Not to be outdone by the terrific AL race, the NL featured five teams fighting for the title. Philadelphia, of all teams, emerged as the leader, holding first place from July 17 through September 27, building a ten-game margin at one point. For September, Phils manager Gene Mauch announced a shift to a three-man starting rotation, to get more mileage out of starters Jim Bunning and Chris Short, but the move backfired as the Phils lose 10 straight down the stretch. The Cardinals trade of pitcher Ernie Broglio to get Lou Brock from the Cubs loomed big, as Brock solidified the lineup and batted .348 in a St. Louis uniform. In the final week, the Cardinals, Reds, Phils, Giants, and Braves were all in it. The defending champion Dodgers fell off the pace with an injury to ace Sandy Koufax, keeping him from the mound for the last six weeks.
The Phils sank, everyone else rose, then the Braves fell off the pace to 5th. The Giants couldn't keep up, and ended up 4th. On the last day, a three-way tie was possible, with the Reds and Cards tied, leading the Phils by one game. But Philly beat Cincy, and St. Louis beat the Mets to win the pennant. LA and Pittsburgh tied for 6th, followed by Chicago, Houston and New York. It may have been the best pennant race ever.
Roberto Clemente won the batting title, his first, with a .339 average. Rico Carty was second at .330, followed by Hank Aaron at .328. The Braves had the top offense in the league. Willie Mays led in slugging, OPS, and homers with 47. Ron Santo led in on-base. Clemente and Curt Flood led in hits with 211. Lee Maye led in doubles with 44. Richie (later Dick) Allen led in runs with 125 and tied with Santo at 13 triples. Maury Wills led in steals with 53. Ken Boyer led in RBI with 119 and won the MVP. He was followed by Santo with 114 RBI and Mays with 111.
Larry Jackson led with 24 wins, followed by Juan Marichal with 21 and Ray Sadecki with 20. Koufax led in ERA with a 1.73 mark, followed by Don Drysdale at 2.18 and Chris Short at 2.20. Bob Veale led in strikeouts with 250, Bob Gibson was second with 245. Hal Woodeshick led in saves with 23. Al McBean had 22, Jack Baldschun 21. Koufax had seven shutouts.
Win Shares leaders, players; Dick Allen (Philadelphia) 41, Willie Mays (San Francisco) 38, Ron Santo (Chicago) 36, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati) and Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 33, Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 30, Denis Menke (Milwaukee) and Johnny Callison (Philadelphia) 29, Billy Williams (Chicago), Joe Torre (Milwaukee) and Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 28, Rico Carty (Milwaukee) 27, Willie Davis (Los Angeles) and Bill White (St. Louis) 26, Jim Ray Hart (San Francisco) and Curt Flood (St. Louis) 25.
Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) 26, Larry Jackson (Chicago) and Juan Marichal (San Francisco) 25, Sandy Koufax (Los Angeles) and Bob Gibson (St. Louis) 24, Jim Bunning (Philadelphia) 22, Chris Short (Philadelphia) and Bob Veale (Pittsburgh) 21, Jim O'Toole (Cincinnati) and Gaylord Perry (San Francisco) 19.
WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 11.9, Allen 10.5, Santo 10.3, Aaron 9.1, Robinson 8.7, Menke 8.4, Torre 8.2, Davis 8.1, Clemente 7.9, White 7.5, Boyer 7.3, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 7.1, Johnny Roseboro (Los Angeles) 6.6, Carty 6.2, Williams 6.1, Flood 5.7.
WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Drysdale 9.3, Jackson 8.8, Koufax 7.7, Bob Bruce (Houston) 7.3, Short 6.9, Veale 6.4, Perry 6.3, Bunning 5.9, O'Toole 5.7, Jim Maloney (Cincinnati) 5.5.
WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 10.9, Santo 9.1, Allen 8.7, Robinson 7.5, Aaron and DAvis 7.1, Clemente 6.5, Boyer and Menke 6.4, Torre 6.2, Callison 6.1, Hart 5.6, Williams 5.4, Carty 5.3, White 5.2, Brock 5.1, Cepeda 5.0, Mathews 4.6. Pitchers (bWAR): Drysdale 8.2, Koufax 7.8, Marichal 6.6, Gibson and Short 6.3, Jackson 6.1, Veale 5.9, Bunning 5.8, O'Toole 5.7, Perry 5.6, Bruce 5.5, Maloney 4.8, Farrell 4.1, Friend 3.7.
