It was the first year of the DH, an experiment to put more offense in the game. It has worked, although purists (like me) still rail against it. Ron Blomberg of New York was the first DH, and many veterans spent the year as a DH, most notably Frank Robinson. Tommy Davis also managed to get in a couple of full years that way.
Oakland's A's continued their dominance, winning their second straight World Series and third straight division title. Reggie Jackson and crew had their way with the league, tallying 94 wins, a six-game margin over improving Kansas City. Minnesota was third in the West, followed by California, Chicago, and 105-loss Texas. The East was won by resurging Baltimore, which sported 97 victories. Boston finished 8 games back and Detroit 12 off the pace. New York was 4th, Milwaukee 5th and Cleveland last in the East. The A's then put their differences behind them enough to beat the Orioles in five games in the ALCS, and the Mets in a 7-game Series.
Oakland led the league in scoring, even playing in a pitcher's park. They were 3rd in ERA.
Jackson won the MVP as he led in HR, RBI, and OPS. Rod Carew won the batting title easily at .350 over George Scott and Tommy Davis at .306. Jackson had 32 homers, Jeff Burroughs and F. Robinson 30. Jackson had 117 RBI, George Scott 107 and John Mayberry 100. Carew had 203 hits, Jackson scored 99 runs, Pedro Garcia and Sal Bando had 32 doubles, Carew and Al Bumbry 11 triples. Tommy Harper led in steals with 54 while Bill North had 53.
Wilbur Wood led in wins, Nolan Ryan in strikeouts, but the Cy Young winner was ERA leader Jim Palmer. Wood won 24, Joe Coleman 23, Palmer 22. Ryan set a record with 383 strikeouts, Bert Blyleven was second with 258. Palmer had a 2.40 ERA, Blyleven 2.52, Bill Lee 2.75. John Hiller was recovered enough from cancer to lead in saves with 38.
Win Shares leaders, players; Reggie Jackson (Oakland) 32, John Mayberry (Kansas City) and Sal Bando (Oakland) 31, Amos Otis (Kansas City) 29, Bobby Grich (Baltimore) and Rod Carew (Minnesota) 28, Frank Robinson (California) and Gene Tenace (Oakland) 26, Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer (New York) and Billy North (Oakland) 25, Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) and Dave May and George Scott (Milwaukee) 24, Reggie Smith (Boston) and Jeff Burroughs (Texas) 23, Bill Melton (Chicago) 22, Tommy Harper (Boston) and Buddy Bell (Cleveland) 21, Bert Campaneris (Oakland) 20.
Win Shares leaders, pitchers; John Hiller (Detroit) 31, Bert Blyleven (Minnesota) 29, Jim Palmer (Baltimore) and Nolan Ryan (California) 28, Bill Lee (Boston) and Gaylord Perry (Cleveland) 24, Bill Singer (California) and Wilbur Wood (Chicago) 23, Luis Tiant (Boston) and Joe Coleman (Detroit) 21, Jim Colborn (Milwaukee) 20, Mickey Lolich (Detroit) and Ken Holtzman (Oakland) 19.
WARP3 leaders, players: Grich 12.5, Carew 9.5, Jackson 9.0, Munson 8.1, North 7.8, Scott 7.5, Bando 7.0, Melton and Tenace 6.5, Smith 6.0, Robinson 5.9, Campaneris 5.8, Yastrzemski 5.5, May and Carlton Fisk (Boston) 5.3, Mayberry and Graig Nettles (New York) 4.6.
WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Hiller and Perry 8.5, Ryan 6.6, Coleman 6.1, Blyleven 5.6, Palmer and Tiant 5.1, Jim Bibby (Texas) 4.9, Lee 4.8, Singer 4.6, Wood and Cy Acosta (Chicago) 4.5, Lolich and Stan Bahnsen (Chicago) 4.1.
WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Grich 8.1, Jackson 7.3, Munson 6.8, Bando 6.6, Carew 6.5, North 6.4, Scott 6.3, Nettles and Yastrzemski 5.6, Mayberry 5.2, Murcer 4.8, Tenace 4.7, Blair 4.6, Campaneris 4.5, F. Robinson 4.4. Pitchers (bWAR): Blyleven 9.2, Ryan 7.9, Perry 7.4, Wood 7.0, Hiller 6.9, Singer 6.6, Lee 6.3, Palmer 6.1, Bahnsen 5.9, Coleman 5.4, Tiant 5.3, Forster 5.0, Colborn 4.8.
