1961 American League

1961 marked a number of ends and beginnings. Casey Stengel was forced out as Yankees manager, and Ralph Houk took over. It didn't seem to matter, as the Yankees won the pennant and World Series under Houk. It was also an expansion year, as the AL added franchises in Washington, with the old Senators moving to Minneapolis and becoming the Minnesota Twins, and a west coast entry was added with the Los Angeles Angels. With some weak sisters to beat up on, the Yankees won 109 games, but the Detroit Tigers were surprise contenders and tallied 101 wins. Baltimore was a strong third, but Chicago was the only other team in the newly 10-team league over .500. Cleveland finished fifth, followed by a Ted Williams-less Boston, Minnesota, LA, and Kansas City and Washington tied for last at 100 losses. Jackie Jensen, who had retired from the Red Sox the previous year due in large part to a fear of flying, returned this year, but jumped the club for 8 days in April. After all, the schedule now included west coast trips.

It was also a crazy year in the stats, as Roger Maris belted 61 home runs to break Babe Ruth's long-standing single season record. Maris also led the league in RBI with 142, just ahead of Jim Gentile's 141 and Rocky Colavito's 140. Norm Cash led the league in batting (with a .361 average) and OPS, in what was by far his best season and a large reason for the Detroit surprise. Mantle and Maris tied for the lead in runs with 132, and Luis Aparicio led the league in steals with 53. Al Kaline had 41 doubles and was second in the league with a .324 average, and Jake Wood had 14 triples.

Whitey Ford won 25 games in his first year in a normal rotation, while Frank Lary won 23. Dick Donovan led the league in ERA with a 2.40 mark, followed by Bill Stafford at 2.68. Camilo Pascual led in strikeouts with 221, followed by Ford at 209. Luis Arroyo led in saves with 29, well ahead of Hoyt Wilhelm's 18. Ford led the league with 283 innings, while Lary had 22 complete games. Pascual and Steve Barber each pitched 8 shutouts.

Win Shares leaderboard:
Players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 48, Norm Cash (Detroit) 42, Roger Maris (New York) 36, Rocky Colavito (Detroit) 33, Jim Gentile (Baltimore) 32, Al Kaline (Detroit) and Elston Howard (New York) 29, Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota) 27, John Romano (Cleveland) 25, Jim Landis and Roy Sievers (Chicago) and Norm Siebern (Kansas City) 23, Jackie Brandt (Baltimore), Tito Francona (Cleveland) and Woodie Held (Detroit) and Tony Kubek (New York) 21.

Pitchers; Luis Arroyo (New York) 23, Frank Lary (Detroit) and Whitey Ford (New York) 22, Don Mossi (Detroit) 20, Steve Barber (Baltimore) and Jim Bunning (Detroit) 19, Juan Pizarro (Chicago) 18, Bill Monbouquette (Boston), Ken McBride (Los Angeles), Jack Kralick and Camilo Pascual (Minnesota) and Bill Stafford (New York) 17.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Cash 11.3, Mantle 10.4, Kaline 8.7, Gentile 8.0, Colavito and Howard 7.3, Romano 6.3, Maris 5.8, Jimmy Piersall (Cleveland) 5.5, Earl Battey (Minnesota) 5.3, Francona 5.0, Killebrew 4.8, Kubek 4.7.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Pascual 7.2, McBride and Kralick 6.3, Dick Donovan (Washington) 6.2, Pizarro 5.7, Jim Archer (Kansas City) 5.6, Bennie Daniels (Washington) 5.5, Eli Grba (Los Angeles) 5.4, Monbouquette and Pedro Ramos (Minnesota) 5.2, Lary 4.8, Tom Morgan (Los Angeles) 4.7, Stafford 4.5, Don Schwall (Boston) 4.4, Arroyo 4.3.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 11.1, Cash 10.8, Colavito 8.8, Gentile 8.6, Kaline 8.4, Maris 7.9, Killebrew 7.0, Piersall 5.6, Romano 5.5, Landis, Robinson, and Sievers 4.9, Held 4.7. Pitchers (bWAR): Kralick 5.5, Pascual 5.0, McBride 4.7, Lary and Pizarro 4.1, Donovan and Monbouquette 4.0, Hoeft 3.9, Archer, Bunning, and Mossi 3.7.

Award voting:
MVP (top 11):
Place Name Team 1st place Votes
1 Roger Maris NYY 7 202
2 Mickey Mantle NYY 6 198
3 Jim Gentile BAL 5 157
4 Norm Cash DET 1 151
5 Whitey Ford NYY 0 102
6 Luis Arroyo NYY 1 95
7 Frank Lary DET 0 53
8 Rocky Colavito DET 0 51
9 Al Kaline DET 0 35
10 Elston Howard NYY 0 30
11 Harmon Killebrew MIN 0 29
A wildly split vote between the two Yankees and the two career years.

Cy Young was one vote for the two leagues:
1 Whitey Ford NYY 9 9
2 Warren Spahn MLN 6 6
3 Frank Lary DET 2 2

Rookie:
1 Don Schwall BOS 7 7
2 Dick Howser KCA 6 6
3 Floyd Robinson CHW 2 2
3 Chuck Schilling BOS 2 2
3 Lee Thomas TOT 2 2
6 Jake Wood DET 1 1

Top Player: Mickey Mantle. It was the Mick's last true great year, and he deserves the trophy. He was easily the best player in the league, again, although Cash was spectacular. Sometimes it's lonely at the top, but the Yankees got a lot of mileage out of it.
#1 Mickey Mantle, #2 Norm Cash, #3 Roger Maris, #4 Jim Gentile, #5 Rocky Colavito, #6 Al Kaline.

Top pitcher: No real great pitcher in the AL this year. I'm gonna go for the "pod people" year of Luis Arroyo. It was way over his head, and even though he was a reliever he was the best pitcher in the league. Amazing work.
#1 Luis Arroyo, #2 Frank Lary, #3 Camilo Pascual, #4 Whitey Ford, #5 Juan Pizarro.

Top rookie: Another weak field. Put me down for Dick Howser. He was better than Don Schwall, and about even with Floyd Robinson.

Top manager: I'll say Bob Scheffing, for taking over Detroit and guiding them to 2nd place. It was an exciting year in Detroit, while the Yankees' success was expected.

1960 National League

Another surprise pennant winner in the NL. The Giants were heavily favored, the Braves were loaded, the Dodgers were defending champs, but the Pirates surprised them all and won the pennant. The Buccos had a seven-game edge over the Braves, with the Cardinals third, Dodgers fourth, and Giants fifth. The below-.500 teams had Cincinnati 6th, Chicago 7th and Philadelphia last. The Pirates then won a seven-game World Series over the Yankees, with the winning blow a home run by Bill Mazeroski.

Dick Groat won the batting title with a .325 average despite missing a month while injured, and took the MVP. Norm Larker was second with a .323 mark. Richie Ashburn led in on-base, Frank Robinson in slugging and OPS. Ernie Banks led in home runs with 41, followed by Hank Aaron with 40; Aaron led in RBI with 126, followed by Eddie Mathews with 124. Maury Wills led in steals with 50 and Bill Bruton in runs with 112 and triples with 13. Willie Mays led in hits with 190, and Vada Pinson in doubles with 37.

Ernie Broglio and Warren Spahn tied for the wins lead with 21, and Vernon Law won 20. Mike McCormick led in ERA with a 2.70 mark and Broglio was second with 2.74. Don Drysdale led in strikeouts with 246, Larry Jackson led with 282 innings, and Jack Sanford had 6 shutouts. Lindy McDaniel led in saves with 26 and Roy Face was second with 24.

Win Shares leaders, players; Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) and Willie Mays (San Francisco) 38, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 35, Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 31, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 29, Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 28, Joe Adcock (Milwaukee) and Dick Groat (Pittsburgh) 25, Bill Bruton (Milwaukee) 24, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati), Del Crandall (Milwaukee) and Don Hoak (Pittsburgh) 23, Richie Ashburn (Chicago) 22, Vada Pinson (Cincinnati) and Bill Mazeroski (Pittsburgh) 21, Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) and Lindy McDaniel (St. Louis) 25, Ernie Broglio (St. Louis) 24, Larry Jackson (St. Louis) 21, Bob Friend and Vernon Law (Pittsburgh) 20, Johnny Podres (Los Angeles), Lew Burdette (Milwaukee) and Mike McCormick (San Francisco) 18, Stan Williams (Los Angeles) and Elroy Face (Pittsburgh) 17, Bob Buhl and Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 10.6, Aaron and Mathews 10.1, Banks 8.6, Hoak 8.2, Groat 7.7, Crandall 7.4, Robinson 7.3, Boyer 7.0, Cepeda 6.0, Adcock 5.8, Mazeroski 5.4, Pinson 5.3, Ed Bailey (Cincinnati) 5.2, Bruton 4.9.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Broglio 9.5, Drysdale 8.2, McDaniel 8.0, Jackson 6.7, McCormick 6.3, Williams 5.6, Buhl 5.4, Podres 5.3, Law and Bob Purkey (Cincinnati) 5.0, Burdette 4.9.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 8.8, Mathews 8.2, Aaron and Banks 7.5, Boyer 6.9, Robinson 6.7, Groat 6.2, Hoak 5.5, Pinson 5.1, Adcock and Crandall 4.4, Ashburn 4.2, Moon 4.1, Cepeda 4.0. Pitchers (bWAR): Drysdale 7.0, Broglio 6.6, McCormick 5.8, Jackson 5.5, Friend 5.3, McDaniel and Podres 5.0, Law 4.5, Buhl 4.2, Roberts 3.8.

Actual award voting:

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 Dick Groat PIT 16 276 336 0.82 | 573 186 2 .325 .766 0
2 Don Hoak PIT 5 162 336 0.48 | 553 156 16 .282 .810 3
3 Willie Mays SFG 0 155 336 0.46 | 595 190 29 .319 .936 25
4 Ernie Banks CHC 0 100 336 0.30 | 597 162 41 .271 .904 1
5 Lindy McDaniel STL 0 95 336 0.28 | 26 6 0 .231 .528 0| 12-4 116 2.09 0.937 105 26
6 Ken Boyer STL 0 80 336 0.24 | 552 168 32 .304 .932 8
6 Vern Law PIT 0 80 336 0.24 | 94 17 1 .181 .504 0| 20-9 272 3.08 1.126 120
8 Roberto Clemente PIT 1 62 336 0.18 | 570 179 16 .314 .815 4
9 Ernie Broglio STL 0 58 336 0.17 | 68 14 0 .206 .545 0| 21-9 226 2.74 1.202 188
10 Eddie Mathews MLN 0 52 336 0.15 | 548 152 39 .277 .948 7
11 Hank Aaron MLN 0 49 336 0.15 | 590 172 40 .292 .919 16
12 Roy Face PIT 0 47 336 0.14 | 17 7 0 .412 .882 0| 10-8 115 2.90 1.064 72 24
13 Del Crandall MLN 0 31 336 0.09 | 537 158 19 .294 .764 4
14 Warren Spahn MLN 0 27 336 0.08 | 95 14 3 .147 .449 0| 21-10 268 3.50 1.225 154 2
15 Norm Larker LAD 0 21 336 0.06 | 440 142 5 .323 .798 1
16 Stan Musial STL 0 18 336 0.05 | 331 91 17 .275 .841 1
17 Maury Wills LAD 0 7 336 0.02 | 516 152 0 .295 .673 50
18 Vada Pinson CIN 0 6 336 0.02 | 652 187 20 .287 .811 32
19 Joe Adcock MLN 0 5 336 0.01 | 514 153 25 .298 .854 2
20 Smoky Burgess PIT 0 2 336 0.01 | 337 99 7 .294 .769 0
20 Frank Robinson CIN 0 2 336 0.01 | 464 138 31 .297 1.002 13
20 Larry Sherry LAD 0 2 336 0.01 | 37 6 1 .162 .482 0| 14-10 142 3.79 1.455 114 7
23 Pancho Herrera PHI 0 1 336 0.00 | 512 144 17 .281 .803 2

Groat and Hoak were #1-2, apparently on the theory that the MVP must be on the winning team. 5 Pirates drew significant support, and even pinch-hitter Smoky Burgess got two votes.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Vern Law PIT 8 8 16 0.50 | 20-9 272 3.08 1.126 120
2 Warren Spahn MLN 4 4 16 0.25 | 21-10 268 3.50 1.225 154 2
3 Ernie Broglio STL 1 1 16 0.06 | 21-9 226 2.74 1.202 188
3 Lindy McDaniel STL 1 1 16 0.06 | 12-4 116 2.09 0.937 105 26
Similar picks. Odd Bob Friend did not pick up a vote.

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 Frank Howard LAD 12 12 24 0.50 | 448 120 23 .268 .784 0
2 Pancho Herrera PHI 4 4 24 0.17 | 512 144 17 .281 .803 2
3 Art Mahaffey PHI 3 3 24 0.12 | 30 3 0 .100 .200 0| 7-3 93 2.32 1.200 56
4 Ron Santo CHC 2 2 24 0.08 | 347 87 9 .251 .720 0
5 Tommy Davis LAD 1 1 24 0.04 | 352 97 11 .276 .728 6

Votes were scattered with no single standout performance. Santo would have the best career.

Top player: Willie Mays. Mays and Eddie Mathews were tied in WS with Mays slightly ahead in WARP. Aaron was right behind, with Banks not far off. None of those guys was on the winner, but none of the Pirates stood out; not even Roberto Clemente, in spite of what author David Mariniss says.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Eddie Mathews, #3 Hank Aaron, #4 Ernie Banks, #5 Frank Robinson, #6 Ken Boyer.

Top pitcher: Ernie Broglio. Again, tough to choose. Broglio was tied for the wins lead, 2nd in ERA, 4th in strikeouts, 1st in ERA+, so he was better across the board.
#1 Ernie Broglio, #2 Don Drysdale, #3 Lindy McDaniel, #4 Bob Friend, #5 Vernon Law.

Top rookie: Frank Howard, even though he had 13 Win Shares to Pancho Herrera's 15. Voters at the time saw Howard had more potential.

Top manager: Danny Murtaugh, leading the Pirates to the championship.

1960 American League

The Yankees returned to their accustomed place atop the standings, in spite of an off-year from Whitey Ford and a generally mediocre pitching staff. For some reason I don't understand, the AL schedule started a week behind the NL season, April 18 rather than April 12. The Yankees had more than their share of tribulations. Manager Casey Stengel spent two weeks in the hospital getting treatment for a viral infection, Mickey Mantle got punched in the face after catching the final out (in a game at Yankee Stadium!) on May 30, but the Yanks took first place in the middle of June and rode out the storms.

