1996 National League

Atlanta was the best team in the league, with 96 regular season wins and a pennant for winning two rounds of playoffs. The Braves finished eight games ahead of Montreal in the East, while St. Louis won 88 games to take the Central, six ahead of Houston and seven ahead of Cincinnati. San Diego won the West with 91 victories, while Los Angeles took the Wild Card with 90 wins. Philadelphia had the worst record, losing 95 games. Tony Gwynn won the batting title, even though he did not have enough plate appearances to qualify. He batted .353, still ahead of Ellis Burks at .344 even with extra ABs added to reach the PA threshhold. Andres Galarraga led in HR and RBI with a Coors-aided 47 and 150. Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds tied for second in homers with 42, Dante Bichette was second in RBI with 141. Eric Young led in steals with 53, ahead of Lance Johnson at 50. Ellis Burks led in slugging, Gary Sheffield in on-base and OPS. Jeff Bagwell had 48 doubles, Lance Johnson 227 hits. Sheffield edged Barry Bonds in OPS+. Ken Caminiti won the MVP for a strong performance, which he later admitted was at least partly attributable to steroid use. John Smoltz won the MVP with his lead in wins (24) and strikeouts (276). Kevin Brown led in ERA with a 1.89 mark, with Gary Maddux second at 2.72. Andy Benes was second in wins with 18. Jeff Brantley and Todd Worrell tied for the saves lead with 44. Smoltz led in innings with 254. Curt Schilling had 8 complete games and Brown three shutouts. Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 41, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 39, Ken Caminiti (San Diego) 38, Gary Sheffield (Florida) 34, Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) 33, Craig Biggio (Houston) 32, Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) 31, Bernard Gilkey (New York) 30, Ellis Burks (Colorado) 28, Steve Finley (San Diego) and Brian Jordan (St. Louis) 27, Chipper Jones (Atlanta) and Lance Johnson (New York) 26, Andres Galarraga (Colorado), Raul Mondesi (Los Angeles) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 25, Marquis Grissom (Atlanta) and Todd Hundley (New York) 24, Vinny Castilla (Colorado) 23, Eric Davis (Cincinnati) and Jeff King (Pittsburgh) 22. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; John Smoltz (Atlanta) 27, Kevin Brown (Florida) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 23, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 22, Trevor Hoffman (San Diego) 20, Al Leiter and Robb Nen (Florida) 19, Jeff Fassero and Mel Rojas (Montreal) 18, Denny Neagle (Pittsburgh/Atlanta) 17, Hideo Nomo and Ismael Valdes (Los Angeles) 16. WAR (Wins Against Replacement) scores: Bonds 10.8, Bagwell 8.3, Gilkey 8.1 (career year), Caminiti 7.9 (career year), Burks 7.6 (best year), Larkin 7.4, Johnson 6.8 (best year), Sheffield and Piazza 6.1, Jordan and Jones 6.0, Sammy Sosa (Chicago) 5.9, Finley 5.8 (best year), Lankford 5.4, Biggio 5.1, Hundley 5.0 (career year), Mark Grace (Chicago) 4.9, Mondesi 4.7, Brian McRae (Chicago) 4.6, Grissom 3.9, Galarraga tied for 21st at 3.8. Runs were cheap in Coors. Pitchers, Brown 7.5 (career year), Maddux 6.3, Smoltz 6.1 (best year), Glavine 5.6, Fassero 5.2, Leiter and Neagle 5.1, Nomo 4.4, Curt Schilling (Philadelphia) 4.3, Pedro Astacio (Los Angeles) 4.2, Valdes 4.1, Hoffman and John Smiley (Cincinnati) 4.0. WAR leaders, position players: Bonds 9.1, Bagwell 7.7, Caminiti and Gilkey 7.6, Burks 7.2, Larkin 6.8, Piazza 6.6, L. Johnson and Sheffield 6.5, C. Jones 6.4, Lankford 5.5, Finley and Sosa 5.4, Jordan 5.3, Hundley 4.8, Biggio 4.7, Grissom 4.6, Conine 4.4, Mondesi 4.2. WAR leaders, pitchers: Smoltz 8.4, Maddux 7.8, Brown 6.8, Fassero 6.0, Reynolds 5.6, Glavine 5.3, P. Martinez 5.2, Schilling 4.9, Smiley 4.6, Kyle, Neagle, Nomo, and Valdez 3.8, Clark 3.6. 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 Ken Caminiti SDP 28 392 392 1.00 | 546 178 40 .326 1.028 11 2 Mike Piazza LAD 0 237 392 0.60 | 547 184 36 .336 .985 0 3 Ellis Burks COL 0 186 392 0.47 | 613 211 40 .344 1.047 32 4 Chipper Jones ATL 0 158 392 0.40 | 598 185 30 .309 .923 14 5 Barry Bonds SFG 0 132 392 0.34 | 517 159 42 .308 1.076 40 6 Andres Galarraga COL 0 112 392 0.29 | 626 190 47 .304 .958 18 6 Gary Sheffield FLA 0 112 392 0.29 | 519 163 42 .314 1.090 16 8 Brian Jordan STL 0 69 392 0.18 | 513 159 17 .310 .833 22 9 Jeff Bagwell HOU 0 59 392 0.15 | 568 179 31 .315 1.021 21 10 Steve Finley SDP 0 38 392 0.10 | 655 195 30 .298 .885 22 11 John Smoltz ATL 0 33 392 0.08 | 78 17 1 .218 .548 0| 24-8 254 2.94 1.00 276 12 Barry Larkin CIN 0 29 392 0.07 | 517 154 33 .298 .977 36 13 Marquis Grissom ATL 0 23 392 0.06 | 671 207 23 .308 .838 28 14 Bernard Gilkey NYM 0 13 392 0.03 | 571 181 30 .317 .955 17 15 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 12 392 0.03 | 498 136 40 .273 .888 18 Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO Sv +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 John Smoltz ATL 26 136 140 0.97 | 24-8 254 2.94 1.00 276 2 Kevin Brown FLA 2 88 140 0.63 | 17-11 233 1.89 0.94 159 3 Andy Benes STL 0 9 140 0.06 | 18-10 230 3.83 1.27 160 1 4 Hideo Nomo LAD 0 5 140 0.04 | 16-11 228 3.19 1.16 234 5 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 4 140 0.03 | 9-5 88 2.25 0.92 111 42 5 Greg Maddux ATL 0 4 140 0.03 | 15-11 245 2.72 1.03 172 5 Todd Worrell LAD 0 4 140 0.03 | 4-6 65 3.03 1.30 66 44 8 Denny Neagle TOT 0 2 140 0.01 |+16-9 221 3.50 1.24 149 9 Jeff Fassero MON 0 1 140 0.01 | 15-11 232 3.30 1.17 222 9 Al Leiter FLA 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-12 215 2.93 1.26 200 9 Shane Reynolds HOU 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-10 239 3.65 1.13 204 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 Todd Hollandsworth LAD 15 105 140 0.75 | 478 139 12 .291 .785 21 2 Edgar Renteria FLA 10 84 140 0.60 | 431 133 5 .309 .757 16 3 Jason Kendall PIT 1 30 140 0.21 | 414 124 3 .300 .773 5 4 F.P. Santangelo MON 1 15 140 0.11 | 393 109 7 .277 .776 5 5 Rey Ordonez NYM 1 7 140 0.05 | 502 129 1 .257 .592 1 6 Jermaine Dye ATL 0 6 140 0.04 | 292 82 12 .281 .763 1 7 Alan Benes STL 0 5 140 0.04 | 61 9 0 .148 .371 0| 13-10 191 4.90 1.46 131 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Bruce Bochy SDP 10 76 140 0.54 | 91-71 1 2 Felipe Alou MON 8 74 140 0.53 | 88-74 2 3 Tony LaRussa STL 7 69 140 0.49 | 88-74 1 4 Bobby Cox ATL 3 24 140 0.17 | 96-66 1 5 Bill Russell LAD 0 6 140 0.04 | 49-37 2 6 Terry Collins HOU 0 3 140 0.02 | 82-80 2 Top player: The two best in the league by Win Shares and WAR were Jeff Bagwell and Barry Bonds. Bonds' team finished last, Bagwell's was second. Ken Caminiti won the MVP with a team that won its division. It's a tough choice, but I will take Bagwell as a compromise choice. #1 Barry Bonds, #2 Jeff Bagwell, #3 Ken Caminiti, #4 Barry Larkin, #5 Gary Sheffield, #6 Mike Piazza. Top pitcher: The best year for John Smoltz. Kevin Brown was terrific too, and Greg Maddux the usual. #1 John Smoltz, #2 Kevin Brown, #3 Greg Maddux, #4 Tom Glavine, #5 Jeff Fassero. Top rookie: Edgar Renteria, who combined offensive value with a key defensive position. Top manager: Bruce Bochy got the Padres to the division title.

1996 American League

Cleveland had the best record, but the Yankees won their first pennant in 15 years and then defeated the Braves for the World Championship. The Yankees had 92 wins and took the AL East by four games over Baltimore (the wild-card winner) and seven games over the Red Sox. Cleveland won 99 and edged the White Sox by 14.5 games. Texas won the West with 90 victories by 4.5 games over Seattle. Detroit had a horrible year, losing 109 games as the only AL team with 100 losses. Juan Gonzalez won the MVP in spite of not leading the league in any categories. Alex Rodriguez led the league in batting average (.358), runs (141), doubles (54) and total bases. Frank Thomas was second in batting average at .349, followed by Paul Molitor at .341. Mark McGwire led in homers with 52, on-base, slugging and OPS. Brady Anderson was second in homers with 50. Albert Belle led in RBI with 148, followed by Gonzalez at 144. Molitor led in hits with 225, Chuck Knoblauch in triples with 14, and Kenny Lofton in steals with 70. Pat Hentgen won the Cy Young leading in innings and placing second in wins (20) and ERA (3.22) and led with 10 complete games. Andy Pettitte led in wins with 21, Juan Guzman in ERA at 2.93, Roger Clemens in strikeouts with 257, John Wetteland in saves with 43. Win Shares leaders, players; Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 34, Chuck Knoblauch (Minnesota) 32, Roberto Alomar (Baltimore) and Albert Belle (Cleveland) 31, Rafael Palmeiro (Baltimore) 30, Mo Vaughn (Boston) and Mark McGwire (Oakland) 29, Brady Anderson (Baltimore), Frank Thomas (Chicago), Jim Thome (Cleveland) and Ken Griffey Jr. 28, Bernie Williams (New York) 26, Kenny Lofton and Manny Ramirez (Cleveland), Edgar Martinez (Seattle) and Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 23, Cal Ripken (Baltimore), Tim Salmon (California), Paul O'Neill (New York) and Jay Buhner (Seattle) 22. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Pat Hentgen (Toronto) 24, Ken Hill (Texas) 22, Charles Nagy (Cleveland) 21, Roger Clemens (Boston) 20, Alex Fernandez (Chicago), Kevin Appier and Tim Belcher (Kansas City) 19, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera (New York) 18, Roberto Hernandez (Chicago) and Juan Guzman (Toronto) 17. WARP3 scores: Knoblauch 9.7 (best year), Rodriguez 9.5 (at age 20!), Alomar 8.2, Belle 7.6, Griffey 7.1, McGwire 6.9, Thomas 6.8, Thome 6.6, Martinez and Robin Ventura (Chicago) 6.2, Anderson 5.5 (best season, his 50-homer year), O'Neill 5.1, Rodriguez and Scott Brosius (Oakland) 5.0, Mark McLemore (Texas) 4.7, Ramirez, Rusty Greer (Texas) and Tony Phillips (Chicago) 4.6, Palmeiro and Vaughn 4.5. Pitchers, Clemens 7.0, Hentgen 6.7 (career year), Hernandez 6.3 (best year), Fernandez 6.0 (best year), Hill 5.9 (career year), Nagy 5.7, Appier 5.2, Pettitte and Guzman (best year) 4.9, Rivera and Heathcliff Slocumb (Boston) 4.7, Belcher and Chuck Finley (California) 4.4. WAR leaders, position players: Griffey 10.2, A. Rodriguez 9.8, Knoblauch 8.4, Thome 7.9, McGwire 7.6, Anderson 7.3, Thomas and Vaughn 6.5, E. Martinez 6.4, I. Rodriguez 5.9, Belle 5.7, Alomar 5.6, Ventura 5.4, D. Martinez 5.2, Edmonds and Lofton 5.1, Greer 5.0, Palmeiro 4.9, Ramirez 4.7, Cirillo 4.6, Valentin 4.4. WAR leaders, pitchers: Clemens 7.6, Appier 6.6, Hentgen and Hill 6.4, Nagy 5.8, Mussina 5.4, Finley 5.3, Guzman 4.9, Fernandez 4.8, McDonald and Pettitte 4.7, Rivera 4.4, Alvarez 4.3, Haney 4.2, Belcher and Hershiser 4.1. 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 Juan Gonzalez TEX 11 290 392 0.74 | 541 170 47 .314 1.011 2 2 Alex Rodriguez SEA 10 287 392 0.73 | 601 215 36 .358 1.045 15 3 Albert Belle CLE 2 228 392 0.58 | 602 187 48 .311 1.033 11 4 Ken Griffey SEA 4 188 392 0.48 | 545 165 49 .303 1.020 16 5 Mo Vaughn BOS 0 132 392 0.34 | 635 207 44 .326 1.003 2 6 Rafael Palmeiro BAL 0 104 392 0.27 | 626 181 39 .289 .927 8 7 Mark McGwire OAK 0 100 392 0.26 | 423 132 52 .312 1.198 0 8 Frank Thomas CHW 0 88 392 0.22 | 527 184 40 .349 1.085 1 9 Brady Anderson BAL 0 53 392 0.14 | 579 172 50 .297 1.034 21 10 Ivan Rodriguez TEX 1 52 392 0.13 | 639 192 19 .300 .814 5 11 Kenny Lofton CLE 0 34 392 0.09 | 662 210 14 .317 .817 75 12 Mariano Rivera NYY 0 27 392 0.07 | | 8-3 108 2.09 0.99 130 5 13 Paul Molitor MIN 0 19 392 0.05 | 660 225 9 .341 .858 18 14 Andy Pettitte NYY 0 11 392 0.03 | | 21-8 221 3.87 1.36 162 15 Jim Thome CLE 0 9 392 0.02 | 505 157 38 .311 1.062 2 16 Chuck Knoblauch MIN 0 8 392 0.02 | 578 197 13 .341 .965 45 17 Jay Buhner SEA 0 6 392 0.02 | 564 153 44 .271 .926 0 17 Bernie Williams NYY 0 6 392 0.02 | 551 168 29 .305 .926 17 19 John Wetteland NYY 0 4 392 0.01 | | 2-3 64 2.83 1.18 69 43 20 Roberto Alomar BAL 0 3 392 0.01 | 588 193 22 .328 .938 17 21 Terry Steinbach OAK 0 1 392 0.00 | 514 140 35 .272 .871 0 Gonzalez edged Rodriguez by one first-place vote and three points. He didn't deserve to do so. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Pat Hentgen TOR 16 110 140 0.79 | 20-10 266 3.22 1.25 177 2 Andy Pettitte NYY 11 104 140 0.74 | 21-8 221 3.87 1.36 162 3 Mariano Rivera NYY 1 18 140 0.13 | 8-3 108 2.09 0.99 130 5 4 Charles Nagy CLE 0 12 140 0.09 | 17-5 222 3.41 1.25 167 5 Mike Mussina BAL 0 5 140 0.04 | 19-11 243 4.81 1.37 204 6 Alex Fernandez CHW 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-10 258 3.45 1.24 200 6 Roberto Hernandez CHW 0 1 140 0.01 | 6-5 85 1.91 1.22 85 38 6 Ken Hill TEX 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-10 251 3.63 1.38 170 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 Derek Jeter NYY 28 140 0 1.00 | 582 183 10 .314 .800 14 2 James Baldwin CHW 0 64 140 0.46 | | 11-6 169 4.42 1.33 127 3 Tony Clark DET 0 30 140 0.21 | 376 94 27 .250 .802 0 4 Rocky Coppinger BAL 0 6 140 0.04 | | 10-6 125 5.18 1.49 104 4 Jose Rosado KCR 0 6 140 0.04 | | 8-6 107 3.21 1.19 64 6 Darin Erstad CAL 0 3 140 0.02 | 208 59 4 .284 .708 3 7 Tony Batista OAK 0 1 140 0.01 | 238 71 6 .298 .783 7 7 Tim Crabtree TOR 0 1 140 0.01 | | 5-3 67 2.54 1.20 57 1 7 Jeff D'Amico MIL 0 1 140 0.01 | | 6-6 86 5.44 1.38 53 Manager (top 5): Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Johnny Oates TEX 12 89 140 0.64 | 90-72 1 1 Joe Torre NYY 10 89 140 0.64 | 92-70 1 3 Lou Piniella SEA 3 35 140 0.25 | 85-76 2 4 Mike Hargrove CLE 2 22 140 0.16 | 99-62 1 5 Buddy Bell DET 1 5 140 0.04 | 53-109 5 Top player: Alex Rodriguez got robbed of the MVP for the first time at the tender age of 20. It wouldn't be the last time. A-Rod was the class of the league even at that tender age. #1 Alex Rodriguez, #2 Chuck Knoblauch, #3 Ken Griffey, Jr, #4 Albert Belle, #5 Roberto Alomar, #6 Brady Anderson. Top pitcher: Pat Hentgen had the year of his lifetime. #1 Pat Hentgen, #2 Roger Clemens, #3 Ken Hill, #4 Charles Nagy, #5 Kevin Appier. Top rookie: Derek Jeter makes his initial mark. Top manager: Joe Torre brings the bacon back to the Big Apple.