Actual award winners:
MVP (top 20): | 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 Reggie Jackson OAK 24 336 336 1.00 | 539 158 32 .293 .914 22
2 Jim Palmer BAL 0 172 336 0.51 | | 22-9 296 2.40 1.141 158 1
3 Amos Otis KCR 0 112 336 0.33 | 583 175 26 .300 .851 13
4 Sal Bando OAK 0 83 336 0.25 | 592 170 29 .287 .873 4
4 Rod Carew MIN 0 83 336 0.25 | 580 203 6 .350 .881 41
4 John Hiller DET 0 83 336 0.25 | | 10-5 125 1.44 1.022 124 38
7 John Mayberry KCR 0 76 336 0.23 | 510 142 26 .278 .895 3
8 Dave May MIL 0 65 336 0.19 | 624 189 25 .303 .824 6
9 Bobby Murcer NYY 0 53 336 0.16 | 616 187 22 .304 .821 6
10 Tommy Davis BAL 0 47 336 0.14 | 552 169 7 .306 .732 11
10 Catfish Hunter OAK 0 47 336 0.14 | 1 1 0 1.000 2.000 0| 21-5 256 3.34 1.135 124
12 Thurman Munson NYY 0 43 336 0.13 | 519 156 20 .301 .849 4
13 Tommy Harper BOS 0 33 336 0.10 | 566 159 17 .281 .774 54
14 George Scott MIL 0 25 336 0.07 | 604 185 24 .306 .858 9
15 Orlando Cepeda BOS 0 21 336 0.06 | 550 159 20 .289 .793 0
15 Frank Robinson CAL 0 21 336 0.06 | 534 142 30 .266 .861 1
17 Nolan Ryan CAL 0 20 336 0.06 | | 21-16 326 2.87 1.227 383 1
18 Carlton Fisk BOS 0 16 336 0.05 | 508 125 26 .246 .750 7
19 Bobby Grich BAL 0 9 336 0.03 | 581 146 12 .251 .760 17
19 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 0 9 336 0.03 | 540 160 19 .296 .870 9
Jackson was the unanimous winner.
Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Jim Palmer BAL 14 88 120 0.73 | 22-9 296 2.40 1.141 158 1
2 Nolan Ryan CAL 9 62 120 0.52 | 21-16 326 2.87 1.227 383 1
3 Catfish Hunter OAK 1 52 120 0.43 | 21-5 256 3.34 1.135 124
4 John Hiller DET 0 6 120 0.05 | 10-5 125 1.44 1.022 124 38
5 Wilbur Wood CHW 0 3 120 0.02 | 24-20 359 3.46 1.314 199
6 Jim Colborn MIL 0 2 120 0.02 | 20-12 314 3.18 1.222 135 1
7 Vida Blue OAK 0 1 120 0.01 | 20-9 264 3.28 1.210 158
7 Bert Blyleven MIN 0 1 120 0.01 | 20-17 325 2.52 1.117 258
7 Gaylord Perry CLE 0 1 120 0.01 | 19-19 344 3.37 1.250 238
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 Al Bumbry BAL 13 13 24 0.54 | 356 120 7 .337 .898 23
2 Pedro Garcia MIL 3 3 24 0.12 | 580 142 15 .245 .691 11
3 Steve Busby KCR 2 2 24 0.08 | | 16-15 238 4.23 1.473 174
3 Doc Medich NYY 2 2 24 0.08 | | 14-9 235 2.95 1.238 145
3 Darrell Porter MIL 2 2 24 0.08 | 350 89 16 .254 .820 5
6 Rich Coggins BAL 1 1 24 0.04 | 389 124 7 .319 .831 17|
Top player: Reggie Jackson. The meta-stats split wildly here, with WS going Jackson's way and WARP liking Grich. I'll go with the OPS leader and writers' choice in Reggie.
#1 Reggie Jackson, #2 Sal Bando, #3 Rod Carew, #4 Bobby Grich, #5 Thurman Munson, #6 George Scott
Top pitcher: Bert Blyleven, not a serious candidate for the Cy Young with a 20-17 record, was the best pitcher of the year.
#1 Bert Blyleven, #2 John Hiller, #3 Nolan Ryan, #4 Jim Palmer, #5 Luis Tiant.
Top rookie: Al Bumbry, the writers' pick, is probably the best pick over Medich and Porter.
Top manager: Earl Weaver retooled and got the Orioles back on top.
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