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 Ken Boyer STL 14 243 280 0.87 | 628 185 24 .295 .854 3
2 Johnny Callison PHI 2 187 280 0.67 | 654 179 31 .274 .809 6
3 Bill White STL 2 106 280 0.38 | 631 191 21 .303 .829 7
4 Frank Robinson CIN 0 98 280 0.35 | 568 174 29 .306 .943 23
5 Joe Torre MLN 1 85 280 0.30 | 601 193 20 .321 .863 2
6 Willie Mays SFG 0 66 280 0.24 | 578 171 47 .296 .990 19
7 Dick Allen PHI 0 63 280 0.22 | 632 201 29 .318 .939 3
8 Ron Santo CHC 0 59 280 0.21 | 592 185 30 .312 .962 3
9 Roberto Clemente PIT 0 56 280 0.20 | 622 211 12 .339 .872 5
10 Lou Brock TOT 1 40 280 0.14 | +634 200 14 .315 .821 43
11 Curt Flood STL 0 38 280 0.14 | 679 211 5 .311 .734 8
12 Larry Jackson CHC 0 26 280 0.09 | 114 20 0 .175 .384 0| 24-11 298 3.14 1.085 148
13 Jim Bunning PHI 0 23 280 0.08 | 99 12 0 .121 .261 0| 19-8 284 2.63 1.034 219 2
14 Hank Aaron MLN 0 22 280 0.08 | 570 187 24 .328 .907 22
15 Juan Marichal SFG 0 14 280 0.05 | 97 14 0 .144 .323 1| 21-8 269 2.48 1.089 206
16 Sammy Ellis CIN 0 13 280 0.05 | 24 2 0 .083 .298 0| 10-3 122 2.58 1.055 125 14
17 Sandy Koufax LAD 0 7 280 0.02 | 74 7 0 .095 .236 0| 19-5 223 1.74 0.928 223 1
18 Jim Ray Hart SFG 0 6 280 0.02 | 566 162 31 .286 .840 5
18 Vada Pinson CIN 0 6 280 0.02 | 625 166 23 .266 .764 8
18 Billy Williams CHC 0 6 280 0.02 | 645 201 33 .312 .901 10
21 Ruben Amaro PHI 0 5 280 0.02 | 299 79 4 .264 .648 1
22 Tommy Davis LAD 0 4 280 0.01 | 592 163 14 .275 .708 11
23 Bob Gibson STL 0 2 280 0.01 | 96 15 0 .156 .396 0| 19-12 287 3.01 1.170 245 1
23 Chris Short PHI 0 2 280 0.01 | 65 7 0 .108 .258 0| 17-9 221 2.20 1.019 181 2
25 Ron Hunt NYM 0 1 280 0.00 | 475 144 6 .303 .763 6
25 Barney Schultz STL 0 1 280 0.00 | 6 1 0 .167 .333 0| 1-3 49 1.64 0.933 29 14
Boyer won because the Cardinals won the pennant. If the Phils had won, Callison would have carried the day. Had the Reds finished first, Robinson would likely have won.
Cy Young: the AL guy won.
| Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Dean Chance LAA 17 17 20 0.85 | 20-9 278 1.65 1.006 207 4
2 Larry Jackson CHC 2 2 20 0.10 | 24-11 298 3.14 1.085 148
3 Sandy Koufax LAD 1 1 20 0.05 | 19-5 223 1.74 0.928 223 1
Rookie: | 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 Dick Allen PHI 18 18 20 0.90 | 632 201 29 .318 .939 3
2 Rico Carty MLN 1 1 20 0.05 | 455 150 22 .330 .942 1
2 Jim Ray Hart SFG 1 1 20 0.05 | 566 162 31 .286 .840 5
Top player: Willie Mays. He hit under .300 and the Giants slipped to a disappointing 5th, so he couldn't win a writers' vote, but he was the best in the league. Nothing unusual here.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Ron Santo, #3 Richie Allen, #4 Hank Aaron, #5 Frank Robinson, #6 Roberto Clemente.
Top pitcher: Don Drysdale. Sounds odd for an 18-16 pitcher, but Drysdale carried the load and did it well. He didn't even draw a vote for his efforts. 2nd in ERA, 1st in innings, 3rd in strikeouts.
#1 Don Drysdale, #2 Larry Jackson, #3 Sandy Koufax, #4 Juan Marichal, #5 Bob Gibson.
Top rookie: Dick Allen, pretty clearly. Carty and Hart did well, but Allen had one of the all-time great rookie seasons.
Top manager: Johnny Keane held the course through the pennant race and brought the Cardinals home in 1st. He then switched over to the Yankees, and that team promptly fell apart.
2 comments:
Mays should have won 5 or 6 MVP's during his career, it's just the BWAA never wanted to give out more than 3 back in those days. It reminds me of how the BWAA handle Albert Pujols today. Pujols should have 3 or 4 MVP's already.
I have Mays at six (54, 55, 58, 62, 64, 65) through 1965.
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