11 February 2008

1928 American League

New York won a second straight pennant with 101 victories, but had to fight off a Philadelphia team that finished just 2.5 games behind. It was a terrific pennant race between an aging Yankees team and an up-and-coming A's squad. 3rd place St. Louis was the only other team over .500. The Yankees then swept St. Louis in the World Series. Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Boston rounded out the standings in that order.

Goose Goslin's .379 edged Heinie Manush's .378 for the batting title, with Lou Gehrig close behind at .374. Gehrig edged Babe Ruth in on-base, but the Babe still took the slugging title. Ruth scored the most runs, Manush had the most hits, Ruth led in total bases, Gehrig and Manush tied with 47 doubles. Earle Combs led with 21 triples, one more than Manush. Ruth led with 54 homers, and Ruth and Gehrig tied with 142 RBI. Buddy Myer of Boston led with 30 steals.

Among pitchers, Lefty Grove and George Pipgras tied with 24 wins. Garland Braxton of Washington led in ERA with a 2.51 mark, edging Herb Pennock of New York at 2.56 and Grove at 2.58. Grove led with 183 strikeouts. Red Ruffing of Boston had 25 losses.

Win Shares leaders, players; Babe Ruth (New York) 45, Lou Gehrig (New York) 42, Heinie Manush (St. Louis) 35, Earle Combs (New York) 28, Goose Goslin (Washington) 26, Willie Kamm (Chicago) and Max Bishop (Philadelphia) 24, Joe Sewell (Cleveland), Charlie Gehringer (Detroit), Al Simmons (Philadelphia) and Lu Blue (St. Louis) 23.

WS leaders, pitchers; Lefty Grove (Philadelphia) 27, Tommy Thomas (Chicago) 26, Dolly Gray (St. Louis) 23, Waite Hoyt (New York) and Sad Sam Jones (Washington) 22, Ed Morris and Red Ruffing (Boston), George Pipgras (New York) and Garland Braxton (Washington) 21.

WARP3: Ruth 8.9, Gehrig 8.6, Goslin 6.9, Sewell 6.0, Bishop (best year) and Tony Lazzeri (New York) 5.6, Combs 5.3, Manush 5.2, Jimmie Foxx (Philadelphia) 5.1, Mickey Cochrane (Detroit) 5.0, Kamm 4.3, Ossie Bluege (Washington) 4.0, Gehringer 3.8, Simmons 3.6.

Pitchers, Thomas 6.4, Grove 5.6, Herb Pennock (New York) 5.5, Ruffing 5.0, Ownie Carroll (Detroit) 4.8, Jones 4.7, Braxton 4.6 (career year), Gray and Morris (best year), 4.4, Hoyt and Willis Hudlin (Cleveland) 4.1, George Uhle (Cleveland) 4.0. Pipgras posted a 3.3 in his career year.

WAR leaders, position players: Ruth 11.0, Gehrig 10.1, Goslin 7.6, Manush 7.3, Bishop 5.4, Sewell 5.1, Combs 4.9, Simmons 4.8, Blue 4.7, Gehringer 4.4, Bluege 4.2. Pitchers, Grove 6.3, Thomas 5.7, Pennock 5.3, Braxton 5.2, Jones 4.5, Carroll and Gray 4.4, Pipgras 4.2, Hoyt 4.0, Crowder 3.9.

Actual MVP voting (top 14): previous winners Ruth and Gehrig were not eligible. About now they started rethinking the rules.
Place Name Team Points
1 Mickey Cochrane PHA 53
2 Heinie Manush SLB 51
3 Joe Judge WSH 27
3 Tony Lazzeri NYY 27
5 Willie Kamm CHW 15
6 Earle Combs NYY 13
6 Goose Goslin WSH 13
8 Charlie Gehringer DET 12
9 Buddy Myer BOS 11
10 Waite Hoyt NYY 8
11 Jimmie Foxx PHA 7
12 Joe Sewell CLE 6
12 Luke Sewell CLE 6
14 Ira Flagstead BOS 5

Best player: Babe Ruth by a hair over Lou Gehrig. Ruth holds a bit of an edge in OPS, but by this time he was getting pretty slow in the field. I think Lou almost makes it up on defense. Gehrig's triple crown numbers were .374-27-142, Ruth's .323-54-142. Heinie Manush #3 at .378-13-108, Goose Goslin #4 at .379-17-102. Goslin won the batting title. Max Bishop, Camera Eye, at #5.

Best pitcher: Lefty Grove, starting a tradition. Grove was 24-8, 2.58. Tommy Thomas #2 at 17-16, 3.08. Sam Jones #3 at 17-7, 2.84, and Dolly Gray and his 20 wins at #4, George Pipgras' 24 wins at #5. Pipgras was helped a lot by having that Yankee team behind him.

Best rookie: Ed Morgan hit .313 in 76 games for Cleveland.

Best manager: Miller Huggins got his team to 1st in a close pennant race.

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