16 August 2008

1949 American League

Casey Stengel was hired to manage in New York, and the Yankees began a streak of five straight World Championships, unequaled before or since. It topped the 1936-39 Yankees' streak. This was also the year that began the run of 14 pennants in 16 years. It seemed the Yankees would win forever, and many fans came to accept this level of success as their birthright. The Yankees won without a true standout player, as DiMaggio was hurt much of the year. The races would be tough, though, as the Red Sox finished but one game behind on a tremendous year by Ted Williams and a scary offense. Cleveland was a strong 3rd with Detroit 4th, and Philadelphia a surprise plus-.500 5th. Chicago was 6th, while St. Louis and Washington both lost 100 games.

George Kell edged Ted Williams for the batting title. Both hit .343, but Kell was ahead by a fraction of a point that disappears with rounding. Williams led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. He also led with 150 runs, 39 doubles, 43 home runs, and tied teammate Vern Stephens with 159 RBI. Dale Mitchell had 23 triples, and Bob Dillinger had 20 steals.

Mel Parnell led the league with 25 wins, and teammate Ellis Kinder was second with 23. Mike Garcia led with a 2.36 ERA, and Parnell was second with a 2.77 mark. Virgil Trucks led with 153 strikeouts, and his teammate Hal Newhouser was second with 144. Joe Page lapped the field with 27 saves, as second place was Al Benton at 10, and third place was a total of 6. The 27 established a new single-season record, surpassing Fred Marberry's mark of 22 from 1926. No one knew this at the time, as the save was not officially established until 1960.

Win Shares leaders, players; Ted Williams 40, Eddie Joost (Philadelphia) 35, Vern Stephens (Boston) 32, Bobby Doerr (Boston) 25, Dom DiMaggio (Boston), Larry Doby (Cleveland), George Kell (Detroit), Tommy Henrich (New York) and Elmer Valo and Sam Chapman (Philadelphia) 24, Johnny Pesky (Boston), Dale Mitchell (Cleveland) and Vic Wertz (Detroit) 23, Cass Michaels (Chicago) and Phil Rizzuto (New York) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Mel Parnell (Boston) and Bob Lemon (Cleveland) 31, Virgil Trucks (Detroit) 27, Hal Newhouser (Detroit) 25, Ellis Kinder (Boston) 22, Mike Garcia (Cleveland) 21, Fred Hutchinson (Detroit), Vic Raschi and Joe Page (New York) 19.

WAR scores: Williams 9.5, Joost 7.0 (career year), Stephens 6.8 (best year), Doerr 5.5, Kell and Joe DiMaggio (New York) 5.0, Michaels 4.9 (career year), Henrich 4.7, Luke Appling (Chicago) 4.6, Valo 4.2 (career year), Rizzuto 3.8, Joe Gordon (Cleveland) 3.6, D. DiMaggio 3.5, Doby, Chapman, Pesky, Wertz, and Mickey Vernon (Cleveland) 3.4.

Pitchers, Parnell 8.0 (career year), Trucks 7.2 (career year), Newhouser 5.9 (last big year), Lemon 5.7, Kinder 5.3, Garcia 4.9 (rookie), Al Benton (Cleveland) 4.5, Hutchinson 4.4, Bill Wight (Chicago) 4.1, Raschi 4.0, Page and Ted Gray (Detroit) 3.5.