1995 National League

Atlanta won 90 games, and went on to win the only World Series of their 1990s dynasty. The Braves ripped through the NL East, winning by 21 games. Cincinnati took the NL Central by 9 games over Houston and 12 over Chicago, while Los Angeles took the NL West by a game over Colorado, which took the Wild Card. Pittsburgh was the worst team in the league with 86 losses. Tony Gwynn won the batting title at .368 and tied for the lead in hits with 197, while Dante Bichette tied Gwynn for hits and led in HR (40) and RBI (128) as well as total bases. Mike Piazza was second in average at .346, Bichette third at .340. Quilvio Veras led in steals with 56, followed by Barry Larkin at 51. Craig Biggio scored 123 runs, Mark Grace had 51 doubles, Eric Young and Brett Butler tied with 9 triples. Sammy Sosa and Larry Walked tied for second in homers with 36, while Sosa was second in RBI with 119. Barry Bonds edged Piazza in OPS. Piazza had the edge in OPS+. Greg Maddux led in wins with 19 and ERA at 1.63. Pete Schourek was second in wins with 18, Ramon Martinez third with 17. Hideo Nomo led in strikeouts with 236, and was second in ERA at 2.54. Randy Myers led in saves with 38, followed by Tom Henke with 36. Win Shares leaders, players; Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 36, Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) 30, Craig Biggio (Houston) 29, Reggie Sanders (Cincinnati) and Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) 27, Sammy Sosa (Chicago) and Eric Karros (Los Angeles) 25, Ken Caminiti (San Diego) 24, Mark Grace (Chicago), Dante Bichette (Colorado) and Tony Gwynn (San Diego) 23, Raul Mondesi (Los Angeles) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 22, Ron Gant (Cincinnati) 21, Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff (Atlanta), Jeff Conine (Florida), Jeff Bagwell (Houston) and Matt Williams (San Francisco) 20, David Justice (Atlanta) and Steve Finley (San Diego) 19. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 30, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 20, John Smoltz (Atlanta) and Hideo Nomo (Los Angeles) 17, Mark Wohlers (Atlanta), Pete Schourek (Cincinnati) and Denny Neagle (Pittsburgh) 16, Jaime Navarro (Chicago) and Ismael Valdez (Los Angeles) 15, Curtis Leskanic (Colorado), Todd Worrell (Los Angeles), Pedro Martinez (Montreal) and Andy Ashby (San Diego) 14. WARP3 scores: Bonds 9.4, Biggio 8.2, Piazza 7.3, Caminiti 7.1, Larkin 6.8, Sanders 6.0 (peak season), Karros 5.9, Williams 5.6, Bagwell 5.4, Gwynn and Jose Vizcaino (New York) 5.3, Mondesi 5.2, Grace 4.6, Delino DeShields (Los Angeles) 4.5, Jim Eisenreich (Philadelphia) 4.3, Gant 4.2 (returning from broken leg), Sosa, Conine, and Jose Offerman (Los Angeles) 4.1. Pitchers, Maddux 10.8, Glavine 5.3, Neagle 5.1, Wohlers 4.8 (peak season), Tom Henke (St. Louis) 4.5, Worrell and Kevin Ritz (Colorado) 4.1, Schourek 4.0 (career year), P. Martinez 3.7, Smoltz and Navarro 3.6, Nomo (rookie), Leskanic, Steve Reed (Colorado) and Chris Hammond (Florida) 3.3. WAR leaders, position players: Bonds 7.7, Sanders 6.6, Biggio 6.2, Piazza 6.0, Larkin 5.3, Sosa 5.2, Grace 4.7, Karros and Walker 4.6, Bagwell, Jordan, and Williams 4.5, Lankford 4.3, Mondesi 4.1, Caminiti and White 3.7, Justice and McRae 3.6. WAR leaders, pitchers: Maddux 8.0, Reynolds 5.0, Nomo 4.9, Smoltz 4.7, Neagle 4.6, Glavine and Smiley 4.4, Schourek 4.3, Ritz 4.0, Fassero 3.8, Navarro and Valdez 3.5, P. Martinez 3.3, Leskanic 3.2, Ashby 3.0. 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 Barry Larkin CIN 11 281 392 0.72 | 496 158 15 .319 .886 51 2 Dante Bichette COL 6 251 392 0.64 | 579 197 40 .340 .984 13 3 Greg Maddux ATL 7 249 392 0.64 | 72 11 0 .153 .367 0| 19-2 210 1.63 0.81 181 4 Mike Piazza LAD 3 214 392 0.55 | 434 150 32 .346 1.006 1 5 Eric Karros LAD 0 135 392 0.34 | 551 164 32 .298 .905 4 6 Reggie Sanders CIN 0 120 392 0.31 | 484 148 28 .306 .975 36 7 Larry Walker COL 0 88 392 0.22 | 494 151 36 .306 .988 16 8 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 81 392 0.21 | 564 151 36 .268 .840 34 9 Tony Gwynn SDP 0 72 392 0.18 | 535 197 9 .368 .888 17 10 Craig Biggio HOU 0 58 392 0.15 | 553 167 22 .302 .889 33 11 Ron Gant CIN 1 31 392 0.08 | 410 113 29 .276 .940 23 12 Barry Bonds SFG 0 21 392 0.05 | 506 149 33 .294 1.009 31 13 Mark Grace CHC 0 14 392 0.04 | 552 180 16 .326 .911 6 14 Derek Bell HOU 0 12 392 0.03 | 452 151 8 .334 .827 27 15 Jeff Bagwell HOU 0 5 392 0.01 | 448 130 21 .290 .894 12 A close vote....with Barry Bonds 12th? Maddux almost won, and this would have been a good season to give it to the pitcher. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Greg Maddux ATL 28 140 140 1.00 | 19-2 210 1.63 0.81 181 2 Pete Schourek CIN 0 55 140 0.39 | 18-7 190 3.22 1.07 160 3 Tom Glavine ATL 0 30 140 0.21 | 16-7 199 3.08 1.25 127 4 Hideo Nomo LAD 0 29 140 0.21 | 13-6 191 2.54 1.06 236 5 Ramon Martinez LAD 0 8 140 0.06 | 17-7 206 3.66 1.25 138 Rookie: (top 6)| 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 Hideo Nomo LAD 18 118 140 0.84 | 66 6 0 .091 .180 0| 13-6 191 2.54 1.06 236 2 Chipper Jones ATL 10 104 140 0.74 | 524 139 23 .265 .803 8 3 Quilvio Veras FLA 0 14 140 0.10 | 440 115 5 .261 .757 56 4 Jason Isringhausen NYM 0 4 140 0.03 | 27 4 0 .148 .419 0| 9-2 93 2.81 1.28 55 4 John Mabry STL 0 4 140 0.03 | 388 119 5 .307 .752 0 4 Carlos Perez MON 0 4 140 0.03 | 45 6 1 .133 .471 0| 10-8 141 3.69 1.20 106 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Don Baylor COL 19 122 140 0.87 | 77-67 2 2 Davey Johnson CIN 8 89 140 0.64 | 85-59 1 3 Bobby Cox ATL 1 20 140 0.14 | 90-54 1 4 Terry Collins HOU 0 11 140 0.08 | 76-68 2 5 Jim Riggleman CHC 0 6 140 0.04 | 73-71 3 6 Dallas Green NYM 0 3 140 0.02 | 69-75 2 7 Bruce Bochy SDP 0 1 140 0.01 | 70-74 3 Top player: Barry Larkin. It's a homer vote, as Bonds and Piazza both rank as better: but not so much better that I can't make the case, much as the writers did. And Larkin clearly had a spectacular year for a surprise Reds team. #1 Barry Larkin, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Mike Piazza, #4 Craig Biggio, #5 Ken Caminiti, #6 Reggie Sanders. Top pitcher: Greg Maddux, and it's not even close. It's easy to see the domination of the Braves' staff by this time. #1 Greg Maddux, #2 Tom Glavine, #3 Pete Schourek, #4 Denny Neagle, #5 Mark Wohlers. Top rookie: Hideo Nomo. The choice is between Nomo, who clearly had the better season, and Chipper Jones, who would almost certainly have the better career. I'll take Nomo this time. Top manager: Davey Johnson, guiding the Reds in to the Central crown.

