The year of *60*. The Yankees ran away with the pennant, winning 110 games. Philadelphia was second, 19 games behind. Washington was third, 25 games behind. Detroit was the other team over .500. Boston languished in the basement with 103 losses, while Chicago, Cleveland and St. Louis were in between. New York was far and away the best team in the league in offense and in pitching/defense, so it was not a suspenseful race.
Harry Heilmann batted .398 with Al Simmons at .392, but this was the year of 60, the magical 60 home runs of Babe Ruth. Ruth led in the percentage categories, on-base, slugging, and OPS, as well as homers and walks. Lou Gehrig, hitting behind him, actually led in RBI with 175 to Ruth's 164. Gehrig also led the league with 52 doubles and 447 total bases, while Ruth led with 158 runs to Gehrig's 149. Their teammate Earle Combs led with 231 hits and 23 triples. George Sisler led with 27 steals.
Waite Hoyt and Ted Lyons tied for the league lead with 22 wins, and Wilcy Moore, working mostly out of the bullpen, led the league in ERA at 2.28, with Hoyt second at 2.64. Moore also tied Garland Braxton for the saves lead with 13. Lefty Grove topped the league with 174 strikeouts.
Win Shares leaders, players; Babe Ruth (New York) 45, Lou Gehrig (New York) 44, Harry Heilmann (Detroit) 32, Earle Combs (New York) 31, Goose Goslin (Washington) 28, Al Simmons (Philadelphia) 26, Tony Lazzeri (New York) 24, Mickey Cochrane (Philadelphia) 23, Bob Fothergill (Detroit) and Ty Cobb (Philadelphia) 22.
WS leaders, pitchers; Ted Lyons (Chicago) 30, Tommy Thomas (Chicago) 27, Wilcy Moore (New York) and Lefty Grove (Philadelphia) 24, Waite Hoyt (New York) 23, Willis Hudlin (Cleveland), Earl Whitehill (Detroit) and Bump Hadley (Washington) 19.
WARP3: Ruth 12.1, Gehrig 11.1, Lazzeri 7.0, Combs 6.8 (best year), Heilmann 5.4, Simmons 5.3, Goslin 5.0, Cochrane 4.8, Sammy Hale (Philadelphia) and Bibb Falk (Chicago) 4.2, Fothergill (best year) and Joe Sewell (Cleveland) 4.1, Muddy Ruel (Washington) 4.0, Cobb (last good year) and Ossie Bluege (Washington) 3.8.
Pitchers, Thomas 6.6 (best year), Lyons 6.4, Moore 5.3 (30-year old rookie, career year), Hudlin 5.1 (rookie), Hoyt 4.6 (best year), Grove 4.4, Hadley 4.3 (rookie), Whitehill 4.2 (best year), Jack Quinn (Philadelphia) 3.8, Jake Miller (Cleveland) and Lefty Stewart (St. Louis) 3.6.
WAR, Position players: Ruth 13.8, Gehrig 13.2, Combs 7.6, Heilmann 7.5, Lazzeri 7.0, Goslin 5.7, Falk 5.1, Cobb, Meusel, and Cochrane 4.8, Metzler and Fothergill 4.7. Pitchers, Thomas 7.4, Lyons 7.0, Hoyt 5.6, Moore 5.4, Grove 5.0, Hadley 4.7, Quinn 4.5, Whitehill 3.9, Hudlin and Miller 3.8.
Actual MVP voting, remembering previous winner Ruth was ineligible under the arcane rules of the time (top 14):
Name Team 1st place Points
1 Lou Gehrig NYY 7 56
2 Harry Heilmann DET 0 35
3 Ted Lyons CHW 0 34
4 Mickey Cochrane PHA 0 18
4 Al Simmons PHA 0 18
6 Goose Goslin WSH 0 15
6 Muddy Ruel WSH 0 15
8 Jimmie Dykes PHA 0 14
9 Luke Sewell CLE 0 13
10 Joe Sewell CLE 0 9
11 Tony Lazzeri NYY 1 8
12 Bobby Reeves WSH 0 7
13 Frank O'Rourke SLB 0 6
13 Jackie Tavener DET 0 6
I don't know what the guy who put Lazzeri first was thinking.
Best player: Babe Ruth. Gehrig was close, but the Babe was the best, 60 homers and all. Babe #1, Gehrig #2, Heilmann #3, Combs #4, Lazzeri #5.
Best pitcher: Ted Lyons. Teammate Tommy Thomas was close, and Lefty Grove is making noise here, but Lyons was the AL's best pitcher in 1927. Lyons #1, Thomas #2, Moore #3, Grove #4, Hoyt #5.
Best rookie: Wilcy Moore gave the Yankees' staff a big boost, mostly coming out of the bullpen.
Best manager: Miller Huggins. Who else could you give it to in this year?
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