1981 National League

The strike wiped out about 1/3 of the season, and the teams with the best records in each division did not make the playoffs: that about sums up the 1981 NL. The Cardinals and Reds sported the best records in their divisions, but did not win either half, and so did not qualify for the postseason. It is one of the biggest injustices in baseball history. Philadelphia and Los Angeles won the first halves, while Montreal and Houston won the seconds. For Montreal, it was the only postseason appearance in their history. Bill Madlock won the batting title at .341, while Mike Schmidt won the MVP leading in HR (31), RBI (91), OPS by a wide margin, and runs. Pete Rose was second in average at .325 and Dusty Baker at .320. Andre Dawson was secondin homers with 24, George Foster second in RBI with 90. Tim Raines led in steals with 71. Rose had 140 hits, Bill Buckner 35 doubles. Craig Reynolds and Gene Richards had 12 triples each. Tom Seaver led in wins with 14, Nolan Ryan in ERA at 1.69, and rookie Fernando Valenzuela in strikeouts with 180. Valenzuela and Steve Carlton had 13 wins, Carlton 179 strikeouts. Bob Knepper had a 2.18 ERA, Burt Hooton 2.28. Bruce Sutter had 25 saves. Valenzuela had 11 complete games, 8 of them shutouts. Win Shares leaders, players; Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia) 30, Andre Dawson (Montreal) 25, George Foster (Cincinnati) 24, Dave Concepcion (Cincinnati) and Keith Hernandez (St. Louis) 20, Ken Griffey (Cincinnati) and Gary Mathews (Philadelphia) 19, Tim Raines (Montreal) and George Hendrick (St. Louis) 18, Gary Carter (Montreal) and Pete Rose (Philadelphia) 17, Art Howe (Houston), Ron Cey and Dusty Baker (Los Angeles) 16, Ron Oester (Cincinnati), Bill Madlock (Pittsburgh) and Jack Clark (San Francisco) 15. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Tom Seaver (Cincinnati) and Fernando Valenzuela (Los Angeles) 17, Steve Carlton (Philadelphia) 16, Nolan Ryan (Houston) 15, Rick Camp (Atlanta) 14, Bob Knepper (Houston), Burt Hooton and Jerry Reuss (Los Angeles) and Bruce Sutter (St. Louis) 13, Mario Soto (Cincinnati), Don Sutton (Houston), Gary Lucas (San Diego) and Doyle Alexander (San Francisco) 11. WARP3 scores: Schmidt 10.5, Dawson 9.3, Concepcion 7.5, Foster 7.2 (last big year), Hernandez 5.9, Madlock 5.6, Howe 5.4 (career year), Hendrick and Carter 5.2, Oester 5.0, Griffey and Cey 4.7, Pedro Guerrero (Los Angeles) 4.6, Craig Reynolds (Houston) 4.4, Raines 4.3 (rookie), Joe Morgan (San Francisco) 4.2, Tom Herr (St. Louis) 4.0, Rose and Baker 3.9. Pitchers, Valenzuela 6.4, Carlton 6.1, Ryan 6.0, Camp 5.4, Hooton (last good year), Reuss, Alexander, and Vida Blue (San Francisco) 4.7, Lucas 4.5 (career year), Seaver and Knepper 4.3. WAR, position players: Schmidt 8.0, Dawson 6.9, Hernandez 4.3, Carter and Foster 4.1, Raines 3.9, Concepcion 3.8, Madlock 3.6, Cey and Howe 3.5, Hendrick 3.4, Evans 3.3, Oester 3.2, Cruz 3.1, Clark and Guerrero 3.0. Pitchers: Carlton 5.7, Gullickson and Valenzuela 5.1, Sutton 