1995 American League

The season got off to a late start, but it did start, and play through to a real World Series. It was quite a relief for baseball fans. Cleveland proved the class of the league, winning 100 games in spite of the shortened season to take the AL Central and plowing through the playoffs before losing the World Series. Boston was seven games in front of the Yankees for the AL East crown, although the Yanks took the Wild Card, while Seattle beat out the Angels by a game for the AL West lead. Edgar Martinez led the league in batting average (.356) and OPS, and tied for the lead in runs (121) and doubles (52). Albert Belle led in home runs (50), total bases, and slugging, and tied for the league lead in RBI (126), runs, and doubles. Mo Vaughn tied for the lead in RBI, and won the MVP award. Yes, it was silly. More about that later. Kenny Lofton led in steals (54) and triples (13). Lance Johnson had 186 hits. Mike Mussina led in wins with 19, followed by David Cone and Randy Johnson at 18. Johnson led in ERA with a 2.48 mark, and strikeouts with 294. Tim Wakefield was second in ERA at 2.95. Todd Stottlemyre was second in strikeouts at 205. Jose Mesa led in saves with 46. Johnson won the Cy Young. Win Shares leaders, players; Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 32, Albert Belle (Cleveland) 30, John Valentin (Boston) and Tim Salmon (California) 29, Frank Thomas (Chicago) 28, Chuck Knoblauch (Minnesota) and Bernie Williams (New York) 27, Manny Ramirez (Cleveland) 25, Mo Vaughn (Boston) and Jim Thome (Cleveland) 24, Carlos Baerga (Cleveland) and Mark McGwire (Oakland) 23, Rafael Palmeiro (Baltimore), Jim Edmonds (California) and Kenny Lofton (Cleveland) 21, Kirby Puckett (Minnesota) and Tino Martinez (Seattle) 20, Brady Anderson (Baltimore), Tony Phillips (California), Travis Fryman (Detroit) and Rickey Henderson (Oakland) 19. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Randy Johnson (Seattle) 22, Kenny Rogers (Texas) 21, Mike Mussina (Baltimore) 20, David Cone (Toronto/New York) 19, Tim Wakefield (Boston) 18, Jose Mesa (Cleveland) 17, Dennis Martinez (Cleveland), Kevin Appier and Mark Gubicza (Kansas City) 16, Jack McDowell (New York) 15, Roger Pavlik (Texas) and Al Leiter (Toronto) 14. WARP3 scores: Belle 10.7, E. Martinez 8.6, Salmon 8.1, Thomas and Williams 7.8, Knoblauch 6.9, Valentin 6.4, McGwire 6.2, Baerga (last good year), Palmeiro, and Edmonds 5.8, Cal Ripken (Baltimore) 5.7, Thome 5.6, Marty Cordova (Minnesota) and Stan Javier (Oakland) 5.4, Omar Vizquel (Cleveland) 4.7, Ramirez, Wade Boggs (New York) and Roberto Alomar (Toronto) 4.4, Chili Davis (California) 4.3, Phillips, Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) and Robin Ventura (Chicago) 4.2, Vaughn and Fryman 4.0. Pitchers, Johnson 8.6, Mesa 6.9 (peak season), Rogers 5.8, Wakefield 5.7 (peak season), Mussina and Leiter 4.8, David Wells (Detroit) 4.3, Gubicza (last good year) and Felipe Lira (Detroit) 4.2, D. Martinez (last good year) and Jeff Nelson (Seattle) 4.0, Appier and Cone 3.9, Pavlik 3.8. WAR leaders, position players: Valentin 8.4, Belle 7.6, E. Martinez 7.5, Williams 6.7, Knoblauch 6.6, Thome 6.3, Salmon 6.0, Palmeiro 5.9, Thomas 5.8, Edmonds 5.5, Vaughn 5.2, Ventura 5.1, T. Martinez 4.9, Ripken 4.4, Boggs and Naehring 4.3, Lofton 4.1. WAR leaders, pitchers: Johnson 9.5, Appier 5.6, Mussina 5.2, Hanson 4.8, Brown and Finley 4.6, Cone 4.5, Fernandez 4.4, Langston 4.3, Stottlemyre 4.0, Gordon and Pavlik 3.8, Erickson and Rogers 3.7, Abbott 3.6, D. Martinez and Tewksbury 3.5. 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 Mo Vaughn BOS 12 308 392 0.79 | 550 165 39 .300 .963 11 2 Albert Belle CLE 11 300 392 0.77 | 546 173 50 .317 1.091 5 3 Edgar Martinez SEA 4 244 392 0.62 | 511 182 29 .356 1.107 4 4 Jose Mesa CLE 1 130 392 0.33 | | 3-0 64 1.12 1.03 58 46 5 Jay Buhner SEA 0 120 392 0.31 | 470 123 40 .262 .909 0 6 Randy Johnson SEA 0 111 392 0.28 | | 18-2 214 2.48 1.05 294 7 Tim Salmon CAL 0 110 392 0.28 | 537 177 34 .330 1.024 5 8 Frank Thomas CHW 0 86 392 0.22 | 493 152 40 .308 1.061 3 9 John Valentin BOS 0 57 392 0.15 | 520 155 27 .298 .931 20 10 Gary Gaetti KCR 0 45 392 0.11 | 514 134 35 .261 .846 3 11 Rafael Palmeiro BAL 0 34 392 0.09 | 554 172 39 .310 .963 3 12 Manny Ramirez CLE 0 30 392 0.08 | 484 149 31 .308 .960 6 13 Tim Wakefield BOS 0 20 392 0.05 | | 16-8 195 2.95 1.18 119 14 Jim Edmonds CAL 0 18 392 0.05 | 558 162 33 .290 .888 1 15 Paul O'Neill NYY 0 14 392 0.04 | 460 138 22 .300 .913 1 Vaughn edged Belle, in spite of Albert's superior stats, in the biggest travesty since the writers would not vote for Ted Williams because they didn't like him. Same story here. Albert didn't make nice with the press, so they didn't vote for him. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Randy Johnson SEA 26 136 140 0.97 | 18-2 214 2.48 1.05 294 2 Jose Mesa CLE 2 54 140 0.39 | 3-0 64 1.12 1.03 58 46 3 Tim Wakefield BOS 0 29 140 0.21 | 16-8 195 2.95 1.18 119 4 David Cone TOT 0 18 140 0.13 |+18-8 229 3.57 1.23 191 5 Mike Mussina BAL 0 14 140 0.10 | 19-9 222 3.29 1.07 158 6 Charles Nagy CLE 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-6 178 4.55 1.43 139 Two guys voted for Mesa over Johnson? Weird. I mean, Mesa did well, but just 64 innings? Really? This was not a good year for AL award voting. Rookie (top 5): | 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 Marty Cordova MIN 13 105 140 0.75 | 512 142 24 .277 .839 20 2 Garret Anderson CAL 13 99 140 0.71 | 374 120 16 .321 .857 6 3 Andy Pettitte NYY 1 16 140 0.11 | | 12-9 175 4.17 1.41 114 4 Troy Percival CAL 1 13 140 0.09 | | 3-2 74 1.95 0.85 94 3 5 Shawn Green TOR 0 8 140 0.06 | 379 109 15 .288 .835 1 A lot of future stars here. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank< +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Lou Piniella SEA 9 86 140 0.61 | 79-66 1 2 Kevin Kennedy BOS 11 74 140 0.53 | 86-58 1 3 Mike Hargrove CLE 8 71 140 0.51 | 100-44 1 4 Buck Showalter NYY 0 8 140 0.06 | 79-65 2 5 Marcel Lachemann CAL 0 5 140 0.04 | 78-67 2 6 Phil Garner MIL 0 4 140 0.03 | 65-79 4 7 Bob Boone KCR 0 3 140 0.02 | 70-74 2 8 Johnny Oates TEX 0 1 140 0.01 | 74-70 3 A very split vote. Top player: Albert Belle. Belle was certainly the best in the league, and played on the best team, making the MVP vote just look petty. Which it was, certainly. #1 Albert Belle, #2 Edgar Martinez, #3 John Valentin, #4 Tim Salmon, #5 Chuck Knoblauch, #6 Bernie Williams. Top pitcher: Randy Johnson took his place at the top in this season. #1 Randy Johnson, #2 Mike Mussina, #3 Tim Wakefield, #4 Kenny Rogers, #5 David Cone. Top rookie: Garrett Anderson, equal to award-winner Cordova and two years younger. Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi were also rookies in this season. Top manager: Mike Hargrove, directing the Indians to the best record in the league.

1994 National League

The Year Without a World Series. It could be a movie. Nothing could be more depressing to a baseball fan than a season that just stops, and doesn't go to its natural end. It was the season that ruined baseball in Montreal, as the Expos could have won it all. Their six-game lead went for naught. So did Cincinnati's half-game advantage over the Astros in the Central, and LA's lead in the West. Jeff Bagwell won the MVP, as he was first in OPS, runs with 106, and RBI with 116, as well as slugging, and second in average at .368 and homers with 39. He would probably not have won the award had the season continued, as a broken wrist had effectively ended his season just before competition ceased, and he would likely have been surpassed. Tony Gwynn won the batting title with a .394 mark, Matt Williams had a shot at the home run record with 41, and Craig Biggio had the edge on Deion Sanders for steals 39 to 38. Craig Biggio and Larry Walker each had 44 doubles, Darren Lewis and Brett Butler had nine triples apiece. Bagwell had a healthy lead in runs created over Barry Bonds. Ken Hill and Greg Maddux tied for the wins lead with 16, while Maddux held the ERA title with a cool 1.56 mark. Bret Saberhagen was second with 2.74. Andy Benes led in strikeouts with 189 followed by Jose Rijo at 176. John Franco led in saves with 30. Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 30, Craig Biggio (Houston) 26, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 25, Fred McGriff (Atlanta) and Moises Alou (Montreal) 22, Mike Piazza (New York) and Larry Walker (Montreal) 21, David Justice (Atlanta), Barry Larkin (Cincinnati), Brett Butler (Los Angeles), Bobby Bonilla (New York) and Jay Bell (Pittsburgh) 19, Kevin Mitchell (Cincinnati), Tim Wallach (Montreal), Jeff Kent (New York) and Matt Williams (San Francisco) 18, Wil Cordero and Marquis Grissom (Montreal), Tony Gwynn (San Diego) and Gregg Jefferies (St. Louis) 17. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 26, Bret Saberhagen (New York) 16, Danny Jackson (Philadelphia) 14, Marvin Freeman (Colorado), Doug Drabek (Houston) and Zane Smith (Pittsburgh) 13, Tom Glavine (Atlanta), Butch Henry, Ken Hill and John Wetteland (Montreal) 12. WARP3 scores: Bagwell 11.7, Bonds 8.6, Williams 7.3, Biggio 7.2, Gwynn 6.8, Larkin 6.6, Cordero 6.4 (career year), Mitchell 5.8 (last big year), Justice 5.7, Grissom 5.6, Alou 5.5, Bonilla 5.4, Butler 5.3 (last big year), Piazza and Walker 5.1, Ken Caminiti (Houston) 5.0, McGriff 4.8, Bell and Sammy Sosa (Chicago) 4.6. Pitchers, Maddux 10.5, Saberhagen 6.0, Freeman 5.2 (career year), Drabek 4.9, Smith 4.8 (best year), Jackson 4.6 (last good year), Doug Jones (Philadelphia) 4.3, Steve Trachsel (Chicago) 4.2, Henry 4.1 (best year), Kevin Gross (Los Angeles) 3.9, Hill, Jeff Brantley (Cincinnati) and Trevor Hoffman (San Diego) 3.8, Glavine 3.6, Jose Rijo (Cincinnati) 3.2. WAR leaders, position players: Bagwell 7.8, Bonds 6.0, MGriff 4.9, Alou 4.8, Biggio, Walker, and Williams 4.5, Grissom 4.3, Mitchell 4.2, Gwynn 4.1, Caminiti, Piazza, and Sosa 3.9, Justice 3.8, Larkin 3.7, Bell 3.6, Conine 3.5. WAR leaders, pitchers: Maddux 7.4, Saberhagen 5.2, Jackson and Rijo 4.1, Benes 3.9, Glavine 3.6, P. Martinez 3.5, Gross 3.2, Hanson 3.1, Fassero 3.0, Ashby and Drabek 2.9. Actual award winners: MVP (top 16): | 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 Jeff Bagwell HOU 28 392 392 1.00 | 400 147 39 .368 1.201 15 2 Matt Williams SFG 0 281 392 0.72 | 445 119 43 .267 .926 1 3 Moises Alou MON 0 183 392 0.47 | 422 143 22 .339 .989 7 4 Barry Bonds SFG 0 144 392 0.37 | 391 122 37 .312 1.073 29 5 Greg Maddux ATL 0 133 392 0.34 | 63 14 0 .222 .488 0| 16-6 202 1.56 0.90 156 6 Mike Piazza LAD 0 121 392 0.31 | 405 129 24 .319 .910 1 7 Tony Gwynn SDP 0 112 392 0.29 | 419 165 12 .394 1.022 5 8 Fred McGriff ATL 0 96 392 0.24 | 424 135 34 .318 1.012 7 9 Kevin Mitchell CIN 0 86 392 0.22 | 310 101 30 .326 1.110 2 10 Andres Galarraga COL 0 42 392 0.11 | 417 133 31 .319 .949 8 11 Larry Walker MON 0 23 392 0.06 | 395 127 19 .322 .981 15 12 Marquis Grissom MON 0 22 392 0.06 | 475 137 11 .288 .771 36 12 Ken Hill MON 0 22 392 0.06 | 48 7 0 .146 .342 0| 16-5 155 3.32 1.22 85 14 Dante Bichette COL 0 19 392 0.05 | 484 147 27 .304 .882 21 15 Hal Morris CIN 0 18 392 0.05 | 436 146 10 .335 .875 6 16 Craig Biggio HOU 0 17 392 0.04 | 437 139 6 .318 .893 39 Cy Young (top 5): | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Greg Maddux ATL 28 140 140 1.00 | 16-6 202 1.56 0.90 156 2 Ken Hill MON 0 56 140 0.40 | 16-5 155 3.32 1.22 85 3 Bret Saberhagen NYM 0 42 140 0.30 | 14-4 177 2.74 1.03 143 4 Doug Drabek HOU 0 4 140 0.03 | 12-6 165 2.84 1.07 121 4 Marvin Freeman COL 0 4 140 0.03 | 10-2 113 2.80 1.21 67 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 Raul Mondesi LAD 28 140 140 1.00 | 434 133 16 .306 .849 11 2 John Hudek HOU 0 27 140 0.19 | | 0-2 39 2.97 1.07 39 16 3 Ryan Klesko ATL 0 25 140 0.18 | 245 68 17 .278 .907 1 4 Steve Trachsel CHC 0 22 140 0.16 | 43 8 0 .186 .414 0| 9-7 146 3.21 1.28 108 5 Cliff Floyd MON 0 10 140 0.07 | 334 94 4 .281 .731 10 5 Joey Hamilton SDP 0 10 140 0.07 | 40 0 0 .000 .047 0| 9-6 109 2.98 1.17 61 7 William Van Landingham SFG 0 9 140 0.06 | 31 2 0 .065 .129 0| 8-2 84 3.54 1.35 56 8 Hector Carrasco CIN 0 3 140 0.02 | 6 0 0 .000 .000 0| 5-6 56 2.24 1.28 41 6 8 Bobby Jones NYM 0 3 140 0.02 | 46 5 0 .109 .239 0| 12-7 160 3.15 1.33 80 10 Javy Lopez ATL 0 2 140 0.01 | 277 68 13 .245 .718 0 11 Shane Reynolds HOU 0 1 140 0.01 | 33 3 0 .091 .209 0| 8-5 124 3.05 1.20 110 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Felipe Alou MON 27 138 140 0.99 | 74-40 1 2 Davey Johnson CIN 0 51 140 0.36 | 66-48 1 3 Terry Collins HOU 0 31 140 0.22 | 66-49 2 4 Dallas Green NYM 1 12 140 0.09 | 55-58 3 5 Don Baylor COL 0 8 140 0.06 | 53-64 3 5 Tommy Lasorda LAD 0 8 140 0.06 | 58-56 1 7 Bobby Cox ATL 0 3 140 0.02 | 68-46 2 8 Dusty Baker SFG 0 1 140 0.01 | 55-60 2 An easy voting year. And even better, the choices were correct. Top player: Jeff Bagwell, clearly. He wouldn't have been if the season had come to its natural conclusion, due to injury, but we don't play the what-if game here. #1 Jeff Bagwell, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Craig Biggio, #4 Larry Walker, #5 Tony Gwynn. Top pitcher: Greg Maddux with an astounding season. #1 Greg Maddux, #2 Bret Saberhagen, #3 Danny Jackson, #4 Marvin Freeman, #5 Doug Drabek. Top rookie: Raul Mondesi in a pretty unexciting year overall. Top manager: Felipe Alou's Expos had the best record in the league when everything stopped.

