Brooklyn won the World Series! The Dodgers beat the Yankees! It was one of the most improbable outcomes in history, much like Boston winning in 2004, and sparked the same kind of giddiness. The Dodgers had never won a World Series in 7 previous tries, and five of those losses, the most recent five, had come at the hands of the Yankees. Brooklyn had won the only major league extant in 1899 and 1900, but that was the ancient past to most Dodger fans. The Dodgers ran away with the league, beating Milwaukee by 13.5 games, and then won the Series in 7 games.
After second-place Milwaukee came New York in 3rd and Philadelphia 4th, followed by Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis, with Pittsburgh bringing up the rear again. The Pirates did cut back to 94 losses.
Richie Ashburn won the batting title at .338, Willie Mays led in home runs (51) and OPS, Duke Snider topped the loop in RBI with 136 and also runs with 126. Ashburn led in on-base, Mays in slugging. Mays and Musial followed Ashburn in average at .319, Ted Kluszewski was second in homers with 47, and Mays was second in RBI with 127. Kluszewski had 192 hits, Hank Aaron and Johnny Logan tied with 37 doubles, Mays and Dale Long had 13 triples, and Billy Bruton had 25 steals.
Robin Roberts led the league in wins, Bob Friend in ERA with 2.83, and Toothpick Sam Jones in strikeouts with 198. Jones also led the league in walks, and in losses with 20. The only 20-game winner besides Roberts (at 23) was Don Newcombe, in his first full season back from the service. From there it went to Joe Nuxhall and Warren Spahn at 17, then down to 14. It was a bit of a strange year for wins totals. Newcombe was second in ERA as well with a 3.20 mark, and Roberts second in strikeouts with 160. Roberts' 305 innings lapped the field, with Nuxhall next at 257. Jack Meyer led with 16 saves.
Win Shares leaders, players; Willie Mays (New York) 40, Duke Snider (Brooklyn) 36, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 34, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 32, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee), Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 29, Roy Campanella (Brooklyn) 28, Johnny Logan (Milwaukee) 26, Ted Kluszewski (Cincinnati) 25, Gil Hodges (Brooklyn) and Wally Post (Cincinnati) 23, Carl Furillo (Brooklyn) and Bill Bruton (Milwaukee) 22, Gus Bell (Cincinnati) and Del Ennis (Philadelphia) 21.
Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 27, Don Newcombe (Brooklyn) 25, Joe Nuxhall (Cincinnati) 20, Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) and Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) 19, Bob Rush (Chicago) and Johnny Antonelli (New York) 18, Clem Labine (Brooklyn) 15.
WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays and Mathews 11.6, Banks 9.8, Aaron 8.6, Furillo 8.5, Musial 8.4, Ashburn and Snider 8.3, Campanella 8.0, Roy McMillan 7.0, Hodges 6.7, Post 6.1, Gene Baker (Chicago) 5.9, Kluszewski 5.5, Logan 5.3, Stan Lopata (Philadelphia) 5.0.
WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Friend 10.9, Vern Law (Pittsburgh) 7.6, Roberts 7.2, Nuxhall 7.0, Antonelli 6.9, Newcombe 5.9, Rush 5.3, Jim Hearn (New York) 5.2, Willard Schmidt (St. Louis) 4.7, Spahn, Dick Hall (Pittsburgh), Murry Dickson (Philadelphia) and Roy Face (Pittsburgh) 4.5.
WAR, position players (fWAR): Mays 10.0, Banks 8.7, Snider 8.6, Mathews 8.4, Ashburn 7.0, Aaron and Logan 6.8, Musial 6.7, Campanella 6.4, Post and Kluszewski 5.9, Furillo 5.1, Reese and Hodges 4.8. Pitchers (bWAR): Friend 5.7, Rush 5.4, Antonelli 4.4, Law 4.3, Roberts and Spahn 4.1, Jones 3.6, Schmidt 3.5, Hearn and Nuxhall 3.4, Buhl 3.2.
