1983 American League

Earl Weaver retired, and doom was predicted for the Orioles, but then that thing that often happens happens again. A team stressed by a high-pressure manager relaxes when a low-key guy (Joe Altobelli, here) takes over, and makes a seemingly effortless run at the pennant. The Orioles even won it all, for the first time since 1970. Soon, Altobelli's magic wore off, and Weaver briefly came out of retirement, but this was a sort of last hurrah for the 1970s era Birds. Detroit was 2nd, 6 games back, with New York 3rd, Toronto 4th, and Milwaukee 5th but with 87 wins off their pennant season. Five strong teams in the AL East. Boston was 6th at 78-84, and Cleveland last but with only 92 losses. The West was another story, as the White Sox won the division with 99 wins, but no one else was over .500. Kansas City was 2nd, 20 games out. Texas, Oakland, California, Minnesota, and Seattle (with 102 losses) followed in order. The Chisox, unchallenged during the season, couldn't keep up with Baltimore in the ALCS. Among individuals, Wade Boggs broke out with his first batting title, batting .361. Rod Carew followed with a .339 mark. Jim Rice led in HR with 39 and tied with Cecil Cooper in RBI with 126. Tony Armas was second with 36 homers. Rickey Henderson was over 100 steals again, and George Brett led in OPS, but Cal Ripken won the MVP as he led in runs, hits, and doubles, and played superb defense. Robin Yount had 10 triples, and Boggs edged Eddie Murray for the lead in runs created. LaMarr Hoyt won the Cy Young by leading with 24 wins. Richard Dotson won 22 and Ron Guidry 21. Rick Honeycutt led in ERA with a 2.42 mark, follwed by Mike Boddicker at 2.77. Jack Morris led in strikeouts with 232, followed by Floyd Bannister at 193. Dan Quisenberry led in saves with 45. Morris pitched 294 innings, Guidry had 21 complete games. Boddicker tossed five shutouts. Win Shares leaders, players; Cal Ripken (Baltimore) 35, Wade Boggs (Boston) 34, Robin Yount (Milwaukee) 33, Eddie Murray (Baltimore) 31, Rickey Henderson (Oakland) 30, Lou Whitaker (Detroit) 29, Carlton Fisk (Chicago) and Alan Trammell (Detroit) 26, Cecil Cooper (Milwaukee) and Lloyd Moseby (Toronto) 25, Jim Rice (Boston), Lance Parrish (Detroit) and George Brett (Kansas City) 24, Paul Molitor (Milwaukee) 23, Larry Herndon (Detroit), Dave Winfield (New York) and Willie Upshaw (Toronto) 22, Chet Lemon (Detroit), Jim Gantner (Milwaukee), John Castino (Minnesota) and Don Baylor (New York) 21. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Dan Quisenberry (Kansas City) 28, Dave Stieb (Toronto) 24, Scott McGregor (Baltimore), Rich Dotson (Chicago) and Bob Stanley (Boston) 21, LaMarr Hoyt (Chicago) and Jack Morris (Detroit) 20, Ron Guidry (New York) 19, Charlie Hough (Texas) 18, Tippy Martinez (Baltimore) and Floyd Bannister (Chicago) 17, Mike Boddicker (Baltimore), Matt Young (Seattle), Goose Gossage (New York) and Rick Honeycutt (Texas) 16. WARP3 scores: Ripken 10.3, Trammell 7.9, Boggs and Whitaker 7.1, Yount 6.7, Henderson 6.4, Murray and Lemon 6.0, Parrish 5.5, Fisk and Herndon 4.7, Gantner 4.3 (best year), Moseby and Molitor 4,2, Ted Simmons (Milwaukee) 4.1, Cooper 4.0 (last good year), Upshaw 3.8 (best year). Pitchers, Quisenberry 6.4, Stieb 5.5, Guidry 5,4, Hough 5.3, Stanley and Young (rookie, career year) 5.2, Honeycutt 4.9 (before going to LA in a trade), Dotson 4.8 (best year), McGregor (best year) and Jim Beattie (Seattle) 4.5, Boddicker (rookie), Gossage, and Martinez (career year) 4.4, Geoff Zahn (California) 3.9, Bruce Hurst (Boston) 3.8, Hoyt and John Tudor (Boston) 3.6. WAR leaders, position players: Ripken 8.8, Boggs 8.1, Henderson 7.4, Murray 