4.0, Ryan 3.9, Soto 3.6, Rogers 3.5, Hooton and Sorensen 3.4, Perry 2.9, Knepper 2.8, Reuss 2.7, Krukow 2.6, Sanderson 2.5. Actual award winners: MVP (top 21): | 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 Schmidt PHI 21 321 336 0.96 | 354 112 31 .316 1.080 12 2 Andre Dawson MON 2 215 336 0.64 | 394 119 24 .302 .918 26 3 George Foster CIN 0 146 336 0.43 | 414 122 22 .295 .892 4 4 Dave Concepcion CIN 0 108 336 0.32 | 421 129 5 .306 .767 4 5 Fernando Valenzuela LAD 1 90 336 0.27 | 64 16 0 .250 .543 0| 13-7 192 2.48 1.05 180 6 Gary Carter MON 0 77 336 0.23 | 374 94 16 .251 .756 1 7 Dusty Baker LAD 0 65 336 0.19 | 400 128 9 .320 .808 10 8 Bruce Sutter STL 0 59 336 0.18 | 9 0 0 .000 .100 0| 3-5 82 2.62 1.07 57 25 9 Steve Carlton PHI 0 41 336 0.12 | 67 9 0 .134 .383 0| 13-4 190 2.42 1.13 179 10 Bill Buckner CHC 0 35 336 0.10 | 421 131 10 .311 .829 5 10 Pete Rose PHI 0 35 336 0.10 | 431 140 0 .325 .781 4 10 Tom Seaver CIN 0 35 336 0.10 | 55 11 1 .200 .570 0| 14-2 166 2.54 1.12 87 13 Gary Matthews PHI 0 31 336 0.09 | 359 108 9 .301 .849 15 14 Jose Cruz HOU 0 25 336 0.07 | 409 109 13 .267 .745 5 14 George Hendrick STL 0 25 336 0.07 | 394 112 18 .284 .841 4 16 Nolan Ryan HOU 0 23 336 0.07 | 51 11 0 .216 .521 0| 11-5 149 1.69 1.12 140 17 Bill Madlock PIT 0 20 336 0.06 | 279 95 6 .341 .907 18 18 Art Howe HOU 0 16 336 0.05 | 361 107 3 .296 .770 1 19 Tim Raines MON 0 15 336 0.04 | 313 95 5 .304 .829 71 20 Rick Camp ATL 0 9 336 0.03 | 12 0 0 .000 .000 0| 9-3 76 1.78 1.05 47 17 20 Keith Hernandez STL 0 9 336 0.03 | 376 115 8 .306 .864 12 Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Fernando Valenzuela LAD 8 70 120 0.58 | 13-7 192 2.48 1.05 180 2 Tom Seaver CIN 8 67 120 0.56 | 14-2 166 2.54 1.12 87 3 Steve Carlton PHI 5 50 120 0.42 | 13-4 190 2.42 1.13 179 4 Nolan Ryan HOU 3 28 120 0.23 | 11-5 149 1.69 1.12 140 5 Bruce Sutter STL 0 1 120 0.01 | 3-5 82 2.62 1.07 57 25 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 Fernando Valenzuela LAD 17 107 120 0.89 | 64 16 0 .250 .543 0| 13-7 192 2.48 1.05 180 2 Tim Raines MON 6 85 120 0.71 | 313 95 5 .304 .829 71 3 Hubie Brooks NYM 0 8 120 0.07 | 358 110 4 .307 .756 9 4 Bruce Berenyi CIN 0 5 120 0.04 | 42 8 0 .190 .484 0| 9-6 126 3.50 1.38 106 4 Juan Bonilla SDP 0 5 120 0.04 | 369 107 1 .290 .681 4 6 Tony Pena PIT 0 4 120 0.03 | 210 63 2 .300 .707 1 7 Mookie Wilson NYM 0 1 120 0.01 | 328 89 3 .271 .689 24 Top player: Mike Schmidt. For the second year in a row, no one was better. Schmidt was clearly the best player in the league at this point. #1 Mike Schmidt, #2 Andre Dawson, #3 George Foster, #4 Dave Concepcion, #5 Keith Hernandez, #6 Tim Raines. Top pitcher: Fernando Valenzuela. The Mexican rookie won the award in very close voting. #1 Fernando Valenzuela, #2 Nolan Ryan, #3 Steve Carlton, #4 Tom Seaver, #5 Rick Camp. Top rookie: Fernando again, although Raines was also impressive and drew significant voting. It was a pretty good year for NL rookies. Top manager: Tommy LaSorda got the Dodgers to another World Series crown.