 | 631 201 44 .319 .977 31
4 Ron Perranoski LAD 0 130 280 0.46 | 24 3 0 .125 .317 0| 16-3 129 1.67 1.202 75 21
5 Willie Mays SFG 0 102 280 0.36 | 596 187 38 .314 .962 8
6 Jim Gilliam LAD 1 62 280 0.22 | 525 148 6 .282 .737 19
7 Bill White STL 0 56 280 0.20 | 658 200 27 .304 .851 10
8 Tommy Davis LAD 0 41 280 0.15 | 556 181 16 .326 .816 15
8 Ron Santo CHC 0 41 280 0.15 | 630 187 25 .297 .820 6
10 Vada Pinson CIN 0 32 280 0.11 | 652 204 22 .313 .861 27
11 Juan Marichal SFG 0 31 280 0.11 | 112 20 1 .179 .423 0| 25-8 321 2.41 0.996 248
12 Warren Spahn MLN 0 30 280 0.11 | 90 16 2 .178 .508 0| 23-7 260 2.60 1.117 102
13 Ken Boyer STL 0 19 280 0.07 | 617 176 24 .285 .812 1
14 Roberto Clemente PIT 0 12 280 0.04 | 600 192 17 .320 .826 12
15 Johnny Callison PHI 0 11 280 0.04 | 626 178 26 .284 .840 8
16 Tony Taylor PHI 0 10 280 0.04 | 640 180 5 .281 .698 23
17 Willie McCovey SFG 0 9 280 0.03 | 564 158 44 .280 .915 1
17 Maury Wills LAD 0 9 280 0.03 | 527 159 0 .302 .704 40
19 Dick Ellsworth CHC 0 7 280 0.02 | 94 9 0 .096 .262 0| 22-10 291 2.11 1.025 185
19 Jim Maloney CIN 0 7 280 0.02 | 89 15 0 .169 .373 0| 23-7 250 2.77 1.083 265
21 Don Demeter PHI 0 3 280 0.01 | 515 133 22 .258 .739 1
21 Don Drysdale LAD 0 3 280 0.01 | 96 16 0 .167 .439 0| 19-17 315 2.63 1.091 251
23 Tony Gonzalez PHI 0 2 280 0.01 | 555 170 4 .306 .808 13
24 Curt Flood STL 0 1 280 0.00 | 662 200 5 .302 .748 17|
Koufax was not a unanimous choice, as Groat among others drew support. But he was a clear winner.

Cy Young: Koufax was a unanimous choice.

Rookie | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+--------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Pete Rose CIN 17 17 20 0.85 | 623 170 6 .273 .705 13
2 Ron Hunt NYM 2 2 20 0.10 | 533 145 10 .272 .730 5
3 Ray Culp PHI 1 1 20 0.05 | 66 9 0 .136 .325 0| 14-11 203 2.97 1.230 176

Best player: Hank Aaron, by a small margin over Mays, with Callison not far behind. Aaron was relatively unacclaimed (even with his 1957 MVP), but would eventually put his name on the marquee.
#1 Hank Aaron, #2 Willie Mays, #3 Johnny Callison, #4 Dick Groat, #5 Eddie Mathews, #6 Vada Pinson.

Best pitcher: Sandy Koufax. Ellsworth's 22-10, 2.10 in Wrigley is almost as good as Koufax's 25-5, 1.88 in Dodger Stadium. Almost. Going with the winner here.
#1 Sandy Koufax, #2 Dick Ellsworth, #3 Juan Marichal, #4 Ron Perranoski, #5 Jim Maloney.

Best rookie: Pete Rose. Guy had "star" written all over him. Hunt and Culp also played well.

Best manager: Walt Alston rode a strong pitching staff and a pitchers' park.

24 December 2008

1963 American League

The Yankees won their fourth straight pennant and took 104 wins, handily winning the race over second-place Chicago, 10.5 games back. Minnesota was 3rd and Baltimore 4th, and those were all the teams over .500. Cleveland and Detroit tied for 5th, with Boston 7th, Kansas City 8th, Los Angeles slid all the way back to 9th, and Washington was last with 106 losses. A danger sign popped up for the Yankees when they were swept in the World Series by the Dodgers.

The Yankees won big in spite of missing slugging outfielders Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris for long stretches. Mantle played just 65 games, Maris 90. The Indians' John Romano missed significant time with a broken finger. The White Sox and Orioles had enginneered a big trade before the season, with Luis Aparicio heading to Baltimore in a package including Hoyt Wilhelm. The strike zone was enlarged, raising it to the pre-1950 rules of top of shoulders to bottom of knees. Minnesota had the best offense in the league, and Chicago the top run-prevention unit, but the Yankees were second in both categories.

Carl Yastrzemski led the league in batting with a .321 average, edging Al Kaline's .312. Yaz led in on-base, Harmon Killebrew in slugging, Bob Allison in OPS. Allison topped the loop with 99 runs. Killebrew led in home runs with 45, Dick Stuart in RBI with 118 (he was second in homers with 42), Luis Aparicio in steals with 40. Kaline was second in RBI with 101. Yaz led with 183 hits and 40 doubles. Zoilo Versalles had 13 triples. With Mantle sidelined, it was a league without a truly outstanding player.

Whitey Ford led the loop in wins with 24, and was followed by Jim Bouton and Camilo Pascual with 21 each, then Steve Barber and Bill Monbouquette won 20. Pascual led in strikeouts again with 202, edging Jim Bunning at 196. Gary Peters led in ERA with a 2.33 mark, ahead of Juan Pizarro at 2.39 and Pascual at 2.46. Stu Miller led in saves with 27, followed by Dick "The Monster" Radatz of Boston with 25. Ray Herbert had seven shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players: Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) and Tom Tresh (New York) 29, Albie Pearson (Los Angeles), Bob Allison (Minnesota) and Elston Howard (New York) 28, Earl Battey (Minnesota) 26, Pete Ward (Chicago), Max Alvis (Cleveland) and Al Kaline (Detroit) 25, Norm Cash (Detroit) and Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota) 23, Leon Wagner (Los Angeles) 22, Rocky Colavito (Detroit), Jimmie Hall (Minnesota) and Don Lock (Washington) 21, Jim Gentile and John Orsino (Baltimore), Floyd Robinson (Chicago), Wayne Causey (Kansas City), Jim Fregosi (Los Angeles) and Chuck Hinton (Washington) 20.

WS leaders, pitchers: Gary Peters (Chicago) 25, Dick Radatz (Boston) 24, Whitey Ford (New York) 23, Camilo Pascual (Minnesota) and Jim Bouton (New York) 22, Juan Pizarro (Chicago) 19, Steve Barber (Baltimore) 18, Jack Kralick (Minnesota/Cleveland), Bill Dailey (Minnesota) and Ralph Terry (New York) 17, Stu Miller (Baltimore), Bill Monbouquette (Boston), Jack Kralick (Minnesota/Cleveland) and Al Downing (New York) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Howard 7.2, Battey 6.8, Ward, Allison, and Ron Hansen (Chicago) 6.2, Pearson and Yastrzemski 5.7, Killbrew 5.5, Cash and Hall 5.1, Woodie Held (Cleveland) 4.9, Fregosi and Orsino 4.6, Kaline 4.5.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Pascual and Peters 7.7, Radatz 7.6, Moe Drabowsky (Kansas City) 6.4, Bouton 5.9, Pizarro 5.2, Dailey and Orlando Pena (Kansas City) 5.0, Kralick 4.9, Downing, Robin Roberts and Milt Pappas (Baltimore) 4.6, Ford, Monbouquette, and Tom Cheney (Washington) 4.5.

WAR leaders, position players (bWAR): Allison 8.2, Yastrzemski 7.7, Howard 7.0, Hall 6.3, Hansen 6.2, Battey, Kaline, and Ward 6.0, Killebrew and Pearson 5.8, Cash and Tresh 5.6, Causey, Fregosi, and Rollins 5.3, Colavito 5.1, Alvis 4.9. Pitchers (bWAR): Pascual 5.7, Peters 5.6, Radatz 4.7, Bouton 4.5, Drabowsky 4.4, Ford and Pizarro 4.0, Barber, Pena, and Stigman 3.7, Karlick 3.6, Downing 3.4, Stange 3.3.

Actual award voting:
MVP (top 15)
Place Name Team 1st place Points
1 Elston Howard NYY 15 248
2 Al Kaline DET 1 148
3 Whitey Ford NYY 3 125
4 Harmon Killebrew MIN 0 85
5 Dick Radatz BOS 0 84
6 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 0 81
7 Earl Battey MIN 0 57
8 Gary Peters CHW 0 55
9 Pete Ward CHW 0 52
10 Bobby Richardson NYY 0 43
11 Tom Tresh NYY 1 38
12 Camilo Pascual MIN 0 29
13 Dick Stuart BOS 0 25
14 Albie Pearson LAA 0 22
15 Bob Allison MIN 0 15

Cy Young was over both leagues, and Koufax was the unanimous choice.

Rookie
Place Name Team Points
1 Gary Peters CHW 10
2 Pete Ward CHW 6
3 Jimmie Hall MIN 4

Best player: Elston Howard. The voters got it right, going for the top player on and the guy who held the team together for the pennant winner, lasting the season when those around him kept getting hurt. Howard had a great year.
#1 Elston Howard, #2 Carl Yastrzemski, #3 Bob Allison, #4 Earl Battey, #5 Tom Tresh, #6 Al Kaline.

Best pitcher: Gary Peters, by a thin margin over Dick Radatz. The Monster was very intimidating, but Peters was simply more prolific. It is essentially a dead heat, but I will throw it to the starter.
#1 Gary Peters, #2 Dick Radatz, #3 Camilo Pascual, #4 Whitey Ford, #5 Jim Bouton.

Best rookie: Peters again. After four cups of coffee, he finally got a full-year chance, and made the most of it. There were a number of other good rookies as well, with Jimmie Hall, Pete Ward, Max Alvis, and Al Downing making good showings.

Best manager: Ralph Houk, who had to juggle with serious injuries to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris that limited his sluggers to 155 combined games, but came up golden with an easy pennant.

21 October 2008

1962 National League

The Giants, perennial pre-season favorites, broke through and won a pennant after a terrific pennant race that ended in a Giants-Dodgers tie necessitating a three-game playoff. LA was in first place from July 8 to the end of the season, when the Giants overtook them. Expansion brought the NL to 10 teams with the addition of Houston and New York, bringing the NL back to the Big Apple. The Giants, Dodgers, defending champion Reds (in spite of the loss of 3B Gene Freese to injury) and 1960 winners Pirates were all in the thick of the race, with Milwaukee falling to 5th, St. Louis in 6th and Philadelphia 7th, all over .500. That was a fast swing for the Phils after a horrible 1961. Houston's Colt '45s lost 96 games, but finished ahead of the Cubs and their 103 losses, and well ahead of the Mets' 120 losses. The Dodgers opened their stadium at Chavez Ravine, and ushered in a new era for pitchers.