The Orioles made a race of it, but the Yanks clinched on September 25. The team (temporarily) set an AL record for home runs. The Yankees finished 8 games ahead of Baltimore and 10 ahead of defending champs Chicago. The rest of the league finished under .500, in this order: Cleveland (being sunk by Frank Lane's trades), Washington, Detroit, Boston, Kansas City.

Pete Runnels won the batting title with a .320 mark, leading Al Smith at .315. Mantle led in homers with 40, just ahead of Roger Maris with 39 and Jim Lemon's 38. Eddie Yost led in on-base and Maris in slugging, and also in RBI with 112, leading Minnie Minoso with 105. Mantle led with 119 runs. Tito Francona had 36 doubles, Nellie Fox 10 triples, Luis Aparicio 51 SB. Mantle and Maris were 1-2 in OPS.

No pitcher won 20 games: Chuck Estrada and Jim Perry tied for the lead with 18, and Bud Daley was next with 16 wins. Frank Baumann led in ERA with a 2.67 mark, followed by Jim Bunning at 2.79. Bunning led in strikeouts with 201. Mike Fornieles and John Klippstein tied with 14 saves. Frank Lary edged Pedro Ramos by 1/3 of an inning for that lead.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 36, Roger Maris (New York) 31, Ron Hansen (Baltimore), Minnie Minoso (Chicago), Tito Francona (Cleveland), and Bill Skowron (New York) 24, Gene Woodling (Baltimore) and Roy Sievers (Chicago) 22, Jim Gentile and Brooks Robinson (Baltimore), Ted Williams (Boston), Nellie Fox (Chicago), Norm Siebern (Kansas City) and Jim Lemon (Washington) 21, Pete Runnels (Boston), Luis Aparicio and Al Smith (Chicago) and Harmon Killebrew (Washington) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Jim Bunning (Detroit) 20, Frank Lary (Detroit) 19, Ray Herbert (Kansas City) 18, Mike Fornieles and Bill Monbouquette (Boston), Frank Baumann and Early Wynn (Chicago), Jim Perry (Cleveland) and Pedro Ramos (Washington) 16, Chuck Estrada (Baltimore) 15.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mantle 8.8, Aparicio 7.8, Fox 7.6, Maris 7.1, Robinson 7.0, Hansen and Tony Kubek (New York) 6.4, Sievers 5.5, Skowron 5.0, Woodling and Francona 4.9, Jim Landis (Chicago) 4.7, Earl Battey (Washington) and Clete Boyer (New York) 4.4, Runnels 4.3.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Bunning 8.6, Herbert 7.9, Lary 7.6, Monbouquette 6.3, Fornieles 5.8, Ramos 5.5, Don Mossi (Detroit) 5.0, Dave Sisler (Detroit) 4.8, Jack Kralick (Washington) 4.7.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Maris 8.1, Mantle 7.9, Aparicio 6.1, Robinson 5.9, Skowron 5.7, Hansen 5.4, Runnels 5.2, Fox 5.0, Kubek 4.8, Francona and Sievers 4.5, Battey, Minoso, and Piersall 4.4. Pitchers (bWAR): Bunning 6.2, Herbert 5.8, Monbouquette 4.7, Ramos 4.4, Lary 3.8, Kralick 3.7, Baumann 3.1, Pappas 3.0, Fornieles and Muffett 2.9.

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 Roger Maris NYY 8 225 336 0.67 | 499 141 39 .283 .952 2
2 Mickey Mantle NYY 10 222 336 0.66 | 527 145 40 .275 .957 14
3 Brooks Robinson BAL 3 211 336 0.63 | 595 175 14 .294 .769 2
4 Minnie Minoso CHW 2 141 336 0.42 | 591 184 20 .311 .855 17
5 Ron Hansen BAL 1 110 336 0.33 | 530 135 22 .255 .781 3
6 Al Smith CHW 0 73 336 0.22 | 536 169 12 .315 .826 8
7 Roy Sievers CHW 0 58 336 0.17 | 444 131 28 .295 .930 1
8 Earl Battey WSH 0 57 336 0.17 | 466 126 15 .270 .773 4
9 Bill Skowron NYY 0 56 336 0.17 | 538 166 26 .309 .881 2
10 Jim Lemon WSH 0 36 336 0.11 | 528 142 38 .269 .861 2
11 Tony Kubek NYY 0 29 336 0.09 | 568 155 14 .273 .713 3
12 Chuck Estrada BAL 0 28 336 0.08 | 64 9 0 .141 .390 1| 18-11 209 3.58 1.260 144 2
13 Ted Williams BOS 0 25 336 0.07 | 310 98 29 .316 1.096 1
14 Vic Wertz BOS 0 22 336 0.07 | 443 125 19 .282 .79
15 Yogi Berra NYY 0 21 336 0.06 | 359 99 15 .276 .792 2
15 Jim Gentile BAL 0 21 336 0.06 | 384 112 21 .292 .903 0
17 Pete Runnels BOS 0 18 336 0.05 | 528 169 2 .320 .795 5
18 Nellie Fox CHW 0 11 336 0.03 | 605 175 2 .289 .723 2
18 Vic Power CLE 0 11 336 0.03 | 580 167 10 .288 .707 9
20 Steve Barber BAL 0 7 336 0.02 | 54 3 0 .056 .191 0| 10-7 182 3.22 1.436 112 2

Maris and Mantle in a virtual dead heat, with Maris carrying the win with more points in spite of more first-place votes for Mickey. Brooksy almost snuck in and stole this one.

No AL pitchers received votes in the dual-league Cy Young voting, nor did any deserve to do so.

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 Hansen BAL 22 22 24 0.92 | 530 135 22 .255 .781 3
2 Chuck Estrada BAL 1 1 24 0.04 | 64 9 0 .141 .390 1| 18-11 209 3.58 1.260 144 2
2 Jim Gentile BAL 1 1 24 0.04 | 384 112 21 .292 .903 0|

A sweep for the Orioles.

Top player: Roger Maris. Maris and Mantle are close, but I'll go with the WAR leader this time. Just five points of OPS separate them, and I am deciding that Maris playing RF well was worth more than Mantle playing CF competently.
#1 Roger Maris, #2 Mickey Mantle, #3 Brooks Robinson, #4 Ron Hansen, #5 Luis Aparicio, #6 Bill Skowron.

Top pitcher: Jim Bunning, in spite of a losing (11-14) record. Bunning led in strikeouts and was 2nd in ERA. He also received MVP votes, surprising in view of the era's emphasis on won-lost record.
#1 Jim Bunning, #2 Ray Herbert, #3 Frank Lary, #4 Bill Monbouquette, #5 Mike Fornieles.

Top rookie: Ron Hansen. The best three were all in Baltimore, and Hansen was the best of the lot.

Top manager: Casey Stengel. He had more horses than the others, but he also knew what to do with them.

1959 National League

The Dodgers won a surprise pennant, their only flag between 1956 (the end of the Boys of Summer run) and 1963 (the first of the Koufax/Drysdale teams) with a transitional team. The Dodgers and Braves ended the season in a tie, and LA won two to take the playoff. The Giants led down the stretch but finished third, four games back. Pittsburgh was 4th, Chicago and Cincinnati tied for 5th, and St. Louis and Philadelphia brought up the rear.

Hank Aaron led the league in batting with a .355 mark, outpacing Joe Cunningham at .345. Cunningham led in on-base, while Aaron led in slugging and OPS. Eddie Mathews led in HR with 46, edging Ernie Banks at 45, while it was Banks in RBI with 145, followed by Frank Robinson with 125. Willie Mays led in steals with 27, Vada Pinson in runs with 131 and doubles with 47. Wally Moon and Charlie Neal tied with 11 triples.

The lead in wins was a three-way tie between Lew Burdette, Warren Spahn, and Sam Jones at 21 apiece, with Jones edging Stu Miller and Bob Buhl in the ERA race, checking in at 2.83, 2.84, and 2.86 respectively. Don Drysdale led in strikeouts with 242, followed by Jones at 209, Harvey Haddix in WHIP (13 hitless innings helped) with Lindy McDaniel and Don McMahon tied for the lead in saves at 15. Spahn tossed 21 complete games and led in innings with 292, just ahead of teammate Burdette at 290.

Win Shares leaders, players; Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 38, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 37, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 33, Willie Mays (San Francisco) 32, Vada Pinson (Cincinnati) 27, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati), Wally Moon and Charlie Neal (Los Angeles) 25, Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 24, Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 23, Johnny Temple (Cincinnati) and Don Hoak (Pittsburgh) 22, Jim Gilliam (Los Angeles), Del Crandall (Milwaukee) and Joe Cunningham (St. Louis) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Vern Law (Pittsburgh) 24, Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 23, Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) and Sam Jones (San Francisco) 22, Don Newcombe (Cincinnati) and Larry Jackson (St. Louis) 21, Johnny Antonelli (San Francisco) 20, Roger Craig (Los Angeles), Gene Conley (Milwaukee) and Harvey Haddix (Pittsburgh) 17.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Aaron 11.9, Mathews 11.1, Banks 10.8, Mays 10.0, Hoak 7.4, Crandall 7.2, Pinson 6.7, Boyer 6.5, Robinson, Ed Bailey (Cincinnati), Daryl Spencer (San Francisco) 6.1, Cepeda 5.9, Neal 5.8.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Law 8.8, Spahn 7.5, Newcombe 7.4, Drysdale 7.0, Conley 6.9, Jim Owens (Philadelphia) 6.4, Haddix 6.1.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Banks 10.4, Mathews 9.1, Aaron 9.0, Mays 8.1, Boyer 6.5, Robinson 6.1, Pinson 6.0, Moon 5.8, Crandall 5.1, Neal 4.9, Logan 4.6, Hoak and Cepeda 4.2, Temple 4.1, Cunningham 3.9. Pitchers (bWAR): Jackson and Law 7.0, Drysdale 6.7, Spahn 6.5, Jones 5.9, Antonelli 5.7, Newcombe 5.3, Owens 5.1, Conley and Craig 4.8, Haddix 4.2, Sanford 4.0.

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 Ernie Banks CHC 10 232 336 0.69 | 589 179 45 .304 .970 2
2 Eddie Mathews MLN 5 189 336 0.56 | 594 182 46 .306 .983 2
3 Hank Aaron MLN 2 174 336 0.52 | 629 223 39 .355 1.037 8
4 Wally Moon LAD 4 161 336 0.48 | 543 164 19 .302 .890 15
5 Sam Jones SFG 0 130 336 0.39 | 85 11 0 .129 .298 0| 21-15 271 2.83 1.260 209 4
6 Willie Mays SFG 0 85 336 0.25 | 575 180 34 .313 .964 27
7 Roy Face PIT 0 67 336 0.20 | 13 3 0 .231 .462 0| 18-1 93 2.70 1.243 69 10
8 Charlie Neal LAD 0 64 336 0.19 | 616 177 19 .287 .802 17
9 Frank Robinson CIN 0 52 336 0.15 | 540 168 36 .311 .975 18
10 Ken Boyer STL 0 37 336 0.11 | 563 174 28 .309 .892 12
11 Del Crandall MLN 0 27 336 0.08 | 518 133 21 .257 .741 5
12 Lew Burdette MLN 0 14 336 0.04 | 104 21 0 .202 .520 0| 21-15 290 4.07 1.208 105 1
13 Roger Craig LAD 0 12 336 0.04 | 52 3 0 .058 .133 0| 11-5 153 2.06 1.094 76
13 Joe Cunningham STL 0 12 336 0.04 | 458 158 7 .345 .931 2
15 Vada Pinson CIN 0 11 336 0.03 | 648 205 20 .316 .880 21
16 Johnny Temple CIN 0 8 336 0.02 | 598 186 8 .311 .809 14
17 Don Hoak PIT 0 6 336 0.02 | 564 166 8 .294 .773 9
18 Gil Hodges LAD 0 4 336 0.01 | 413 114 25 .276 .880 3
19 Orlando Cepeda SFG 0 3 336 0.01 | 605 192 27 .317 .878 23
19 Vern Law PIT 0 3 336 0.01 | 96 16 1 .167 .411 0| 18-9 266 2.98 1.120 110 1
19 Warren Spahn MLN 0 3 336 0.01 | 104 24 2 .231 .541 0| 21-15 292 2.96 1.205 143
22 Gene Conley PHI 0 1 336 0.00 | 67 16 0 .239 .519 0| 12-7 180 3.00 1.117 102 1
22 Willie McCovey SFG 0 1 336 0.00 | 192 68 13 .354 1.085 2
22 Duke Snider LAD 0 1 336 0.00 | 370 114 23 .308 .935 1

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Early Wynn CHW 13 13 16 0.81 | 22-10 256 3.17 1.255 179
2 Sam Jones SFG 2 2 16 0.12 | 21-15 271 2.83 1.260 209 4
3 Bob Shaw CHW 1 1 16 0.06 | 18-6 231 2.69 1.175 89 3

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 Willie McCovey SFG 24 24 24 1.00 | 192 68 13 .354 1.085 2|
I believe Vada Pinson was not eligible by the rules of the time.

Top player: Ernie Banks won another MVP, and he was arguably the best player in the league this year. It was close, and would continue to be, but Banks is a good pick here.
#1 Ernie Banks, #2 Hank Aaron, #3 Eddie Mathews, #4 Willie Mays, #5 Vada Pinson, #6 Ken Boyer.

Top pitcher: Vern Law got overlooked with a poor Pirate team, but led in Win Shares and WARP. He was 18-9.
#1 Vern Law, #2 Warren Spahn, #3 Don Drysdale, #4 Sam Jones, #5 Gene Conley.

Top rookie: Willie McCovey by rules then in existence, in 54 incredible games. Vada Pinson would probably win by today's rules, since he would likely be eligible.

Top manager: Walter Alston guided the Dodgers to the championship with a cobbled-together team of old guard (Hodges, Gilliam, Snider, Podres) youngsters who would be part of the coming great LA teams (Koufax, Drysdale, Wills, Roseboro) and transitional guys (Moon, Neal, Craig).

1959 American League

Go-go Sox! Chicago's White Sox won the pennant, breaking the string of four in a row (and 9 of 10) by the Yankees. They then lost to the Dodgers in the World Series. The Chisox won with what was considered at the time a running offense, and their 113 steals, while not overly impressive, did lead the league. They were only 6th in the 8-team league in runs, and it was pitching and defense that carried the day. Cleveland, leading the league in runs, placed second, while the Yankees offense collapsed and the team finished third at 79-75. Detroit, Boston, Baltimore, Kansas City and Washington followed, all under .500.

