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.