10 June 2008

1939 National League

The Cincinnati Reds won their first pennant in 20 years by beating out the Cardinals; the margin was 4.5 games. The Reds had a comfortable lead for much of the summer, with the Cardinals making a run at the end. Brooklyn was third, Chicago fourth, and New York 5th. Pittsburgh and Boston trailed, while Philadelphia finished last, losing 106 times. Cincy and St. Louis fought it out, with the best pitching defeating the best hitting. But each team was 2nd in the other's specialty.

Johnny Mize won the batting title at .349, and also led with 28 home runs. He led the league in slugging, OPS, and total bases as well. Billy Werber led with 115 runs, Frank McCormick with 209 hits and 128 RBI. Enos Slaughter had 52 doubles, Billy Herman 18 triples, while Stan Hack and Lee Handley tied with 17 steals.

Bucky Walters won a pitching Triple Crown, leading the league with 27 wins and a 2.29 ERA, and tying Claude Passeau with 117 strikeouts. Paul Derringer had 25 wins, Curt Davis 22, Luke Hamlin 20. Bob Bowman had a 2.60 ERA, Carl Hubbell 2.75.

Win Shares leaders, players; Johnny Mize (St. Louis) 33, Dolph Camilli (Brooklyn) and Mel Ott (New York) 28, Harry Danning (New York) 27, Billy Herman (Chicago), Lonnie Frey, Ival Goodman, Frank McCormick, and Billy Werber (all Cincinnati) and Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 25, Joe Medwick (St. Louis) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) 38, Paul Derringer (Cincinnati) 26, Curt Davis (St. Louis) 22, Hugh Casey (Brooklyn) and Claude Passeau (Philadelphia/Chicago) 21, Bill Lee (Chicago) 20, Luke Hamlin (Brooklyn) and Bob Bowman (St. Louis) 19, Mort Cooper (St. Louis) 18.

WAR scores: Mize 7.4, Camilli 6.2, Frey 6.0, Ott 5.8, Goodman 5.4, McCormick and Billy Myers (Cincinnati) 5.2, Vaughan 4.9, Werber 4.5, Herman 4.3, Danning (career year), Max West (Boston) and Billy Jurges (New York) 4.2, Medwick 4.1.

Pitchers, Walters 7.7 (career year), Passeau 5.3, Derringer 4.8, Bowman 4.6 (rookie, only good year), Lee 4.5, Casey 4.4 (rookie), Hamlin 4.1 (career year), Larry French (Chicago) 3.7, Junior Thompson (Cincinnati) 3.2, Cooper 3.1 (rookie).

WAR, position players: Mize 7.9, Camilli 6.8, Frey 6.2, Ott 5.9, Goodman and Myers 5.5, McCormick 5.4, Vaughan 5.3, Werber 4.8, Medwick 4.7, West 4.6, Herman 4.4, Slaughter 4.3. Pitchers: Walters 7.7, Passeau 5.3, Derringer 4.8, Bowman 4.6, Lee 4.5, Casey 4.4, Hamlin 4.1, French 3.7, Thompson 3.2, Cooper 3.1.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | 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 Bucky Walters CIN 18 303 336 0.90 | 120 39 1 .325 .790 1| 27-11 319 2.29 1.125 137
2 Johnny Mize STL 1 178 336 0.53 | 564 197 28 .349 1.070 0
3 Paul Derringer CIN 2 174 336 0.52 | 110 23 0 .209 .453 0| 25-7 301 2.93 1.183 128
4 Frank McCormick CIN 2 159 336 0.47 | 630 209 18 .332 .869 1
5 Curt Davis STL 0 106 336 0.32 | 105 40 1 .381 .855 0| 22-16 248 3.63 1.319 70 7
6 Jimmy Brown STL 1 99 336 0.29 | 645 192 3 .298 .719 4
7 Joe Medwick STL 0 81 336 0.24 | 606 201 14 .332 .886 6
8 Leo Durocher BRO 0 52 336 0.15 | 390 108 1 .277 .695 2
9 Harry Danning NYG 0 33 336 0.10 | 520 163 16 .313 .838 4
10 Luke Hamlin BRO 0 32 336 0.10 | 103 13 1 .126 .319 0| 20-13 270 3.64 1.146 88

Top hitter: Johnny Mize, the top man on the top offense. If the Cards win the pennant, he wins the MVP. The pitcher from the pennant winners beat him out. Mize led the league in average and homers, and was 3rd in RBI.
#1 Johnny Mize, #2 Dolph Camilli, #3 Mel Ott, #4 Lonny Frey, #5 Ival Goodman, #6 Frank McCormick.

Top pitcher: Bucky Walters swept the Reds along to the pennant, winning the pitchers' triple crown.
#1 Bucky Walters, #2 Paul Derringer, #3 Claude Passeau, #4 Bill Lee, #5 Hugh Casey.

Top rookie: Hugh Casey of Brooklyn was quite effective, beating out one-year wonder and reliever Bowman. Mort Cooper would have the best career.

Top manager: Bill McKechnie got the Reds back to the top.

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