Harvey Kuenn won the batting title at .353, easily outdistancing Al Kaline's .327. Rocky Colavito and Harmon Killebrew tied for the home run lead with 42. Jackie Jensen led in RBI with 112, closely followed by Colavito with 111. Luis Aparicio led in steals with 56, far ahead of second-place Mickey Mantle's 21. Al Kaline had the OPS lead and led in slugging, with Eddie Yost leading in on-base. Yost scored 115 runs, Kuenn had 42 doubles, and Bobby Allison nine triples.

Early Wynn led in wins and innings, Hoyt Wilhelm in ERA, Jim Bunning in strikeouts. Wynn was the league's only 20-game winner, finishing with 22. Cal McLish had 19 and Bob Shaw 18. Wilhelm's 2.19 mark in his only full year as a starter (at age 36!) was well ahead of Camilo Pascual at 2.64 and Shaw at 2.69. Bunning recorded 201 Ks, leading Pascual at 185 and Wynn at 179. Turk Lown had 15 saves. Pascual topped the loop with his 17 complete games and 7 shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players: Nellie Fox (Chicago) and Mickey Mantle (New York) 30, Rocky Colavito and Minnie Minoso (Cleveland) 29, Tito Francona (Cleveland), Al Kaline and Eddie Yost (Detroit) 27, Jim Landis (Chicago) and Harvey Kuenn (Detroit) 25, Pete Runnels (Boston) 24, Sherm Lollar (Chicago), Yogi Berra (New York) and Harmon Killebrew (Washington) 23, Jackie Jensen (Boston) and Woodie Held (Cleveland) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Camilo Pascual (Washington) 24, Hoyt Wilhelm (Baltimore) and Early Wynn (Chicago) 23, Bob Shaw (Chicago) 22, Don Mossi (Detroit) and Bud Daley (Kansas City) 18, Milt Pappas (Baltimore) and Jim Bunning (Detroit) 17, Jerry Walker (Baltimore), Gerry Staley (Chicago) and Whitey Ford (New York) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Fox 8.1, Mantle 7.9, Kaline 7.0, Runnels 6.9, Colavito and Berra 6.6, Francona 6.4, Jensen 6.2, Minoso and Lollar 6.0, Yost 5.8.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Pascual 12.3, Wilhelm 10.1, Billy O'Dell (Baltimore) 7.2, Daley 7.0, Mossi 6.4, Walker 6.3, Shaw and Pappas 5.9, Bunning and Ned Garver (Kansas City) 5.7.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 7.3, Yost 6.9, Kaline 6.8, Fox 6.7, Colavito and Minoso 6.0, Landis 5.8, Runnels 5.7, Jensen 5.4, Lollar 4.9, Killebrew 4.7, Berra and Kuenn 4.6, Held 4.3, Tuttle 4.2. Pitchers (bWAR): Wilhelm 7.4, Pascual 7.3, Shaw 4.6, Daley 4.4, Mossi 4.1, Pappas 4.0, O'Dell 3.9, Walker 3.8, Bunning 3.7, Ditmar 3.1.

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 Nellie Fox CHW 16 295 336 0.88 | 624 191 2 .306 .770 5
2 Luis Aparicio CHW 8 255 336 0.76 | 612 157 6 .257 .647 56
3 Early Wynn CHW 0 123 336 0.37 | 90 22 2 .244 .706 0| 22-10 256 3.17 1.255 179
4 Rocky Colavito CLE 0 117 336 0.35 | 588 151 42 .257 .849 3
5 Tito Francona CLE 0 102 336 0.30 | 399 145 20 .363 .980 2
6 Al Kaline DET 0 84 336 0.25 | 511 167 27 .327 .940 10
7 Jim Landis CHW 0 66 336 0.20 | 515 140 5 .272 .749 20
8 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 64 336 0.19 | 561 198 9 .353 .903 7
9 Sherm Lollar CHW 0 44 336 0.13 | 505 134 22 .265 .796 4
10 Jackie Jensen BOS 0 40 336 0.12 | 535 148 28 .277 .863 20
11 Cal McLish CLE 0 35 336 0.10 | 74 14 0 .189 .474 1| 19-8 235 3.63 1.381 113 1
12 Yogi Berra NYY 0 26 336 0.08 | 472 134 19 .284 .809 1
12 Minnie Minoso CLE 0 26 336 0.08 | 570 172 21 .302 .846 8
14 Frank Malzone BOS 0 24 336 0.07 | 604 169 19 .280 .760 6
15 Harmon Killebrew WSH 0 21 336 0.06 | 546 132 42 .242 .870 3
16 Gene Woodling BAL 0 18 336 0.05 | 440 132 14 .300 .856 1
17 Mickey Mantle NYY 0 13 336 0.04 | 541 154 31 .285 .904 21
18 Bobby Richardson NYY 0 11 336 0.03 | 469 141 2 .301 .713 5
19 Camilo Pascual WSH 0 9 336 0.03 | 86 26 0 .302 .666 0| 17-10 239 2.64 1.135 185
20 Bob Shaw CHW 0 8 336 0.02 | 73 9 0 .123 .316 0| 18-6 231 2.69 1.175 89 3
20 Gus Triandos BAL 0 8 336 0.02 | 393 85 25 .216 .760 0
22 Bud Daley KCA 0 7 336 0.02 | 78 23 0 .295 .637 0| 16-13 216 3.16 1.267 125 1
23 Vic Power CLE 0 5 336 0.01 | 595 172 10 .289 .746 9
23 Bill Tuttle KCA 0 5 336 0.01 | 463 139 7 .300 .782 10
25 Jim Lemon WSH 0 4 336 0.01 | 531 148 33 .279 .844 5
26 Pete Runnels BOS 0 2 336 0.01 | 560 176 6 .314 .841 6
26 Ted Williams BOS 0 2 336 0.01 | 272 69 10 .254 .791 0
28 Bob Allison WSH 0 1 336 0.00 | 570 149 30 .261 .815 13
28 Gerry Staley CHW 0 1 336 0.00 | 13 2 0 .154 .466 0| 8-5 116 2.24 1.169 54 14

The White Sox pennant so captivated the press corps that the top three MVP spots, and five of the top nine, went to members of the “Go-Go Sox.”

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Early Wynn CHW 13 13 16 0.81 | 22-10 256 3.17 1.255 179
2 Sam Jones SFG 2 2 16 0.12 | 21-15 271 2.83 1.260 209 4
3 Bob Shaw CHW 1 1 16 0.06 | 18-6 231 2.69 1.175 89 3

Rookie of the Year: | 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 Allison WSH 18 18 24 0.75 | 570 149 30 .261 .815 13
2 Jim Perry CLE 5 5 24 0.21 | 50 15 0 .300 .640 0| 12-10 153 2.65 1.157 79 4
3 Russ Snyder KCA 1 1 24 0.04 | 243 76 3 .313 .787 6|

Top player: Nellie Fox. Mantle and Fox were even on WS, but this was Fox' year. He had been running in the top five for the past several years, and his team broke through. In spite of a movement to give his SS teammate Aparicio the MVP award, Fox deservedly won.
#1 Nellie Fox, #2 Mickey Mantle, #3 Al Kaline, #4 Ed Yost, #5 Minnie Minoso, #6 Rocky Colavito,

Top pitcher: Camilo Pascual, by both WS and WARP. Pascual tied for 4th in wins and was 2nd in both ERA and strikeouts. He was the best overall, doing well across the board for a poor team. He even got some support in MVP voting.
#1 Camilo Pascual, #2 Hoyt Wilhelm, #3 Early Wynn, #4 Don Mossi, #5 Bob Shaw.

Top rookie: Bob Allison with his 30 home runs. Between Killebrew, Allison, and Pascual, the Twins were getting something going. These guys were the base of the 1965 pennant winners, albeit in Minnesota.

Top manager: Al Lopez, White Sox skipper. Gotta be.

1958 National League

The Milwaukee Braves won their second straight pennant, but couldn't repeat the World Championship. Like the Yankees of 1958, the Braves won a blaaah league, beating out the Pirates by 8 games when the Buccos only went 84-70, with the newly placed team in San Francisco, the Giants, 3rd and the only other team over .500. Cincinnati, Chicago tied with St. Louis, Los Angeles, and the Phillies followed. The biggest news was the new west coast presence for the NL and the majors, as the Giants adjusted well and boasted Rookie of the Year Orlando Cepeda, while the Dodgers took a nosedive. They moved from a hitters' park to a pitchers' park, lost Roy Campanella to paralysis resulting from a car accident, and had a lot of key players get old.

One of the odd things about the near future for the NL was that the Braves did not continue to dominate. They clearly had the best front-line talent, and two pennants under their belts, but succumbed to a series of "surprise" teams. They tied the Dodgers for the 1959 flag then lost a playoff. The Pirates won in 1960, the Reds in 1961, then the Giants followed by the Dodgers establishing a new dynasty. Milwaukee's Braves missed a chance to be the NL's new dynasty. With Aaron, Mathews, and Spahn, they should have been.

Richie Ashburn led the league in batting average with a .350 mark, followed by Willie Mays at .347. Ashburn also led with 215 hits and 13 triples. Ernie Banks won the MVP by leading in homers with 47 and RBI with 129, and leading by wide margins. Second in both categories was Frank Thomas with 35 homers and 109 RBI. Willie Mays led in OPS, steals with 31, and runs scored with 121. Rookie Orlando Cepeda had 38 doubles.

Bob Friend and Warren Spahn tied for the wins lead with 22, followed by Lew Burdette with 20. Stu Miller lead in ERA with a 2.47 mark. Sam Jones led in strikeouts with 225 and was second in ERA at 2.88. Spahn was second in strikeouts with 150. ElRoy Face led in saves with 20. Spahn pitched 290 innings and tossed 23 complete games.

Win Shares leaders, players; Willie Mays (San Francisco) 40, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 32, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 31, Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) 28, Bob Skinner (Pittsburgh) 25, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) and Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 24, Del Crandall (Milwaukee) 22, Johnny Temple (Cincinnati) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 21, Lee Walls (Chicago), Frank Robinson (Cincinnati), Bill Mazeroski, Frank Thomas and Bill Virdon (Pittsburgh) and Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 28, Lew Burdette (Milwaukee) and Sam Jones (St. Louis) 23, Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 20, Johnny Antonelli (San Francisco) 18, Bob Purkey (Cincinnati) 17, Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) and Larry Jackson (St. Louis) 16, Stu Miller (San Francisco) 15.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays 10.7, Banks 9.7, Ashburn 8.8, Aaron 8.3, Mathews 7.1, Mazeroski 6.7, Dick Groat (Pittsburgh) 6.5, Crandall 6.1, Boyer 5.8, Musial 5.6, Skinner 5.5, Walt Moryn (Chicago) 5.4.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Spahn 8.7, Roberts 8.2, Jones 7.8, Antonelli 6.5, Burdette 6.1, Purkey 6.0, Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell (St. Louis) 5.7, Johnny Podres (Los Angeles) 5.4, Miller 5.3.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 10.7, Banks 9.7, Aaron 7.8, Ashburn 7.5, Mathews 6.7, Boyer 6.3, Mazeroski 5.5, Crandall 5.2, Musial 4.9, Robinson 4.8, Skinner and Walls 4.6, Clemente and Temple 4.5. Pitchers (bWAR): Jones 6.7, Roberts 6.3, Purkey 5.2, Mizell 4.4, Witt 4.3, Miller 4.2, Antonelli 4.1, Spahn 3.9, Podres 3.8, Haddix and Kline 3.7, Brosnan and Burdette 3.6.

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 Ernie Banks CHC 16 283 336 0.84 | 617 193 47 .313 .980 4|
2 Willie Mays SFG 3 185 336 0.55 | 600 208 29 .347 1.002 31|
3 Hank Aaron MLN 0 166 336 0.49 | 601 196 30 .326 .931 4|
4 Frank Thomas PIT 2 143 336 0.43 | 562 158 35 .281 .863 0|
5 Warren Spahn MLN 1 108 336 0.32 | 108 36 2 .333 .844 0| 22-11 290 3.07 1.148 150 1
6 Bob Friend PIT 0 98 336 0.29 | 94 10 0 .106 .269 0| 22-14 274 3.68 1.314 135
7 Richie Ashburn PHI 0 62 336 0.18 | 615 215 2 .350 .881 30|
8 Bill Mazeroski PIT 1 61 336 0.18 | 567 156 19 .275 .747 1|
9 Orlando Cepeda SFG 0 57 336 0.17 | 603 188 25 .312 .854 15|
10 Del Crandall MLN 0 48 336 0.14 | 427 116 18 .272 .805 4|
11 Lew Burdette MLN 0 47 336 0.14 | 99 24 3 .242 .635 0| 20-10 275 2.91 1.195 113
12 Stan Musial STL 0 39 336 0.12 | 472 159 17 .337 .950 0|
13 Ken Boyer STL 0 31 336 0.09 | 570 175 23 .307 .857 11|
14 Johnny Temple CIN 0 26 336 0.08 | 542 166 3 .306 .807 15|
15 Bob Skinner PIT 1 18 336 0.05 | 529 170 13 .321 .879 12|
16 Wes Covington MLN 0 16 336 0.05 | 294 97 24 .330 1.003 0|
17 Roy Face PIT 0 8 336 0.02 | 7 0 0 .000 .000 0| 5-2 84 2.89 1.179 47 20
18 Harry Anderson PHI 0 5 336 0.01 | 515 155 23 .301 .897 0|
19 Jim Gilliam LAD 0 4 336 0.01 | 555 145 2 .261 .687 18|
19 Bob Purkey CIN 0 4 336 0.01 | 81 9 1 .111 .343 0| 17-11 250 3.60 1.232 70
19 Frank Robinson CIN 0 4 336 0.01 | 554 149 31 .269 .854 10|
22 Joe Adcock MLN 0 2 336 0.01 | 320 88 19 .275 .823 0|
23 Carl Furillo LAD 0 1 336 0.00 | 411 119 18 .290 .825 0|

Banks had an easy victory in spite of Mays' great year. The field behind was crowded.

Cy Young Award: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----
1 Bob Turley NYY 5 5 16 0.31 | 21-7 245 2.97 1.247 168 1
2 Warren Spahn MLN 4 4 16 0.25 | 22-11 290 3.07 1.148 150 1
3 Lew Burdette MLN 3 3 16 0.19 | 20-10 275 2.91 1.195 113
3 Bob Friend PIT 3 3 16 0.19 | 22-14 274 3.68 1.314 135
Three NL pitchers trailed the AL winner.

