The U.S. had entered the war in Europe and Asia, making it truly a World War. Ballplayers were getting drafted into the military, but it didn't affect the NL as much yet, as many of the National's stars were veterans beyond prime drafting age. That would change as the war went on and demand for manpower increased. On the field, the Cardinals outlasted the Dodgers in one of the great pennant races, with St. Louis winning 106 games to Brooklyn's 104. The Dodgers were probably the best second-place team ever. St. Louis also beat the Yankees in the World Series. New York was 3rd and Cincinnati 4th. Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Boston were also-rans, while Philadelphia lost 109 and finished dead last. The continually downtrodden Phillies were to undergo a nickname change to Blue Jays, and be operated by the league for awhile as the owner went bankrupt.
Ernie Lombardi, now with Boston, won the batting title at .330. Enos Slaughter was second at .318, Stan Musial third at .315. Elbie Fletcher led in on-base, Johnny Mize in slugging, Mel Ott in OPS. Ott also led with 118 runs and 30 HR. Mize and Dolph Camilli had 26 homers for second. Mize led with 110 RBI, Camilli had 109. Slaughter led with 188 hits, 17 triples, and 292 total bases. Marty Marion led with 38 doubles, Pete Reiser with 20 steals.
Mort Cooper led the league with 22 wins and a 1.78 ERA, while Johnny Vander Meer led with 186 strikeouts. Johnny Beazley won 21. He was also second in ERA with a 2.13 mark, and Curt Davis third at 2.36. Cooper had 10 shutouts and Jack Tobin 28 complete games. Hugh Casey led with 13 saves.
Win Shares leaders, players; Enos Slaughter (St. Louis) 37, Mel Ott (New York) 35, Johnny Mize (New York) 32, Dolph Camilli and Pete Reiser (Brooklyn), Bill Nicholson (Chicago) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 28, Pee Wee Reese (Brooklyn) 27, Stan Hack (Chicago) and Elbie Fletcher (Pittsburgh) 26, Lonny Frey (Cincinnati) 23, Bob Elliott (Pittsburgh) and Marty Marion (St. Louis) 22.
Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Mort Cooper (St. Louis) 29, Johnny Beazley (St. Louis) 22, Ray Starr and Johnny Vander Meer (Cincinnati) 21, Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) 20, Claude Passeau (Chicago) 19, Curt Davis (Brooklyn) and Tommy Hughes (Philadelphia) 18, Larry French (Brooklyn) 18.
WARP3 scores: Slaughter 7.1 (career best year, and off to the military), Ott 7.0 (last big year), Mize 6.6 (and into the service), Reese 6.2, Camilli 5.9 (last good year), Musial 5.8 (rookie), Nicholson 5.5, Reiser 5.4 (and into the military), Fletcher 4.9, Marion 4.8 (best season), Hack 4.6, Frey 4.5, Billy Herman (Brooklyn) 3.8.
Pitchers, Cooper 6.8 (career year), Starr 4.4 (career year at age 36), Beazley 4.1 (rookie, off to war and never the same), Vander Meer 3.8 (best year), Davis 3.6, French 3.2 (final year), Bill Lohrmann (St. Louis/New York) 2.8, Howie Krist (St. Louis) 2.6, Max Lanier (St. Louis) 2.5.
WAR, position players: Slaughter 7.0, Ott 6.6, Nicholson 6.1, Mize 6.0, Musial 5.7, Reese 5.6, Frey 5.5, Hack 5.3, Camilli 5.2, Fletcher 5.1, Marion 5.0, Reiser 4.6. Pitchers, Cooper 6.8, Starr 4.4, Beazley 4.1, Vander Meer 3.8, Davis 3.6, French 3.2, Lohrman 2.8, Krist 2.6, Lanier 2.5.
Actual award voting: (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 Mort Cooper STL 13 263 336 0.78 | 103 19 0 .184 .402 0| 22-7 279 1.78 0.987 152
2 Enos Slaughter STL 6 200 336 0.60 | 591 188 13 .318 .906 9
3 Mel Ott NYG 4 190 336 0.57 | 549 162 30 .295 .912 6
4 Mickey Owen BRO 0 103 336 0.31 | 421 109 0 .259 .642 10
5 Johnny Mize NYG 0 97 336 0.29 | 541 165 26 .305 .901 3
6 Pete Reiser BRO 0 91 336 0.27 | 480 149 10 .310 .838 20
7 Marty Marion STL 1 81 336 0.24 | 485 134 0 .276 .718 8
8 Dolph Camilli BRO 0 42 336 0.12 | 524 132 26 .252 .843 10
9 Bob Elliott PIT 0 39 336 0.12 | 560 166 9 .296 .774 2
10 Claude Passeau CHC 0 33 336 0.10 | 105 19 2 .181 .429 0| 19-14 278 2.68 1.286 89
Top player: Enos Slaughter was 5th in OPS+, but it was close, and he was a far better defensive player than the guys ahead of him. Slaughter led in hits, total bases and triples, was 2nd in batting average and runs.
#1 Enos Slaughter, #2 Mel Ott, #3 Johnny Mize, #4 Bill Nicholson, #5 Stan Musial.
Top pitcher: Mort Cooper led in wins and ERA, 2nd in strikeouts.
#1 Mort Cooper, #2 Johnny Beazley, #3 Johnny Vander Meer, #4 Whit Wyatt, #5 Curt Davis.
Top rookie: Stan Musial hit .315 for the pennant winners, while Johnny Beazley was #2 in wins and ERA.
Top manager: Billy Southworth guided the Cardinals in to the winner's circle.
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