Tommy Davis won the batting title with a .346 mark, four points ahead of Frank Robinson at .342. Davis also led in RBI with 153, while Robinson led in OPS, on-base and slugging, as well as doubles with 51 and runs with 134. Willie Mays led in home runs with 49, followed by Hank Aaron with 45. Maury Wills set a record with 104 steals and won the MVP for his trouble. There was a four-way tie for the triples lead at 10 that included Wills and Davis as well as Johnny Callison and Bill Virdon.

Don Drysdale led in wins with 25, followed by Jack Sanford at 24 and Bob Purkey at 23. Joey Jay won 21 for the second straight year. Sandy Koufax led in ERA with a 2.54 mark despite missing six weeks with an injury. Bob Shaw was second at 2.80. Drysdale also led in strikeouts with 232, followed by Koufax at 216. Elroy Face led in saves with 28.

Win Shares leaders, players; Frank Robinson (Cincinnati) and Willie Mays (San Francisco) 41, Tommy Davis (Los Angeles) 36, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 34, Maury Wills (Los Angeles) 32, Johnny Callison (Philadelphia) 27, Vada Pinson (Cincinnati), Willie Davis (Los Angeles), Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee), Bob Skinner (Pittsburgh), and Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 26, Frank Howard (Los Angeles), Don Demeter (Philadelphia) and Felipe Alou (San Francisco) 25, Jim Gilliam (Los Angeles) and Bill Mazeroski (Pittsburgh) 23, Ken Boyer, Curt Flood and Bill White (St. Louis) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bob Purkey (Cincinnati) 26, Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) 24, Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 23, Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) and Bob Gibson (St. Louis) 21, Bob Shaw (Milwaukee), Roy Face (Pittsburgh) and Jack Sanford (San Francisco) 20, Joey Jay (Cincinnati), Turk Farrell (Houston) and Juan Marichal (San Francisco) 19.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 10.8, Aaron and Robinson 9.4, Leo Cardenas (Cincinnati) 7.9, Davis 7.1, Mathews 6.8, Wills 6.4, W. Davis 6.1, Demeter 5.5, Clay Dalrymple (Philadelphia) 5.1, Boyer 4.9.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Farrell 9.4, Gibson 8.2, Spahn 7.5, Drysdale and Ernie Broglio (St. Louis) 6.3, Purkey 5.8, Friend 5.6, Face and Don McMahon (Houston) 5.5, Art Mahaffey (Philadelphia) 5.4, Shaw 4.8.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 11.1, Robinson 8.8, Aaron 8.7, Davis 6.4, Callison and Mathews 6.2, Wills 6.0, Boyer and Davis 5.8, Alou 5.3, White 5.0, Cardenas and Davenport 4.7, Altman 4.5, Pinson 4.4, Flood 4.3. Pitchers (bWAR): Farrell 7.4, Purkey 7.2, Broglio 6.1, Gibson 6.0, Friend and Spahn 5.9, Drysdale 5.7, Shaw 5.4, Jay 5.0, Francis 4.5, Koufax and O'Toole 4.4.

Actual award winners:

MVP (top 25): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---
1 Maury Wills LAD 8 209 280 0.75 | 695 208 6 .299 .720 104
2 Willie Mays SFG 7 202 280 0.72 | 621 189 49 .304 .999 18
3 Tommy Davis LAD 3 175 280 0.62 | 665 230 27 .346 .910 18
4 Frank Robinson CIN 2 164 280 0.59 | 609 208 39 .342 1.045 18
5 Don Drysdale LAD 0 85 280 0.30 | 111 22 0 .198 .498 0| 25-9 314 2.83 1.114 232 1
6 Hank Aaron MLN 0 72 280 0.26 | 592 191 45 .323 1.008 15
7 Jack Sanford SFG 0 62 280 0.22 | 98 15 0 .153 .366 0| 24-7 265 3.43 1.225 147
8 Bob Purkey CIN 0 33 280 0.12 | 107 11 2 .103 .311 0| 23-5 288 2.81 1.124 141
9 Frank Howard LAD 0 32 280 0.11 | 493 146 31 .296 .906 1
10 Stan Musial STL 0 19 280 0.07 | 433 143 19 .330 .924 3
11 Jose Pagan SFG 0 13 280 0.05 | 580 150 7 .259 .671 13
12 Don Demeter PHI 0 12 280 0.04 | 550 169 29 .307 .879 2
13 Felipe Alou SFG 0 10 280 0.04 | 561 177 25 .316 .869 10
13 Bill White STL 0 10 280 0.04 | 614 199 20 .324 .868 9
15 Orlando Cepeda SFG 0 9 280 0.03 | 625 191 35 .306 .865 10
16 Dick Groat PIT 0 7 280 0.02 | 678 199 2 .294 .686 2
17 Roberto Clemente PIT 0 6 280 0.02 | 538 168 10 .312 .805 6
18 Ernie Banks CHC 0 5 280 0.02 | 610 164 37 .269 .809 5
18 Ken Boyer STL 0 5 280 0.02 | 611 178 24 .291 .838 12
18 Johnny Callison PHI 0 5 280 0.02 | 603 181 23 .300 .854 10
18 Harvey Kuenn SFG 0 5 280 0.02 | 487 148 10 .304 .799 3
22 Juan Marichal SFG 0 4 280 0.01 | 89 21 0 .236 .513 0| 18-11 263 3.36 1.230 153 1
22 Bob Skinner PIT 0 4 280 0.01 | 510 154 20 .302 .899 10
24 Jim Davenport SFG 0 3 280 0.01 | 485 144 14 .297 .813 2
24 Sandy Koufax LAD 0 3 280 0.01 | 69 6 1 .087 .243 0| 14-7 184 2.54 1.036 216 1

A virtual dead heat between Wills and Mays, with T. Davis and F. Robinson close behind. The MVP race was about as close as the pennant race.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----
1 Don Drysdale LAD 14 14 20 0.70 | 25-9 314 2.83 1.114 232 1
2 Jack Sanford SFG 4 4 20 0.20 | 24-7 265 3.43 1.225 147
3 Billy Pierce SFG 1 1 20 0.05 | 16-6 162 3.49 1.121 76 1
3 Bob Purkey CIN 1 1 20 0.05 | 23-5 288 2.81 1.124 141

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+----+---+
1 Ken Hubbs CHC 19 19 20 0.95 | 661 172 5 .260 .646 3
2 Donn Clendenon PIT 1 1 20 0.05 | 222 67 7 .302 .853 16

Top player: Willie Mays. The voters were swayed by Wills' steals total, and while he played well, he couldn't match Mays. Willie's season was pretty normal for his career, but his team also won.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Frank Robinson, #3 Hank Aaron, #4 Tommy Davis, #5 Maury Wills, #6 Johnny Callison.

Top pitcher: Don Drysdale, wins and strikeouts leader.
#1 Don Drysdale, #2 Bob Gibson, #3 Turk Farrell, #4 Bob Purkey, #5 Warren Spahn.

Top rookie: Ken Hubbs, Cub second sacker, was the best of an uninspiring lot.

Top manager: Al Dark. Gotta be the manager for the winners.

1962 American League

The Yankees won their third straight pennant, and second with Ralph Houk at the helm. The biggest competition this year is the Twins, as New York beats Minnesota by five games in the standings, but the Yankees lead all the way down the stretch. This in spite of SS Tony Kubek spending most of the season in the army (he was ably replaced by rookie Tom Tresh) and Mickey Mantle being limited by injuries to 123 games (he still won the MVP). The Los Angeles Angels posted a surprise third-place finish in their second year of existence, and it would remain their high-water mark for some time. Detroit was 4th and Chicago 5th. In the second division and below .500 were Cleveland, Baltimore, Boston, Kansas City, and last with 101 losses, Washington. The Yankees took the World Series in 7 games, and it would be their last WS title until 1976. Nobody knew it then.

Pete Runnels won the batting title at .326 (with Mantle second at .321) and Mantle led in OPS as well as on-base and slugging. Harmon Killebrew led in HR with 48 and RBI with 126, with Luis Aparicio the SB leader at 31. Albie Pearson had 115 runs, edging Norm Siebern's 114, Bobby Richardson had 209 hits, Floyd Robinson had 45 doubles, and Gino Cimoli had 15 triples. The AL's slowness to integrate was really beginning to show in a talent imbalance with the NL. Save Mantle, all the best players were in the NL.

Ralph Terry led in wins with 23, while Hank Aguirre had a big lead in the ERA race, posting a 2.21 mark. Dick Donovan, Ray Herbert, and Camilo Pascual each won 20. Robin Roberts was second in ERA at 2.78. Pascual led in strikeouts with 206, ahead of Jim Bunning at 184. Dick Radatz topped the loop in saves with 24 as a rookie.

Win Shares leaders, players: Mickey Mantle (New York) 33, Brooks Robinson (Baltimore), Floyd Robinson (Chicago) and Norm Siebern (Kansas City) 27, Johnny Romano (Cleveland) and Rocky Colavito (Detroit) 26, Roger Maris and Tom Tresh (New York) 25, Pete Runnels (Boston), Joe Cunningham (Chicago), Billy Moran and Leon Wagner (Los Angeles) and Harmon Killebrew (Washington) 24, Norm Cash (Detroit), Bob Allison, Rich Rollins and Lenny Green (Minnesota) 23, Lee Thomas (Los Angeles) and Bobby Richardson (New York) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Camilo Pascual (Minnesota) 23, Hank Aguirre (Detroit) and Jim Kaat (Minnesota) 22, Dick Radatz (Boston), Jim Bunning (Detroit) and Ralph Terry (New York) 21, Ray Herbert (Chicago), Dick Donovan (Cleveland) and Whitey Ford (New York) 20, Bill Monbouquette (Boston) and Dean Chance (Los Angeles) 17.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Clete Boyer (New York) 7.4, Mantle 7.0, B. Robinson 6.5, Elston Howard (New York) 6.2, Siebern 6.0, Ed Charles (Kansas City) 5.5, Al Kaline (Detroit) 5.3, Romano and Richardson 5.0, Tresh 4.9, Cunningham 4.7, Colavito 4.5.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Aguirre 8.4, Pascual and Kaat 7.1, Bunning 6.2, Radatz 6.0, Robin Roberts (Baltimore) 5.7, Herbert 5.2, Dick Hall (Baltimore) 5.1, Dave Stenhouse (Washington) 4.9, Donovan 4.8, Chance and Monbouquette 4.4.