Rookie of the Year: | 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 Orlando Cepeda SFG 21 21 24 0.88 | 603 188 25 .312 .854 15|
An easy vote.

Top player: Willie Mays was pretty clearly the best in the league. They didn't watch OPS then, however. Mays, of course, was the best player in the league for about 15 years, though not every single season. He was this time.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Ernie Banks, #3 Hank Aaron, #4 Richie Ashburn, #5 Ken Boyer, #6 Eddie Mathews.

Top pitcher: Warren Spahn. Spahnie had a great year while Aaron and Mathews were down a bit, and carried the team.
#1 Warren Spahn, #2 Lew Burdette, #3 Sam Jones, #4 Robin Roberts, #5 Johnny Antonelli.

Top rookie: Orlando Cepeda in a walk.

Top manager: Danny Murtaugh brought the Pirates in a surprise 2nd.

1958 American League

The Yankees won their fourth straight pennant, and then the World Series, in an unimpressive league. The Yanks were not dominant, winning but 92 games, but finished 10 ahead of second-place Chicago which was only 82-72. Boston was 3rd, Cleveland 4th, and Detroit 5th, followed by Baltimore and Kansas City, with Washington last tallying 93 losses. No real great or terrible teams in the league. The Yankees were the best hitting team in the league by a safe margin, and best by a slim margin at keeping runs off the board.

Ted Williams won the batting title at .328, ahead of Pete Runnels at .322, and led in OPS. Rocky Colavito led in slugging. Mickey Mantle led in homers with 42, edging Colavito's 41, and in runs with 127. Jackie Jensen won the MVP by topping the RBI list with 122, followed by Colavito at 113. Luis Aparicio led in steals with 29. Nellie Fox had 187 hits, Harvey Kuenn 39 doubles, Vic Power 10 triples. Mantle also led in walks and was 2nd in OPS.

Bob Turley had a wide lead in wins, with 21 victories while Billy Pierce was 2nd with 17. Whitey Ford led in ERA by a wide margin with a 2.01 mark, followed by Billy Pierce at 2.68. Early Wynn led in strikeouts with 179, just ahead of Jim Bunning's 177. Ryne Duren led in saves with 20 to Dick Hyde's 18.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 39, Rocky Colavito (Cleveland) 32, Bob Cerv (Kansas City) 29, Jackie Jensen (Boston) 27, Pete Runnels (Boston) and Roy Sievers (Washington) 26, Ted Williams (Boston) and Minnie Minoso (Cleveland) 25, Al Kaline (Detroit) 23, Nellie Fox and Jim Landis (Chicago) 22, Sherm Lollar (Chicago), Frank Bolling and Harvey Kuenn (Detroit) and Yogi Berra and Norm Siebern (New York) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Jack Harshman (Boston) and Billy Pierce (Chicago) 22, Frank Lary (Detroit) 21, Billy O'Dell (Baltimore) and Whitey Ford (New York) 20, Dick Hyde (Washington) 19, Dick Donovan (Chicago) and Bob Turley (New York) 18, Arnie Portocarrero (Baltimore) and Paul Foytack (Detroit) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mantle 10.4, Colavito 9.1, Cerv 7.5, Kaline 6.7, Gus Triandos (Baltimore) 6.1, Fox and Gil McDougald (New York) 5.9, Runnels 5.8, Jensen 5.7, Lollar and Luis Aparicio (Chicago) 5.6, Bolling and Siebern 5.1, Minoso 5.0, Berra 4.7.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Hyde 8.1, Harshman 7.5, Camilo Pascual (Washington) 6.7, Pedro Ramos (Washington) 6.4, Pierce 6.3, Lary 6.1, O'Dell 5.5, Portocarrero 5.3, Gary Bell (Cleveland) 4.6, Irv Delock (Boston) 4.5, Ford and Foytack 4.3.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 9.2, Colavito 7.0, Kaline 6.8, Cerv 6.6, Runnels 6.0, Jensen 5.9, Minoso 5.4, Siebern 5.0, Williams 4.8, Power 4.6, Lollar 4.4, Sievers 4.3, Aparicio 4.0. Pitchers (bWAR): Lary 6.5, Pierce 5.1, Pascual 4.4, Ford 4.3, Harshman and O'Dell 4.1, Donovan 3.9, Wilhelm 3.7, Hyde 3.6, Turley 3.5.

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 Jackie Jensen BOS 9 233 336 0.69 | 548 157 35 .286 .931 9|
2 Bob Turley NYY 7 191 336 0.57 | 88 12 2 .136 .378 0| 21-7 245 2.97 1.247 168 1
3 Rocky Colavito CLE 4 181 336 0.54 | 489 148 41 .303 1.024 0| 0-0 3 0.00 1.000 1
4 Bob Cerv KCA 3 164 336 0.49 | 515 157 38 .305 .963 3|
5 Mickey Mantle NYY 0 127 336 0.38 | 519 158 42 .304 1.035 18|
6 Roy Sievers WSH 0 95 336 0.28 | 550 162 39 .295 .900 3|
7 Ted Williams BOS 0 89 336 0.26 | 411 135 26 .328 1.042 1|
8 Nellie Fox CHW 1 88 336 0.26 | 623 187 0 .300 .710 5|
9 Sherm Lollar CHW 0 57 336 0.17 | 421 115 20 .273 .821 2|
10 Pete Runnels BOS 0 29 336 0.09 | 568 183 8 .322 .854 1|
11 Gus Triandos BAL 0 27 336 0.08 | 474 116 30 .245 .782 1|
12 Dick Hyde WSH 0 26 336 0.08 | 18 0 0 .000 .100 0| 10-3 103 1.75 1.136 49 18
13 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 24 336 0.07 | 561 179 8 .319 .815 5|
14 Cal McLish CLE 0 18 336 0.05 | 64 6 0 .094 .337 0| 16-8 226 2.99 1.258 97 1
15 Vic Power TOT 0 15 336 0.04 | +590 184 16 .312 .822 3|
16 Frank Bolling DET 0 10 336 0.03 | 610 164 14 .269 .720 6|
17 Elston Howard NYY 0 9 336 0.03 | 376 118 11 .314 .827 1|
18 Yogi Berra NYY 0 6 336 0.02 | 433 115 22 .266 .790 3|
18 Minnie Minoso CLE 0 6 336 0.02 | 556 168 24 .302 .867 14|
20 Al Kaline DET 0 5 336 0.01 | 543 170 16 .313 .864 7|
20 Gil McDougald NYY 0 5 336 0.01 | 503 126 14 .250 .705 6|
22 Ryne Duren NYY 0 4 336 0.01 | 13 1 0 .077 .371 0| 6-4 76 2.02 1.096 87 20
23 Frank Lary DET 0 3 336 0.01 | 88 15 1 .170 .436 0| 16-15 260 2.90 1.218 131 1
24 Jack Harshman BAL 0 2 336 0.01 | 82 16 6 .195 .757 0| 12-15 236 2.89 1.181 161 4
25 Dick Donovan CHW 0 1 336 0.00 | 80 9 0 .112 .341 0| 15-14 248 3.01 1.181 127
25 Frank Malzone BOS 0 1 336 0.00 | 627 185 15 .295 .754 1|

Jensen won a fairly close vote and his biggest claim to fame. After another year, he would be out of the game due to a fear of flying. He would come back after a year away, but the spark was gone.

Cy Young: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+
1 Bob Turley NYY 5 5 16 0.31 | 21-7 245 2.97 1.247 168 1
2 Warren Spahn MLN 4 4 16 0.25 | 22-11 290 3.07 1.148 150 1
3 Lew Burdette MLN 3 3 16 0.19 | 20-10 275 2.91 1.195 113
3 Bob Friend PIT 3 3 16 0.19 | 22-14 274 3.68 1.314 135

Turley beat the three NL candidates, although he hardly pitched in September. Rumors varied from arm trouble to resting him for the World Series to holding down his win total for contract reasons.

Rookie of the Year: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Albie Pearson WSH 14 14 24 0.58 | 530 146 3 .275 .712 7|
2 Ryne Duren NYY 7 7 24 0.29 | 13 1 0 .077 .371 0| 6-4 76 2.02 1.096 87 20
3 Gary Bell CLE 3 3 24 0.12 | 56 11 0 .196 .512 0| 12-10 182 3.31 1.176 110 1
Little Pearson beat out the hard-throwing Duren.

Top player: Mickey Mantle was completely dominating the league at this time. There wasn't another player really close. Two of the other best, Cerv and Jensen, were CF he had run off from New York.
#1 Mickey Mantle, #2 Rocky Colavito, #3 Bob Cerv, #4 Jackie Jensen, #5 Al Kaline, #6 Pete Runnels.

Top pitcher: Whitey Ford in a "pick 'em" kind of year. Ford was the leader in ERA, WHIP, and shutouts, although he was only 14-7. Casey Stengel used to pitch Whitey in the toughest games, and that would sometimes cost him wins. Jack Harshman had great WS and WARP numbers, but was just 12-15.
#1 Whitey Ford, #2 Frank Lary, #3 Billy Pierce, #4 Bob Turley, #5 Jack Harshman.

Top rookie: Albie Pearson had the best overall rookie season. His .275 average was buoyed by 64 walks to a .354 OBP, and he played strong defense.

Top manager: Casey Stengel, partly because there is no other pick.

1957 National League

Milwaukee won its first-ever pennant, as the Braves took their first crown in the City of Beer. They also won the World Series, the first for the Braves since the 1914 "Miracle" in Boston. It would be 38 years before they won another. The Braves took over first place in early August, and clinched on September 23, to beat the Cardinals by 8 games, the Dodgers by 11, and the Reds by 15, with Philadelphia exactly at .500 and 18 games back. New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh brought up the rear. Brooklyn and New York would be without teams after the season, as the Dodgers and Giants picked up and moved to the west coast. That left the NL without a New York team for the first time since the 1880s.

Stan Musial won the batting title at .351 and edged Willie Mays by one point for the OPS lead. Hank Aaron led in HR (44), RBI (132), and runs (118) for the pennant winners. Mays led in triples (20) and steals (38). Red Schoendienst had 200 hits, Don Hoak 39 doubles.

Warren Spahn led in wins and was the only 20-game winner with 21, and Jack Sanford was second in victories with 19. Sanford also led in strikeouts with 188 in his rookie year. Moe Drabowsky and Dick Drott were second in Ks at 170. Johnny Podres led in ERA with a 2.66 mark, just ahead of Spahn and Don Drysdale at 2.69. Clem Labine led in saves with 17. Bob Friend paced the league in innings with 277.

Win Shares leaders, players; Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 35, Willie Mays (New York) 34, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 33, Stan Musial (St. Louis) 30, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 28, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati) and Ed Bouchee (Philadelphia) 27, Red Schoendienst (New York/Milwaukee) and Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) 26, Duke Snider (Brooklyn) 25, Don Blasingame (St. Louis) 24, Don Hoak (Cincinnati) 22, Gil Hodges (Brooklyn) and Wally Moon (St. Louis) 21, Johnny Temple (Cincinnati) 19.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 22, Don Drysdale (Brooklyn) and Brooks Lawrence (Cincinnati) 21, Jack Sanford (Philadelphia) 20, Johnny Podres (Brooklyn) 19, Bob Buhl (Milwaukee), Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) and Larry Jackson (St. Louis) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mathews 11.7, Aaron 10.7, Mays 10.1, Musial 8.2, Robinson 7.6, Banks 7.4, Hoak 6.8, Bouchee 6.1, Blasingame and Roy McMillan (Cincinnati) 6.0, Dick Groat (St. Louis) 5.8, Ed Bailey (Cincinnati) 5.7, Schoendienst 5.2, Ashburn, Hodges, and Al Dark (St. Louis) 5.0.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Drysdale 7.8, Podres 7.5, Sanford 7.2, Moe Drabowsky (Chicago) 7.0, Ruben Gomez (New York) 6.7, Lawrence 6.1, Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons (Philadelphia) 5.5, Spahn and Don Newcombe (Brooklyn) 5.4, Jackson 5.3.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 9.4, Aaron 8.5, Mathews 8.3, Robinson 7.6, Banks 7.1, Musial 6.9, Ashburn 6.2, Schoendienst 6.1, Snider 6.0, Bouchee and Blasingame 5.1, Hodges 5.0. Pitchers (bWAR): Drysdale 5.8, Podres 5.6, Drabowsky 5.1, Spahn 4.9, Sanford 4.8, Jackson 4.3, Gomez 4.2, Antonelli, Friend, and Lawrence 3.9, Buhl and Simmons 3.8.

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 Hank Aaron MLN 9 239 336 0.71 | 615 198 44 .322 .978 1|
2 Stan Musial STL 5 230 336 0.68 | 502 176 29 .351 1.034 1|
3 Red Schoendienst TOT 8 221 336 0.66 | +648 200 15 .309 .795 4|
4 Willie Mays NYG 1 174 336 0.52 | 585 195 35 .333 1.033 38|
5 Warren Spahn MLN 1 131 336 0.39 | 94 13 2 .138 .415 0| 21-11 271 2.69 1.177 111 3
6 Ernie Banks CHC 0 60 336 0.18 | 594 169 43 .285 .939 8|
7 Gil Hodges BRO 0 54 336 0.16 | 579 173 27 .299 .877 5|
8 Eddie Mathews MLN 0 45 336 0.13 | 572 167 32 .292 .927 3|
9 Frank Robinson CIN 0 42 336 0.12 | 611 197 29 .322 .905 10|
10 Jack Sanford PHI 0 39 336 0.12 | 89 15 0 .169 .382 0| 19-8 237 3.08 1.217 188
11 Don Hoak CIN 0 31 336 0.09 | 529 155 19 .293 .863 8|
12 Don Blasingame STL 0 26 336 0.08 | 650 176 8 .271 .711 21|
12 Ed Bouchee PHI 0 26 336 0.08 | 574 168 17 .293 .864 1|
14 Bob Buhl MLN 0 15 336 0.04 | 73 6 0 .082 .234 0| 18-7 217 2.74 1.440 117
15 Del Ennis STL 0 13 336 0.04 | 490 140 24 .286 .826 1|
15 Dick Groat PIT 0 13 336 0.04 | 501 158 7 .315 .787 0|
17 Alvin Dark STL 0 12 336 0.04 | 583 169 4 .290 .707 3|
18 Duke Snider BRO 0 10 336 0.03 | 508 139 40 .274 .955 3|
19 Don Drysdale BRO 0 8 336 0.02 | 73 9 2 .123 .405 0| 17-9 221 2.69 1.167 148
19 Frank Thomas PIT 0 8 336 0.02 | 594 172 23 .290 .795 3|
21 Dick Drott CHC 0 6 336 0.02 | 80 8 0 .100 .222 0| 15-11 229 3.58 1.437 170
21 Roy McMillan CIN 0 6 336 0.02 | 448 122 1 .272 .728 5|
23 Granny Hamner PHI 0 3 336 0.01 | 502 114 10 .227 .618 3| 0-0 1 0.00 1.000 1
24 Lew Burdette MLN 0 2 336 0.01 | 88 13 2 .148 .421 0| 17-9 257 3.72 1.243 78
25 Harry Anderson PHI 0 1 336 0.00 | 400 107 17 .268 .785 2|
25 Johnny Logan MLN 0 1 336 0.00 | 494 135 10 .273 .720 5|

Aaron won a narrow victory in the vote over Musial and Schoendienst. Mays and Spahn drew significant support as well.

