The Milwaukee Braves won their second straight pennant, but couldn't repeat the World Championship. Like the Yankees of 1958, the Braves won a blaaah league, beating out the Pirates by 8 games when the Buccos only went 84-70, with the newly placed team in San Francisco, the Giants, 3rd and the only other team over .500. Cincinnati, Chicago tied with St. Louis, Los Angeles, and the Phillies followed. The biggest news was the new west coast presence for the NL and the majors, as the Giants adjusted well and boasted Rookie of the Year Orlando Cepeda, while the Dodgers took a nosedive. They moved from a hitters' park to a pitchers' park, lost Roy Campanella to paralysis resulting from a car accident, and had a lot of key players get old.
One of the odd things about the near future for the NL was that the Braves did not continue to dominate. They clearly had the best front-line talent, and two pennants under their belts, but succumbed to a series of "surprise" teams. They tied the Dodgers for the 1959 flag then lost a playoff. The Pirates won in 1960, the Reds in 1961, then the Giants followed by the Dodgers establishing a new dynasty. Milwaukee's Braves missed a chance to be the NL's new dynasty. With Aaron, Mathews, and Spahn, they should have been.
Richie Ashburn led the league in batting average with a .350 mark, followed by Willie Mays at .347. Ashburn also led with 215 hits and 13 triples. Ernie Banks won the MVP by leading in homers with 47 and RBI with 129, and leading by wide margins. Second in both categories was Frank Thomas with 35 homers and 109 RBI. Willie Mays led in OPS, steals with 31, and runs scored with 121. Rookie Orlando Cepeda had 38 doubles.
Bob Friend and Warren Spahn tied for the wins lead with 22, followed by Lew Burdette with 20. Stu Miller lead in ERA with a 2.47 mark. Sam Jones led in strikeouts with 225 and was second in ERA at 2.88. Spahn was second in strikeouts with 150. ElRoy Face led in saves with 20. Spahn pitched 290 innings and tossed 23 complete games.
Win Shares leaders, players; Willie Mays (San Francisco) 40, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 32, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 31, Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) 28, Bob Skinner (Pittsburgh) 25, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) and Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 24, Del Crandall (Milwaukee) 22, Johnny Temple (Cincinnati) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 21, Lee Walls (Chicago), Frank Robinson (Cincinnati), Bill Mazeroski, Frank Thomas and Bill Virdon (Pittsburgh) and Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 20.
Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 28, Lew Burdette (Milwaukee) and Sam Jones (St. Louis) 23, Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 20, Johnny Antonelli (San Francisco) 18, Bob Purkey (Cincinnati) 17, Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) and Larry Jackson (St. Louis) 16, Stu Miller (San Francisco) 15.
WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 10.7, Banks 9.7, Ashburn 8.8, Aaron 8.3, Mathews 7.1, Mazeroski 6.7, Dick Groat (Pittsburgh) 6.5, Crandall 6.1, Boyer 5.8, Musial 5.6, Skinner 5.5, Walt Moryn (Chicago) 5.4.
WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Spahn 8.7, Roberts 8.2, Jones 7.8, Antonelli 6.5, Burdette 6.1, Purkey 6.0, Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell (St. Louis) 5.7, Johnny Podres (Los Angeles) 5.4, Miller 5.3.
WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 10.7, Banks 9.7, Aaron 7.8, Ashburn 7.5, Mathews 6.7, Boyer 6.3, Mazeroski 5.5, Crandall 5.2, Musial 4.9, Robinson 4.8, Skinner and Walls 4.6, Clemente and Temple 4.5. Pitchers (bWAR): Jones 6.7, Roberts 6.3, Purkey 5.2, Mizell 4.4, Witt 4.3, Miller 4.2, Antonelli 4.1, Spahn 3.9, Podres 3.8, Haddix and Kline 3.7, Brosnan and Burdette 3.6.