WAR, position players (fWAR): B. Robinson 7.2, Colavito 7.0, Mantle 6.7, Siebern 6.1, Boyer 6.0, Romano and Yastrzemski 5.7, Bressoud 5.5, Cunningham 5.3, Cash and Tresh 5.1, Allison and Charles 5.0, Rollins 4.9, Howard 4.8, Maris 4.7, F. Robinson 4.6. Pitchers (bWAR): Aguirre 6.9, Kaat 5.2, Pascual 4.8, Ford 4.7, Herbert, Radatz, and Roberts 4.4, Bunning 4.3, Chance 4.0, Cheney 3.7, Monbouquette 3.6, Stenhouse 3.5, Terry 3.4.

Actual award winners:

MVP (top 20): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----------+---+--
1 Mickey Mantle NYY 13 234 280 0.84 | 377 121 30 .321 1.091 9
2 Bobby Richardson NYY 5 152 280 0.54 | 692 209 8 .302 .743 11
3 Harmon Killebrew MIN 1 99 280 0.35 | 552 134 48 .243 .912 1
4 Leon Wagner LAA 0 85 280 0.30 | 612 164 37 .268 .826 7
5 Dick Donovan CLE 0 64 280 0.23 | 89 16 4 .180 .581 0| 20-10 251 3.59 1.205 94
6 Al Kaline DET 0 58 280 0.21 | 398 121 29 .304 .969 4
7 Norm Siebern KCA 0 53 280 0.19 | 600 185 25 .308 .907 3
8 Rich Rollins MIN 0 47 280 0.17 | 624 186 16 .298 .802 3
9 Brooks Robinson BAL 0 41 280 0.15 | 634 192 23 .303 .828 3
10 Floyd Robinson CHW 0 33 280 0.12 | 600 187 11 .312 .859 4
11 Lee Thomas LAA 0 32 280 0.11 | 583 169 26 .290 .821 6
12 Tom Tresh NYY 1 30 280 0.11 | 622 178 20 .286 .800 4
13 Billy Moran LAA 0 28 280 0.10 | 659 186 17 .282 .731 5
14 Ralph Terry NYY 0 19 280 0.07 | 106 20 0 .189 .407 0| 23-12 299 3.19 1.051 176 2
15 Camilo Pascual MIN 0 14 280 0.05 | 97 26 2 .268 .682 0| 20-11 258 3.32 1.145 206
16 Rocky Colavito DET 0 13 280 0.05 | 601 164 37 .273 .885 2
17 Hank Aguirre DET 0 10 280 0.04 | 75 2 0 .027 .066 0| 16-8 216 2.21 1.051 156 3
18 Joe Cunningham CHW 0 9 280 0.03 | 526 155 8 .295 .837 3
18 Pete Runnels BOS 0 9 280 0.03 | 562 183 10 .326 .863 3
18 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 0 9 280 0.03 | 646 191 19 .296 .832 7

Mantle won easily over teammate Richardson, the only other real contender.

Cy Young: no AL pitcher received votes.

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+------+---
1 Tom Tresh NYY 13 13 20 0.65 | 622 178 20 .286 .800 4
2 Buck Rodgers LAA 4 4 20 0.20 | 565 146 6 .258 .681 1
3 Bernie Allen MIN 1 1 20 0.05 | 573 154 12 .269 .741 0
3 Dean Chance LAA 1 1 20 0.05 | 65 4 0 .062 .164 0| 14-10 207 2.96 1.263 127 8
3 Dick Radatz BOS 1 1 20 0.05 | 31 3 0 .097 .222 0| 9-6 125 2.24 1.083 144 24

A bit surprising Tresh won so easily over Radatz, even bigger that Radatz was third, but Tresh's season was accomplished in a pennant race.

Top player: Mickey Mantle. It says something about the field that even with a month out, Mantle was still the top player. He won the MVP for a reason.
#1 Mickey Mantle, #2 Brooks Robinson, #3 Norm Siebern, #4 Johnny Romano, #5 Rocky Colavito, #6 Clete Boyer.

Top pitcher: Camilo Pascual. The two best were Twins pitchers, Pascual and Kaat. Pascual's stats, with 20 wins and the strikeout lead, are more impressive.
#1 Camilo Pascual, #2 Jim Kaat, #3 Hank Aguirre, #4 Dick Radatz, #5 Jim Bunning.

Top rookie: Dick Radatz had the best season, and was very dominating. Tresh and Chance were very effective also. None had an overly impressive career, although all three had useful periods.

Top manager: Bill Rigney, bringing the second-year Angels in for a surprising finish.

18 October 2008

1961 National League

The NL played its last pre-expansion year with another surprise pennant winner, this time in Cincinnati as the Reds took their first pennant in 21 years. A series of trades shipped some players out and brought others in, and while the Reds were left without a quality catcher, otherwise it worked. The Reds beat out the Dodgers by four games, the Giants by eight, and the Braves by 10. St. Louis was also over .500, in fifth. Pittsburgh slumped to sixth, Chicago was 7th, and the Phillies fielded one of the all-time worst squads to lose 107. The Reds beat them like a drum, which helped their pennant run.

Roberto Clemente won the batting title at .351 after his coming-out party in the 1960 World Series, while Orlando Cepeda led in HR with 46 and RBI with 142. Frank Robinson led in OPS. Maury Wills had the stolen base lead with 35. Vada Pinson was second in average at .343, Wally Moon led in on-base and F. Robby in slugging. Robinson was also second in RBI at 124. Willie Mays led in runs with 129 and was second in homers with 40. Hank Aaron led with 39 doubles, and George Altman with 12 triples.

Joey Jay and Warren Spahn each won 21 games, followed by Jim O'Toole at 19. Spahn led in ERA at 3.02, trailed by O'Toole at 3.10. Sandy Koufax led in strikeouts with 269, followed by teammate Stan Williams with 205. Elroy Face and Stu Miller tied for the lead in saves with 17. Lew Burdette led in innings with 272, and Spahn in complete games with 21.

Win Shares leaderboard:
Players; Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 35, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati) and Willie Mays (San Francisco) 34, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 33, Vada Pinson (Cincinnati) 32, Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 29, Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 27, Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 26, Wally Moon (Los Angeles) 25, Joe Adcock (Milwaukee) 22, Maury Wills (Los Angeles) 21, George Altman (Chicago), John Roseboro (Los Angeles) and Don Hoak (Pittsburgh) 20.

Pitchers; Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 25, Jim O'Toole (Cincinnati) 22, Joey Jay (Cincinnati) and Sandy Koufax (Los Angeles) 20, Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) 19, Stu Miller (San Francisco), Bob Gibson and Ray Sadecki (St. Louis) 18, Mike McCormick (San Francisco) and Curt Simmons (St. Louis) 17.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Aaron 9.3, Robinson 9.1, Cepeda 8.5, Mays 8.3, Pinson 7.6, Mathews and Frank Bolling (Milwaukee) 7.5, Hoak 7.2, Boyer 6.5, Clemente 6.2, Adcock, Altman, and Ernie Banks (Chicago) 5.6, Ron Santo (Chicago) 5.2.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Spahn 8.5, Don Cardwell (Chicago) 7.5, McCormick and Koufax 6.4, Drysdale 6.3, Gibson 5.8, O'Toole and Sadecki 5.7, Jay 5.5, Johnny Podres (Los Angeles) 5.3.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Aaron 9.4, Mays 8.9, Boyer 7.7, Mathews and Robinson 7.6, Pinson 7.3, Cepeda 6.1, Clemente 5.8, Banks 4.5, Bolling 4.2, Adcock and Stuart 4.1, Altman and Moon 3.8, Hoak 3.6, Davenport 3.5. Pitchers (bWAR): Cardwell 5.7, Koufax 5.6, Drysdale and O'Toole 5.1, Spahn 4.8, Williams 4.6, Gibson, Jay, and McCormick 4.5, Sadecki 4.1, Ellsworth and Podres 3.8.

Actual award voting:
MVP (top 13)
Place Name Team 1st place Points
1 Frank Robinson CIN 15 219
2 Orlando Cepeda SFG 0 117
3 Vada Pinson CIN 0 104
4 Roberto Clemente PIT 0 81
5 Joey Jay CIN 1 74
6 Willie Mays SFG 0 70
7 Ken Boyer STL 0 43
8 Hank Aaron MLN 0 39
9 Maury Wills LAD 0 36
10 Jim O'Toole CIN 0 31
10 Warren Spahn MLN 0 31
12 Stu Miller SFG 0 26
13 Wally Moon LAD 0 22
Amazingly, Aaron only placed 8th after a great season.

Cy Young (both leagues together)
1 Whitey Ford NYY 9
2 Warren Spahn MLN 6
3 Frank Lary DET 2

Rookie
1 Billy Williams CHC 10
2 Joe Torre MLN 5
3 Jack Curtis CHC 1

Best Player: Frank Robinson. He was on the pennant-winners, one Win Share means nothing, and it's the Reds.
I'd go 1.) Frank Robinson 2.) Hank Aaron 3.) Willie Mays 4.) Orlando Cepeda 5.) Vada Pinson 6.) Roberto Clemente.

Best Pitcher: Warren Spahn. He would have won this award a lot, if the NL had its own then.
#1 Warren Spahn, #2 Jim O'Toole, #3 Sandy Koufax, #4 Don Drysdale, #5 Bob Gibson.

Best Rookie: Billy Williams. Torre was a really bad catcher at this time.

Best Manager: Fred Hutchinson, guiding the Reds to their first pennant in 21 years.

1961 American League

1961 marked a number of ends and beginnings. Casey Stengel was forced out as Yankees manager, and Ralph Houk took over. It didn't seem to matter, as the Yankees won the pennant and World Series under Houk. It was also an expansion year, as the AL added franchises in Washington, with the old Senators moving to Minneapolis and becoming the Minnesota Twins, and a west coast entry was added with the Los Angeles Angels. With some weak sisters to beat up on, the Yankees won 109 games, but the Detroit Tigers were surprise contenders and tallied 101 wins. Baltimore was a strong third, but Chicago was the only other team in the newly 10-team league over .500. Cleveland finished fifth, followed by a Ted Williams-less Boston, Minnesota, LA, and Kansas City and Washington tied for last at 100 losses. Jackie Jensen, who had retired from the Red Sox the previous year due in large part to a fear of flying, returned this year, but jumped the club for 8 days in April. After all, the schedule now included west coast trips.