Cy Young Award: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Warren Spahn MLN 15 15 16 0.94 | 21-11 271 2.69 1.177 111 3
2 Dick Donovan CHW 1 1 16 0.06 | 16-6 221 2.77 1.124 88

Rookie of the Year: | 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 Jack Sanford PHI 16 16 24 0.67 | 89 15 0 .169 .382 0| 19-8 237 3.08 1.217 188
2 Ed Bouchee PHI 4 4 24 0.17 | 574 168 17 .293 .864 1|
3 Dick Drott CHC 3 3 24 0.12 | 80 8 0 .100 .222 0| 15-11 229 3.58 1.437 170
4 Bob Hazle MLN 1 1 24 0.04 | 134 54 7 .403 1.126 1|

Dick Drott? People voted for Dick Drott?

Top player: Hank Aaron. WS and WARP split, so we go for the leader of the winners. Aaron had an excellent season, and one that looks just like the rest of his career.
#1 Hank Aaron, #2 Willie Mays, #3 Ernie Banks, #4 Eddie Mathews, #5 Stan Musial, #6 Frank Robinson

Top pitcher: Warren Spahn. Again a split, and again we go for the winning team. Spahn, like Aaron, was a consistent performer and this year was no better or worse than 10 other seasons in his career.
#1 Warren Spahn, #2 Don Drysdale, #3 Jack Sanford, #4 Johnny Podres, #5 Brooks Lawrence.

Top rookie: Jack Sanford made quite a debut. Bouchee did well also.

Top manager: Fred Haney finally got this team to the top spot.

1957 American League

The Yankees won their third straight pennant, but lost the World Series. New York's 98 wins placed them well ahead of Chicago's 90, and Boston's 82. Detroit was 4th, Baltimore 5th, and Cleveland 6th, all around .500. It was a big rise for the Orioles, and a big drop for the Indians that signalled three decades of decline. Kansas City and Washington brought up the rear. Gold Gloves were awarded for the first time, with a combined award for both leagues like the Cy Young.

Ted Williams was a virtual one-man gang for the Red Sox, leading the league in OPS, winning the batting title with a .388 mark, and finishing 2nd in homers. Roy Sievers led the league in home runs with 42 and RBI with 118. Luis Aparicio led in steals with 28. Mickey Mantle scored 121 runs, Nellie Fox had 196 hits, Billy Gardner and Minnie Minoso had 36 doubles, and the three-way tie with nine triples included Hank Bauer, Gil McDougald, and Harry Simpson.

Jim Bunning and Billy Pierce tied for the league lead with 20 wins, while no one else had more than 16. Bobby Shantz led in ERA with a 2.45 mark, besting Tom Sturdivant's 2.54. Early Wynn led in strikeouts with 184 to Bunning's 182. Bob Grim had 19 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 51, Ted Williams (Boston) 38, Nellie Fox (Chicago) and Roy Sievers (Washington) 32, Gil McDougald (New York) 27, Minnie Minoso (Chicago) 26, Gene Woodling (Cleveland) 25, Vic Wertz (Cleveland) 24, Yogi Berra (New York) 23, Charlie Maxwell (Detroit) 22, Billy Gardner (Baltimore) and Al Kaline (Detroit) 20, Bob Boyd (Baltimore) and Jimmy Piersall (Boston) 19.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Jim Bunning (Detroit) 26, Frank Sullivan (Boston) 23, Dick Donovan and Billy Pierce (Chicago) and Paul Foytack (Detroit) 18, Tom Brewer (Boston) and Tom Sturdivant (New York) 16.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mantle 12.9, McDougald 10.3, Williams 9.3, Fox 8.2, Maxwell 7.4, Minoso 5.8, Sievers 5.0, Gus Triandos (Baltimore) 4.7, Woodling 4.4, Gardner 4.2, Berra and Larry Doby (Chicago) 4.0, Kaline 3.9.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Sullivan 10.3, Bunning 8.2, Cal McLish (Cleveland) 5.3, Foytack 5.2, Brewer 5.1, Willard Nixon (Boston) 4.5, Donovan 4.3, Virgil Trucks (Kansas City) 4.0.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 12.0, Williams 10.3, Fox 7.7, McDougald 6.8, Minoso 5.9, Maxwell 5.5, Kaline and Sievers 5.4, Woodling 5.0, Gardner 4.4, Colavito 4.0. Pitchers (bWAR): Sullivan 6.3, Bunning 6.1, Donovan and Foytack 4.1, Pierce and Sturdivant 3.9, Hoeft 3.5, Shantz 3.2, Johnson 3.1, Maas 2.9.

Actual award winners:

MVP voting| 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 Mickey Mantle NYY 6 233 336 0.69 | 474 173 34 .365 1.177 16|
2 Ted Williams BOS 5 209 336 0.62 | 420 163 38 .388 1.257 0|
3 Roy Sievers WSH 4 205 336 0.61 | 572 172 42 .301 .967 1|
4 Nellie Fox CHW 5 193 336 0.57 | 619 196 6 .317 .818 5|
5 Gil McDougald NYY 4 165 336 0.49 | 539 156 13 .289 .804 2|
6 Vic Wertz CLE 0 61 336 0.18 | 515 145 28 .282 .857 2|
7 Frank Malzone BOS 0 58 336 0.17 | 634 185 15 .292 .751 2|
8 Minnie Minoso CHW 0 55 336 0.16 | 568 176 12 .310 .862 18|
9 Jim Bunning DET 0 46 336 0.14 | 94 20 1 .213 .540 0| 20-8 267 2.69 1.070 182 1
10 Al Kaline DET 0 40 336 0.12 | 577 170 23 .295 .821 11|
11 Billy Pierce CHW 0 35 336 0.10 | 99 17 0 .172 .370 0| 20-12 257 3.26 1.163 171 2
12 Billy Gardner BAL 0 22 336 0.07 | 644 169 6 .262 .681 10|
13 Dick Donovan CHW 0 19 336 0.06 | 83 12 3 .145 .485 0| 16-6 221 2.77 1.124 88
14 Yogi Berra NYY 0 18 336 0.05 | 482 121 24 .251 .767 1|
15 Gene Woodling CLE 0 13 336 0.04 | 430 138 19 .321 .929 0|
16 Bob Boyd BAL 0 9 336 0.03 | 485 154 4 .318 .796 2|
16 Bob Grim NYY 0 9 336 0.03 | 9 1 1 .111 .644 0| 12-8 72 2.62 1.333 52 19
18 Charlie Maxwell DET 0 5 336 0.01 | 492 136 24 .276 .858 3|
19 Whitey Ford NYY 0 4 336 0.01 | 42 6 0 .143 .343 0| 11-5 129 2.58 1.292 84
19 Woodie Held TOT 0 4 336 0.01 | +327 78 20 .239 .803 4|
21 Vic Power KCA 0 3 336 0.01 | 467 121 14 .259 .676 3|
22 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 2 336 0.01 | 624 173 9 .277 .715 5|
22 Sherm Lollar CHW 0 2 336 0.01 | 351 90 11 .256 .736 2|
22 Jim Piersall BOS 0 2 336 0.01 | 609 159 19 .261 .746 14|
22 Bill Skowron NYY 0 2 336 0.01 | 457 139 17 .304 .818 3|
26 Tony Kubek NYY 0 1 336 0.00 | 431 128 3 .297 .716 6|
26 Bobby Shantz NYY 0 1 336 0.00 | 56 10 0 .179 .513 0| 11-5 173 2.45 1.139 72 5

A five-way battle, with a deserving winner.

Cy Young: Dick Donovan got one vote, while the NL's Warren Spahn got the rest.

Rookie of the Year:
| 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 Tony Kubek NYY 23 23 24 0.96 | 431 128 3 .297 .716 6|
2 Frank Malzone BOS 1 1 24 0.04 | 634 185 15 .292 .751 2|

Top player: Mickey Mantle. He didn't lead the league in a Triple Crown category, after wearing that crown in 1956, but he batted .365 (2nd) with 34 HR (3rd) and 94 RBI (6th), with 146 walks (1st) and 16 steals (4th), was 2nd in on-base, slugging, and OPS as well as OPS+, and played a good CF, while Williams played a poor LF.
#1 Mickey Mantle, #2 Ted Williams, #3 Nellie Fox, #4 Roy Sievers, #5 Gil McDougald, #6 Minnie Minoso.

Top pitcher: Jim Bunning was the best in the league in his first full season. He was 3rd in ERA and 2nd in strikeouts as well as tied for first in wins.
#1 Jim Bunning, #2 Frank Sullivan, #3 Billy Pierce, #4 Dick Donovan, #5 Paul Foytack.

Top rookie: Tony Kubek, by a slim margin over Frank Malzone based on defense.

Top manager: Paul Richards got the Orioles to respectability.

1956 National League

The Dodgers repeated as pennant winners, their fourth in five years. It would be their last in Brooklyn. The pennant race was fast and furious, as Milwaukee finished one game back, and surprising Cincinnati was two games out of the money. The Dodgers beat the Pirates on the last day to clinch the pennant. Sal Maglie had thrown a no-hitter for Brooklyn in the last week as the Dodgers overcame a Braves lead. Cincy tied the team record for home runs in a season. St. Louis was 4th but under .500, with Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh and Chicago making up the second division.

Hank Aaron won the batting title with a .328 mark, Duke Snider had the lead in home runs with 43, and Stan Musial led in RBI with 109. Willie Mays led with 40 stolen bases, Snider in OPS and OPS+. Rookie Frank Robinson led in runs scored with 122. Aaron had 34 doubles, Billy Bruton 15 triples. Bill Virdon was second in average with a .319 mark, Joe Adcock and Frank Robinson had 38 HR, and Adcock was second in RBI with 103.

Don Newcombe led pitchers in wins with 27, and won the MVP and Cy Young Awards. Lew Burdette led in ERA at 2.70, Sam Jones in strikeouts with 176, and Clem Labine in saves with 19, which were not yet official. Johnny Antonelli and Warren Spahn were next in wins with exactly 20 each. Spahn had a second-place 2.78 ERA. Harvey Haddix was second in strikeouts with 170.

Win Shares leaders, players; Duke Snider (Brooklyn) 34, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 30, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 29, Jim Gilliam (Brooklyn) and Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) 28, Willie Mays (New York) 27, Frank Robinson (Cincinnati), Stan Lopata (Philadelphia) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 26, Willie Jones (Philadelphia) 25, Johnny Logan (Milwaukee) 24, Ed Bailey (Cincinnati) and Ken Boyer (St. Louis) 23, Ernie Banks (Chicago), Gus Bell (Cincinnati), Joe Adcock (Milwaukee) and Wally Moon (St. Louis) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Don Newcombe (Brooklyn) 27, Johnny Antonelli (New York) 25, Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 24, Lew Burdette (Milwaukee) and Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) 20, Ron Kline (Pittsburgh) 17, Sal Maglie (Brooklyn) 16, Bob Rush (Chicago), Herschel Freeman (Cincinnati) and Murry Dickson (Philadelphia/St. Louis) 15.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Aaron 11.2, Mays 8.7, Logan and Roy McMillan (Cincinnati) 8.5, Mathews 7.6, Snider and Jones 7.4, Adcock 7.2, Musial 6.9, Gilliam 6.8, Boyer 6.7, Ashburn 6.6, Robinson 6.5, Lopata and Bailey 6.2, Banks 6.0.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Newcombe 8.4, Antonelli 8.3, Spahn 6.2, Friend 5.7, Kline 5.3, Dickson 5.2, Rush 5.1, Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 5.0, Curt Simmons (Philadelphia) 4.9, Maglie 4.7.

WAR, position players (fWAR): Snider 8.1, Mays 7.6, Aaron 7.5, Gilliam 6.6, Robinson 6.4, Boyer 6.2, Mathews 6.1, Logan and Ashburn 5.8, Musial and Banks 5.4, Lopata 4.8, Adcock 4.7. Pitching (bWAR): Friend 6.3, Antonelli 6.2, Spahn 5.9, Kline 5.0, Maglie 4.3, Rush 4.2, Burdette and Newcombe 4.1, Dickson 3.6, Grissom 2.9.