Actual award winners, MVP: | 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 Roy Campanella BRO 8 226 336 0.67 | 446 142 32 .318 .978 2|
2 Duke Snider BRO 8 221 336 0.66 | 538 166 42 .309 1.046 9|
3 Ernie Banks CHC 6 195 336 0.58 | 596 176 44 .295 .941 9|
4 Willie Mays NYG 0 165 336 0.49 | 580 185 51 .319 1.059 24|
5 Robin Roberts PHI 1 159 336 0.47 | 107 27 2 .252 .827 0| 23-14 305 3.28 1.131 160 3
6 Ted Kluszewski CIN 0 111 336 0.33 | 612 192 47 .314 .967 1|
7 Don Newcombe BRO 0 89 336 0.26 | 117 42 7 .359 1.028 1| 20-5 234 3.20 1.113 143
8 Stan Musial STL 0 46 336 0.14 | 562 179 33 .319 .974 5|
9 Hank Aaron MLN 0 36 336 0.11 | 602 189 27 .314 .906 3|
9 Pee Wee Reese BRO 1 36 336 0.11 | 553 156 10 .282 .774 8|
11 Johnny Logan MLN 0 24 336 0.07 | 595 177 13 .297 .802 3|
12 Wally Post CIN 0 23 336 0.07 | 601 186 40 .309 .946 7|
13 Del Ennis PHI 0 21 336 0.06 | 564 167 29 .296 .864 4|
14 Richie Ashburn PHI 0 17 336 0.05 | 533 180 3 .338 .897 12|
15 Clem Labine BRO 0 11 336 0.03 | 31 3 3 .097 .564 0| 13-5 144 3.24 1.220 67 11
16 Bob Friend PIT 0 10 336 0.03 | 61 10 0 .164 .383 0| 14-9 200 2.83 1.148 98 2
17 Del Crandall MLN 0 8 336 0.02 | 440 104 26 .236 .756 2|
18 Eddie Mathews MLN 0 6 336 0.02 | 499 144 41 .289 1.014 3|
19 Dale Long PIT 0 3 336 0.01 | 419 122 16 .291 .875 0|
19 Jack Meyer PHI 0 3 336 0.01 | 20 2 0 .100 .450 0| 6-11 110 3.43 1.278 97 16
21 Gene Baker CHC 0 2 336 0.01 | 609 163 11 .268 .715 9|
21 Carl Furillo BRO 0 2 336 0.01 | 523 164 26 .314 .891 4|
23 Vern Law PIT 0 1 336 0.00 | 63 16 1 .254 .648 1| 10-10 201 3.81 1.405 82 1
23 Frank Thomas PIT 0 1 336 0.00 | 510 125 25 .245 .755 2|
Campanella and Snider finished in a virtual dead heat in the vote, but the Duke should have won. Mays was even better, but his team declined in the standings, and when that happens a player almost never wins the award.
Rookie of the Year: | 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 Bill Virdon STL 15 15 24 0.62 | 534 150 17 .281 .755 2|
2 Jack Meyer PHI 7 7 24 0.29 | 20 2 0 .100 .450 0| 6-11 110 3.43 1.278 97 16
3 Don Bessent BRO 2 2 24 0.08 | 20 2 0 .100 .200 0| 8-1 63 2.70 1.137 29 3
Top player: Willie Mays. Mays was the OPS+ leader and an unparalled defensive outfielder, a marvel with the glove. He rivaled the best of all time, like Speaker and DiMaggio. The team slump doomed his award chances. I woulda voted for the Duke.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Duke Snider, #3 Ernie Banks, #4 Eddie Mathews, #5 Roy Campanella, #6 Richie Ashburn.
Top pitcher: Robin Roberts, again. Roberts was really dominating the league during his prime, something that has been lost to history for the most part.
#1 Robin Roberts, #2 Don Newcombe, #3 Bob Friend, #4 Joe Nuxhall, #5 Warren Spahn.
Top rookie: Bill Virdon, in an unspectacular year. Virdon hit well and played great defense. He was unable to improve afterward.
Top manager: Walt Alston led Brooklyn to the winner's circle.
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