It was also a crazy year in the stats, as Roger Maris belted 61 home runs to break Babe Ruth's long-standing single season record. Maris also led the league in RBI with 142, just ahead of Jim Gentile's 141 and Rocky Colavito's 140. Norm Cash led the league in batting (with a .361 average) and OPS, in what was by far his best season and a large reason for the Detroit surprise. Mantle and Maris tied for the lead in runs with 132, and Luis Aparicio led the league in steals with 53. Al Kaline had 41 doubles and was second in the league with a .324 average, and Jake Wood had 14 triples.

Whitey Ford won 25 games in his first year in a normal rotation, while Frank Lary won 23. Dick Donovan led the league in ERA with a 2.40 mark, followed by Bill Stafford at 2.68. Camilo Pascual led in strikeouts with 221, followed by Ford at 209. Luis Arroyo led in saves with 29, well ahead of Hoyt Wilhelm's 18. Ford led the league with 283 innings, while Lary had 22 complete games. Pascual and Steve Barber each pitched 8 shutouts.

Win Shares leaderboard:
Players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 48, Norm Cash (Detroit) 42, Roger Maris (New York) 36, Rocky Colavito (Detroit) 33, Jim Gentile (Baltimore) 32, Al Kaline (Detroit) and Elston Howard (New York) 29, Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota) 27, John Romano (Cleveland) 25, Jim Landis and Roy Sievers (Chicago) and Norm Siebern (Kansas City) 23, Jackie Brandt (Baltimore), Tito Francona (Cleveland) and Woodie Held (Detroit) and Tony Kubek (New York) 21.

Pitchers; Luis Arroyo (New York) 23, Frank Lary (Detroit) and Whitey Ford (New York) 22, Don Mossi (Detroit) 20, Steve Barber (Baltimore) and Jim Bunning (Detroit) 19, Juan Pizarro (Chicago) 18, Bill Monbouquette (Boston), Ken McBride (Los Angeles), Jack Kralick and Camilo Pascual (Minnesota) and Bill Stafford (New York) 17.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Cash 11.3, Mantle 10.4, Kaline 8.7, Gentile 8.0, Colavito and Howard 7.3, Romano 6.3, Maris 5.8, Jimmy Piersall (Cleveland) 5.5, Earl Battey (Minnesota) 5.3, Francona 5.0, Killebrew 4.8, Kubek 4.7.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Pascual 7.2, McBride and Kralick 6.3, Dick Donovan (Washington) 6.2, Pizarro 5.7, Jim Archer (Kansas City) 5.6, Bennie Daniels (Washington) 5.5, Eli Grba (Los Angeles) 5.4, Monbouquette and Pedro Ramos (Minnesota) 5.2, Lary 4.8, Tom Morgan (Los Angeles) 4.7, Stafford 4.5, Don Schwall (Boston) 4.4, Arroyo 4.3.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 11.1, Cash 10.8, Colavito 8.8, Gentile 8.6, Kaline 8.4, Maris 7.9, Killebrew 7.0, Piersall 5.6, Romano 5.5, Landis, Robinson, and Sievers 4.9, Held 4.7. Pitchers (bWAR): Kralick 5.5, Pascual 5.0, McBride 4.7, Lary and Pizarro 4.1, Donovan and Monbouquette 4.0, Hoeft 3.9, Archer, Bunning, and Mossi 3.7.

Award voting:
MVP (top 11):
Place Name Team 1st place Votes
1 Roger Maris NYY 7 202
2 Mickey Mantle NYY 6 198
3 Jim Gentile BAL 5 157
4 Norm Cash DET 1 151
5 Whitey Ford NYY 0 102
6 Luis Arroyo NYY 1 95
7 Frank Lary DET 0 53
8 Rocky Colavito DET 0 51
9 Al Kaline DET 0 35
10 Elston Howard NYY 0 30
11 Harmon Killebrew MIN 0 29
A wildly split vote between the two Yankees and the two career years.

Cy Young was one vote for the two leagues:
1 Whitey Ford NYY 9 9
2 Warren Spahn MLN 6 6
3 Frank Lary DET 2 2

Rookie:
1 Don Schwall BOS 7 7
2 Dick Howser KCA 6 6
3 Floyd Robinson CHW 2 2
3 Chuck Schilling BOS 2 2
3 Lee Thomas TOT 2 2
6 Jake Wood DET 1 1

Top Player: Mickey Mantle. It was the Mick's last true great year, and he deserves the trophy. He was easily the best player in the league, again, although Cash was spectacular. Sometimes it's lonely at the top, but the Yankees got a lot of mileage out of it.
#1 Mickey Mantle, #2 Norm Cash, #3 Roger Maris, #4 Jim Gentile, #5 Rocky Colavito, #6 Al Kaline.

Top pitcher: No real great pitcher in the AL this year. I'm gonna go for the "pod people" year of Luis Arroyo. It was way over his head, and even though he was a reliever he was the best pitcher in the league. Amazing work.
#1 Luis Arroyo, #2 Frank Lary, #3 Camilo Pascual, #4 Whitey Ford, #5 Juan Pizarro.

Top rookie: Another weak field. Put me down for Dick Howser. He was better than Don Schwall, and about even with Floyd Robinson.

Top manager: I'll say Bob Scheffing, for taking over Detroit and guiding them to 2nd place. It was an exciting year in Detroit, while the Yankees' success was expected.

11 October 2008

1960 National League

Another surprise pennant winner in the NL. The Giants were heavily favored, the Braves were loaded, the Dodgers were defending champs, but the Pirates surprised them all and won the pennant. The Buccos had a seven-game edge over the Braves, with the Cardinals third, Dodgers fourth, and Giants fifth. The below-.500 teams had Cincinnati 6th, Chicago 7th and Philadelphia last. The Pirates then won a seven-game World Series over the Yankees, with the winning blow a home run by Bill Mazeroski.

Dick Groat won the batting title with a .325 average despite missing a month while injured, and took the MVP. Norm Larker was second with a .323 mark. Richie Ashburn led in on-base, Frank Robinson in slugging and OPS. Ernie Banks led in home runs with 41, followed by Hank Aaron with 40; Aaron led in RBI with 126, followed by Eddie Mathews with 124. Maury Wills led in steals with 50 and Bill Bruton in runs with 112 and triples with 13. Willie Mays led in hits with 190, and Vada Pinson in doubles with 37.

Ernie Broglio and Warren Spahn tied for the wins lead with 21, and Vernon Law won 20. Mike McCormick led in ERA with a 2.70 mark and Broglio was second with 2.74. Don Drysdale led in strikeouts with 246, Larry Jackson led with 282 innings, and Jack Sanford had 6 shutouts. Lindy McDaniel led in saves with 26 and Roy Face was second with 24.

Win Shares leaders, players; Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) and Willie Mays (San Francisco) 38, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 35, Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 31, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 29, Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 28, Joe Adcock (Milwaukee) and Dick Groat (Pittsburgh) 25, Bill Bruton (Milwaukee) 24, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati), Del Crandall (Milwaukee) and Don Hoak (Pittsburgh) 23, Richie Ashburn (Chicago) 22, Vada Pinson (Cincinnati) and Bill Mazeroski (Pittsburgh) 21, Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) and Lindy McDaniel (St. Louis) 25, Ernie Broglio (St. Louis) 24, Larry Jackson (St. Louis) 21, Bob Friend and Vernon Law (Pittsburgh) 20, Johnny Podres (Los Angeles), Lew Burdette (Milwaukee) and Mike McCormick (San Francisco) 18, Stan Williams (Los Angeles) and Elroy Face (Pittsburgh) 17, Bob Buhl and Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 10.6, Aaron and Mathews 10.1, Banks 8.6, Hoak 8.2, Groat 7.7, Crandall 7.4, Robinson 7.3, Boyer 7.0, Cepeda 6.0, Adcock 5.8, Mazeroski 5.4, Pinson 5.3, Ed Bailey (Cincinnati) 5.2, Bruton 4.9.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Broglio 9.5, Drysdale 8.2, McDaniel 8.0, Jackson 6.7, McCormick 6.3, Williams 5.6, Buhl 5.4, Podres 5.3, Law and Bob Purkey (Cincinnati) 5.0, Burdette 4.9.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 8.8, Mathews 8.2, Aaron and Banks 7.5, Boyer 6.9, Robinson 6.7, Groat 6.2, Hoak 5.5, Pinson 5.1, Adcock and Crandall 4.4, Ashburn 4.2, Moon 4.1, Cepeda 4.0. Pitchers (bWAR): Drysdale 7.0, Broglio 6.6, McCormick 5.8, Jackson 5.5, Friend 5.3, McDaniel and Podres 5.0, Law 4.5, Buhl 4.2, Roberts 3.8.

Actual award voting:

MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+---------+---
1 Dick Groat PIT 16 276 336 0.82 | 573 186 2 .325 .766 0
2 Don Hoak PIT 5 162 336 0.48 | 553 156 16 .282 .810 3
3 Willie Mays SFG 0 155 336 0.46 | 595 190 29 .319 .936 25
4 Ernie Banks CHC 0 100 336 0.30 | 597 162 41 .271 .904 1
5 Lindy McDaniel STL 0 95 336 0.28 | 26 6 0 .231 .528 0| 12-4 116 2.09 0.937 105 26
6 Ken Boyer STL 0 80 336 0.24 | 552 168 32 .304 .932 8
6 Vern Law PIT 0 80 336 0.24 | 94 17 1 .181 .504 0| 20-9 272 3.08 1.126 120
8 Roberto Clemente PIT 1 62 336 0.18 | 570 179 16 .314 .815 4
9 Ernie Broglio STL 0 58 336 0.17 | 68 14 0 .206 .545 0| 21-9 226 2.74 1.202 188
10 Eddie Mathews MLN 0 52 336 0.15 | 548 152 39 .277 .948 7
11 Hank Aaron MLN 0 49 336 0.15 | 590 172 40 .292 .919 16
12 Roy Face PIT 0 47 336 0.14 | 17 7 0 .412 .882 0| 10-8 115 2.90 1.064 72 24
13 Del Crandall MLN 0 31 336 0.09 | 537 158 19 .294 .764 4
14 Warren Spahn MLN 0 27 336 0.08 | 95 14 3 .147 .449 0| 21-10 268 3.50 1.225 154 2
15 Norm Larker LAD 0 21 336 0.06 | 440 142 5 .323 .798 1
16 Stan Musial STL 0 18 336 0.05 | 331 91 17 .275 .841 1
17 Maury Wills LAD 0 7 336 0.02 | 516 152 0 .295 .673 50
18 Vada Pinson CIN 0 6 336 0.02 | 652 187 20 .287 .811 32
19 Joe Adcock MLN 0 5 336 0.01 | 514 153 25 .298 .854 2
20 Smoky Burgess PIT 0 2 336 0.01 | 337 99 7 .294 .769 0
20 Frank Robinson CIN 0 2 336 0.01 | 464 138 31 .297 1.002 13
20 Larry Sherry LAD 0 2 336 0.01 | 37 6 1 .162 .482 0| 14-10 142 3.79 1.455 114 7
23 Pancho Herrera PHI 0 1 336 0.00 | 512 144 17 .281 .803 2

Groat and Hoak were #1-2, apparently on the theory that the MVP must be on the winning team. 5 Pirates drew significant support, and even pinch-hitter Smoky Burgess got two votes.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Vern Law PIT 8 8 16 0.50 | 20-9 272 3.08 1.126 120
2 Warren Spahn MLN 4 4 16 0.25 | 21-10 268 3.50 1.225 154 2
3 Ernie Broglio STL 1 1 16 0.06 | 21-9 226 2.74 1.202 188
3 Lindy McDaniel STL 1 1 16 0.06 | 12-4 116 2.09 0.937 105 26
Similar picks. Odd Bob Friend did not pick up a vote.

