11 August 2008

1947 American League

The Yankees won by a twelve game margin, after a three-year pennant drought. Ted Williams won the Triple Crown but Joe DiMaggio won the MVP. DiMag was 2nd on OPS and OPS+, but this was one of those years where you get an argument. It was a year of statistical parity, with Williams the only 100-RBI man, and Bob Feller the only pitcher to win 20. Williams was also the only hitter with 30 HR. Detroit was 2nd, with Boston 3rd and Cleveland 4th, while Philadelphia climbed to 5th. Chicago, Washington, and St. Louis brought up the rear.

Ted Williams won the Triple Crown with a .343-32-114 line. Second in those categories were Barney McCosky with a .328 average, Joe Gordon with 29 HR, and Tommy Henrich with 98 RBI. Williams led in on-base, slugging, and OPS, and with 125 runs scored. Other leaders included Johnny Pesky at 207 hits, Lou Boudreau at 45 doubles, Henrich with 13 triples, and Bob Dillinger with 34 steals.

Bob Feller led the pitchers with 20 wins and 196 strikeouts, followed by Phil Marchildon and Allie Reynolds at 19 wins, and Hal Newhouser with 176 strikeouts. Joe Haynes led in ERA at 2.42, followed by Feller at 2.68. Ed Klieman and Joe Page tied with 17 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Ted Williams (Boston) 44, Joe DiMaggio (New York) 30, Lou Boudreau (Cleveland) 28, Tommy Henrich (New York) 27, Phil Rizzuto (New York) 26, Johnny Pesky (Boston), Joe Gordon (Cleveland) and Stan Spence (Washington) 25, George Kell (Detroit) and George McQuinn (New York) 24, Vern Stephens (St. Louis) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Hal Newhouser (Detroit) 24, Bob Feller (Cleveland) 23, Fred Hutchinson (Detroit) 22, Ed Lopat (Cleveland), Phil Marchildon (Philadelphia), and Walt Masterson (Washington) 21, Joe Dobson (Boston) and Early Wynn (Washington) 20, Joe Haynes (Chicago) and Dick Fowler (Philadelphia) 18.

WAR scores: Williams 10.3, Boudreau 7.3, Gordon 6.9, DiMaggio 5.6, Henrich 5.3, McQuinn 4.7, Pesky 4.4, Rizzuto, Kell, and Roy Cullenbine (Detroit) 4.2, Snuffy Stirnweiss (New York), Ferris Fain (Philadelphia), and Luke Appling (Chicago) 3.8, Stephens and Bobby Doerr (Boston) 3.5.

Pitchers, Newhouser 5.9, Feller 5.4, Lopat 5.2, Masterson 5.0, Fowler 4.8, Dobson 4.7, Hutchinson 4.2, Marchildon 4.1 (career year), Haynes and Yankee reliever Joe Page 3.5, Allie Reynolds (New York) 3.2, Spec Shea (New York) 3.1, Wynn 2.9.

Actual award winner: MVP top 25
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+----+---+-----+-----+-+
1 Joe DiMaggio NYY 8 202 336 0.60 | 534 168 20 .315 .913 3
2 Ted Williams BOS 3 201 336 0.60 | 528 181 32 .343 1.133 0
3 Lou Boudreau CLE 1 168 336 0.50 | 538 165 4 .307 .811 1
4 Joe Page NYY 7 167 336 0.50 | 46 10 1 .217 .533 0| 14-8 141 2.48 1.253 116 17
5 George Kell DET 0 132 336 0.39 | 588 188 5 .320 .798 9
6 George McQuinn NYY 3 77 336 0.23 | 517 157 13 .304 .832 0
7 Joe Gordon CLE 0 59 336 0.18 | 562 153 29 .272 .842 7
8 Bob Feller CLE 0 58 336 0.17 | 98 18 0 .184 .500 0| 20-11 299 2.68 1.194 196 3
9 Phil Marchildon PHA 0 47 336 0.14 | 98 15 1 .153 .408 0| 19-9 277 3.22 1.334 128
10 Luke Appling CHW 0 43 336 0.13 | 503 154 8 .306 .797 8
11 Eddie Joost PHA 0 35 336 0.10 | 540 111 13 .206 .678 6
11 Barney McCosky PHA 0 35 336 0.10 | 546 179 1 .328 .795 1
13 Tommy Henrich NYY 0 33 336 0.10 | 550 158 16 .287 .857 3
14 Spec Shea NYY 0 23 336 0.07 | 56 11 0 .196 .530 0| 14-5 179 3.07 1.209 89 1
15 Yogi Berra NYY 0 18 336 0.05 | 293 82 11 .280 .775 0
15 Allie Reynolds NYY 0 18 336 0.05 | 89 13 0 .146 .366 0| 19-8 242 3.20 1.365 129 2
17 Bob Dillinger SLB 0 13 336 0.04 | 571 168 3 .294 .733 34
18 Johnny Pesky BOS 0 11 336 0.03 | 638 207 0 .324 .785 12
19 Ferris Fain PHA 0 9 336 0.03 | 461 134 7 .291 .837 4
19 Billy Johnson NYY 0 9 336 0.03 | 494 141 10 .285 .768 1
19 Stan Spence WSH 0 9 336 0.03 | 506 141 16 .279 .819 2
22 Fred Hutchinson DET 0 8 336 0.02 | 106 32 2 .302 .783 2| 18-10 220 3.03 1.238 113 2
23 Early Wynn WSH 0 7 336 0.02 | 120 33 2 .275 .656 0| 17-15 247 3.64 1.381 73
24 Bobby Doerr BOS 0 6 336 0.02 | 561 145 17 .258 .755 3
24 Buddy Rosar PHA 0 6 336 0.02 | 359 93 1 .259 .669 1

Top player: Ted Williams, the Triple Crown winner. DiMaggio won the MVP by one point, but he wasn't close to Williams in this year. Joe Page drew 7 first-place votes for a strong season, but was also not in the class of Williams. This was picking a member of the pennant-winning team run amuck.
#1 Ted Williams, #2 Joe DiMaggio, #3 Lou Boudreau, #4 Tommy Henrich, #5 Joe Gordon.

Top pitcher: Bob Feller, leader in wins and strikeouts. Feller would never strike out 200 again, let alone 300, but he was still a top pitcher.
#1 Bob Feller, #2 Hal Newhouser, #3 Fred Hutchinson, #4 Ed Lopat, #5 Joe Dobson.

Top rookie: Ferris Fain of Philadelphia had 19 Win Shares to 14 for Spec Shea of the Yankees. Fain batted .291 while Shea was 14-5. See NL for voting results.

Top manager: Connie Mack, as no one else really deserved it. The A's were a surprising 5th, so Mack is a sentimental pick.

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