1994 American League

The year of no World Series. It was that depressing season of labor unrest when the postseason was cancelled. The baseball schedule didn't end, it just stopped. It should have been an exciting year, the first year of three divisions and a wild card, the first year with expanded playoffs. Instead, there were no playoffs, no postseason. When it stopped, the newly created three divisions were led by New York, Chicago and Texas, although the Rangers were 10 games below .500. That in itself points out a fatal flaw in the three-division setup. The presence of a Wild Card, Cleveland at the time of the stoppage, is another. But enough purist rambling. Paul O'Neill posted the best batting average at .359, trailed by Albert Belle at .357 and Frank Thomas at .353. Thomas led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. He also led with 106 runs scored. Kenny Lofton had 160 hits, Chuck Knoblauch 45 doubles, Lance Johnson 14 triples, and Lofton had 60 steals. Ken Griffey had 40 home runs, Thomas 38, Belle 36. Kirby Puckett led with 112 RBI. Jimmy Key topped the league with 17 wins, David Cone and Mike Mussina each had 16. Steve Ontiveros had a 2.65 ERA and was followed by Roger Clemens at 2.85. Randy Johnson had 204 strikeouts with Clemens second at 168. Lee Smith paced the league with 33 saves. Win Shares leaders, players; Frank Thomas (Chicago) 25, Albert Belle (Cleveland) 24, Paul O'Neill (New York) 23, Kenny Lofton (Cleveland) 21, Chuck Knoblauch and Kirby Puckett (Minnesota) and Ken Griffey (Seattle) 20, Will Clark (Texas) and Paul Molitor (Toronto) 19, Cal Ripken (Baltimore) and Wade Boggs (New York) 18, Rafael Palmeiro (Baltimore) and Mo Vaughn (Boston) 17, Robin Ventura (Chicago), Tony Phillips (Detroit) and Jose Canseco (Texas) 16, Chili Davis (California), Julio Franco (Chicago), Travis Fryman (Detroit), Shane Mack (Minnesota), Don Mattingly (New York), Terry Steinbach (Oakland) and Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 15. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; David Cone (Kansas City) 20, Mike Mussina (Baltimore) 18, Roger Clemens (Boston) 16, Jimmy Key (New York), Randy Johnson (Seattle) and Pat Hentgen (Toronto) 15, Chuck Finley (California), Dennis Martinez (Cleveland) and Ricky Bones (Milwaukee) 14, Charles Nagy (Cleveland) and Kevin Appier (Kansas City) 13. WARP3 scores: Thomas 10.4, Belle and O'Neill 8.1, Lofton (peak) and Phillips 6.8, Griffey 6.3, Boggs 6.2, Ventura 5.8, Mike Stanley (New York) 5.7, Ripken 5.4, Molitor 5.0, Bernie Williams (New York) 4.9, Mack 4.7, Roberto Alomar (Toronto) 4.6, Palmeiro, Franco, Jose Valentin (Milwaukee), and Chris Hoiles (Baltimore) 4.5, Davis 4.4, Rodriguez 4.2, Canseco and Geronimo Berroa (Oakland) 4.1, Clark and Rickey Henderson (Oakland) 4.0, Steinbach and Lou Whitaker (Detroit) 3.8, Vaughn, Fryman, and Jay Buhner (Seattle) 3.7. Pitchers, Johnson 7.2, Cone and Clemens 6.2, Hentgen 6.0, Martinez 5.7, Mussina 5.6, Nagy 4.9, Key 4.5, Finley 4.2, Aaron Sele (Boston) 4.1, Mark Eichhorn (Baltimore) 3.9. WAR leaders, position players: Thomas 7.3, Griffey 7.2, Lofton 7.0, Belle 5.6, Palmeiro and Ripken 4.8, Phillips 4.6, O'Neill 4.5, Boggs 4.4, Knoblauch 3.9, Molitor 3.6, Hoiles and Williams 3.5, Anderson, Franco, E. Martinez, Olerud, Puckett, and Ventura 3.3. WAR leaders, pitchers: Johnson 5.3, Clemens 5.0, McDowell 4.9, Appier 4.4, Cone 4.3, Brown and Key 4.1, D. Martinez and Tapani 3.9, Finley, Hentgen, and Nagy 3.8, Mussina 3.7, McDonald 3.2, Gubicza, Rogers, and Sele 3.1. 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 Frank Thomas CHW 24 372 392 0.95 | 399 141 38 .353 1.217 2 2 Ken Griffey SEA 3 233 392 0.59 | 433 140 40 .323 1.076 11 3 Albert Belle CLE 0 225 392 0.57 | 412 147 36 .357 1.152 9 4 Kenny Lofton CLE 1 181 392 0.46 | 459 160 12 .349 .948 60 5 Paul O'Neill NYY 0 150 392 0.38 | 368 132 21 .359 1.064 5 6 Jimmy Key NYY 0 102 392 0.26 | | 17-4 168 3.27 1.36 97 7 Kirby Puckett MIN 0 100 392 0.26 | 439 139 20 .317 .902 6 8 Julio Franco CHW 0 49 392 0.12 | 433 138 20 .319 .916 8 9 David Cone KCR 0 40 392 0.10 | | 16-5 172 2.94 1.07 132 10 Joe Carter TOR 0 35 392 0.09 | 435 118 27 .271 .841 11 11 Jose Canseco TEX 0 27 392 0.07 | 429 121 31 .282 .939 15 12 Cal Ripken BAL 0 24 392 0.06 | 444 140 13 .315 .823 1 13 Wade Boggs NYY 0 19 392 0.05 | 366 125 11 .342 .922 2 14 Lee Smith BAL 0 18 392 0.05 | | 1-4 38 3.29 1.17 42 33 15 Will Clark TEX 0 17 392 0.04 | 389 128 13 .329 .932 5 Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 David Cone KCR 15 108 140 0.77 | 16-5 172 2.94 1.07 132 2 Jimmy Key NYY 10 96 140 0.69 | 17-4 168 3.27 1.36 97 3 Randy Johnson SEA 2 24 140 0.17 | 13-6 172 3.19 1.19 204 4 Mike Mussina BAL 1 23 140 0.16 | 16-5 176 3.06 1.16 99 5 Lee Smith BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 1-4 38 3.29 1.17 42 33 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 Bob Hamelin KCR 25 134 140 0.96 | 312 88 24 .282 .987 4 2 Manny Ramirez CLE 0 44 140 0.31 | 290 78 17 .269 .878 4 3 Rusty Greer TEX 3 42 140 0.30 | 277 87 10 .314 .898 0 4 Chris Gomez DET 0 6 140 0.04 | 296 76 8 .257 .738 5 4 Bill Risley SEA 0 6 140 0.04 | | 9-6 52 3.44 0.96 61 6 Brian Anderson CAL 0 4 140 0.03 | | 7-5 102 5.22 1.45 47 6 Jeffrey Hammonds BAL 0 4 140 0.03 | 250 74 8 .296 .819 5 8 Jim Edmonds CAL 0 2 140 0.01 | 289 79 5 .273 .720 4 9 Jose Valentin MIL 0 1 140 0.01 | 285 68 11 .239 .751 12 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Buck Showalter NYY 24 132 140 0.94 | 70-43 1 2 Mike Hargrove CLE 4 86 140 0.61 | 66-47 2 3 Gene Lamont CHW 0 17 140 0.12 | 67-46 1 4 Tony LaRussa OAK 0 10 140 0.07 | 51-63 2 5 Hal McRae KCR 0 6 140 0.04 | 64-51 3 6 Butch Hobson BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 54-61 4 Top player: Frank Thomas. I took it away from him last year, but this year even with no defensive value he was the best in the league. #1 Frank Thomas, #2 Albert Belle, #3 Paul O'Neill, #4 Kenny Lofton, #5 Ken Griffey,Jr. Top pitcher: David Cone, pitching very well for a losing team. #1 David Cone, #2 Mike Mussina, #3 Randy Johnson, #4 Roger Clemens, #5 Jimmy Key. Top rookie: Manny Ramirez, with the benefit of hindsight. There were several rookies of similar quality, including Bob Hamelin, Ramirez, Jim Edmonds, and Rusty Greer. When stats are close, go for the youngest player, who is far more likely to have the best career. Hamelin was 26, Ramirez 22. Top manager: Buck Showalter, who could have been the manager to lead the Yankees back to the promised land. Oh well.