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+-----+---+-----+--+
1 Frank Howard LAD 12 12 24 0.50 | 448 120 23 .268 .784 0
2 Pancho Herrera PHI 4 4 24 0.17 | 512 144 17 .281 .803 2
3 Art Mahaffey PHI 3 3 24 0.12 | 30 3 0 .100 .200 0| 7-3 93 2.32 1.200 56
4 Ron Santo CHC 2 2 24 0.08 | 347 87 9 .251 .720 0
5 Tommy Davis LAD 1 1 24 0.04 | 352 97 11 .276 .728 6

Votes were scattered with no single standout performance. Santo would have the best career.

Top player: Willie Mays. Mays and Eddie Mathews were tied in WS with Mays slightly ahead in WARP. Aaron was right behind, with Banks not far off. None of those guys was on the winner, but none of the Pirates stood out; not even Roberto Clemente, in spite of what author David Mariniss says.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Eddie Mathews, #3 Hank Aaron, #4 Ernie Banks, #5 Frank Robinson, #6 Ken Boyer.

Top pitcher: Ernie Broglio. Again, tough to choose. Broglio was tied for the wins lead, 2nd in ERA, 4th in strikeouts, 1st in ERA+, so he was better across the board.
#1 Ernie Broglio, #2 Don Drysdale, #3 Lindy McDaniel, #4 Bob Friend, #5 Vernon Law.

Top rookie: Frank Howard, even though he had 13 Win Shares to Pancho Herrera's 15. Voters at the time saw Howard had more potential.

Top manager: Danny Murtaugh, leading the Pirates to the championship.

1960 American League

The Yankees returned to their accustomed place atop the standings, in spite of an off-year from Whitey Ford and a generally mediocre pitching staff. For some reason I don't understand, the AL schedule started a week behind the NL season, April 18 rather than April 12. The Yankees had more than their share of tribulations. Manager Casey Stengel spent two weeks in the hospital getting treatment for a viral infection, Mickey Mantle got punched in the face after catching the final out (in a game at Yankee Stadium!) on May 30, but the Yanks took first place in the middle of June and rode out the storms.

The Orioles made a race of it, but the Yanks clinched on September 25. The team (temporarily) set an AL record for home runs. The Yankees finished 8 games ahead of Baltimore and 10 ahead of defending champs Chicago. The rest of the league finished under .500, in this order: Cleveland (being sunk by Frank Lane's trades), Washington, Detroit, Boston, Kansas City.

Pete Runnels won the batting title with a .320 mark, leading Al Smith at .315. Mantle led in homers with 40, just ahead of Roger Maris with 39 and Jim Lemon's 38. Eddie Yost led in on-base and Maris in slugging, and also in RBI with 112, leading Minnie Minoso with 105. Mantle led with 119 runs. Tito Francona had 36 doubles, Nellie Fox 10 triples, Luis Aparicio 51 SB. Mantle and Maris were 1-2 in OPS.

No pitcher won 20 games: Chuck Estrada and Jim Perry tied for the lead with 18, and Bud Daley was next with 16 wins. Frank Baumann led in ERA with a 2.67 mark, followed by Jim Bunning at 2.79. Bunning led in strikeouts with 201. Mike Fornieles and John Klippstein tied with 14 saves. Frank Lary edged Pedro Ramos by 1/3 of an inning for that lead.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 36, Roger Maris (New York) 31, Ron Hansen (Baltimore), Minnie Minoso (Chicago), Tito Francona (Cleveland), and Bill Skowron (New York) 24, Gene Woodling (Baltimore) and Roy Sievers (Chicago) 22, Jim Gentile and Brooks Robinson (Baltimore), Ted Williams (Boston), Nellie Fox (Chicago), Norm Siebern (Kansas City) and Jim Lemon (Washington) 21, Pete Runnels (Boston), Luis Aparicio and Al Smith (Chicago) and Harmon Killebrew (Washington) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Jim Bunning (Detroit) 20, Frank Lary (Detroit) 19, Ray Herbert (Kansas City) 18, Mike Fornieles and Bill Monbouquette (Boston), Frank Baumann and Early Wynn (Chicago), Jim Perry (Cleveland) and Pedro Ramos (Washington) 16, Chuck Estrada (Baltimore) 15.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mantle 8.8, Aparicio 7.8, Fox 7.6, Maris 7.1, Robinson 7.0, Hansen and Tony Kubek (New York) 6.4, Sievers 5.5, Skowron 5.0, Woodling and Francona 4.9, Jim Landis (Chicago) 4.7, Earl Battey (Washington) and Clete Boyer (New York) 4.4, Runnels 4.3.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Bunning 8.6, Herbert 7.9, Lary 7.6, Monbouquette 6.3, Fornieles 5.8, Ramos 5.5, Don Mossi (Detroit) 5.0, Dave Sisler (Detroit) 4.8, Jack Kralick (Washington) 4.7.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Maris 8.1, Mantle 7.9, Aparicio 6.1, Robinson 5.9, Skowron 5.7, Hansen 5.4, Runnels 5.2, Fox 5.0, Kubek 4.8, Francona and Sievers 4.5, Battey, Minoso, and Piersall 4.4. Pitchers (bWAR): Bunning 6.2, Herbert 5.8, Monbouquette 4.7, Ramos 4.4, Lary 3.8, Kralick 3.7, Baumann 3.1, Pappas 3.0, Fornieles and Muffett 2.9.

Actual award winners;

MVP (top 20): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+------+---+-
1 Roger Maris NYY 8 225 336 0.67 | 499 141 39 .283 .952 2
2 Mickey Mantle NYY 10 222 336 0.66 | 527 145 40 .275 .957 14
3 Brooks Robinson BAL 3 211 336 0.63 | 595 175 14 .294 .769 2
4 Minnie Minoso CHW 2 141 336 0.42 | 591 184 20 .311 .855 17
5 Ron Hansen BAL 1 110 336 0.33 | 530 135 22 .255 .781 3
6 Al Smith CHW 0 73 336 0.22 | 536 169 12 .315 .826 8
7 Roy Sievers CHW 0 58 336 0.17 | 444 131 28 .295 .930 1
8 Earl Battey WSH 0 57 336 0.17 | 466 126 15 .270 .773 4
9 Bill Skowron NYY 0 56 336 0.17 | 538 166 26 .309 .881 2
10 Jim Lemon WSH 0 36 336 0.11 | 528 142 38 .269 .861 2
11 Tony Kubek NYY 0 29 336 0.09 | 568 155 14 .273 .713 3
12 Chuck Estrada BAL 0 28 336 0.08 | 64 9 0 .141 .390 1| 18-11 209 3.58 1.260 144 2
13 Ted Williams BOS 0 25 336 0.07 | 310 98 29 .316 1.096 1
14 Vic Wertz BOS 0 22 336 0.07 | 443 125 19 .282 .79
15 Yogi Berra NYY 0 21 336 0.06 | 359 99 15 .276 .792 2
15 Jim Gentile BAL 0 21 336 0.06 | 384 112 21 .292 .903 0
17 Pete Runnels BOS 0 18 336 0.05 | 528 169 2 .320 .795 5
18 Nellie Fox CHW 0 11 336 0.03 | 605 175 2 .289 .723 2
18 Vic Power CLE 0 11 336 0.03 | 580 167 10 .288 .707 9
20 Steve Barber BAL 0 7 336 0.02 | 54 3 0 .056 .191 0| 10-7 182 3.22 1.436 112 2

Maris and Mantle in a virtual dead heat, with Maris carrying the win with more points in spite of more first-place votes for Mickey. Brooksy almost snuck in and stole this one.

No AL pitchers received votes in the dual-league Cy Young voting, nor did any deserve to do so.

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+--+
1 Ron Hansen BAL 22 22 24 0.92 | 530 135 22 .255 .781 3
2 Chuck Estrada BAL 1 1 24 0.04 | 64 9 0 .141 .390 1| 18-11 209 3.58 1.260 144 2
2 Jim Gentile BAL 1 1 24 0.04 | 384 112 21 .292 .903 0|

A sweep for the Orioles.

Top player: Roger Maris. Maris and Mantle are close, but I'll go with the WAR leader this time. Just five points of OPS separate them, and I am deciding that Maris playing RF well was worth more than Mantle playing CF competently.
#1 Roger Maris, #2 Mickey Mantle, #3 Brooks Robinson, #4 Ron Hansen, #5 Luis Aparicio, #6 Bill Skowron.

Top pitcher: Jim Bunning, in spite of a losing (11-14) record. Bunning led in strikeouts and was 2nd in ERA. He also received MVP votes, surprising in view of the era's emphasis on won-lost record.
#1 Jim Bunning, #2 Ray Herbert, #3 Frank Lary, #4 Bill Monbouquette, #5 Mike Fornieles.

Top rookie: Ron Hansen. The best three were all in Baltimore, and Hansen was the best of the lot.

Top manager: Casey Stengel. He had more horses than the others, but he also knew what to do with them.

06 October 2008

1959 National League

The Dodgers won a surprise pennant, their only flag between 1956 (the end of the Boys of Summer run) and 1963 (the first of the Koufax/Drysdale teams) with a transitional team. The Dodgers and Braves ended the season in a tie, and LA won two to take the playoff. The Giants led down the stretch but finished third, four games back. Pittsburgh was 4th, Chicago and Cincinnati tied for 5th, and St. Louis and Philadelphia brought up the rear.