7.1, Yount 6.9, Rice 6.6, Whitaker 6.4, Moseby 6.2, Lemon and Trammell 5.9, Parrish 5.3, Fisk 5.0, Molitor and Upshaw 4.9, Bell 4.6, Brett 4.5. Pitchers: Morris 6.2, Stieb 5.9, Hoyt 5.7, Righetti 5.6, Bannister 5.4, Beattie 4.7, Smithson 4.6, Guidry 4.1, Boddicker, Davis, and McGregor 4.0, Hough 3.9, Darwin, Gossage, Sutcliffe, and Sutton 3.6. Actual award voting: 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 Cal Ripken BAL 15 322 392 0.82 | 663 211 27 .318 .888 0 2 Eddie Murray BAL 10 290 392 0.74 | 582 178 33 .306 .930 5 3 Carlton Fisk CHW 3 209 392 0.53 | 488 141 26 .289 .874 9 4 Jim Rice BOS 0 150 392 0.38 | 626 191 39 .305 .911 0 5 Cecil Cooper MIL 0 123 392 0.31 | 661 203 30 .307 .849 2 6 Dan Quisenberry KCR 0 107 392 0.27 | | 5-3 139 1.94 0.93 48 45 7 Dave Winfield NYY 0 85 392 0.22 | 598 169 32 .283 .858 15 8 Lou Whitaker DET 0 84 392 0.21 | 643 206 12 .320 .837 17 9 Lance Parrish DET 0 66 392 0.17 | 605 163 27 .269 .796 1 10 Harold Baines CHW 0 49 392 0.12 | 596 167 20 .280 .776 7 11 Willie Upshaw TOR 0 41 392 0.10 | 579 177 27 .306 .887 10 12 Wade Boggs BOS 0 25 392 0.06 | 582 210 5 .361 .931 3 13 La Marr Hoyt CHW 0 24 392 0.06 | | 24-10 261 3.66 1.02 148 14 Lloyd Moseby TOR 0 21 392 0.05 | 539 170 18 .315 .875 27 15 Bob Stanley BOS 0 11 392 0.03 | | 8-10 145 2.85 1.26 65 33 15 Alan Trammell DET 0 11 392 0.03 | 505 161 14 .319 .856 30 17 Greg Luzinski CHW 0 9 392 0.02 | 502 128 32 .255 .854 2 18 Robin Yount MIL 0 6 392 0.02 | 578 178 17 .308 .886 12 19 Ted Simmons MIL 0 4 392 0.01 | 600 185 13 .308 .799 4 20 Richard Dotson CHW 0 3 392 0.01 | | 22-7 240 3.22 1.31 137 Five good candidates for MVP, though the writers concentrated on the two Orioles. With Ripken, they chose the right one. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 La Marr Hoyt CHW 17 116 140 0.83 | 24-10 261 3.66 1.02 148 2 Dan Quisenberry KCR 9 81 140 0.58 | 5-3 139 1.94 0.93 48 45 3 Jack Morris DET 2 38 140 0.27 | 20-13 294 3.34 1.16 232 4 Richard Dotson CHW 0 9 140 0.06 | 22-7 240 3.22 1.31 137 5 Ron Guidry NYY 0 5 140 0.04 | 21-9 250 3.42 1.17 156 6 Scott McGregor BAL 0 3 140 0.02 | 18-7 260 3.18 1.22 86 Odd that Quisenberry was ahead of Hoyt in MVP voting, but behind him here. Also, Bob Stanley got MVP votes but none for Cy. Seems to indicate voters considering relievers more as everyday players. Quiz would have been a better choice. Second straight award that Quiz could have won, but went to a mediocre starter with league-leading wins total instead. 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 Ron Kittle CHW 15 104 140 0.74 | 520 132 35 .254 .818 8 2 Julio Franco CLE 8 78 140 0.56 | 560 153 8 .273 .693 32 3 Mike Boddicker BAL 5 70 140 0.50 | | 16-8 179 2.77 1.08 120 Writers went for the slow slugger over more all-around talents. Never a good choice for top rookie. Top player: Cal Ripken. After 1982's sterling rookie campaign, Ripken really burst onto the scene here. Impressive offensively and defensively. There were other excellent players this year, but Ripken was the right choice. #1 Cal Ripken, #2 Wade Boggs, #3 Robin Yount, #4 Eddie Murray, #5 Alan Trammell, #6 Rickey Henderson. Top pitcher: Quisenberry was terrific, doing things no one else was doing. His unusual delivery apparently made it hard for the writers to take him seriously. KC fans knew. #1 Dan Quisenberry, #2 Dave Stieb, #3 Ron Guidry, #4 Jack Morris, #5 Lamarr Hoyt. Top rookie: Matt Young was the best, followed by Mike Boddicker. Julio Franco would be the best player over time. Kittle, a 32-year old in a 25-year old body, was a bad choice. Top manager: Joe Altobelli, guiding the Orioles through a tough pennant race and to the World Series crown.