1993 National League

The Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies were added as expansion teams, the first new teams since 1977 and first in the NL since 1969. The ability to sign free agents made these teams a bit better than many previous expansion squads, and both managed to avoid last place in their inaugural campaigns. This also added the most extreme hitters' park in baseball, perhaps in its history, with the thin air of Denver coming to the majors. Atlanta and San Francisco staged a huge battle for the NL West division, with the Braves defeating the Giants by one game with 104 victories to 103. Some people even complained that the Giants, after their terrific season, did not make the postseason. It was all moot when the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Braves in the NLCS. The Phillies pulled off a surprise season to outdistance Montreal by three wins, 97 to 94. St. Louis was third with 87 wins, Chicago fourth with 85, while Pittsburgh lost 87, new team Florida lost 98, and the Mets lost 103. Houston was third in the West with 85 wins, LA finished at exactly .500, Cincinnati lost 89, the newbies in Colorado lost 95, and San Diego lost 101. Andres Galarraga won the batting title with a thin air-aided .370, Tony Gwynn was second at .358 and Gregg Jefferies hit .342. Lenny Dykstra had 193 hits while Mark Grace had 192, Charlie Hayes had 45 doubles, Steve Finley 13 triples, Chuck Carr 58 steals. In his first year with the Giants, Barry Bonds led the league with 46 homers and 123 RBI, as well as topping the percentage categories. David Justice was secodn with 40 homers and the runner-up with 120 RBI. John Burkett and Tom Glavine tied for the lead in wins with 22 each. Bill Swift won 21 and Greg Maddux 20. Maddux led in ERA with a 2.36 mark, follwed by Jose Rijo at 2.48. Rijo led in strikeouts with 227, trailed by John Smoltz at 208. Randy Myers led in saves with 53. Maddux won the Cy Young. Win Shares leaders, players; Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 47, Len Dykstra (Philadelphia) 32, Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) 31, Marquis Grissom (Montreal) 30, Jeff Blauser and David Justice (Atlanta) and Darren Daulton (Philadelphia) 29, Rick Wilkins (Chicago), Matt Williams (San Francisco) and Gregg Jefferies (St. Louis) 28, Craig Biggio (Houston), Jay Bell (Pittsburgh) and Robby Thompson (San Francisco) 26, Ron Gant (Atlanta) and John Kruk (Philadelphia) 25, Larry Walker (Montreal) 24, Mark Grace (Chicago), Andres Galarraga (Colorado) and Brett Butler (Los Angeles) 23, Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 22. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Jose Rijo (Cincinnati) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 25, John Wetteland (Montreal) 21, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 20, Steve Avery (Atlanta), Mark Portugal (Houston) and Billy Swift (San Francisco) 19, Bryan Harvey (Florida) 18, Greg McMichael (Atlanta) 17, John Smoltz (Atlanta), Tommy Greene (Philadelphia) and Rod Beck (San Francisco) 16. 22-game winner John Burkett had 14 Win Shares for the Giants. WARP3 scores: Bonds 12.4, Dykstra 8.2, Piazza 8.1 (rookie), Bell 7.8 (peak), Williams 7.5 (peak), Thompson 7.4 (peak, last good season), Daulton (end of peak) and Wilkins (career year) 7.2, Luis Gonzalez (Houston) 6.6, Justice 6.3, Bagwell 6.2, Biggio 6.1, Grissom (peak) and Blauser 5.8, Orlando Merced (Pittsburgh) 5.7, Delino DeShields (Montreal) 5.5, Walker 5.1, Kruk 4.9 (last good season), Grace 4.7, Ozzie Smith (St. Louis) 4.6, Jefferies, Jeff King (Pittsburgh) and Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) 4.5. Pitchers, Rijo 9.6 (peak), Wetteland 7.0 (peak), Maddux 6.4, Harvey 6.1 (peak, last good year), Portugal 4.8 (career year), Dwight Gooden (New York) 4.6, Swift 4.5 (peak), Armando Reynoso (Colorado) 4.4, Avery (peak) and Jim Gott (Los Angeles) 4.1, Beck 3.9, Glavine and Greene (end of peak) 3.8. WAR leaders, position players: Bonds 10.6, Piazza 7.6, Dykstra 6.9, Bell 6.6, Thompson 6.2, Grissom and Williams 6.0, Gant 5.9, Bagwell and Blauser 5.6, L.Gonzalez and Jefferies 5.5, Daulton and Justice 5.3, Walker 5.1, Grace 5.0, DeShields and Kruk 4.9, Biggio 4.8, McGriff 4.7, Sosa 4.6. WAR leaders, pitchers: Maddux 7.9, Rijo 7.2, Avery 5.4, Greene 5.2, Schilling 5.1, Tewksbury 4.5, Burkett, Drabek, and Swift 4.4, Smoltz 4.3, Candiotti 4.2, Gooden 3.9, Jackson 3.7, Glavine and Portugal 3.6, Benes, Harnisch, and Wetteland 3.4. Actual Award voting: 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 Barry Bonds SFG 24 372 392 0.95 | 539 181 46 .336 1.136 29 2 Lenny Dykstra PHI 4 267 392 0.68 | 637 194 19 .305 .902 37 3 David Justice ATL 0 183 392 0.47 | 585 158 40 .270 .871 3 4 Fred McGriff TOT 0 177 392 0.45 | +557 162 37 .291 .924 5 5 Ron Gant ATL 0 176 392 0.45 | 606 166 36 .274 .854 26 6 Matt Williams SFG 0 103 392 0.26 | 579 170 38 .294 .886 1 7 Darren Daulton PHI 0 79 392 0.20 | 510 131 24 .257 .875 5 8 Marquis Grissom MON 0 66 392 0.17 | 630 188 19 .298 .789 53 9 Mike Piazza LAD 0 49 392 0.12 | 547 174 35 .318 .932 3 10 Andres Galarraga COL 0 45 392 0.11 | 470 174 22 .370 1.005 2 11 Gregg Jefferies STL 0 28 392 0.07 | 544 186 16 .342 .894 46 12 Rod Beck SFG 0 23 392 0.06 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 3-1 79 2.16 0.88 86 48 13 Greg Maddux ATL 0 17 392 0.04 | 91 15 0 .165 .350 0| 20-10 267 2.36 1.05 197 14 Bryan Harvey FLA 0 14 392 0.04 | | 1-5 69 1.70 0.84 73 45 15 Robby Thompson SFG 0 11 392 0.03 | 494 154 19 .312 .870 10 Cy Young (top 5): | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Greg Maddux ATL 22 119 140 0.85 | 20-10 267 2.36 1.05 197 2 Bill Swift SFG 2 61 140 0.44 | 21-8 233 2.82 1.07 157 3 Tom Glavine ATL 4 49 140 0.35 | 22-6 239 3.20 1.36 120 4 John Burkett SFG 0 9 140 0.06 | 22-7 232 3.65 1.14 145 5 Jose Rijo CIN 0 8 140 0.06 | 14-9 257 2.48 1.09 227 Burkett finished behind Swift, although he had won more games. Intelligence on the part of BBWAA voters? Remarkable! Rookie (top 10):| 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 Mike Piazza LAD 28 140 140 1.00 | 547 174 35 .318 .932 3 2 Greg McMichael ATL 0 40 140 0.29 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 2-3 92 2.06 1.06 89 19 3 Jeff Conine FLA 0 31 140 0.22 | 595 174 12 .292 .754 2 4 Chuck Carr FLA 0 18 140 0.13 | 551 147 4 .267 .657 58 5 Al Martin PIT 0 6 140 0.04 | 480 135 18 .281 .820 16 6 Kevin Stocker PHI 0 4 140 0.03 | 259 84 2 .324 .826 5 7 Wil Cordero MON 0 3 140 0.02 | 475 118 10 .248 .695 12 7 Kirk Rueter MON 0 3 140 0.02 | 26 2 0 .077 .249 0| 8-0 86 2.73 1.20 31 9 Carlos Garcia PIT 0 2 140 0.01 | 546 147 12 .269 .716 18 9 Pedro Martinez LAD 0 2 140 0.01 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 10-5 107 2.61 1.24 119 2 Showed ten in order to get Pedro on the list. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Dusty Baker SFG 15 105 140 0.75 | 103-59 2 2 Jim Fregosi PHI 11 92 140 0.66 | 97-65 1 3 Felipe Alou MON 2 27 140 0.19 | 94-68 2 3 Bobby Cox ATL 0 27 140 0.19 | 104-58 1 5 Don Baylor COL 0 1 140 0.01 | 67-95 6 Top player: Barry Bonds. This will get somewhat monotonous, but Bonds was the league's best for a long time, as befits one of the greatest of the game. #1 Barry Bonds, #2 Lenny Dykstra, #3 Mike Piazza, #4 Darren Daulton, #5 David Justice, #6 Jay Bell. Top pitcher: Greg Maddux. Jose Rijo turned in an excellent year for a lesser team. #1 Greg Maddux, #2 Jose Rijo, #3 John Wetteland, #4 Billy Swift, #5 Steve Avery. Top rookie: Mike Piazza, in a runaway. Top manager: Dusty Baker. I will agree with the BBWAA here. A lot of it was riding Barry Bonds, but you have to keep the secondary talent ready as well. Baker did that.

1993 American League

Toronto won their second straight pennant and World Series with a little player turnover (Molitor at DH instead of Winfield, Tony Fernandez taking shortstop) and Joe Carter providing only the second walk-off home run in Series history. The pitching staff lost Jimmy Key to the Yankees and saw Jack Morris collapse, but came through regardless. The Blue Jays won 95 to outpace New York by seven games, while Baltimore and Detroit tied for third with 85 victories. Boston was 5th, Cleveland 6th, and Milwaukee last with 93 losses. The White Sox won the West with 94 victories, while Texas was second with 86. Kansas City was third with 84 victories, Seattle 4th with 82. California and Minnesota tied for 5th with 91 losses, and Oakland collapsed to last with 94 losses. John Olerud led the league in batting average, doubles, on-base, runs created and OPS. It was a very impressive season that somehow didn't get a lot of attention from the awards voters. Olerud hit .363, with teammates Paul Molitor at .332 and Roberto Alomar at .326. He hit 54 doubles. Rafael Palmeiro had 124 runs, Molitor 211 hits, Lance Johnson 14 triples, Kenny Lofton 70 steals. Juan Gonzalez had 46 homers, edging Ken Griffey at 45 with Frank Thomas at 41. Albert Belle edged Thomas 129 to 128 in RBI. Joe Carter was third with 121. Thomas won the MVP award. Jack McDowell led in wins with 22. Randy Johnson and Pat Hentgen were next with 19. Kevin Appier led in ERA with a 2.56 mark; Wilson Alvarez was second at 2.95. Randy Johnson led in strikeouts with 308; no one else even had 200, as second place was Mark Langston with 196. Jeff Montgomery and Duane Ward tied in saves with 45 each. Chuck Finley had 13 complete games, and McDowell four shutouts. McDowell won the Cy Young. Win Shares leaders, players: John Olerud (Toronto) 37, Frank Thomas (Chicago) 32, Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) 31, Roberto Alomar (Toronto) 30, Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle) and Paul Molitor (Toronto) 29, Carlos Baerga (Cleveland) and Travis Fryman (Detroit) 28, Albert Belle (Cleveland) 27, Chris Hoiles (Baltimore) 26, Kenny Lofton (Cleveland), Tony Phillips (Detroit) and Rickey Henderson (Oakland/Toronto) 25, Tim Salmon (California), Mickey Tettleton (Detroit) and Mike Stanley (New York) 24, Greg Vaughn (Milwaukee) and Jay Buhner (Seattle) 22, Lance Johnson and Robin Ventura (Chicago) and Danny Tartabull (New York) 21. Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Kevin Appier (Kansas City) 27, Jeff Montgomery (Kansas City) and Randy Johnson (Seattle) 22, Jack McDowell (Chicago), David Cone (Kansas City) and Jimmy Key (New York) 21, Danny Darwin (Boston), Mark Langston (California) and Alex Fernandez (Chicago) 20, Chuck Finley (California) 19, Wilson Alvarez (Chicago) 18, Ben McDonald (Baltimore) and Duane Ward (Toronto) 17. WARP3 scores: Olerud 8.8 (best year), Griffey 7.8, Hoiles 7.6 (best year), Alomar 7.4, Gonzalez 7.3 (best year), Thomas 7.1, Salmon 6.8 (rookie), Henderson 6.6, Palmeiro (best year), Baerga, and Phillips 6.4, Fryman (best year) and Devon White (Toronto) 6.0, Belle 5.8, Lou Whitaker (Detroit) 5.7, Stanley 5.4 (best year), Molitor 5.3, Johnson and Ventura 5.2. Pitchers, Appier 7.2 (best year), Montgomery 6.7 (best year), Johnson 6.6 (breakout year), Langston 6.4 (best year), Fernandez 5.8, McDowell 5.7, Key 5.4, Ward 5.3 (last good year), Darwin 5.2, Cone and Finley 5.1, Alvarez 5.0. WAR leaders, position players: Griffey 9.0, Olerud 8.4, Hoiles and Lofton 7.3, Thomas 6.7, Palmeiro 6.6, Alomar 6.1, Gonzalez 6.0, Ventura 5.9, White 5.7, Phillips 5.6, G. Vaughn 5.4, Belle and Valentin 5.3, Molitor 5.2, Henderson and Johnson 5.1, Salmon 5.0, Fryman 4.9, Baerga 4.7. WAR leaders, pitchers: Appier 7.4, Johnson 7.1, Langston 5.7, Finley 5.3, Key 5.2, McDowell 5.1, Hanson 4.9, Tapani 4.8, Brown and Cone 4.6, Guzman and McDonald 4.5, Clemens 4.4, Fernandez 3.9, Erickson 3.8, Darwin and Rogers 3.7. 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 Frank Thomas CHW 28 392 392 1.00 | 549 174 41 .317 1.033 4 2 Paul Molitor TOR 0 209 392 0.53 | 636 211 22 .332 .911 22 3 John Olerud TOR 0 198 392 0.51 | 551 200 24 .363 1.072 0 4 Juan Gonzalez TEX 0 185 392 0.47 | 536 166 46 .310 1.000 4 5 Ken Griffey SEA 0 182 392 0.46 | 582 180 45 .309 1.025 17 6 Roberto Alomar TOR 0 102 392 0.26 | 589 192 17 .326 .900 55 7 Albert Belle CLE 0 81 392 0.21 | 594 172 38 .290 .922 23 8 Rafael Palmeiro TEX 0 52 392 0.13 | 597 176 37 .295 .926 22 9 Jack McDowell CHW 0 51 392 0.13 | | 22-10 257 3.37 1.29 158 10 Carlos Baerga CLE 0 50 392 0.13 | 624 200 21 .321 .840 15 11 Jimmy Key NYY 0 29 392 0.07 | | 18-6 237 3.00 1.11 173 12 Joe Carter TOR 0 25 392 0.06 | 603 153 33 .254 .802 8 13 Jeff Montgomery KCR 0 15 392 0.04 | | 7-5 87 2.27 1.01 66 45 13 Mike Stanley NYY 0 15 392 0.04 | 423 129 26 .305 .923 1 15 Kenny Lofton CLE 0 11 392 0.03 | 569 185 1 .325 .815 70 16 Chris Hoiles BAL 0 10 392 0.03 | 419 130 29 .310 1.001 1 16 Tony Phillips DET 0 10 392 0.03 | 566 177 7 .313 .841 16 18 Mo Vaughn BOS 0 8 392 0.02 | 539 160 29 .297 .915 4 19 Don Mattingly NYY 0 7 392 0.02 | 530 154 17 .291 .809 0 19 Cal Ripken BAL 0 7 392 0.02 | 641 165 24 .257 .748 1 The Big Hurt won a unanimous and undeserved MVP. There were several others better. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO Sv +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Jack McDowell CHW 21 124 140 0.89 | 22-10 257 3.37 1.29 158 2 Randy Johnson SEA 6 75 140 0.54 | 19-8 255 3.24 1.11 308 1 3 Kevin Appier KCR 1 30 140 0.21 | 18-8 239 2.56 1.11 186 4 Jimmy Key NYY 0 14 140 0.10 | 18-6 237 3.00 1.11 173 5 Duane Ward TOR 0 5 140 0.04 | 2-3 72 2.13 1.03 97 45 6 Pat Hentgen TOR 0 3 140 0.02 | 19-9 216 3.87 1.34 122 7 Juan Guzman TOR 0 1 140 0.01 | 14-3 221 3.99 1.45 194 Again the best was missed. 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 Tim Salmon CAL 28 140 140 1.00 | 515 146 31 .283 .918 5 2 Jason Bere CHW 0 59 140 0.42 | | 12-5 143 3.47 1.33 129 3 Aaron Sele BOS 0 19 140 0.14 | | 7-2 112 2.74 1.33 93 4 Wayne Kirby CLE 0 12 140 0.09 | 458 123 6 .269 .695 17 5 Rich Amaral SEA 0 8 140 0.06 | 373 108 1 .290 .715 19 6 Brent Gates OAK 0 7 140 0.05 | 535 155 7 .290 .747 7 7 Troy Neel OAK 0 5 140 0.04 | 427 124 19 .290 .840 3 8 Jerry Dipoto CLE 0 1 140 0.01 | | 4-4 56 2.40 1.54 41 11 8 David Hulse TEX 0 1 140 0.01 | 407 118 1 .290 .701 29 This one the BBWAA got right. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Gene Lamont CHW 8 72 140 0.51 | 94-68 1 2 Buck Showalter NYY 7 63 140 0.45 | 88-74 2 3 Cito Gaston TOR 6 49 140 0.35 | 95-67 1 4 Kevin Kennedy TEX 3 28 140 0.20 | 86-76 2 5 Lou Piniella SEA 3 24 140 0.17 | 82-80 4 6 Mike Hargrove CLE 1 10 140 0.07 | 76-86 6 7 Johnny Oates BAL 0 5 140 0.04 | 85-77 3 8 Butch Hobson BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 80-82 5 Top player: John Olerud. The batting champion used to get more respect, but not in this season. You bat .363, play excellent defense, and still get no respect. Well, here's some, belatedly. #1 John Olerud, #2 Ken Griffey, Jr., #3 Juan Gonzalez, #4 Roberto Alomar, #5 Frank Thomas, #6 Chris Hoiles. Top pitcher: Kevin Appier. The BBWAA never learns: the ERA leader is almost always a better choice than the wins leader. #1 Kevin Appier, #2 Randy Johnson, #3 Mark Langston, #4 Jack McDowell, #5 Jimmy Key. Top rookie: Tim Salmon, easily. Top manager: Gene LaMont, who got the White Sox to the top of the division.

