It was the year of "The Impossible Dream," and an impossible pennant race. Four teams went to the wire, as 1966 winners the Orioles faded to 6th with Frank Robinson hurting. There was the Twins, 1965 pennant winners, with their balanced team; the White Sox, sporting the best pitching; Detroit, building a pitching staff to make a run; and the surprise Red Sox, after finishing 9th in 1966 and a non-factor in the race for years, since before Ted Williams retired. Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown with a magical season, and a roster of youngsters and castoffs around him won on the last day, finishing one game ahead of Minnesota and Detroit and three ahead of Chicago. California was 5th, Washington tied the Orioles for 6th, and Cleveland, New York, and Kansas City rounded out the standings.
Nobody wins the Triple Crown since Mantle, then two guys win it consecutive years. Yaz won the Triple Crown with a .321 average, 44 HR, and 121 RBI, tying Harmon Killebrew for the home run lead. Frank Robinson was second in average with a .311 mark. Yaz led in runs with 112 and hits with 189. Tony Oliva led with 34 doubles and Paul Blair with 12 triples. Killebrew was second in RBI with 113. Bert Campaneris led in steals again with 55.
Jim Lonborg and Earl Wilson tied for the lead in wins with 22, and Dean Chance won 20. Joe Horlen lead in ERA at 2.06 followed by Gary Peters at 2.28. Lonborg led in strikeouts with 246, followed by Sam McDowell at 236. Minnie Rojas took the saves lead at 27. Chance led in complete games and innings.
Win Shares numbers:
Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) 42, Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota) 38, Frank Robinson (Baltimore), Bill Freehan and Al Kaline (both Detroit) 30 each, Jim Fregosi and Don Mincher (California) and Frank Howard (Washington) 28 each, Dick McAuliffe (Detroit) 27, Tony Oliva (Minnesota) and Mickey Mantle (New York) 25, Paul Blair and Brooks Robinson (Baltimore) and Bob Allison (Minnesota) 24, Rico Petrocelli and George Scott (Boston) 23, Horace Clarke (New York) 22, Norm Cash (Detroit) and Cesar Tovar (Minnesota) 21.
For pitchers, Joel Horlen (Chicago) 23, Gary Peters (Chicago) 21, Dean Chance (Minnesota) 20, Jim Lonborg (Boston) and Jim Merritt (Minnesota) 19, Earl Wilson (Detroit) 18, Luis Tiant (Cleveland), Catfish Hunter (Kansas City) and Jim Kaat (Minnesota) 17, Minnie Rojas (California), Bob Locker (Chicago), Steve Hargan (Cleveland), Al Downing and Mel Stottlemyre (New York) 16.
WARP3 leaders, position players: Yastrzemski 11.1, Killebrew 8.5, Kaline 8.4, B. Robinson 7.7, F. Robinson 7.5, Freehan 7.3, Blair 6.9, Fregosi 5.9, McAuliffe 5.8, Oliva and Petrocelli 5.6, Mincher and Scott 5.5, Howard 4.7.
WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Horlen 8.8, Peters 6.8, Downing 6.7, Sonny Siebert (Cleveland) 6.2, Merritt 6.1, Stottlemyre 5.6, Hargan and Dave Boswell (Minnesota) 5.4, Hunter and Phil Ortega (Washington) 5.0, Tiant 4.8, Wilson 4.7, Lonborg and Bill Monbouquette (New York) 4.5.
WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Yaz 12.1, B. Robinson 8.6, Killebrew 8.0, Kaline 7.8, Blair 7.7, Freehan 6.6, F. Robinson 6.5, Fregosi 6.1, MacAuliffe 5.8, Scott 5.3, McMullen and Mincher 5.1, Petrocelli 4.9, Agee and Oliva 4.8. Pitchers (bWAR): Merritt 5.4, Chance 4.9, Horlen 4.6, Downing 4.4, Hargan and Siebert 4.2, Boswell and Hunter 4.0, Tiant 3.9, Lonborg and Stottlemyre 3.7, Kaat 3.3, Peters 3.2.
Actual award winners:
MVP (top 15): | 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 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 19 275 280 0.98 | 579 189 44 .326 1.040 10
2 Harmon Killebrew MIN 0 161 280 0.58 | 547 147 44 .269 .965 1
3 Bill Freehan DET 0 137 280 0.49 | 517 146 20 .282 .835 1
4 Joe Horlen CHW 0 91 280 0.32 | 83 14 0 .169 .367 0| 19-7 258 2.06 0.953 103
5 Al Kaline DET 0 88 280 0.31 | 458 141 25 .308 .952 8
6 Jim Lonborg BOS 0 82 280 0.29 | 99 14 0 .141 .346 1| 22-9 273 3.16 1.138 246
7 Jim Fregosi CAL 0 70 280 0.25 | 590 171 9 .290 .744 9
7 Cesar Tovar MIN 1 70 280 0.25 | 649 173 6 .267 .691 19
9 Gary Peters CHW 0 37 280 0.13 | 99 21 2 .212 .556 0| 16-11 260 2.28 1.069 215
10 George Scott BOS 0 33 280 0.12 | 565 171 19 .303 .839 10
11 Frank Robinson BAL 0 31 280 0.11 | 479 149 30 .311 .979 2
12 Earl Wilson DET 0 20 280 0.07 | 108 20 4 .185 .563 0| 22-11 264 3.27 1.167 184
13 Dean Chance MIN 0 19 280 0.07 | 92 3 0 .033 .151 0| 20-14 284 2.73 1.100 220 1
14 Ron Hansen CHW 0 13 280 0.05 | 498 116 8 .233 .638 0
15 Jerry Adair TOT 0 11 280 0.04 | +414 112 3 .271 .640 1
Yaz was not quite unanimous. Tovar snuck in a first-place vote. The guy who cast the vote should have been drummed out of the union.
Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Jim Lonborg BOS 18 18 20 0.90 | 22-9 273 3.16 1.138 246
2 Joe Horlen CHW 2 2 20 0.10 | 19-7 258 2.06 0.953 103
First time for each league to award a Cy.
Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+---+-----+---+--+
1 Rod Carew MIN 19 19 20 0.95 | 514 150 8 .292 .750 5
2 Reggie Smith BOS 1 1 20 0.05 | 565 139 15 .246 .704 16
Top player: Yaz was without a doubt the best. He was also clutch down the stretch, with 22 hits in his last 44 ABs when the Red Sox simply had to win. It was an all-time great season.
#1 Carl Yastrzemski, #2 Harmon Killebrew, #3 Al Kaline, #4 Bill Freehan, #5 Brooks Robinson, #6 Frank Robinson.
Top pitcher: Joel Horlen. Cy Young winner Lonborg got the press as the Bosox won, but was not the best pitcher. ERA leader Horlen, a not-too-shabby 19-7 himself, was the best pitcher this year.
#1 Joel Horlen, #2 Gary Peters, #3 Jim Merritt, #4 Jim Lonborg, #5 Dean Chance.
Top rookie to Rod Carew, with honorable mention to a contribution to the winners from Reggie Smith. But the Twins were in it to the wire, too.
Top manager: Dick Williams for bringing the Bosox to their first pennant in 23 years.
1 comment:
I agree with you. Whoever voted for Tovar should've had their voting privileges taken away forever! The season Yaz had in 1967 was truly one of the greatest seasons ever when you take into account who was on the team with him, how he did all season (Triple Crown) and then performing in the clutch down the stretch when his team needed him the most. Now that's an MVP!
Post a Comment