09 March 2008

1932 National League

Chicago won the pennant in a close race with Pittsburgh, as Brooklyn ran third. Philadelphia was a surprise 4th. The second division was Boston (at .500), New York and St. Louis (tied with 82 losses) with Cincinnati dead last. The Cubs switched managers, replacing Rogers Hornsby with Charlie Grimm for the stretch run, which culminated in a furious Cubs charge to the finish.

Lefty O'Doul won the batting title at .368, followed by Bill Terry at .350. Mel Ott edged O'Doul by one point in on-base, and Chuck Klein led in slugging and OPS. Klein led with 152 runs and 226 hits in Philadelphia's bandbox of a ballpark, and tied Ott with 38 homers. Teammate Don Hurst led with 143 RBI, beating out Klein by six. Klein also led with 20 steals. Paul Waner led with 62 doubles and Babe Herman with 19 triples.

Lon Warneke led pitchers with 22 wins and a 2.37 ERA, while Dizzy Dean led with 191 strikeouts. Watty Clark won 20 and Guy Bush 19. Carl Hubbell was second with a 2.50 ERA and Huck Betts third at 2.80. Hubbell was second in strikeouts at 137.

Win Shares leaders, players; Lefty O'Doul (Brooklyn) and Mel Ott (New York) 33, Bill Terry (New York) and Paul Waner (Pittsburgh) 32, Chuck Klein (Philadelphia) 31, Wally Berger (Boston) 26, Babe Herman (Cincinnati) 24, Billy Herman and Riggs Stephenson (Chicago), Don Hurst (Philadelphia) and Lloyd Waner (Pittsburgh) 23 each.

WS leaders, pitchers; Lon Warneke (Chicago) 31, Carl Hubbell (New York) 25, Dizzy Dean (St. Louis) 24, Red Lucas (Cincinnati) 23, Larry French (Pittsburgh) 22, Watty Clark (Brooklyn) 20, Huck Betts (Boston) 18, Tom Zachary (Boston) 17.

WARP3: Ott 9.7, O'Doul 7.3 (last big year), Terry and Babe Herman 6.9, Dick Bartell (Philadelphia) 6.1, Klein and Pie Traynor (Pittsburgh) 5.4, P. Waner and Arky Vaughan (also Pittsburgh) 4.9, Gabby Hartnett (Chicago) 4.8, L. Waner 4.6 (best year), Tony Piet (Pittsburgh) 4.4, Danny Taylor (Brooklyn) 4.3, Berger, Hurst (career year), and Pinky Whitney (Philadelphia) 4.2, Billy Herman (rookie, I believe) and Tony Cuccinello (Brooklyn) 4.1, Stephenson 4.0.

Pitchers, Hubbell 9.0, Dean 8.1 (rookie year), Warneke 7.5 (breakthrough year), Lucas 6.5, Clark 5.0 (last big year), Bill Hallahan (St. Louis) 4.4, Betts and Zachary (last good year) 4.3, Ben Cantwell (Boston) and Tex Carleton (St. Louis) 4.1.

WAR, position players: Ott 8.3, Terry 7.4, Klein 7.3, O'Doul and Herman 6.8, Waner 5.8, Hurst 5.2, Bartell 4.5, Berger 4.2, Vaughan 3.9, Wilson and L. Waner 3.7. Pitchers: Warneke 7.2, Hubbell 6.8, Dean 5.1, Lucas 4.9, Rhem 4.3, Betts 4.2, Holley, Swetonic, and Zachary 3.7, Clark 3.4.

Actual MVP vote (top 10):
Place Name Team Points
1 Chuck Klein PHI 78
2 Lon Warneke CHC 68
3 Lefty O'Doul BRO 58
4 Paul Waner PIT 37
5 Riggs Stephenson CHC 32
6 Bill Terry NYG 25
7 Don Hurst PHI 24
8 Pie Traynor PIT 17
9 Billy Herman CHC 16
10 Mel Ott NYG 15

Best player: Mel Ott. This was the first MVP award Ott was jobbed out of, though it wouldn't be the last. Chuck Klein won by leading in HR and hits, even though he played in the best hitters' park in the league. But, his team played a surprising .500 (78-76) and finished 4th, while Ott's Giants were a disappointing 6th (tied), but only 6 games worse than the Phils. Ott was the leader in OBP, and in OPS+. Ott finished with a stat line of .318-38-123. Put Klein #2 with his .348-38-137. Batting champ Lefty O'Doul is #3 at .368-21-90, and Bill Terry ranks #4 with a .350-28-117 line. Paul Waner and his .341 average #5.

Best pitcher: Lon Warneke pitched the Cubs to the pennant and led the league in wins and ERA. He was 22-6, 2.37 in his first full season. Carl Hubbell ranks #2 with his 18-11 record and 2.50 ERA. Red Lucas #3 despite his 13-17 record for a last-place team, but with a 2.94 ERA. Dizzy Dean 4th with an 18-15 record, Watty Clark 5th with 20 wins.

Best rookie: Dizzy Dean. The Cardinals slid from the pennant to the second division, but came up with a prize pitcher in Ol' Diz.

Best manager: Could be Grimm, but I'll give it to Burt Shotton for a full-season surprise in Philly.

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