Hank Aaron led the league in batting with a .355 mark, outpacing Joe Cunningham at .345. Cunningham led in on-base, while Aaron led in slugging and OPS. Eddie Mathews led in HR with 46, edging Ernie Banks at 45, while it was Banks in RBI with 145, followed by Frank Robinson with 125. Willie Mays led in steals with 27, Vada Pinson in runs with 131 and doubles with 47. Wally Moon and Charlie Neal tied with 11 triples.

The lead in wins was a three-way tie between Lew Burdette, Warren Spahn, and Sam Jones at 21 apiece, with Jones edging Stu Miller and Bob Buhl in the ERA race, checking in at 2.83, 2.84, and 2.86 respectively. Don Drysdale led in strikeouts with 242, followed by Jones at 209, Harvey Haddix in WHIP (13 hitless innings helped) with Lindy McDaniel and Don McMahon tied for the lead in saves at 15. Spahn tossed 21 complete games and led in innings with 292, just ahead of teammate Burdette at 290.

Win Shares leaders, players; Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 38, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 37, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 33, Willie Mays (San Francisco) 32, Vada Pinson (Cincinnati) 27, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati), Wally Moon and Charlie Neal (Los Angeles) 25, Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 24, Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 23, Johnny Temple (Cincinnati) and Don Hoak (Pittsburgh) 22, Jim Gilliam (Los Angeles), Del Crandall (Milwaukee) and Joe Cunningham (St. Louis) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Vern Law (Pittsburgh) 24, Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 23, Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) and Sam Jones (San Francisco) 22, Don Newcombe (Cincinnati) and Larry Jackson (St. Louis) 21, Johnny Antonelli (San Francisco) 20, Roger Craig (Los Angeles), Gene Conley (Milwaukee) and Harvey Haddix (Pittsburgh) 17.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Aaron 11.9, Mathews 11.1, Banks 10.8, Mays 10.0, Hoak 7.4, Crandall 7.2, Pinson 6.7, Boyer 6.5, Robinson, Ed Bailey (Cincinnati), Daryl Spencer (San Francisco) 6.1, Cepeda 5.9, Neal 5.8.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Law 8.8, Spahn 7.5, Newcombe 7.4, Drysdale 7.0, Conley 6.9, Jim Owens (Philadelphia) 6.4, Haddix 6.1.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Banks 10.4, Mathews 9.1, Aaron 9.0, Mays 8.1, Boyer 6.5, Robinson 6.1, Pinson 6.0, Moon 5.8, Crandall 5.1, Neal 4.9, Logan 4.6, Hoak and Cepeda 4.2, Temple 4.1, Cunningham 3.9. Pitchers (bWAR): Jackson and Law 7.0, Drysdale 6.7, Spahn 6.5, Jones 5.9, Antonelli 5.7, Newcombe 5.3, Owens 5.1, Conley and Craig 4.8, Haddix 4.2, Sanford 4.0.

Actual award winners:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+----+-----
1 Ernie Banks CHC 10 232 336 0.69 | 589 179 45 .304 .970 2
2 Eddie Mathews MLN 5 189 336 0.56 | 594 182 46 .306 .983 2
3 Hank Aaron MLN 2 174 336 0.52 | 629 223 39 .355 1.037 8
4 Wally Moon LAD 4 161 336 0.48 | 543 164 19 .302 .890 15
5 Sam Jones SFG 0 130 336 0.39 | 85 11 0 .129 .298 0| 21-15 271 2.83 1.260 209 4
6 Willie Mays SFG 0 85 336 0.25 | 575 180 34 .313 .964 27
7 Roy Face PIT 0 67 336 0.20 | 13 3 0 .231 .462 0| 18-1 93 2.70 1.243 69 10
8 Charlie Neal LAD 0 64 336 0.19 | 616 177 19 .287 .802 17
9 Frank Robinson CIN 0 52 336 0.15 | 540 168 36 .311 .975 18
10 Ken Boyer STL 0 37 336 0.11 | 563 174 28 .309 .892 12
11 Del Crandall MLN 0 27 336 0.08 | 518 133 21 .257 .741 5
12 Lew Burdette MLN 0 14 336 0.04 | 104 21 0 .202 .520 0| 21-15 290 4.07 1.208 105 1
13 Roger Craig LAD 0 12 336 0.04 | 52 3 0 .058 .133 0| 11-5 153 2.06 1.094 76
13 Joe Cunningham STL 0 12 336 0.04 | 458 158 7 .345 .931 2
15 Vada Pinson CIN 0 11 336 0.03 | 648 205 20 .316 .880 21
16 Johnny Temple CIN 0 8 336 0.02 | 598 186 8 .311 .809 14
17 Don Hoak PIT 0 6 336 0.02 | 564 166 8 .294 .773 9
18 Gil Hodges LAD 0 4 336 0.01 | 413 114 25 .276 .880 3
19 Orlando Cepeda SFG 0 3 336 0.01 | 605 192 27 .317 .878 23
19 Vern Law PIT 0 3 336 0.01 | 96 16 1 .167 .411 0| 18-9 266 2.98 1.120 110 1
19 Warren Spahn MLN 0 3 336 0.01 | 104 24 2 .231 .541 0| 21-15 292 2.96 1.205 143
22 Gene Conley PHI 0 1 336 0.00 | 67 16 0 .239 .519 0| 12-7 180 3.00 1.117 102 1
22 Willie McCovey SFG 0 1 336 0.00 | 192 68 13 .354 1.085 2
22 Duke Snider LAD 0 1 336 0.00 | 370 114 23 .308 .935 1

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Early Wynn CHW 13 13 16 0.81 | 22-10 256 3.17 1.255 179
2 Sam Jones SFG 2 2 16 0.12 | 21-15 271 2.83 1.260 209 4
3 Bob Shaw CHW 1 1 16 0.06 | 18-6 231 2.69 1.175 89 3

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+---+--+
1 Willie McCovey SFG 24 24 24 1.00 | 192 68 13 .354 1.085 2|
I believe Vada Pinson was not eligible by the rules of the time.

Top player: Ernie Banks won another MVP, and he was arguably the best player in the league this year. It was close, and would continue to be, but Banks is a good pick here.
#1 Ernie Banks, #2 Hank Aaron, #3 Eddie Mathews, #4 Willie Mays, #5 Vada Pinson, #6 Ken Boyer.

Top pitcher: Vern Law got overlooked with a poor Pirate team, but led in Win Shares and WARP. He was 18-9.
#1 Vern Law, #2 Warren Spahn, #3 Don Drysdale, #4 Sam Jones, #5 Gene Conley.

Top rookie: Willie McCovey by rules then in existence, in 54 incredible games. Vada Pinson would probably win by today's rules, since he would likely be eligible.

Top manager: Walter Alston guided the Dodgers to the championship with a cobbled-together team of old guard (Hodges, Gilliam, Snider, Podres) youngsters who would be part of the coming great LA teams (Koufax, Drysdale, Wills, Roseboro) and transitional guys (Moon, Neal, Craig).

1959 American League

Go-go Sox! Chicago's White Sox won the pennant, breaking the string of four in a row (and 9 of 10) by the Yankees. They then lost to the Dodgers in the World Series. The Chisox won with what was considered at the time a running offense, and their 113 steals, while not overly impressive, did lead the league. They were only 6th in the 8-team league in runs, and it was pitching and defense that carried the day. Cleveland, leading the league in runs, placed second, while the Yankees offense collapsed and the team finished third at 79-75. Detroit, Boston, Baltimore, Kansas City and Washington followed, all under .500.

Harvey Kuenn won the batting title at .353, easily outdistancing Al Kaline's .327. Rocky Colavito and Harmon Killebrew tied for the home run lead with 42. Jackie Jensen led in RBI with 112, closely followed by Colavito with 111. Luis Aparicio led in steals with 56, far ahead of second-place Mickey Mantle's 21. Al Kaline had the OPS lead and led in slugging, with Eddie Yost leading in on-base. Yost scored 115 runs, Kuenn had 42 doubles, and Bobby Allison nine triples.

Early Wynn led in wins and innings, Hoyt Wilhelm in ERA, Jim Bunning in strikeouts. Wynn was the league's only 20-game winner, finishing with 22. Cal McLish had 19 and Bob Shaw 18. Wilhelm's 2.19 mark in his only full year as a starter (at age 36!) was well ahead of Camilo Pascual at 2.64 and Shaw at 2.69. Bunning recorded 201 Ks, leading Pascual at 185 and Wynn at 179. Turk Lown had 15 saves. Pascual topped the loop with his 17 complete games and 7 shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players: Nellie Fox (Chicago) and Mickey Mantle (New York) 30, Rocky Colavito and Minnie Minoso (Cleveland) 29, Tito Francona (Cleveland), Al Kaline and Eddie Yost (Detroit) 27, Jim Landis (Chicago) and Harvey Kuenn (Detroit) 25, Pete Runnels (Boston) 24, Sherm Lollar (Chicago), Yogi Berra (New York) and Harmon Killebrew (Washington) 23, Jackie Jensen (Boston) and Woodie Held (Cleveland) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Camilo Pascual (Washington) 24, Hoyt Wilhelm (Baltimore) and Early Wynn (Chicago) 23, Bob Shaw (Chicago) 22, Don Mossi (Detroit) and Bud Daley (Kansas City) 18, Milt Pappas (Baltimore) and Jim Bunning (Detroit) 17, Jerry Walker (Baltimore), Gerry Staley (Chicago) and Whitey Ford (New York) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Fox 8.1, Mantle 7.9, Kaline 7.0, Runnels 6.9, Colavito and Berra 6.6, Francona 6.4, Jensen 6.2, Minoso and Lollar 6.0, Yost 5.8.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Pascual 12.3, Wilhelm 10.1, Billy O'Dell (Baltimore) 7.2, Daley 7.0, Mossi 6.4, Walker 6.3, Shaw and Pappas 5.9, Bunning and Ned Garver (Kansas City) 5.7.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 7.3, Yost 6.9, Kaline 6.8, Fox 6.7, Colavito and Minoso 6.0, Landis 5.8, Runnels 5.7, Jensen 5.4, Lollar 4.9, Killebrew 4.7, Berra and Kuenn 4.6, Held 4.3, Tuttle 4.2. Pitchers (bWAR): Wilhelm 7.4, Pascual 7.3, Shaw 4.6, Daley 4.4, Mossi 4.1, Pappas 4.0, O'Dell 3.9, Walker 3.8, Bunning 3.7, Ditmar 3.1.