Actual award winners:

MVP (top 25) | 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 Don Newcombe BRO 8 223 336 0.66 | 111 26 2 .234 .654 1| 27-7 268 3.06 0.989 139
2 Sal Maglie TOT 4 183 336 0.54 | 70 9 0 .129 .269 0| 13-5 191 2.87 1.079 108
3 Hank Aaron MLN 0 146 336 0.43 | 609 200 26 .328 .923 2|
4 Warren Spahn MLN 1 126 336 0.38 | 105 22 3 .210 .562 1| 20-11 281 2.78 1.070 128 3
5 Jim Gilliam BRO 4 103 336 0.31 | 594 178 6 .300 .794 21|
6 Roy McMillan CIN 3 96 336 0.29 | 479 126 3 .263 .710 4|
7 Frank Robinson CIN 0 79 336 0.24 | 572 166 38 .290 .936 8|
8 Pee Wee Reese BRO 3 71 336 0.21 | 572 147 9 .257 .667 13|
9 Stan Musial STL 0 62 336 0.18 | 594 184 27 .310 .908 2|
10 Duke Snider BRO 1 55 336 0.16 | 542 158 43 .292 .997 3|
11 Joe Adcock MLN 0 54 336 0.16 | 454 132 38 .291 .934 1|
12 Bob Friend PIT 0 38 336 0.11 | 97 16 1 .165 .390 0| 17-17 314 3.46 1.257 166 3
13 Hersh Freeman CIN 0 25 336 0.07 | 18 1 0 .056 .302 0| 14-5 109 3.39 1.343 50 18
14 Johnny Antonelli NYG 0 18 336 0.05 | 89 14 3 .157 .468 0| 20-13 258 2.86 1.161 145 1
14 Ted Kluszewski CIN 0 18 336 0.05 | 517 156 35 .302 .898 1|
16 Jackie Robinson BRO 0 17 336 0.05 | 357 98 10 .275 .793 12|
17 Willie Mays NYG 0 14 336 0.04 | 578 171 36 .296 .926 40|
18 Ed Bailey CIN 0 13 336 0.04 | 383 115 28 .300 .936 2|
18 Bill Virdon TOT 0 13 336 0.04 | +580 185 10 .319 .806 6|
20 Stan Lopata PHI 0 11 336 0.03 | 535 143 32 .267 .888 5|
21 Carl Furillo BRO 0 9 336 0.03 | 523 151 21 .289 .824 1|
22 Lew Burdette MLN 0 8 336 0.02 | 86 16 0 .186 .406 0| 19-10 256 2.70 1.116 110 1
23 Bob Buhl MLN 0 7 336 0.02 | 73 7 0 .096 .231 0| 18-8 217 3.32 1.361 86
23 Robin Roberts PHI 0 7 336 0.02 | 100 20 1 .200 .518 0| 19-18 297 4.45 1.238 157 3
25 Brooks Lawrence CIN 0 6 336 0.02 | 70 11 0 .157 .401 0| 19-10 219 3.99 1.285 96

A very scattered vote. Snider placed 10th but got a first-place vote. Most of the vote concentrated on Dodger pitchers Newcombe and Maglie. Pitchers took three of the top four places.

Cy Young Award: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+--------+--+
1 Don Newcombe BRO 10 10 16 0.62 | 27-7 268 3.06 0.989 139
2 Sal Maglie TOT 4 4 16 0.25 |+13-5 196 2.89 1.092 110
3 Whitey Ford NYY 1 1 16 0.06 | 19-6 226 2.47 1.201 141 1
3 Warren Spahn MLN 1 1 16 0.06 | 20-11 281 2.78 1.070 128 3

And the same here.

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+---+-----+
1 Frank Robinson CIN 24 24 24 1.00 | 572 166 38 .290 .936 8|
There, that was easy.

Top player: Duke Snider was the best player in the league. His love/hate relationship with the press may have cost him some hardware, but Newcombe's 27 wins were too spectacular to overcome.
#1 Duke Snider, #2 Hank Aaron, #3 Willie Mays, #4 Richie Ashburn, #5 Jim Gilliam, #6 Frank Robinson.

Top pitcher: Don Newcombe. 1st in wins, 5th in ERA, 4th in innings. You can make a lot of arguments that it wasn't him, and I don't think he was the MVP, but it's hard to put up a good case that he wasn't the best pitcher.
#1 Don Newcombe, #2 Johnny Antonelli, #3 Warren Spahn, #4 Bob Friend, #5 Ron Kline.

Top rookie: Frank Robinson is a no-brainer with one of the great rookie seasons of all time.

Top manager: Birdie Tebbetts, getting Cincinnati to within two games of the pennant.

1956 American League

The world returned to normal, as the Yankees won the pennant and defeated the Dodgers in the World Series. New York took a fairly easy pennant, leading Cleveland by 9 games, with Chicago 12 out, Boston 13 back, and Detroit 15 games off the pace. Baltimore was 6th, Washington 7th, and Kansas City last with 102 losses.

Mickey Mantle hit the big time by winning the Triple Crown, and also the MVP. Mantle had a .353 average to beat Ted Williams' .345, 52 HR to rout Vic Wertz' 32, and 130 RBI to edge Al Kaline's 128. Mantle also led in slugging and OPS, and with 132 runs. Williams led in on-base percentage, and rookie Luis Aparicio in stolen bases with 21. Jimmy Piersall led with 40 doubles, and four players tied for the lead with 11 triples: Jackie Jensen, Jim Lemon, Minnie Minoso, and Harry "Suitcase" Simpson.

The first-ever Cy Young Award was given, but one award covered both leagues and Don Newcombe of the Dodgers took the voting. Frank Lary led the AL in wins with 21, and Whitey Ford in ERA with a 2.47 mark, while Herb Score led in strikeouts with 263. There were five other 20-game winners, including another Tiger and three Indians: Billy Hoeft, Bob Lemon, Score, Early Wynn, and Billy Pierce. Score was a close second to Ford in ERA with a 2.53. A distant second in strikeouts was Pierce with 192. George Zuverink had 16 saves to lead the league. Lary led in innings with 294.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 49, Yogi Berra (New York) 31, Minnie Minoso (Chicago) 29, Al Kaline and Harvey Kuenn (Detroit) 26, Ted Williams (Boston) and Charlie Maxwell (Detroit) 25, Bob Niemann (Chicago/Baltimore) and Gil McDougald (New York) 24, Jackie Jensen (Boston), and Larry Doby (Chicago) 23, Ray Boone (Detroit) 22, Jimmy Piersall (Boston), Al Smith and Vic Wertz (Cleveland), and Bill Skowron (New York) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Early Wynn (Cleveland) 28, Herb Score (Cleveland) 25, Tom Brewer (Boston) 24, Bob Lemon (Cleveland) 23, Frank Lary (Detroit) and Whitey Ford (New York) 22, Billy Pierce (Chicago) 21, Jack Harshman (Chicago) 20, Frank Sullivan (Boston) and Chuck Stobbs (Washington) 19.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mantle 12.3, Berra and McDougald 7.5, Maxwell 6.9, Kaline 6.4, Nellie Fox (Chicago) 5.9, Sherm Lollar (Chicago) 5.8, Minoso, Niemann, and Williams 5.3, Kuenn 5.2, Eddie Yost (Washington) 4.9, Doby 4.8, Boone 4.7.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Wynn 10.1, Score 9.4, Lemon 8.4, Brewer 7.7, Stobbs 7.1, Lary 7.0, Harshman 6.3, Ford 6.1, Dick Donovan (Chicago) 5.2, Pierce 4.7.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 12.2, Kaline and Berra 7.1, Minoso 6.9, Williams 6.8, Maxwell 6.5, Piersall 6.1, Kuenn 5.9, McDougald, Doby, and Jensen 5.5, Niemann 5.0. Pitchers (bWAR): Wynn 8.2, Score 7.6, Lary 6.7, Pierce 5.9, Ford 5.8, Brewer and Lemon 5.4, Stobbs 5.2, Harshman 4.8, Sullivan 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 Mickey Mantle NYY 24 336 336 1.00 | 533 188 52 .353 1.169 10|
2 Yogi Berra NYY 0 186 336 0.55 | 521 155 30 .298 .911 3|
3 Al Kaline DET 0 142 336 0.42 | 617 194 27 .314 .913 7|
4 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 80 336 0.24 | 591 196 12 .332 .857 9|
5 Billy Pierce CHW 0 75 336 0.22 | 102 16 0 .157 .346 0| 20-9 276 3.32 1.307 192 1
6 Ted Williams BOS 0 70 336 0.21 | 400 138 24 .345 1.084 0|
7 Gil McDougald NYY 0 55 336 0.16 | 438 136 13 .311 .848 3|
7 Bob Nieman TOT 0 55 336 0.16 | +428 137 14 .320 .931 1|
9 Vic Wertz CLE 0 45 336 0.13 | 481 127 32 .264 .874 0|
10 Bob Lemon CLE 0 40 336 0.12 | 93 18 5 .194 .627 0| 20-14 255 3.03 1.250 94 3
11 Harry Simpson KCA 0 37 336 0.11 | 543 159 21 .293 .837 2|
12 Whitey Ford NYY 0 33 336 0.10 | 78 17 0 .218 .542 0| 19-6 226 2.47 1.201 141 1
13 Early Wynn CLE 0 32 336 0.10 | 101 23 1 .228 .585 1| 20-9 278 2.72 1.167 158 2
14 Nellie Fox CHW 0 28 336 0.08 | 649 192 4 .296 .723 8|
14 Jim Piersall BOS 0 28 336 0.08 | 601 176 14 .293 .799 7|
16 Sherm Lollar CHW 0 27 336 0.08 | 450 132 11 .293 .821 2|
17 Frank Lary DET 0 24 336 0.07 | 103 19 1 .184 .472 0| 21-13 294 3.15 1.378 165 1
17 Pete Runnels WSH 0 24 336 0.07 | 578 179 8 .310 .805 5|
19 Herb Score CLE 0 18 336 0.05 | 87 16 1 .184 .513 0| 20-9 249 2.53 1.167 263
20 Jackie Jensen BOS 0 15 336 0.04 | 578 182 20 .315 .901 11|
21 Mickey Vernon BOS 0 14 336 0.04 | 403 125 15 .310 .914 1|
22 Tom Brewer BOS 0 11 336 0.03 | 94 28 1 .298 .681 0| 19-9 244 3.50 1.277 127
23 Hank Bauer NYY 0 8 336 0.02 | 539 130 26 .241 .761 4|
23 Charlie Maxwell DET 0 8 336 0.02 | 500 163 28 .326 .948 1|
25 Luis Aparicio CHW 0 7 336 0.02 | 533 142 3 .266 .653 21|
26 Gus Triandos BAL 0 6 336 0.02 | 452 126 21 .279 .810 0|
27 Frank Bolling DET 0 3 336 0.01 | 366 103 7 .281 .789 6|
27 Minnie Minoso CHW 0 3 336 0.01 | 545 172 21 .316 .950 12|
27 Vic Power KCA 0 3 336 0.01 | 530 164 14 .309 .787 2|
30 Johnny Kucks NYY 0 2 336 0.01 | 77 11 0 .143 .379 0| 18-9 224 3.85 1.315 67
31 Roy Sievers WSH 0 1 336 0.00 | 550 139 29 .253 .838 0|

Mantle won a unanimous vote, and deserved to win. Easy choice.

Whitey Ford drew one vote in the Cy Young voting, out of 16 cast.

Rookie of the Year: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Luis Aparicio CHW 22 22 24 0.92 | 533 142 3 .266 .653 21|
2 Rocky Colavito CLE 1 1 24 0.04 | 322 89 21 .276 .903 0|
2 Tito Francona BAL 1 1 24 0.04 | 445 115 9 .258 .707 11|

Top player: Mickey Mantle, of course. The Triple Crown winner was far and away the best player in the league. A better debate is who should follow.
#1 Mickey Mantle, #2 Yogi Berra, #3 Al Kaline, #4 Minnie Minoso, #5 Ted Williams, #6 Harvey Kuenn

Top pitcher: Early Wynn comes out on top by all overall measures. He didn't lead the league in any categories, but was tied for 2nd in wins (20) and 3rd in ERA, 2nd in innings. He combined quantity and quality.
#1 Early Wynn, #2 Herb Score, #3 Whitey Ford, #4 Tom Brewer, #5 Frank Lary.

Top rookie: Rocky Colavito had the best year. Luis Aparicio was splendid defensively, but never was much of a hitter.

Top manager: Casey Stengel won the pennant yet again.

1955 National League

Brooklyn won the World Series! The Dodgers beat the Yankees! It was one of the most improbable outcomes in history, much like Boston winning in 2004, and sparked the same kind of giddiness. The Dodgers had never won a World Series in 7 previous tries, and five of those losses, the most recent five, had come at the hands of the Yankees. Brooklyn had won the only major league extant in 1899 and 1900, but that was the ancient past to most Dodger fans. The Dodgers ran away with the league, beating Milwaukee by 13.5 games, and then won the Series in 7 games.

After second-place Milwaukee came New York in 3rd and Philadelphia 4th, followed by Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis, with Pittsburgh bringing up the rear again. The Pirates did cut back to 94 losses.

Richie Ashburn won the batting title at .338, Willie Mays led in home runs (51) and OPS, Duke Snider topped the loop in RBI with 136 and also runs with 126. Ashburn led in on-base, Mays in slugging. Mays and Musial followed Ashburn in average at .319, Ted Kluszewski was second in homers with 47, and Mays was second in RBI with 127. Kluszewski had 192 hits, Hank Aaron and Johnny Logan tied with 37 doubles, Mays and Dale Long had 13 triples, and Billy Bruton had 25 steals.

Robin Roberts led the league in wins, Bob Friend in ERA with 2.83, and Toothpick Sam Jones in strikeouts with 198. Jones also led the league in walks, and in losses with 20. The only 20-game winner besides Roberts (at 23) was Don Newcombe, in his first full season back from the service. From there it went to Joe Nuxhall and Warren Spahn at 17, then down to 14. It was a bit of a strange year for wins totals. Newcombe was second in ERA as well with a 3.20 mark, and Roberts second in strikeouts with 160. Roberts' 305 innings lapped the field, with Nuxhall next at 257. Jack Meyer led with 16 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Willie Mays (New York) 40, Duke Snider (Brooklyn) 36, Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 34, Ernie Banks (Chicago) 32, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee), Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 29, Roy Campanella (Brooklyn) 28, Johnny Logan (Milwaukee) 26, Ted Kluszewski (Cincinnati) 25, Gil Hodges (Brooklyn) and Wally Post (Cincinnati) 23, Carl Furillo (Brooklyn) and Bill Bruton (Milwaukee) 22, Gus Bell (Cincinnati) and Del Ennis (Philadelphia) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 27, Don Newcombe (Brooklyn) 25, Joe Nuxhall (Cincinnati) 20, Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) and Bob Friend (Pittsburgh) 19, Bob Rush (Chicago) and Johnny Antonelli (New York) 18, Clem Labine (Brooklyn) 15.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mays and Mathews 11.6, Banks 9.8, Aaron 8.6, Furillo 8.5, Musial 8.4, Ashburn and Snider 8.3, Campanella 8.0, Roy McMillan 7.0, Hodges 6.7, Post 6.1, Gene Baker (Chicago) 5.9, Kluszewski 5.5, Logan 5.3, Stan Lopata (Philadelphia) 5.0.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Friend 10.9, Vern Law (Pittsburgh) 7.6, Roberts 7.2, Nuxhall 7.0, Antonelli 6.9, Newcombe 5.9, Rush 5.3, Jim Hearn (New York) 5.2, Willard Schmidt (St. Louis) 4.7, Spahn, Dick Hall (Pittsburgh), Murry Dickson (Philadelphia) and Roy Face (Pittsburgh) 4.5.