1992 National League

Atlanta won its second straight pennant, Pittsburgh their third straight division title even without Bobby Bonilla. The Braves won 98 to beat out Cincinnati by 8 games, San Diego was third at 82 wins, just ahead of Houston 4th with a .500 record, San Francisco lost 90 and Los Angeles lost 99. The Pirates' 96 wins were 9 more than Montreal, St. Louis won 83, and in the second division Chicago lost 84, New York lost 90, and Philadelphia lost 92. Gary Sheffield led in batting average with a .330 mark, outpacing Andy Van Slyke at .324, while John Kruk and Bip Roberts came in at .323. Van Slyke led with 45 doubles and tied with Terry Pendleton at 199 hits. Deion Sanders led with 14 triples, Marquis Grissom with 78 steals. Fred McGriff led with 35 homers, followed by Barry Bonds at 34 and Sheffield at 33. Darren Daulton led with 109 RBI, trailed by Pendleton at 105, McGriff at 104, and Bonds at 103. Bonds also led in on-base, slugging, and OPS, and runs with 109. Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine each won 20 games. Next highest was 16. Bill Swift led with a 2.08 ERA, followed by Bob Tewksbury at 2.16 and Maddux at 2.18. John Smoltz had 215 strikeouts, David Cone 214. Maddux led with 268 innings. Lee Smith had 43 saves. Terry Mulholland pitched 12 complete games. Win Shares leaders, players; Barry Bonds (Pittsburgh) 41, Terry Pendleton (Atlanta) and Andy Van Slyke (Pittsburgh) 35, Ryne Sandberg (Chicago) 33, Barry Larkin (Cincinnati), Craig Biggio (Houston) and Gary Sheffield (San Diego) 32, Darren Daulton (Philadelphia) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 31, Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 29, Bip Roberts (Cincinnati), Steve Finley (Houston) and Will Clark (San Francisco) 28, Marquis Grissom (Montreal), Dave Hollins (Philadelphia) and Fred McGriff (San Diego) 27, Larry Walker (Montreal) 26, Mark Grace (Chicago) 25, Brett Butler (Los Angeles), John Kruk (Philadelphia) and Jay Bell (Pittsburgh) 24, David Justice (Atlanta) 23, Ken Caminiti (Houston) 21. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Greg Maddux (Chicago) 27, Bob Tewksbury (St. Louis) 21, Doug Drabek (Pittsburgh) 20, Tom Glavine (Atlanta), Mike Morgan (Chicago) and Jose Rijo (Cincinnati) 19, John Smoltz (Atlanta) and Doug Jones (Houston) 18, Ken Hill and Dennis Martinez (Montreal) and Curt Schilling (Philadelphia) 17, Greg Swindell (Cincinnati), Mel Rojas (Montreal), Sid Fernandez (New York), Andy Benes (San Diego), Rod Beck and Bill Swift (San Francisco) 16. WARP3 scores: Bonds 12.3 (last season in Pittsburgh), Sandberg 9.9, Sheffield 9.3 (best season), Daulton 8.7 (best season), Van Slyke 8.3 (best season), Larkin 7.9, Ozzie Smith (St. Louis) 7.8, Lankford 7.4 (best season), Walker 7.3, Pendleton 6.8, Bagwell 6.7, McGriff 6.6, Clark 6.5, Kruk 6.1, Justice 5.6, Grace (best season) and Bell 5.4, Hollins (best season) and Butler 4.9, Roberts 4.8, Caminiti 4.7, Finley 4.6, Grissom 4.5. Pitchers, Maddux 9.4, Fernandez 7.1 (best season), Schilling 6.4, Jones 6.3 (best season), Rijo 5.7, Swift 5.0, Glavine and Martinez 4.9, Tewksbury (best season), Drabek, and Benes 4.8, Hill 4.7, Tom Candiotti (Los Angeles) 4.6, John Franco (New York) 4.4, Smoltz and Rojas 4.3, Morgan (last good season) and Swindell 4.2. WAR leaders, position players: Bonds 9.8, Sandberg 7.6, Daulton 7.4, Sheffield 6.8, Van Slyke 6.7, Hollins 6.0, McGriff and Walker 5.8, Finley and Grissom 5.7, Larkin and Pendleton 5.5, O. Smith 5.4, Justice 5.3, Lankford 5.1, Butler and Roberts 5.0, Bagwell and Jackson 4.8, Grace, Gwynn, and Kruk 4.6. WAR leaders, pitchers: Maddux 7.3, Drabek and Smoltz 5.2, Rijo 5.1, Fernandez 5.0, Benes and Glavine 4.8, Schilling and Swindell 4.5, Cone 4.4, Mulholland 4.2, Tewksbury 4.1, Liebrandt 3.9, Avery and Martinez 3.7, Gooden 3.6, Morgan 3.5. 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 Barry Bonds PIT 18 304 336 0.90 | 473 147 34 .311 1.080 39 2 Terry Pendleton ATL 4 232 336 0.69 | 640 199 21 .311 .818 5 3 Gary Sheffield SDP 2 204 336 0.61 | 557 184 33 .330 .965 5 4 Andy Van Slyke PIT 0 145 336 0.43 | 614 199 14 .324 .886 12 5 Larry Walker MON 0 111 336 0.33 | 528 159 23 .301 .859 18 6 Darren Daulton PHI 0 100 336 0.30 | 485 131 27 .270 .908 11 6 Fred McGriff SDP 0 100 336 0.30 | 531 152 35 .286 .950 8 8 Bip Roberts CIN 0 64 336 0.19 | 532 172 4 .323 .826 44 9 Marquis Grissom MON 0 54 336 0.16 | 653 180 14 .276 .741 78 10 Tom Glavine ATL 0 18 336 0.05 | 77 19 0 .247 .557 0| 20-8 225 2.76 1.19 129 11 Greg Maddux CHC 0 14 336 0.04 | 88 15 1 .170 .418 0| 20-11 268 2.18 1.01 199 12 Barry Larkin CIN 0 12 336 0.04 | 533 162 12 .304 .831 15 12 Ryne Sandberg CHC 0 12 336 0.04 | 612 186 26 .304 .881 17 14 Doug Jones HOU 0 8 336 0.02 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 11-8 112 1.85 1.01 93 36 14 John Kruk PHI 0 8 336 0.02 | 507 164 10 .323 .881 3 Bonds over Pendleton this time. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Greg Maddux CHC 20 112 120 0.93 | 20-11 268 2.18 1.01 199 2 Tom Glavine ATL 4 78 120 0.65 | 20-8 225 2.76 1.19 129 3 Bob Tewksbury STL 0 22 120 0.18 | 16-5 233 2.16 1.02 91 4 Lee Smith STL 0 3 120 0.02 | 4-9 75 3.12 1.17 60 43 5 Doug Drabek PIT 0 1 120 0.01 | 15-11 257 2.77 1.06 177 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 Eric Karros LAD 22 116 120 0.97 | 545 140 20 .257 .730 2 2 Moises Alou MON 0 30 120 0.25 | 341 96 9 .282 .783 16 3 Tim Wakefield PIT 2 29 120 0.24 | 28 2 0 .071 .175 0| 8-1 92 2.15 1.21 51 4 Reggie Sanders CIN 0 23 120 0.19 | 385 104 12 .270 .819 16 5 Donovan Osborne STL 0 12 120 0.10 | 58 7 0 .121 .276 0| 11-9 179 3.77 1.29 104 6 Mike Perez STL 0 2 120 0.02 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 9-3 93 1.84 1.10 46 7 Ben Rivera TOT 0 1 120 0.01 | + 33 3 0 .091 .234 0|+ 7-4 117 3.07 1.23 77 7 Frank Seminara SDP 0 1 120 0.01 | 34 4 0 .118 .261 0| 9-4 100 3.68 1.44 61 7 Brian Williams HOU 0 1 120 0.01 | 30 4 0 .133 .296 0| 7-6 96 3.92 1.39 54 7 Mark Wohlers ATL 0 1 120 0.01 | 2 0 0 .000 .000 0| 1-2 35 2.55 1.19 17 4 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Jim Leyland PIT 20 109 120 0.91 | 96-66 1 2 Felipe Alou MON 3 65 120 0.54 | 70-55 2 3 Bobby Cox ATL 1 29 120 0.24 | 98-64 1 4 Art Howe HOU 0 9 120 0.08 | 81-81 4 5 Lou Piniella CIN 0 4 120 0.03 | 90-72 2 Top player: Barry Bonds. Bonds was clearly established as the best player in the league by this time. #1 Barry Bonds, #2 Andy Van Slyke, #3 Ryne Sandberg, #4 Gary Sheffield, #5 Darren Daulton, #6 Fred McGriff. Top pitcher: Greg Maddux stepped it up a notch this season, and would be the league's best for the next several seasons. #1 Greg Maddux, #2 Bob Tewksbury, #3 Jose Rijo, #4 Tom Glavine, #5 Doug Drabek. Top rookie: Reggie Sanders was the best of an unimpressive lot. Top manager: Bobby Cox edging Jim Leyland.