Actual award winners:

MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+-----+---+-----+-----+--+
1 Nellie Fox CHW 16 295 336 0.88 | 624 191 2 .306 .770 5
2 Luis Aparicio CHW 8 255 336 0.76 | 612 157 6 .257 .647 56
3 Early Wynn CHW 0 123 336 0.37 | 90 22 2 .244 .706 0| 22-10 256 3.17 1.255 179
4 Rocky Colavito CLE 0 117 336 0.35 | 588 151 42 .257 .849 3
5 Tito Francona CLE 0 102 336 0.30 | 399 145 20 .363 .980 2
6 Al Kaline DET 0 84 336 0.25 | 511 167 27 .327 .940 10
7 Jim Landis CHW 0 66 336 0.20 | 515 140 5 .272 .749 20
8 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 64 336 0.19 | 561 198 9 .353 .903 7
9 Sherm Lollar CHW 0 44 336 0.13 | 505 134 22 .265 .796 4
10 Jackie Jensen BOS 0 40 336 0.12 | 535 148 28 .277 .863 20
11 Cal McLish CLE 0 35 336 0.10 | 74 14 0 .189 .474 1| 19-8 235 3.63 1.381 113 1
12 Yogi Berra NYY 0 26 336 0.08 | 472 134 19 .284 .809 1
12 Minnie Minoso CLE 0 26 336 0.08 | 570 172 21 .302 .846 8
14 Frank Malzone BOS 0 24 336 0.07 | 604 169 19 .280 .760 6
15 Harmon Killebrew WSH 0 21 336 0.06 | 546 132 42 .242 .870 3
16 Gene Woodling BAL 0 18 336 0.05 | 440 132 14 .300 .856 1
17 Mickey Mantle NYY 0 13 336 0.04 | 541 154 31 .285 .904 21
18 Bobby Richardson NYY 0 11 336 0.03 | 469 141 2 .301 .713 5
19 Camilo Pascual WSH 0 9 336 0.03 | 86 26 0 .302 .666 0| 17-10 239 2.64 1.135 185
20 Bob Shaw CHW 0 8 336 0.02 | 73 9 0 .123 .316 0| 18-6 231 2.69 1.175 89 3
20 Gus Triandos BAL 0 8 336 0.02 | 393 85 25 .216 .760 0
22 Bud Daley KCA 0 7 336 0.02 | 78 23 0 .295 .637 0| 16-13 216 3.16 1.267 125 1
23 Vic Power CLE 0 5 336 0.01 | 595 172 10 .289 .746 9
23 Bill Tuttle KCA 0 5 336 0.01 | 463 139 7 .300 .782 10
25 Jim Lemon WSH 0 4 336 0.01 | 531 148 33 .279 .844 5
26 Pete Runnels BOS 0 2 336 0.01 | 560 176 6 .314 .841 6
26 Ted Williams BOS 0 2 336 0.01 | 272 69 10 .254 .791 0
28 Bob Allison WSH 0 1 336 0.00 | 570 149 30 .261 .815 13
28 Gerry Staley CHW 0 1 336 0.00 | 13 2 0 .154 .466 0| 8-5 116 2.24 1.169 54 14

The White Sox pennant so captivated the press corps that the top three MVP spots, and five of the top nine, went to members of the “Go-Go Sox.”

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Early Wynn CHW 13 13 16 0.81 | 22-10 256 3.17 1.255 179
2 Sam Jones SFG 2 2 16 0.12 | 21-15 271 2.83 1.260 209 4
3 Bob Shaw CHW 1 1 16 0.06 | 18-6 231 2.69 1.175 89 3

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Bob Allison WSH 18 18 24 0.75 | 570 149 30 .261 .815 13
2 Jim Perry CLE 5 5 24 0.21 | 50 15 0 .300 .640 0| 12-10 153 2.65 1.157 79 4
3 Russ Snyder KCA 1 1 24 0.04 | 243 76 3 .313 .787 6|

Top player: Nellie Fox. Mantle and Fox were even on WS, but this was Fox' year. He had been running in the top five for the past several years, and his team broke through. In spite of a movement to give his SS teammate Aparicio the MVP award, Fox deservedly won.
#1 Nellie Fox, #2 Mickey Mantle, #3 Al Kaline, #4 Ed Yost, #5 Minnie Minoso, #6 Rocky Colavito,

Top pitcher: Camilo Pascual, by both WS and WARP. Pascual tied for 4th in wins and was 2nd in both ERA and strikeouts. He was the best overall, doing well across the board for a poor team. He even got some support in MVP voting.
#1 Camilo Pascual, #2 Hoyt Wilhelm, #3 Early Wynn, #4 Don Mossi, #5 Bob Shaw.

Top rookie: Bob Allison with his 30 home runs. Between Killebrew, Allison, and Pascual, the Twins were getting something going. These guys were the base of the 1965 pennant winners, albeit in Minnesota.

Top manager: Al Lopez, White Sox skipper. Gotta be.

04 October 2008

1958 National League

The Milwaukee Braves won their second straight pennant, but couldn't repeat the World Championship. Like the Yankees of 1958, the Braves won a blaaah league, beating out the Pirates by 8 games when the Buccos only went 84-70, with the newly placed team in San Francisco, the Giants, 3rd and the only other team over .500. Cincinnati, Chicago tied with St. Louis, Los Angeles, and the Phillies followed. The biggest news was the new west coast presence for the NL and the majors, as the Giants adjusted well and boasted Rookie of the Year Orlando Cepeda, while the Dodgers took a nosedive. They moved from a hitters' park to a pitchers' park, lost Roy Campanella to paralysis resulting from a car accident, and had a lot of key players get old.

One of the odd things about the near future for the NL was that the Braves did not continue to dominate. They clearly had the best front-line talent, and two pennants under their belts, but succumbed to a series of "surprise" teams. They tied the Dodgers for the 1959 flag then lost a playoff. The Pirates won in 1960, the Reds in 1961, then the Giants followed by the Dodgers establishing a new dynasty. Milwaukee's Braves missed a chance to be the NL's new dynasty. With Aaron, Mathews, and Spahn, they should have been.

Richie Ashburn led the league in batting average with a .350 mark, followed by Willie Mays at .347. Ashburn also led with 215 hits and 13 triples. Ernie Banks won the MVP by leading in homers with 47 and RBI with 129, and leading by wide margins. Second in both categories was Frank Thomas with 35 homers and 109 RBI. Willie Mays led in OPS, steals with 31, and runs scored with 121. Rookie Orlando Cepeda had 38 doubles.

Bob Friend and Warren Spahn tied for the wins lead with 22, followed by Lew Burdette with 20. Stu Miller lead in ERA with a 2.47 mark. Sam Jones led in strikeouts with 225 and was second in ERA at 2.88. Spahn was second in strikeouts with 150. ElRoy Face led in saves with 20. Spahn pitched 290 innings and tossed 23 complete games.

Win Shares leaders, players; Willie Mays (San Francisco) 40, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 32, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 31, Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) 28, Bob Skinner (Pittsburgh) 25, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) and Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 24, Del Crandall (Milwaukee) 22, Johnny Temple (Cincinnati) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 21, Lee Walls (Chicago), Frank Robinson (Cincinnati), Bill Mazeroski, Frank Thomas and Bill Virdon (Pittsburgh) and Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 28, Lew Burdette (Milwaukee) and Sam Jones (St. Louis) 23, Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 20, Johnny Antonelli (San Francisco) 18, Bob Purkey (Cincinnati) 17, Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) and Larry Jackson (St. Louis) 16, Stu Miller (San Francisco) 15.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 10.7, Banks 9.7, Ashburn 8.8, Aaron 8.3, Mathews 7.1, Mazeroski 6.7, Dick Groat (Pittsburgh) 6.5, Crandall 6.1, Boyer 5.8, Musial 5.6, Skinner 5.5, Walt Moryn (Chicago) 5.4.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Spahn 8.7, Roberts 8.2, Jones 7.8, Antonelli 6.5, Burdette 6.1, Purkey 6.0, Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell (St. Louis) 5.7, Johnny Podres (Los Angeles) 5.4, Miller 5.3.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 10.7, Banks 9.7, Aaron 7.8, Ashburn 7.5, Mathews 6.7, Boyer 6.3, Mazeroski 5.5, Crandall 5.2, Musial 4.9, Robinson 4.8, Skinner and Walls 4.6, Clemente and Temple 4.5. Pitchers (bWAR): Jones 6.7, Roberts 6.3, Purkey 5.2, Mizell 4.4, Witt 4.3, Miller 4.2, Antonelli 4.1, Spahn 3.9, Podres 3.8, Haddix and Kline 3.7, Brosnan and Burdette 3.6.

Actual award winners:

MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+----
1 Ernie Banks CHC 16 283 336 0.84 | 617 193 47 .313 .980 4|
2 Willie Mays SFG 3 185 336 0.55 | 600 208 29 .347 1.002 31|
3 Hank Aaron MLN 0 166 336 0.49 | 601 196 30 .326 .931 4|
4 Frank Thomas PIT 2 143 336 0.43 | 562 158 35 .281 .863 0|
5 Warren Spahn MLN 1 108 336 0.32 | 108 36 2 .333 .844 0| 22-11 290 3.07 1.148 150 1
6 Bob Friend PIT 0 98 336 0.29 | 94 10 0 .106 .269 0| 22-14 274 3.68 1.314 135
7 Richie Ashburn PHI 0 62 336 0.18 | 615 215 2 .350 .881 30|
8 Bill Mazeroski PIT 1 61 336 0.18 | 567 156 19 .275 .747 1|
9 Orlando Cepeda SFG 0 57 336 0.17 | 603 188 25 .312 .854 15|
10 Del Crandall MLN 0 48 336 0.14 | 427 116 18 .272 .805 4|
11 Lew Burdette MLN 0 47 336 0.14 | 99 24 3 .242 .635 0| 20-10 275 2.91 1.195 113
12 Stan Musial STL 0 39 336 0.12 | 472 159 17 .337 .950 0|
13 Ken Boyer STL 0 31 336 0.09 | 570 175 23 .307 .857 11|
14 Johnny Temple CIN 0 26 336 0.08 | 542 166 3 .306 .807 15|
15 Bob Skinner PIT 1 18 336 0.05 | 529 170 13 .321 .879 12|
16 Wes Covington MLN 0 16 336 0.05 | 294 97 24 .330 1.003 0|
17 Roy Face PIT 0 8 336 0.02 | 7 0 0 .000 .000 0| 5-2 84 2.89 1.179 47 20
18 Harry Anderson PHI 0 5 336 0.01 | 515 155 23 .301 .897 0|
19 Jim Gilliam LAD 0 4 336 0.01 | 555 145 2 .261 .687 18|
19 Bob Purkey CIN 0 4 336 0.01 | 81 9 1 .111 .343 0| 17-11 250 3.60 1.232 70
19 Frank Robinson CIN 0 4 336 0.01 | 554 149 31 .269 .854 10|
22 Joe Adcock MLN 0 2 336 0.01 | 320 88 19 .275 .823 0|
23 Carl Furillo LAD 0 1 336 0.00 | 411 119 18 .290 .825 0|

Banks had an easy victory in spite of Mays' great year. The field behind was crowded.