Actual award winners: MVP--
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--
1 Ted Williams BOS 13 272 336 0.81 | 566 194 43 .343 1.141 1|
2 Phil Rizzuto NYY 5 175 336 0.52 | 614 169 5 .275 .711 18|
3 Joe Page NYY 3 166 336 0.49 | 40 7 0 .175 .370 0| 13-8 135 2.59 1.316 99 27
4 Mel Parnell BOS 1 151 336 0.45 | 114 29 0 .254 .554 0| 25-7 295 2.77 1.327 122 2
5 Ellis Kinder BOS 0 122 336 0.36 | 92 12 0 .130 .336 0| 23-6 252 3.36 1.389 138 4
6 Tommy Henrich NYY 1 121 336 0.36 | 411 118 24 .287 .942 2|
7 Vern Stephens BOS 1 100 336 0.30 | 610 177 39 .290 .930 2|
8 George Kell DET 0 80 336 0.24 | 522 179 3 .343 .892 7|
9 Bob Lemon CLE 0 57 336 0.17 | 108 29 7 .269 .886 0| 22-10 280 2.99 1.244 138 1
10 Vic Wertz DET 0 51 336 0.15 | 608 185 20 .304 .851 2|
11 Vic Raschi NYY 0 19 336 0.06 | 83 13 0 .157 .464 0| 21-10 275 3.34 1.402 124
12 Joe DiMaggio NYY 0 18 336 0.05 | 272 94 14 .346 1.055 0|
13 Eddie Joost PHA 0 11 336 0.03 | 525 138 23 .263 .883 2|
14 Lou Boudreau CLE 0 10 336 0.03 | 475 135 4 .284 .745 0|
15 Yogi Berra NYY 0 9 336 0.03 | 415 115 20 .277 .802 2|
16 Dom DiMaggio BOS 0 7 336 0.02 | 605 186 8 .307 .824 9|
16 Bobby Doerr BOS 0 7 336 0.02 | 541 167 18 .309 .890 2|
18 Alex Kellner PHA 0 6 336 0.02 | 92 20 0 .217 .501 0| 20-12 245 3.75 1.518 94 1
18 Eddie Robinson WSH 0 6 336 0.02 | 527 155 18 .294 .840 3|
18 Roy Sievers SLB 0 6 336 0.02 | 471 144 16 .306 .869 1|
18 Birdie Tebbetts BOS 0 6 336 0.02 | 403 109 5 .270 .712 8|
22 Luke Appling CHW 0 3 336 0.01 | 492 148 5 .301 .833 7|
22 Art Houtteman DET 0 3 336 0.01 | 78 19 0 .244 .522 0| 15-10 204 3.71 1.404 85
22 Jerry Priddy SLB 0 3 336 0.01 | 544 158 11 .290 .796 5|
22 Virgil Trucks DET 0 3 336 0.01 | 100 12 0 .120 .277 0| 19-11 275 2.81 1.211 153 4
26 Dale Mitchell CLE 0 2 336 0.01 | 640 203 3 .317 .788 10|
26 Allie Reynolds NYY 0 2 336 0.01 | 78 17 0 .218 .637 0| 17-6 214 4.00 1.511 105 1

Rookie of the Year--
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--
1 Roy Sievers SLB 10 10 24 0.42 | 471 144 16 .306 .869 1|
2 Alex Kellner PHA 5 5 24 0.21 | 92 20 0 .217 .501 0| 20-12 245 3.75 1.518 94 1
3 Jerry Coleman NYY 4 4 24 0.17 | 447 123 2 .275 .725 8|
4 Mike Garcia CLE 1 1 24 0.04 | 51 12 1 .235 .611 0| 14-5 176 2.36 1.218 94 2
4 Johnny Groth DET 1 1 24 0.04 | 348 102 11 .293 .878 3|
4 Bob Kuzava CHW 1 1 24 0.04 | 56 2 0 .036 .120 0| 10-6 157 4.02 1.468 83

Top player: Ted Williams. Williams' team came up just one game short, and he was by far the best hitter in the league, leading in on-base, slugging, runs, total bases, doubles, homers, tied in RBI, and a fraction of a point behind in average. Just that much short of another Triple Crown. 1949 was a last hurrah for this edition of the Red Sox, as Williams was hurt in 1950, and the core of the team began to age and decline.
#1 Ted Williams, #2 Eddie Joost, #3 Vern Stephens, #4 Bobby Doerr, #5 George Kell, #6 Cass Michaels.

Top pitcher: Mel Parnell had his career year, leading the league with 25 wins and finishing 2nd in ERA. Ellis Kinder also had a career year, and Bob Lemon was great, while Joe Page was the top reliever in the league. None was as good as Parnell.
#1 Mel Parnell, #2 Bob Lemon, #3 Virgil Trucks, #4 Hal Newhouser, #5 Ellis Kinder.

Top rookie: Mike Garcia, the ERA leader. Sievers had a nice year, but Garcia was better.

Top manager: Casey Stengel survived the injury to his star player to win in his first year in the Bronx.

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