WAR, position players (fWAR): Mays 10.0, Banks 8.7, Snider 8.6, Mathews 8.4, Ashburn 7.0, Aaron and Logan 6.8, Musial 6.7, Campanella 6.4, Post and Kluszewski 5.9, Furillo 5.1, Reese and Hodges 4.8. Pitchers (bWAR): Friend 5.7, Rush 5.4, Antonelli 4.4, Law 4.3, Roberts and Spahn 4.1, Jones 3.6, Schmidt 3.5, Hearn and Nuxhall 3.4, Buhl 3.2.

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 Roy Campanella BRO 8 226 336 0.67 | 446 142 32 .318 .978 2|
2 Duke Snider BRO 8 221 336 0.66 | 538 166 42 .309 1.046 9|
3 Ernie Banks CHC 6 195 336 0.58 | 596 176 44 .295 .941 9|
4 Willie Mays NYG 0 165 336 0.49 | 580 185 51 .319 1.059 24|
5 Robin Roberts PHI 1 159 336 0.47 | 107 27 2 .252 .827 0| 23-14 305 3.28 1.131 160 3
6 Ted Kluszewski CIN 0 111 336 0.33 | 612 192 47 .314 .967 1|
7 Don Newcombe BRO 0 89 336 0.26 | 117 42 7 .359 1.028 1| 20-5 234 3.20 1.113 143
8 Stan Musial STL 0 46 336 0.14 | 562 179 33 .319 .974 5|
9 Hank Aaron MLN 0 36 336 0.11 | 602 189 27 .314 .906 3|
9 Pee Wee Reese BRO 1 36 336 0.11 | 553 156 10 .282 .774 8|
11 Johnny Logan MLN 0 24 336 0.07 | 595 177 13 .297 .802 3|
12 Wally Post CIN 0 23 336 0.07 | 601 186 40 .309 .946 7|
13 Del Ennis PHI 0 21 336 0.06 | 564 167 29 .296 .864 4|
14 Richie Ashburn PHI 0 17 336 0.05 | 533 180 3 .338 .897 12|
15 Clem Labine BRO 0 11 336 0.03 | 31 3 3 .097 .564 0| 13-5 144 3.24 1.220 67 11
16 Bob Friend PIT 0 10 336 0.03 | 61 10 0 .164 .383 0| 14-9 200 2.83 1.148 98 2
17 Del Crandall MLN 0 8 336 0.02 | 440 104 26 .236 .756 2|
18 Eddie Mathews MLN 0 6 336 0.02 | 499 144 41 .289 1.014 3|
19 Dale Long PIT 0 3 336 0.01 | 419 122 16 .291 .875 0|
19 Jack Meyer PHI 0 3 336 0.01 | 20 2 0 .100 .450 0| 6-11 110 3.43 1.278 97 16
21 Gene Baker CHC 0 2 336 0.01 | 609 163 11 .268 .715 9|
21 Carl Furillo BRO 0 2 336 0.01 | 523 164 26 .314 .891 4|
23 Vern Law PIT 0 1 336 0.00 | 63 16 1 .254 .648 1| 10-10 201 3.81 1.405 82 1
23 Frank Thomas PIT 0 1 336 0.00 | 510 125 25 .245 .755 2|

Campanella and Snider finished in a virtual dead heat in the vote, but the Duke should have won. Mays was even better, but his team declined in the standings, and when that happens a player almost never wins the award.

Rookie of the Year: | 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 Bill Virdon STL 15 15 24 0.62 | 534 150 17 .281 .755 2|
2 Jack Meyer PHI 7 7 24 0.29 | 20 2 0 .100 .450 0| 6-11 110 3.43 1.278 97 16
3 Don Bessent BRO 2 2 24 0.08 | 20 2 0 .100 .200 0| 8-1 63 2.70 1.137 29 3

Top player: Willie Mays. Mays was the OPS+ leader and an unparalled defensive outfielder, a marvel with the glove. He rivaled the best of all time, like Speaker and DiMaggio. The team slump doomed his award chances. I woulda voted for the Duke.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Duke Snider, #3 Ernie Banks, #4 Eddie Mathews, #5 Roy Campanella, #6 Richie Ashburn.

Top pitcher: Robin Roberts, again. Roberts was really dominating the league during his prime, something that has been lost to history for the most part.
#1 Robin Roberts, #2 Don Newcombe, #3 Bob Friend, #4 Joe Nuxhall, #5 Warren Spahn.

Top rookie: Bill Virdon, in an unspectacular year. Virdon hit well and played great defense. He was unable to improve afterward.

Top manager: Walt Alston led Brooklyn to the winner's circle.

1955 American League

The Yankees won the pennant and returned to their accustomed place in the World Series, but lost to the Dodgers. Cleveland was three games back, with Chicago five games back. Boston and Detroit also finished over .500, a big turnaround from the previous year. The Philadelphia A's moved west to Kansas City, and finished 6th with 91 losses, while Baltimore lost 97 and Washington 101.

Mickey Mantle led in HR (with 37),on-base, slugging, and OPS, while Al Kaline won the batting title at .340 (ahead of Vic Power's .319) and the RBI lead was a tie between Ray Boone and Jackie Jensen at 116. Yogi Berra was third at 108. Al Smith led in runs with 123, followed by Kaline and Mantle at 121. Kaline had 200 hits, Harvey Kuenn 38 doubles, Mantle and Andy Carey 11 triples, and Jim Rivera 25 steals.

Billy Pierce had a big lead in the ERA race with a 1.97 mark to second-place Whitey Ford's 2.63. Rookie Herb Score led in strikeouts with 245, Bob Turley was next with 210. No one won 20 games. Ford, Bob Lemon, and Frank Sullivan led with 18. Turley and Early Wynn won 17. Sullivan led with 260 innings, and Ford had 18 complete games. Billy Hoeft had 7 shutouts. Ray Narleski had 19 saves to edge Tom Gorman and Ellis Kinder at 18 each.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 41, Al Kaline (Detroit) 31, Al Smith (Cleveland) 29, Vic Power (Kansas City) 26, Nellie Fox (Chicago) 25, Yogi Berra and Gil McDougald (New York) 24, Ted Williams (Boston) 23, Larry Doby (Cleveland) and Harvey Kuenn (Detroit) 22, Sherm Lollar and Minnie Minoso (Chicago), Hank Bauer (New York) and Mickey Vernon (Washington) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Billy Pierce (Chicago) 23, Frank Sullivan (Boston) and Whitey Ford (New York) 22, Early Wynn (Cleveland) 21, Herb Score (Cleveland) 19, Billy Hoeft (Detroit) 18, Bob Turley (New York) 16, Dick Donovan (Chicago), Bob Lemon (Cleveland) and Frank Lary (Detroit) 15.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Mantle 10.4, McDougald 7.1, Fox 6.9, Kaline 6.8, Power 6.2, Berra 5.6, Williams 5.3, Lollar 4.7, Minoso 4.3, Bobby Avila (Cleveland) 4.0, Smith 3.9.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Pierce 8.8, Hoeft 7.7, Sullivan 7.0, Wynn 6.7, Ford 6.0, Jim Wilson (Baltimore) 5.9, Score 5.8, Mickey McDermott (Washington) 4.5, George Susce (Boston) and Johnny Schmitz (Washington) 4.5.

WAR, position players (fWAR): Mantle 10.1, Kaline 7.7, Berra 5.5, McDougald and Smith 5.4, Piersall 5.3, Fox 5.2, Bauer 5.1, Doby 4.5, Minoso 4.4, Jensen 4.1, Boone 4.0, Lollar 3.9. Pitchers (bWAR): Pierce 6.8, Wynn 6.0, Score 5.8, Hoeft 5.4, Sullivan 4.7, Ford 4.5, Wilson 4.4, Wight 3.9, Lary 3.6, Garcia and Turley 3.4.

Actual award winners, MVP: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+
1 Yogi Berra NYY 7 218 336 0.65 | 541 147 27 .272 .819 1|
2 Al Kaline DET 4 201 336 0.60 | 588 200 27 .340 .967 6|
3 Al Smith CLE 7 200 336 0.60 | 607 186 22 .306 .880 11|
4 Ted Williams BOS 1 143 336 0.43 | 320 114 28 .356 1.200 2|
5 Mickey Mantle NYY 0 113 336 0.34 | 517 158 37 .306 1.042 8|
6 Ray Narleski CLE 1 90 336 0.27 | 24 7 0 .292 .583 0| 9-1 112 3.71 1.280 94 19
7 Nellie Fox CHW 0 84 336 0.25 | 636 198 6 .311 .770 7|
8 Hank Bauer NYY 1 64 336 0.19 | 492 137 20 .278 .821 8|
9 Vic Power KCA 1 53 336 0.16 | 596 190 19 .319 .859 0|
10 Jackie Jensen BOS 0 39 336 0.12 | 574 158 26 .275 .848 16|
11 Sherm Lollar CHW 0 37 336 0.11 | 426 111 16 .261 .782 2|
12 Gil McDougald NYY 2 34 336 0.10 | 533 152 13 .285 .768 6|
13 Billy Klaus BOS 0 27 336 0.08 | 541 153 7 .283 .729 6|
14 Tommy Byrne NYY 0 24 336 0.07 | 78 16 1 .205 .555 0| 16-5 160 3.15 1.400 76 2
15 Whitey Ford NYY 0 21 336 0.06 | 86 14 1 .163 .455 0| 18-7 254 2.63 1.186 137 2
16 Ray Boone DET 0 16 336 0.05 | 500 142 20 .284 .822 1|
17 Roy Sievers WSH 0 9 336 0.03 | 509 138 25 .271 .853 1|
18 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 8 336 0.02 | 620 190 8 .306 .769 8|
18 Billy Pierce CHW 0 8 336 0.02 | 70 12 0 .171 .405 1| 15-10 206 1.97 1.099 157 1
20 Dave Philley TOT 0 6 336 0.02 | +415 124 8 .299 .789 1|
20 Early Wynn CLE 0 6 336 0.02 | 84 15 1 .179 .483 0| 17-11 230 2.82 1.248 122
22 Elmer Valo KCA 0 5 336 0.01 | 283 103 3 .364 .944 5|
23 Mickey Vernon WSH 0 4 336 0.01 | 538 162 14 .301 .835 0|
24 Billy Hoeft DET 0 1 336 0.00 | 82 17 0 .207 .525 0| 16-7 220 2.99 1.191 133
24 Don Mossi CLE 0 1 336 0.00 | 9 1 0 .111 .384 0| 4-3 82 2.42 1.212 69 9
24 Frank Sullivan BOS 0 1 336 0.00 | 89 10 0 .112 .297 0| 18-13 260 2.91 1.288 129
24 Gus Triandos BAL 0 1 336 0.00 | 481 133 12 .277 .732 0|
24 Jose Valdivielso WSH 0 1 336 0.00 | 294 65 2 .221 .594 1|
24 Sammy White BOS 0 1 336 0.00 | 544 142 11 .261 .714 1|

Berra won a close three-way race, but Mantle did not get even one first-place vote. He finished fifth. Even Vic Power got a first-place vote! And Ray Narleski, for heaven's sake!

Rookie of the Year: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Herb Score CLE 18 18 24 0.75 | 84 10 0 .119 .280 0| 16-10 227 2.85 1.373 245
2 Billy Klaus BOS 5 5 24 0.21 | 541 153 7 .283 .729 6|
3 Norm Zauchin BOS 1 1 24 0.04 | 477 114 27 .239 .765 3|

Score won, Lary didn't even draw a vote. It's possible he wasn't considered a rookie under the rules of the time.

Top player: Mickey Mantle. It was pretty clearly the Mick, although the voters didn't see it that way because no one took OBA or SLG seriously. Mantle was the leader in OPS+ by 19 points over Kaline, who was 29 points ahead of Roy Sievers in 3rd. Instead, Berra got his 3rd trophy.
#1 Mickey Mantle, #2 Al Kaline, #3 Gil McDougald, #4 Yogi Berra, #5 Al Smith.

Top pitcher: Billy Pierce. His 1.97 ERA was way ahead of Ford's 2.63 for second. He was third in strikeouts, and three off the wins lead with a 15-10 record.
#1 Billy Pierce, #2 Frank Sullivan, #3 Whitey Ford, #4 Billy Hoeft, #5 Early Wynn.

Top rookie: Herb Score, the strikeout leader, with Frank (The Yankee-Killer) Lary 2nd.

Top manager: Casey Stengel returned to the winner's circle.

1954 National League

Willie Mays returned from the service, and the Giants returned to the top of the NL, and also swept the World Series. That kept the trophy in the city of New York for the 6th year in a row. Mays was beginning a 12-year run as the best player in the league. The Giants won by a five-game margin over Brooklyn, with Milwaukee third. The other teams were under .500, with Philadelphia 4th, then Cincinnati, St. Louis and Chicago. Pittsburgh finished last and lost 101 games. Makes Mays' comment (see 1954 AL entry) odd, since the Giants faced only two winning teams, and also never on the same trip.

Mays won the batting title at .345, ahead of teammate Don Mueller's .342, and led in OPS and slugging. Richie Ashburn led in on-base. Ted Kluszewski led in HR and RBI, with 49 and 141 respectively. Gil Hodges was second with 42 HR, while Hodges and Duke Snider tied with 130 RBI. Stan Musial and Snider tied at 120 runs scored. Mueller had 212 hits, Musial 41 doubles, and Mays 13 triples. Billy Bruton had 34 steals.

Robin Roberts led pitchers in wins with 23 and strikeouts with 185, while Johnny Antonelli led in ERA with 2.30. Antonelli and Warren Spahn each won 21. Harvey Haddix was a close second in strikeouts with 184. Lew Burdette was second in ERA with a 2.76 mark. Jim Hughes led with 24 saves and Frank Smith had 20. Roberts pitched 337 innings, while the next most was Spahn at 283. Fast fact: There were more teenagers (3) in the league than 40-year olds (1, Al Brazle).

Win Shares leaders, players; Willie Mays (New York) 40, Duke Snider (Brooklyn) 39, Ted Kluszewski (Cincinnati) and Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 33, Gil Hodges (Brooklyn) 29, Pee Wee Reese (Brooklyn), Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) and Frank Thomas (Pittsburgh) 26, Al Dark (New York) 23, Hank Sauer (Chicago) 22, Joe Adcock (Milwaukee), Hank Thompson (New York) and Red Schoendienst (St. Louis) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 31, Johnny Antonelli (New York) 28, Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 23, Curt Simmons (Philadelphia) 21, Ruben Gomez (New York) 19, Lew Burdette (Milwaukee) and Sal Maglie (New York) 18, Marv Grissom (New York) 17, Carl Erskine (Brooklyn) and Bob Rush (Chicago) 16.