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 Ernie Banks CHC 16 283 336 0.84 | 617 193 47 .313 .980 4|
2 Willie Mays SFG 3 185 336 0.55 | 600 208 29 .347 1.002 31|
3 Hank Aaron MLN 0 166 336 0.49 | 601 196 30 .326 .931 4|
4 Frank Thomas PIT 2 143 336 0.43 | 562 158 35 .281 .863 0|
5 Warren Spahn MLN 1 108 336 0.32 | 108 36 2 .333 .844 0| 22-11 290 3.07 1.148 150 1
6 Bob Friend PIT 0 98 336 0.29 | 94 10 0 .106 .269 0| 22-14 274 3.68 1.314 135
7 Richie Ashburn PHI 0 62 336 0.18 | 615 215 2 .350 .881 30|
8 Bill Mazeroski PIT 1 61 336 0.18 | 567 156 19 .275 .747 1|
9 Orlando Cepeda SFG 0 57 336 0.17 | 603 188 25 .312 .854 15|
10 Del Crandall MLN 0 48 336 0.14 | 427 116 18 .272 .805 4|
11 Lew Burdette MLN 0 47 336 0.14 | 99 24 3 .242 .635 0| 20-10 275 2.91 1.195 113
12 Stan Musial STL 0 39 336 0.12 | 472 159 17 .337 .950 0|
13 Ken Boyer STL 0 31 336 0.09 | 570 175 23 .307 .857 11|
14 Johnny Temple CIN 0 26 336 0.08 | 542 166 3 .306 .807 15|
15 Bob Skinner PIT 1 18 336 0.05 | 529 170 13 .321 .879 12|
16 Wes Covington MLN 0 16 336 0.05 | 294 97 24 .330 1.003 0|
17 Roy Face PIT 0 8 336 0.02 | 7 0 0 .000 .000 0| 5-2 84 2.89 1.179 47 20
18 Harry Anderson PHI 0 5 336 0.01 | 515 155 23 .301 .897 0|
19 Jim Gilliam LAD 0 4 336 0.01 | 555 145 2 .261 .687 18|
19 Bob Purkey CIN 0 4 336 0.01 | 81 9 1 .111 .343 0| 17-11 250 3.60 1.232 70
19 Frank Robinson CIN 0 4 336 0.01 | 554 149 31 .269 .854 10|
22 Joe Adcock MLN 0 2 336 0.01 | 320 88 19 .275 .823 0|
23 Carl Furillo LAD 0 1 336 0.00 | 411 119 18 .290 .825 0|
Banks had an easy victory in spite of Mays' great year. The field behind was crowded.
Cy Young Award: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----
1 Bob Turley NYY 5 5 16 0.31 | 21-7 245 2.97 1.247 168 1
2 Warren Spahn MLN 4 4 16 0.25 | 22-11 290 3.07 1.148 150 1
3 Lew Burdette MLN 3 3 16 0.19 | 20-10 275 2.91 1.195 113
3 Bob Friend PIT 3 3 16 0.19 | 22-14 274 3.68 1.314 135
Three NL pitchers trailed the AL winner.
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 Orlando Cepeda SFG 21 21 24 0.88 | 603 188 25 .312 .854 15|
An easy vote.
Top player: Willie Mays was pretty clearly the best in the league. They didn't watch OPS then, however. Mays, of course, was the best player in the league for about 15 years, though not every single season. He was this time.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Ernie Banks, #3 Hank Aaron, #4 Richie Ashburn, #5 Ken Boyer, #6 Eddie Mathews.
Top pitcher: Warren Spahn. Spahnie had a great year while Aaron and Mathews were down a bit, and carried the team.
#1 Warren Spahn, #2 Lew Burdette, #3 Sam Jones, #4 Robin Roberts, #5 Johnny Antonelli.
Top rookie: Orlando Cepeda in a walk.
Top manager: Danny Murtaugh brought the Pirates in a surprise 2nd.
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