1992 American League

The Toronto Blue Jays won it all for the first time in their history! The Jays took the AL East with 96 wins, four ahead of Milwaukee. Baltimore was third with 89 wins. Cleveland and New York tied for 4th with 86 losses, Detroit was sixth with 87, and Boston last with 89 defeats. Toronto defeated Oakland in the ALCS, after the A's took the AL West with 96 victories also. Minnesota was next with 90 wins, and Chicago won 86 for third. Texas lost 85 and finished 4th, California and Kansas City lost 90, and Seattle lost 98 for the worst record in the league. Dennis Eckersley won the MVP and Cy Young in a season where he had a 1.91 ERA, but pitched just 80 innings. He got an MVP award for recording 240 outs. I have a problem with that. Sure, he pitched great, but...80 innings?!? Edgar Martinez won the batting title with a .343 mark. Kirby Puckett was second with a .329 figure. Puckett also led in hits (210) and total bases (313). Tony Phillips led with 114 runs scored. Martinez and Frank Thomas tied with 46 doubles. Thomas led in on-base and OPS. Lance Johnson had 12 triples. Juan Gonzalez had 43 homers, closely trailed by Mark McGwire at 42. McGwire led the loop in slugging percentage. Cecil Fielder led with 124 RBI, followed by Joe Carter at 119. Rookies topped the stolen base list, with Kenny Lofton nabbing 66 and Pat Listach 54. Kevin Brown and Jack Morris tied for the league lead with 21 wins, followed by Jack McDowell at 20. Roger Clemens led with a 2.41 ERA, and Kevin Appier was second with a 2.46 mark. Randy Johnson had 241 strikeouts, with Melido Perez next at 218. McDowell had 13 complete games, Clemens five shutouts. Eckersley led with 51 saves. Win Shares leaders, players; Roberto Alomar (Toronto) 34, Frank Thomas (Chicago) 33, Kirby Puckett (Minnesota) 31, Robin Ventura (Chicago) 30, Brady Anderson (Baltimore) and Mark McGwire (Oakland) 29, Tim Raines (Chicago), Carlos Baerga (Cleveland) and Paul Molitor (Milwaukee) 28, Shane Mack (Minnesota) and Dave Winfield (Toronto) 27, Rickey Henderson (Oakland) and Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle) 25, Kenny Lofton (Cleveland), Mickey Tettleton and Lou Whitaker (Detroit), Edgar Martinez (Seattle), Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) and Joe Carter (Toronto) 24, Tony Phillips (Detroit), Chuck Knoblauch (Minnesota) and Danny Tartabull (New York) 23, Mike Devereaux (Baltimore) and Mike Bordick (Oakland) 22. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Roger Clemens (Boston) 26, Mike Mussina (Baltimore) 24, Jack McDowell (Chicago), Charles Nagy (Cleveland) and Kevin Appier (Kansas City) 20, Frank Viola (Boston), Jim Abbott (Chicago), John Smiley (Minnesota), Dennis Eckersley (Oakland) and Kevin Brown (Texas) 18, Melido Perez (Chicago) and Juan Guzman (Toronto) 17. WARP3 scores: Thomas 8.9, Ventura 8.6 (best year), McGwire 7.8, Martinez 7.6, Anderson 7.5, Alomar 7.3, Baerga 7.1 (best year), Puckett, Henderson, and Pat Listach (Milwaukee) 7.0, Raines 6.8, Mack 6.5 (best year), Molitor 6.4, Tettleton and Phillips 5.7, Bordick 5.6 (best year), Knoblauch 5.4, Griffey 5.2, Winfield 5.1 (last big year). Pitchers, Clemens 8.8, Appier 7.8, Nagy 7.4 (best year), Mussina 7.3 (best year), Brown 6.9, Abbott and Eckersley 6.7, McDowell (best year) and Viola 6.1, Perez 6.0 (career year), Dave Fleming (Seattle) 5.7, Steve Olin (Cleveland) 5.6, Ju. Guzman 5.4, Jeff Montgomery (Kansas City) and Jose Guzman (Texas) 5.1, Smiley 4.9 (best year). WAR leaders, position players: Thomas 7.7, McGwire 6.8, E. Martinez and Ventura 6.7, Alomar 6.6, Puckett and White 6.4, Lofton 6.3, Raines 6.1, Baerga and Griffey 6.0, Anderson 5.9, Mack 5.6, Tettleton 5.5, Devereaux 5.3, Phillips 5.2, Knoblauch 5.0, Molitor and Whitaker 4.9, Fryman 4.7. WAR leaders, pitchers: Clemens 8.5, Nagy 7.4, Brown 6.6, M. Perez 5.9, Guzman, Langston, and Smiley 5.7, Appier 5.6, Mussina 5.5, Tapani 5.1, Guzman 5.0, McDowell 4.8, Abbott and Viola 4.7, Fleming 4.4, Navarro 4.3, Bosio 4.1, Morris 4.0. Eck was at 3.0. 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 Dennis Eckersley OAK 15 306 392 0.78 | | 7-1 80 1.91 0.91 93 51 2 Kirby Puckett MIN 3 209 392 0.53 | 639 210 19 .329 .864 17 3 Joe Carter TOR 4 201 392 0.51 | 622 164 34 .264 .808 12 4 Mark McGwire OAK 1 155 392 0.40 | 467 125 42 .268 .970 0 5 Dave Winfield TOR 2 141 392 0.36 | 583 169 26 .290 .867 2 6 Roberto Alomar TOR 3 118 392 0.30 | 571 177 8 .310 .832 49 7 Mike Devereaux BAL 0 109 392 0.28 | 653 180 24 .276 .785 10 8 Frank Thomas CHW 0 108 392 0.28 | 573 185 24 .323 .975 6 9 Cecil Fielder DET 0 83 392 0.21 | 594 145 35 .244 .783 0 10 Paul Molitor MIL 0 63 392 0.16 | 609 195 12 .320 .851 31 11 Carlos Baerga CLE 0 31 392 0.08 | 657 205 20 .312 .809 10 12 Edgar Martinez SEA 0 29 392 0.07 | 528 181 18 .343 .948 14 13 Jack Morris TOR 0 18 392 0.05 | | 21-6 241 4.04 1.25 132 14 Brady Anderson BAL 0 16 392 0.04 | 623 169 21 .271 .823 53 14 Roger Clemens BOS 0 16 392 0.04 | | 18-11 247 2.41 1.07 208 16 Juan Gonzalez TEX 0 15 392 0.04 | 584 152 43 .260 .833 0 17 Ken Griffey SEA 0 13 392 0.03 | 565 174 27 .308 .896 10 18 Pat Listach MIL 0 8 392 0.02 | 579 168 1 .290 .701 54| 19 Jack McDowell CHW 0 5 392 0.01 | | 20-10 261 3.18 1.24 178 20 George Bell CHW 0 3 392 0.01 | 627 160 25 .255 .712 5 The surprise was not so much that Eckersley, a guy that pitched but 80 innings, won the MVP, but that he won it so easily. It wasn't unanimous, but it was a clear victory. Of course, the lack of a clear favorite otherwise helped Eck. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Dennis Eckersley OAK 19 107 140 0.76 | 7-1 80 1.91 0.91 93 51 2 Jack McDowell CHW 2 51 140 0.36 | 20-10 261 3.18 1.24 178 3 Roger Clemens BOS 4 48 140 0.34 | 18-11 247 2.41 1.07 208 4 Mike Mussina BAL 2 26 140 0.19 | 18-5 241 2.54 1.08 130 5 Jack Morris TOR 1 10 140 0.07 | 21-6 241 4.04 1.25 132 6 Kevin Brown TEX 0 9 140 0.06 | 21-11 266 3.32 1.27 173 7 Charles Nagy CLE 0 1 140 0.01 | 17-10 252 2.96 1.20 169 Jack Morris, with an ERA over 4, got a first-place vote. Astonishing. 4 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 Pat Listach MIL 20 122 140 0.87 | 579 168 1 .290 .701 5 2 Kenny Lofton CLE 7 85 140 0.61 | 576 164 5 .285 .726 66 3 Dave Fleming SEA 0 23 140 0.16 | | 17-10 228 3.39 1.25 112 4 Cal Eldred MIL 1 22 140 0.16 | | 11-2 100 1.79 0.99 62 That Listach thing just didn't work out. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Tony LaRussa OAK 25 132 140 0.94 | 96-66 1 2 Phil Garner MIL 2 76 140 0.54 | 92-70 2 3 Johnny Oates BAL 0 27 140 0.19 | 89-73 3 4 Cito Gaston TOR 1 13 140 0.09 | 96-66 1 5 Mike Hargrove CLE 0 4 140 0.03 | 76-86 5 Top player: Roberto Alomar. A bit of a quirky pick, but it was one of those years with no clear favorite, no big standout, so it is a good year to give it to the best player on the best team. Alomar also led in Win Shares, although not in WARP. #1 Roberto Alomar, #2 Frank Thomas, #3 Kirby Puckett, #4 Robin Ventura, #5 Edgar Martinez, #6 Mark McGwire. Top pitcher: Roger Clemens. Yes, again. #1 Roger Clemens, #2 Mike Mussina, #3 Kevin Appier, #4 Charles Nagy, #5 Jack McDowell. Top rookie: Kenny Lofton had a strong season and a near-HOF career. Top manager: Cito Gaston finally got the Blue Jays over the top.

1991 National League

It was the beginning of a "Braves" new world: the first of a string of division championships by the Atlanta Braves. They went from worst to first, as their Series opponents, the Twins did. Things were worse in Atlanta: the Braves had finished last in the NL West the previous three seasons in a row, and hadn't won the division since 1982 under Joe Torre, and since 1969 before that. It had been a long dry spell in Atlanta. It wasn't easy for the Braves either, as they squeaked past the Dodgers by a one-game margin. San Diego was third with 84 wins. San Francisco lost 87, defending champs Cincinnati lost 88, and Houston lost 97. In the East, Pittsburgh easily repeated with 98 wins. Atlanta's 7-game victory in the NLCS was a big upset. St. Louis was 2nd with 84 wins, Chicago lost 83, Philadelphia and New York lost 84, and Montreal lost 90. Terry Pendleton led in batting average with a .319 mark, just ahead of Hal Morris at .318. Tony Gwynn was a close third at .317. Pendleton also led in hits (187) and total bases on his way to the MVP. Brett Butler led with 112 runs, Bobby Bonilla with 44 doubles, Ray Lankford with 15 triples. Howard Johnson had 38 homers, followed by Matt Williams with 34. Johnson also led with 117 RBI, closely followed by Barry Bonds and Will Clark at 116. Marquis Grissom edged Otis Nixon with 76 steals to 72. Clark led in slugging, Bonds in on-base and OPS. Tom Glavine and John Smiley were the big winners with 20 each. Dennis Martinez led with a 2.39 ERA while Jose Rijo was second at 2.51. David Cone led with 241 strikeouts, followed by Greg Maddux with 198. Lee Smith was an easy leader with 47 saves, Rob Dibble was second with 31. Glavine and Martinez had 9 complete games each, Martinez five shutouts. Win Shares leaders, players; Ryne Sandberg (Chicago) and Barry Bonds (Pittsburgh) 37, Will Clark (San Francisco) 34, Bobby Bonilla (Pittsburgh) 31, Terry Pendleton (Atlanta) 27, Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) and Brett Butler (Los Angeles) 26, Ron Gant (Atlanta), Howard Johnson (New York), John Kruk (Philadelphia), Fred McGriff (San Diego), Felix Jose and Ozzie Smith (St. Louis) 25, Darryl Strawberry (Los Angeles) 24, Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 23, David Justice (Atlanta), Chris Sabo (Cincinnati), Jay Bell and Andy Van Slyke (Pittsburgh), Tony Gwynn (San Diego), Robby Thompson and Matt Williams (San Francisco) and Todd Zeile (St. Louis) 22. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 23, Dennis Martinez (Montreal) and Mitch Williams (Philadelphia) 18, Greg Maddux (Chicago), Jose Rijo (Cincinnati), Mike Morgan (Los Angeles) and Tommy Greene (Philadelphia) 17, Steve Avery (Atlanta), Pete Harnisch (Houston) and Andy Benes (San Diego) 16, Tim Belcher (Los Angeles), David Cone (New York), Bruce Hurst (San Diego) and Lee Smith (St. Louis) 15. WARP3 scores: Bonds 9.7, Larkin 8.7, Pendleton 8.6, Sandberg 7.9, Clark and Bonilla 7.6, Smith 6.9, Butler and Bell 6.4, McGriff 6.0, Gant and Williams 5.9, Bagwell 5.7 (rookie), Thompson and Larry Walker (Montreal) 5.2, Paul O'Neill (Cincinnati), Tony Fernandez (San Diego), and Ivan Calderon (Montreal) 5.1, Johnson 4.9 (last good season), Kruk and Justice 4.8, Sabo and Luis Gonzalez (Houston) 4.8, Zeile 4.4 (best season), Hal Morris (Cincinnati) 4.3. Pitchers, Glavine 6.8 (best season), Williams 5.8 (career year), Martinez 5.7, Rijo 5.6, Harnisch 5.4 (best year), Maddux 5.3, Cone 5.0, Benes 4.9 (best year), Smith 4.8, Dwight Gooden (New York) 4.5, Greene 4.2, Morgan 4.1, Doug Drabek (Pittsburgh) 3.8, John Smiley (Pittsburgh) 3.6. WAR leaders, position players: Bonds 7.9, Sandberg 6.5, Pendleton 6.4, Larkin 5.6, O'Neill 5.4, Clark and Gwynn 5.2, O. Smith and Williams 5.1, Kruk 5.0, Butler 4.9, Bonilla and Thompson 4.8, Finley 4.6, Bell 4.5, Bagwell 4.4, Strawberry 4.3, Johnson and Morris 4.1, Walker 4.0. WAR leaders, pitchers: Cone 6.6, Maddux 6.3, Rijo 6.0, Glavine 5.7, Mulholland 4.8, Z. Smith 4.7, Morgan 4.5, Belcher 4.1, Gooden, D. Martinez, and Smoltz 4.0, Drabek, Hurst, and Liebrandt 3.9, Benes and Harnisch 3.6, Dibble and Smiley 3.4. 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 Terry Pendleton ATL 12 274 336 0.82 | 586 187 22 .319 .880 10 2 Barry Bonds PIT 10 259 336 0.77 | 510 149 25 .292 .924 43 3 Bobby Bonilla PIT 1 191 336 0.57 | 577 174 18 .302 .883 2 4 Will Clark SFG 0 118 336 0.35 | 565 170 29 .301 .895 4 5 Howard Johnson NYM 0 112 336 0.33 | 564 146 38 .259 .877 30 6 Ron Gant ATL 0 110 336 0.33 | 561 141 32 .251 .834 34 7 Brett Butler LAD 1 103 336 0.31 | 615 182 2 .296 .744 38 8 Lee Smith STL 0 89 336 0.26 | | 6-3 73 2.34 1.14 67 47 9 Darryl Strawberry LAD 0 76 336 0.23 | 505 134 28 .265 .852 10 10 Fred McGriff SDP 0 23 336 0.07 | 528 147 31 .278 .890 4 11 Tom Glavine ATL 0 16 336 0.05 | 74 17 0 .230 .531 1| 20-11 247 2.55 1.09 192 12 Jay Bell PIT 0 11 336 0.03 | 608 164 16 .270 .757 10 12 David Justice ATL 0 11 336 0.03 | 396 109 21 .275 .880 8 14 Andre Dawson CHC 0 5 336 0.01 | 563 153 31 .272 .790 4 14 John Smiley PIT 0 5 336 0.01 | 70 7 0 .100 .237 0| 20-8 208 3.08 1.15 129 Pendleton edges Bonds in a close race with Bonilla a solid third. I understand why the writers did go for Pendleton, what with his and the Braves' surprise seasons. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Tom Glavine ATL 19 110 120 0.92 | 20-11 247 2.55 1.09 192 2 Lee Smith STL 4 60 120 0.50 | 6-3 73 2.34 1.14 67 47 3 John Smiley PIT 0 26 120 0.22 | 20-8 208 3.08 1.15 129 4 Jose Rijo CIN 1 13 120 0.11 | 15-6 204 2.51 1.08 172 5 Dennis Martinez MON 0 4 120 0.03 | 14-11 222 2.39 1.12 123 6 Steve Avery ATL 0 1 120 0.01 | 18-8 210 3.38 1.21 137 6 Andy Benes SDP 0 1 120 0.01 | 15-11 223 3.03 1.13 167 6 Mitch Williams PHI 0 1 120 0.01 | 12-5 88 2.34 1.34 84 30 John Smiley, the other 20-game winner, had 14 Win Shares. 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 Jeff Bagwell HOU 23 118 120 0.98 | 554 163 15 .294 .824 7 2 Orlando Merced PIT 1 53 120 0.44 | 411 113 10 .275 .772 8 3 Ray Lankford STL 0 28 120 0.23 | 566 142 9 .251 .693 44 4 Brian Hunter ATL 0 7 120 0.06 | 271 68 12 .251 .746 0 5 Bret Barberie MON 0 3 120 0.02 | 136 48 2 .353 .949 0 5 Wes Chamberlain PHI 0 3 120 0.02 | 383 92 13 .240 .700 9 5 Chuck McElroy CHC 0 3 120 0.02 | 10 3 0 .300 .700 0| 6-2 101 1.95 1.28 92 3 8 Mike Stanton ATL 0 1 120 0.01 | 6 3 0 .500 1.238 0| 5-5 78 2.88 1.06 54 7 Bags a deserving clear winner. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Bobby Cox ATL 13 96 120 0.80 | 94-68 1 2 Jim Leyland PIT 9 74 120 0.62 | 98-64 1 3 Joe Torre STL 2 41 120 0.34 | 84-78 2 4 Tommy Lasorda LAD 0 5 120 0.04 | 93-69 2 Surprising that Cox did not sweep this award. Top player: Barry Bonds. The writers look for fresh faces, and did not give Barry a repeat, but he deserved the award he narrowly lost. #1 Barry Bonds, #2 Ryne Sandberg, #3 Terry Pendleton, #4 Barry Larkin, #5 Will Clark, #6 Bobby Bonilla. Top pitcher: Tom Glavine deserved this award. #1 Tom Glavine, #2 Dennis Martinez, #3 Greg Maddux, #4 David Cone, #5 Jose Rijo. Top rookie: Jeff Bagwell made a stellar debut. Top manager: Bobby Cox built the team as GM, then managed it to greatness.