WARP3 Leaders, position players: Mays 12.2, Mathews 10.4, Snider 8.8, Stan Musial (St. Louis) 8.3, Kluszewski 7.6, Hodges and Granny Hamner (Philadelphia) 7.1, Ashburn 6.7, Carl Furillo (Brooklyn) 6.6, Schoendienst 6.4, Danny O'Connell and Johnny Logan (both Milwaukee) 5.4, Reese and Thompson 5.3, Thomas 5.1.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Roberts 9.9, Antonelli 9.0, Rush 8.0, Spahn 5.7, Simmons 5.4, Gomez 5.3, Grissom and Harvey Haddix (St. Louis) 5.1, Paul Minner (Chicago) 5.0, Hoyt Wilhelm (New York) 4.8.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mays 11.4, Snider 9.4, Mathews 8.9, Kluszewski and Musial 8.5, Ashburn 7.5, Hodges 7.2, Reese 6.9, Schoendienst and Thompson 5.5, Hamner 5.4, Dark 4.8. Pitchers (bWAR): Roberts 8.8, Antonelli 7.5, Rush 6.0, Spahn 5.8, Burdette 5.6, Simmons 5.1, Haddix 5.0, Maglie 4.8, Gomez 4.7, Conley 4.5.

Actual award winners, MVP: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--
1 Willie Mays NYG 16 283 336 0.84 | 565 195 41 .345 1.078 8|
2 Ted Kluszewski CIN 7 217 336 0.65 | 573 187 49 .326 1.049 0|
3 Johnny Antonelli NYG 0 154 336 0.46 | 98 16 2 .163 .421 0| 21-7 259 2.30 1.171 152 2
4 Duke Snider BRO 0 135 336 0.40 | 584 199 40 .341 1.071 6|
5 Alvin Dark NYG 1 110 336 0.33 | 644 189 20 .293 .770 5|
6 Stan Musial STL 0 97 336 0.29 | 591 195 35 .330 1.036 1|
7 Robin Roberts PHI 0 70 336 0.21 | 122 15 0 .123 .344 0| 23-15 337 2.97 1.025 185 4
8 Joe Adcock MLN 0 60 336 0.18 | 500 154 23 .308 .885 1|
9 Pee Wee Reese BRO 0 53 336 0.16 | 554 171 10 .309 .859 8|
10 Gil Hodges BRO 0 40 336 0.12 | 579 176 42 .304 .952 3|
11 Warren Spahn MLN 0 38 336 0.11 | 101 21 1 .208 .563 0| 21-12 283 3.15 1.228 136 3
12 Don Mueller NYG 0 30 336 0.09 | 619 212 4 .342 .807 2|
13 Red Schoendienst STL 0 24 336 0.07 | 610 192 5 .315 .794 4|
13 Frank Thomas PIT 0 24 336 0.07 | 577 172 23 .298 .856 3|
15 Hoyt Wilhelm NYG 0 17 336 0.05 | 21 1 0 .048 .095 0| 12-4 111 2.10 1.159 64 7
16 Ernie Banks CHC 0 14 336 0.04 | 593 163 19 .275 .753 6|
17 Del Crandall MLN 0 13 336 0.04 | 463 112 21 .242 .731 0|
18 Johnny Logan MLN 0 9 336 0.03 | 560 154 8 .275 .712 2|
19 Richie Ashburn PHI 0 5 336 0.01 | 559 175 1 .313 .817 11|
19 Granny Hamner PHI 0 5 336 0.01 | 596 178 13 .299 .818 1|
19 Eddie Mathews MLN 0 5 336 0.01 | 476 138 40 .290 1.026 10|
22 Sal Maglie NYG 0 4 336 0.01 | 63 8 0 .127 .318 0| 14-6 218 3.26 1.338 117 2
23 Gene Conley MLN 0 3 336 0.01 | 77 12 0 .156 .325 0| 14-9 194 2.96 1.287 113
24 Marv Grissom NYG 0 2 336 0.01 | 32 5 0 .156 .362 0| 10-7 122 2.35 1.226 64 19
24 Roy McMillan CIN 0 2 336 0.01 | 588 147 4 .250 .621 4|
26 Dusty Rhodes NYG 0 1 336 0.00 | 164 56 15 .341 1.105 1|
26 Hank Sauer CHC 0 1 336 0.00 | 520 150 41 .288 .938 2|

Rookie of the Year: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+--------
1 Wally Moon STL 17 17 24 0.71 | 635 193 12 .304 .806 18|
2 Ernie Banks CHC 4 4 24 0.17 | 593 163 19 .275 .753 6|
3 Gene Conley MLN 2 2 24 0.08 | 77 12 0 .156 .325 0| 14-9 194 2.96 1.287 113
4 Hank Aaron MLN 1 1 24 0.04 | 468 131 13 .280 .769 2|

Best player: Willie Mays. Mays was a clear though by no means unanimous winner in the MVP voting, but he was obviously the best player in the league and he played for the winning team. That fits the definition in my book.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Duke Snider, #3 Eddie Mathews, #4 Ted Kluszewski, #5 Stan Musial, #6 Gil Hodges.

Best pitcher: Robin Roberts was the best, although Antonelli got a lot of accolades. Roberts pitched many more innings, and although given less support by his teammates won more games.
#1 Robin Roberts, #2 Johnny Antonelli, #3 Warren Spahn, #4 Curt Simmons, #5 Bob Rush.

Best rookie: Wally Moon had the best season and a good career, although Banks and Aaron would eclipse him.

Best manager: Leo Durocher rode his young star and good pitching to the World Championship.

1954 American League

News flash...the Yankees didn't win! After five straight World Championships, the Yankees won 103, more than they had in any of those winning years...and finished second to the Indians, who won 111. It was a strange year in the AL, as only three teams finished over .500, and 4th place was the Boston Red Sox, at 69-85. Following Cleveland and New York was the Chicago White Sox, at 94-60. Willie Mays later said he and the Giants were confident of World Series victory (the Giants swept the Indians in October) because Cleveland had not played any good teams back-to-back: they went west to face Chicago, east to face New York, and on the rest of the trip faced losing teams. Detroit and Washington were 5th and 6th.

The AL also had its first franchise move in over 50 years, as the St. Louis Browns moved east to Baltimore, leaving Chicago as the westernmost outpost of the league. That flying in the face of the nation's geographical population shift would not hold up for too long. The newly rechristened Orioles lost 100 games, but finished 7th ahead of Philadelphia, which lost 103.

Ted Williams returned from Korean combat and was the most fearsome hitter in the league again, with Minnie Minoso making an impression and Mickey Mantle coming into his prime. Bobby Avila won the batting title at .341, since Williams had not quite enough at bats in spite of a .345 average. Counting by plate appearances, the current rule, gives Ted the title. He has 386 at bats (the rule was 400) but 136 walks for more than enough plate trips. Williams also led in on-base and slugging. Larry Doby led in HR and RBI with 32 and 126 respectively, followed by Williams with 29 HR and Yogi Berra with 125 RBI. Mickey Mantle had 129 runs, Nellie Fox and Harvey Kuenn 201 hits each, Mickey Vernon 33 doubles, Minnie Minoso 18 triples, and Jackie Jensen 22 steals.

Bob Lemon and Early Wynn led the league in wins with 23 each, and Bob Grim had 20. Mike Garcia lead in ERA at 2.64 followed by Sandy Consuegra at 2.69, then Lemon at 2.72 and Wynn at 2.73. Baltimore's Bob Turley led in strikeouts with 185, followed by Wynn at 155. Wynn led with 271 innings followed by Virgil Trucks at 265. Johnny Sain led the way with 22 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mickey Mantle (New York) 36, Bobby Avila (Cleveland) and Yogi Berra (New York) 34, Larry Doby (Cleveland) 33, Minnie Minoso (Chicago) 32, Ted Williams (Boston) 29, Al Rosen (Cleveland) 27, Nellie Fox (Chicago) 26, Al Smith (Cleveland) 25, Chico Carrasquel (Chicago) and Mickey Vernon (Washington) 24, Eddie Yost (Washington) 23, Ray Boone (Detroit) and Jim Busby (Washington) 22, Irv Noren (New York) and Jim Finigan (Philadelphia) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Mike Garcia, Bob Lemon, and Early Wynn (Cleveland) and Steve Gromek (Detroit) 24, Virgil Trucks (Chicago) 22, Ned Garver (Detroit) 20, Bob Turley (Baltimore) and Whitey Ford (New York) 16, Frank Sullivan (Boston), Sandy Consuegra and Jack Harshman (Chicago) 15.

WARP3 leaders, position players: Minoso 8.5, Avila 8.4, Berra 8.2, Mantle and Williams 7.5, Doby 6.4, Fox 5.9, Rosen and Andy Carey (New York) 5.1, Carrasquel 5.0, Boone and McDougald 4.5, Yost 4.4, Vernon 4.3.

WARP3 leaders, pitchers: Gromek 7.7, Arnie Portocarrero (Philadelphia) 7.0, Sullivan 6.3, Trucks 6.0, Garver 5.8, Wynn 5.1, Garcia 4.8, Lemon 4.5, Turley and Johnny Schmitz (Washington) 4.4.

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Williams 8.6, Minoso 8.2, Mantle 7.1, Avila 6.8, Doby 6.3, Berra 6.2, Carrasquel 5.5, Boone 5.3, Fox 5.2, Rosen 5.1, Yost 4.8, Jensen 4.5, Smith 4.3. Pitchers (bWAR): Gromek and Wynn 5.2, Garcia 5.1, Trucks 4.6, Schmitz, Sullivan, and Turley 4.5, Garver 4.3, Lemon 4.2, Ford 4.1, Portocarrero 3.6.

Actual award winners, MVP: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+---
1 Yogi Berra NYY 7 230 336 0.68 | 584 179 22 .307 .855 0|
2 Larry Doby CLE 5 210 336 0.62 | 577 157 32 .272 .847 3|
3 Bobby Avila CLE 5 203 336 0.60 | 555 189 15 .341 .880 9|
4 Minnie Minoso CHW 2 186 336 0.55 | 568 182 19 .320 .946 18|
5 Bob Lemon CLE 5 179 336 0.53 | 98 21 2 .214 .594 0| 23-7 258 2.72 1.239 110
6 Early Wynn CLE 0 72 336 0.21 | 93 17 0 .183 .455 0| 23-11 271 2.73 1.138 155 2
7 Ted Williams BOS 0 65 336 0.19 | 386 133 29 .345 1.148 0|
8 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 37 336 0.11 | 656 201 5 .306 .725 9|
9 Nellie Fox CHW 0 30 336 0.09 | 631 201 2 .319 .763 16|
9 Mickey Vernon WSH 0 30 336 0.09 | 597 173 20 .290 .850 1|
11 Bob Grim NYY 0 25 336 0.07 | 70 10 1 .143 .352 0| 20-6 199 3.26 1.307 108
12 Jim Finigan PHA 0 19 336 0.06 | 487 147 7 .302 .802 2|
12 Virgil Trucks CHW 0 19 336 0.06 | 93 17 0 .183 .392 0| 19-12 265 2.79 1.205 152 3
14 Jackie Jensen BOS 0 17 336 0.05 | 580 160 25 .276 .831 22|
15 Mickey Mantle NYY 0 16 336 0.05 | 543 163 27 .300 .933 5|
15 Irv Noren NYY 0 16 336 0.05 | 426 136 12 .319 .859 4|
15 Al Rosen CLE 0 16 336 0.05 | 466 140 24 .300 .910 6|
18 Jim Busby WSH 0 7 336 0.02 | 628 187 7 .298 .731 17|
19 Joe Coleman BAL 0 6 336 0.02 | 74 13 2 .176 .505 1| 13-17 221 3.50 1.265 103
19 Mike Garcia CLE 0 6 336 0.02 | 81 11 0 .136 .329 0| 19-8 259 2.64 1.125 129 5
19 Billy Goodman BOS 0 6 336 0.02 | 489 148 1 .303 .746 3|
22 Jim Hegan CLE 0 5 336 0.01 | 423 99 11 .234 .662 0|
23 Hank Bauer NYY 0 4 336 0.01 | 377 111 12 .294 .818 4|
23 Al Kaline DET 0 4 336 0.01 | 504 139 4 .276 .652 9|
23 Bob Turley BAL 0 4 336 0.01 | 81 11 0 .136 .317 1| 14-15 247 3.46 1.452 185
26 Cal Abrams TOT 0 1 336 0.00 | 423 124 6 .293 .821 1|
26 Ray Boone DET 0 1 336 0.00 | 543 160 20 .295 .842 4|
26 Steve Gromek DET 0 1 336 0.00 | 79 15 0 .190 .463 0| 18-16 253 2.74 1.159 102 1
26 Roy Sievers WSH 0 1 336 0.00 | 514 119 24 .232 .777 2|

A very close MVP vote, with five candidates slugging it out, and Berra emerging with his 3rd award.

Rookie of the Year: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---
1 Bob Grim NYY 15 15 24 0.62 | 70 10 1 .143 .352 0| 20-6 199 3.26 1.307 108
2 Jim Finigan PHA 8 8 24 0.33 | 487 147 7 .302 .802 2|
3 Al Kaline DET 1 1 24 0.04 | 504 139 4 .276 .652 9|

Grim's 20-win season netted him only 13 Win Shares and a 4.1 WARP3. Kaline notched 7 WS and a 3.0 WARP3.

Top player: Bobby Avila. When there is a close race, there is a prejudice to go with the guy on the team that wins. There are very good reasons for doing this. Avila was a fine player having a career year, and is a deserving winner as the Indians took the title.
#1 Bobby Avila, #2 Yogi Berra, #3 Minnie Minoso, #4 Mickey Mantle, #5 Ted Williams, #6 Larry Doby.

Top pitcher: Early Wynn, in a close race. Wynn led in starts and innings, tied for the lead in wins, was 2nd in strikeouts and 4th in ERA.
#1 Early Wynn, #2 Steve Gromek, #3 Mike Garcia, #4 Bob Lemon, #5 Virgil Trucks.

Top rookie: Jim Finigan quickly disappeared from view, but he had a nice rookie season playing 3B in Philly.

Top manager: Al Lopez led the team that broke the Yankees' string.