Cy Young Award: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----
1 Bob Turley NYY 5 5 16 0.31 | 21-7 245 2.97 1.247 168 1
2 Warren Spahn MLN 4 4 16 0.25 | 22-11 290 3.07 1.148 150 1
3 Lew Burdette MLN 3 3 16 0.19 | 20-10 275 2.91 1.195 113
3 Bob Friend PIT 3 3 16 0.19 | 22-14 274 3.68 1.314 135
Three NL pitchers trailed the AL winner.

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+---
1 Orlando Cepeda SFG 21 21 24 0.88 | 603 188 25 .312 .854 15|
An easy vote.

Top player: Willie Mays was pretty clearly the best in the league. They didn't watch OPS then, however. Mays, of course, was the best player in the league for about 15 years, though not every single season. He was this time.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Ernie Banks, #3 Hank Aaron, #4 Richie Ashburn, #5 Ken Boyer, #6 Eddie Mathews.

Top pitcher: Warren Spahn. Spahnie had a great year while Aaron and Mathews were down a bit, and carried the team.
#1 Warren Spahn, #2 Lew Burdette, #3 Sam Jones, #4 Robin Roberts, #5 Johnny Antonelli.

Top rookie: Orlando Cepeda in a walk.

Top manager: Danny Murtaugh brought the Pirates in a surprise 2nd.

1958 American League

The Yankees won their fourth straight pennant, and then the World Series, in an unimpressive league. The Yanks were not dominant, winning but 92 games, but finished 10 ahead of second-place Chicago which was only 82-72. Boston was 3rd, Cleveland 4th, and Detroit 5th, followed by Baltimore and Kansas City, with Washington last tallying 93 losses. No real great or terrible teams in the league. The Yankees were the best hitting team in the league by a safe margin, and best by a slim margin at keeping runs off the board.

Ted Williams won the batting title at .328, ahead of Pete Runnels at .322, and led in OPS. Rocky Colavito led in slugging. Mickey Mantle led in homers with 42, edging Colavito's 41, and in runs with 127. Jackie Jensen won the MVP by topping the RBI list with 122, followed by Colavito at 113. Luis Aparicio led in steals with 29. Nellie Fox had 187 hits, Harvey Kuenn 39 doubles, Vic Power 10 triples. Mantle also led in walks and was 2nd in OPS.

Bob Turley had a wide lead in wins, with 21 victories while Billy Pierce was 2nd with 17. Whitey Ford led in ERA by a wide margin with a 2.01 mark, followed by Billy Pierce at 2.68. Early Wynn led in strikeouts with 179, just ahead of Jim Bunning's 177. Ryne Duren led in saves with 20 to Dick Hyde's 18.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 39, Rocky Colavito (Cleveland) 32, Bob Cerv (Kansas City) 29, Jackie Jensen (Boston) 27, Pete Runnels (Boston) and Roy Sievers (Washington) 26, Ted Williams (Boston) and Minnie Minoso (Cleveland) 25, Al Kaline (Detroit) 23, Nellie Fox and Jim Landis (Chicago) 22, Sherm Lollar (Chicago), Frank Bolling and Harvey Kuenn (Detroit) and Yogi Berra and Norm Siebern (New York) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Jack Harshman (Boston) and Billy Pierce (Chicago) 22, Frank Lary (Detroit) 21, Billy O'Dell (Baltimore) and Whitey Ford (New York) 20, Dick Hyde (Washington) 19, Dick Donovan (Chicago) and Bob Turley (New York) 18, Arnie Portocarrero (Baltimore) and Paul Foytack (Detroit) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mantle 10.4, Colavito 9.1, Cerv 7.5, Kaline 6.7, Gus Triandos (Baltimore) 6.1, Fox and Gil McDougald (New York) 5.9, Runnels 5.8, Jensen 5.7, Lollar and Luis Aparicio (Chicago) 5.6, Bolling and Siebern 5.1, Minoso 5.0, Berra 4.7.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Hyde 8.1, Harshman 7.5, Camilo Pascual (Washington) 6.7, Pedro Ramos (Washington) 6.4, Pierce 6.3, Lary 6.1, O'Dell 5.5, Portocarrero 5.3, Gary Bell (Cleveland) 4.6, Irv Delock (Boston) 4.5, Ford and Foytack 4.3.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 9.2, Colavito 7.0, Kaline 6.8, Cerv 6.6, Runnels 6.0, Jensen 5.9, Minoso 5.4, Siebern 5.0, Williams 4.8, Power 4.6, Lollar 4.4, Sievers 4.3, Aparicio 4.0. Pitchers (bWAR): Lary 6.5, Pierce 5.1, Pascual 4.4, Ford 4.3, Harshman and O'Dell 4.1, Donovan 3.9, Wilhelm 3.7, Hyde 3.6, Turley 3.5.

Actual award winners:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+----
1 Jackie Jensen BOS 9 233 336 0.69 | 548 157 35 .286 .931 9|
2 Bob Turley NYY 7 191 336 0.57 | 88 12 2 .136 .378 0| 21-7 245 2.97 1.247 168 1
3 Rocky Colavito CLE 4 181 336 0.54 | 489 148 41 .303 1.024 0| 0-0 3 0.00 1.000 1
4 Bob Cerv KCA 3 164 336 0.49 | 515 157 38 .305 .963 3|
5 Mickey Mantle NYY 0 127 336 0.38 | 519 158 42 .304 1.035 18|
6 Roy Sievers WSH 0 95 336 0.28 | 550 162 39 .295 .900 3|
7 Ted Williams BOS 0 89 336 0.26 | 411 135 26 .328 1.042 1|
8 Nellie Fox CHW 1 88 336 0.26 | 623 187 0 .300 .710 5|
9 Sherm Lollar CHW 0 57 336 0.17 | 421 115 20 .273 .821 2|
10 Pete Runnels BOS 0 29 336 0.09 | 568 183 8 .322 .854 1|
11 Gus Triandos BAL 0 27 336 0.08 | 474 116 30 .245 .782 1|
12 Dick Hyde WSH 0 26 336 0.08 | 18 0 0 .000 .100 0| 10-3 103 1.75 1.136 49 18
13 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 24 336 0.07 | 561 179 8 .319 .815 5|
14 Cal McLish CLE 0 18 336 0.05 | 64 6 0 .094 .337 0| 16-8 226 2.99 1.258 97 1
15 Vic Power TOT 0 15 336 0.04 | +590 184 16 .312 .822 3|
16 Frank Bolling DET 0 10 336 0.03 | 610 164 14 .269 .720 6|
17 Elston Howard NYY 0 9 336 0.03 | 376 118 11 .314 .827 1|
18 Yogi Berra NYY 0 6 336 0.02 | 433 115 22 .266 .790 3|
18 Minnie Minoso CLE 0 6 336 0.02 | 556 168 24 .302 .867 14|
20 Al Kaline DET 0 5 336 0.01 | 543 170 16 .313 .864 7|
20 Gil McDougald NYY 0 5 336 0.01 | 503 126 14 .250 .705 6|
22 Ryne Duren NYY 0 4 336 0.01 | 13 1 0 .077 .371 0| 6-4 76 2.02 1.096 87 20
23 Frank Lary DET 0 3 336 0.01 | 88 15 1 .170 .436 0| 16-15 260 2.90 1.218 131 1
24 Jack Harshman BAL 0 2 336 0.01 | 82 16 6 .195 .757 0| 12-15 236 2.89 1.181 161 4
25 Dick Donovan CHW 0 1 336 0.00 | 80 9 0 .112 .341 0| 15-14 248 3.01 1.181 127
25 Frank Malzone BOS 0 1 336 0.00 | 627 185 15 .295 .754 1|

Jensen won a fairly close vote and his biggest claim to fame. After another year, he would be out of the game due to a fear of flying. He would come back after a year away, but the spark was gone.

Cy Young: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+
1 Bob Turley NYY 5 5 16 0.31 | 21-7 245 2.97 1.247 168 1
2 Warren Spahn MLN 4 4 16 0.25 | 22-11 290 3.07 1.148 150 1
3 Lew Burdette MLN 3 3 16 0.19 | 20-10 275 2.91 1.195 113
3 Bob Friend PIT 3 3 16 0.19 | 22-14 274 3.68 1.314 135

Turley beat the three NL candidates, although he hardly pitched in September. Rumors varied from arm trouble to resting him for the World Series to holding down his win total for contract reasons.

Rookie of the Year: 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 Albie Pearson WSH 14 14 24 0.58 | 530 146 3 .275 .712 7|
2 Ryne Duren NYY 7 7 24 0.29 | 13 1 0 .077 .371 0| 6-4 76 2.02 1.096 87 20
3 Gary Bell CLE 3 3 24 0.12 | 56 11 0 .196 .512 0| 12-10 182 3.31 1.176 110 1
Little Pearson beat out the hard-throwing Duren.

Top player: Mickey Mantle was completely dominating the league at this time. There wasn't another player really close. Two of the other best, Cerv and Jensen, were CF he had run off from New York.
#1 Mickey Mantle, #2 Rocky Colavito, #3 Bob Cerv, #4 Jackie Jensen, #5 Al Kaline, #6 Pete Runnels.

Top pitcher: Whitey Ford in a "pick 'em" kind of year. Ford was the leader in ERA, WHIP, and shutouts, although he was only 14-7. Casey Stengel used to pitch Whitey in the toughest games, and that would sometimes cost him wins. Jack Harshman had great WS and WARP numbers, but was just 12-15.
#1 Whitey Ford, #2 Frank Lary, #3 Billy Pierce, #4 Bob Turley, #5 Jack Harshman.

Top rookie: Albie Pearson had the best overall rookie season. His .275 average was buoyed by 64 walks to a .354 OBP, and he played strong defense.

Top manager: Casey Stengel, partly because there is no other pick.