1991 American League

Minnesota did a worst-to-first turn, although it wasn't quite that spectacular. They had won the World Series in 1987, and their 1990 record was 74-88. They improved to 95-67 and broke Oakland's stranglehold on the top spot. Chicago finished second, 8 games back, with Texas third at 85 wins, Oakland with 84, Seattle 83, Kansas City 82, and California 81. Yes, everyone finished at least .500. In the East division, Toronto won its second title in three year with 91 wins, Boston and Detroit tied for second with 84, Milwaukee was fourth with 83, New York lost 91 for 5th, Baltimore lost 95, and Cleveland brought up the rear with 105 losses. Julio Franco took the batting title with a .341 average. Wade Boggs was second at .332. Paul Molitor led with 133 runs and 216 hits. Rafael Palmeiro had 44 doubles. Molitor and Lance Johnson had 13 triples each. Rickey Henderson stole 58 bases. Jose Canseco and Cecil Fielder tied for the lead with 44 homers, and Fielder led with 133 RBI, followed by Canseco at 122. Danny Tartabull led in slugging, while Frank (Big Hurt) Thomas led in on-base, OPS, and runs created. Scott Erickson and Bill Gullickson each won 20 games for the lead. Roger Clemens and his 2.62 ERA edged Tom Candiotti at 2.65 for the lead. Clemens struck out 241, ahead of Randy Johnson at 228. Clemens also led with 271 innings. Bryan Harvey and his 46 saves finished ahead of Dennis Eckersley at 43. Win Shares leaders, players; Cal Ripken (Baltimore) and Frank Thomas (Chicago) 34, Jose Canseco (Oakland) 31, Paul Molitor (Milwaukee) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (Seattle) 30, Danny Tartabull (Kansas City) and Julio Franco and Ruben Sierra (Texas) 28, Mickey Tettleton (Detroit) 27, Cecil Fielder and Lou Whitaker (Detroit) and Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) 26, Wade Boggs (Boston), Wally Joyner (California), Robin Ventura (Chicago), Dave and Rickey Henderson (Oakland) and Roberto Alomar (Toronto) 25 each, Steve Sax (New York) and Devon White (Toronto) 24, Tony Phillips (Detroit) and Joe Carter (Toronto) 23. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Roger Clemens (Boston) 26, Kevin Tapani (Minnesota) 21, Jim Abbott and Mark Langston (California) 20, Duane Ward (Toronto) 19, Bryan Harvey (California), Jack McDowell (Chicago), Scott Erickson and Jack Morris (Minnesota) 18, Jimmy Key (Toronto) 17, Mike Moore (Oakland) 16. WARP3 scores: Ripken 12.5 (likely his best season), Thomas 9.5 (first full season), White 7.6 (best year), Ventura 7.5, Griffey 7.4, Palmeiro, R. Henderson, and Alomar 6.8, Tettleton 6.7 (best season), Molitor 6.6, Boggs 6.3, Canseco 6.0, Whitaker and Willie Randolph (New York) 5.8, Shane Mack (Minnesota) 5.6, Phillips 5.3, Greg Vaughn (Milwaukee) 5.2, Franco 5.0 (peak year), Sierra, D. Henderson, and Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 4.8, Joyner 4.7, Fielder 4.6. Pitchers, Clemens 7.7, Abbott 6.6 (peak season), Bret Saberhagen (Kansas City) 6.2, Langston 5.9, Moore and Greg Swindell (Cleveland) 5.5, Tapani 5.3 (peak season), Nolan Ryan (Texas) 5.2, Harvey 5.1, Steve Farr (New York) 5.0, Chris Bosio (Milwaukee) 4.8, Jose Guzman (Toronto) 4.7, Charles Nagy (Cleveland), Frank Tanana (Detroit), and Kevin Appier (Kansas City) 4.6. WAR leaders, position players: Ripken 11.1, Thomas 7.8, Griffey 7.4, D. White 6.9, Boggs and Whitaker 6.5, Franco and Palmeiro 6.4, E. Martinez 6.2, Tettleton and Ventura 6.0, Canseco and Molitor 5.8, D. Henderson, Phillips, and Sierra 5.3, Carter 5.1, Devereaux 5.0, Alomar and Tartabull 4.9. WAR leaders, pitchers: Clemens 9.4, Swindell 6.3, Candiotti 6.1, Abbott 5.6, Appier, Key, and Tapani 5.4, McDowell 5.2, Ryan 5.1, Morris and Saberhagen 5.0, Sanderson 4.4, Ward 4.1, Erickson 3.9, Hanson 3.8, Bosio and Nagy 3.5, Gullickson 3.4. 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 Cal Ripken BAL 15 318 392 0.81 | 650 210 34 .323 .940 6 2 Cecil Fielder DET 9 286 392 0.73 | 624 163 44 .261 .860 0 3 Frank Thomas CHW 1 181 392 0.46 | 559 178 32 .318 1.006 1 4 Jose Canseco OAK 0 145 392 0.37 | 572 152 44 .266 .915 26 5 Joe Carter TOR 1 136 392 0.35 | 638 174 33 .273 .833 20 6 Roberto Alomar TOR 2 128 392 0.33 | 637 188 9 .295 .791 53 7 Kirby Puckett MIN 0 78 392 0.20 | 611 195 15 .319 .812 11 8 Ruben Sierra TEX 0 63 392 0.16 | 661 203 25 .307 .859 16 9 Ken Griffey SEA 0 62 392 0.16 | 548 179 22 .327 .926 18 10 Roger Clemens BOS 0 57 392 0.15 | | 18-10 271 2.62 1.05 241 11 Paul Molitor MIL 0 51 392 0.13 | 665 216 17 .325 .888 19 12 Danny Tartabull KCR 0 32 392 0.08 | 484 153 31 .316 .990 6 13 Jack Morris MIN 0 29 392 0.07 | | 18-12 247 3.43 1.29 163 14 Chili Davis MIN 0 21 392 0.05 | 534 148 29 .277 .892 5 15 Julio Franco TEX 0 17 392 0.04 | 589 201 15 .341 .882 36 16 Devon White TOR 0 15 392 0.04 | 642 181 17 .282 .797 33 17 Scott Erickson MIN 0 12 392 0.03 | | 20-8 204 3.18 1.27 108 18 Rick Aguilera MIN 0 11 392 0.03 | | 4-5 69 2.35 1.07 61 42 19 Rafael Palmeiro TEX 0 6 392 0.02 | 631 203 26 .322 .922 4 20 Robin Ventura CHW 0 3 392 0.01 | 606 172 23 .284 .810 2 21 Dave Henderson OAK 0 1 392 0.00 | 572 158 25 .276 .811 6 Fielder was 2nd for the second year in a row. A lot of that was apparently carryover votes, as the Tigers did not win. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Roger Clemens BOS 21 119 140 0.85 | 18-10 271 2.62 1.05 241 2 Scott Erickson MIN 3 56 140 0.40 | 20-8 204 3.18 1.27 108 3 Jim Abbott CAL 0 26 140 0.19 | 18-11 243 2.89 1.21 158 4 Jack Morris MIN 3 17 140 0.12 | 18-12 247 3.43 1.29 163 5 Bryan Harvey CAL 0 10 140 0.07 | 2-4 79 1.60 0.86 101 46 6 Mark Langston CAL 0 7 140 0.05 | 19-8 246 3.00 1.16 183 7 Kevin Tapani MIN 1 6 140 0.04 | 16-9 244 2.99 1.09 135 8 Bill Gullickson DET 0 5 140 0.04 | 20-9 226 3.90 1.33 91 9 Jack McDowell CHW 0 3 140 0.02 | 17-10 254 3.41 1.16 191 9 Duane Ward TOR 0 3 140 0.02 | 7-6 107 2.77 1.05 132 23 Clemens won handily despite not leading in wins, a victory for the good guys. Not that Clemens is one of the good guys. 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 Chuck Knoblauch MIN 26 136 140 0.97 | 565 159 1 .281 .701 25 2 Juan Guzman TOR 1 68 140 0.49 | | 10-3 139 2.99 1.18 123 3 Milt Cuyler DET 1 22 140 0.16 | 475 122 3 .257 .672 41 4 Ivan Rodriguez TEX 0 10 140 0.07 | 280 74 3 .264 .630 0 5 Rich DeLucia SEA 0 7 140 0.05 | | 12-13 182 5.09 1.40 98 6 Mike Timlin TOR 0 2 140 0.01 | | 11-6 108 3.16 1.33 85 6 Mark Whiten TOT 0 2 140 0.01 | +407 99 9 .243 .685 4 8 Leo Gomez BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 391 91 16 .233 .711 1 8 Doug Henry MIL 0 1 140 0.01 | | 2-1 36 1.00 0.83 28 15 8 Brent Mayne KCR 0 1 140 0.01 | 231 58 3 .251 .640 2 8 Charles Nagy CLE 0 1 140 0.01 | | 10-15 211 4.13 1.39 109 8 Phil Plantier BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 148 49 11 .331 1.034 1 No idea how someone could vote for Milt Cuyler over Chuck Knoblauch. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+-------- 1 Tom Kelly MIN 27 138 140 0.99 | 95-67 1 2 Sparky Anderson DET 1 50 140 0.36 | 84-78 2 3 Cito Gaston TOR 0 17 140 0.12 | 72-57 1 4 Jim Lefebvre SEA 0 16 140 0.11 | 83-79 5 4 Joe Morgan BOS 0 16 140 0.11 | 84-78 3 6 Jeff Torborg CHW 0 6 140 0.04 | 87-75 2 7 Hal McRae KCR 0 3 140 0.02 | 66-58 6 7 Bobby Valentine TEX 0 3 140 0.02 | 85-77 3 9 Tony LaRussa OAK 0 2 140 0.01 | 84-78 4 10 Stump Merrill NYY 0 1 140 0.01 | 71-91 5 Top player: Cal Ripken. It may have been the finest year of an exemplary career. The Orioles could never seem to put a good team around him at this point. #1 Cal Ripken, #2 Frank Thomas, #3 Ken Griffey, Jr., #4 Paul Molitor, #5 Julio Franco, #6 Rafael Palmeiro. Top pitcher: Roger Clemens. We'll get this a lot now. #1 Roger Clemens, #2 Jim Abbott, #3 Kevin Tapani, #4 Mark Langston, #5 Jack McDowell, #6 Tom Candiotti. Top rookie: Chuck Knoblauch had a fine season, in the middle of a pennant race. Top manager: Tom Kelly did it without a superstar.