1944 National League

The War was at its hottest point, but the Cardinals maintained the status quo with another pennant on 105 wins. The Cards ran away with the flag, a status that would change when Stan Musial went into the military the next year. Pittsburgh was 2nd and Cincinnati 3rd. Below .500 were Chicago, New York, Brooklyn, Boston, and Philadelphia. That made for an all-St. Louis World Series, which the Cardinals won. The press for players was becoming so great a 15-year old made his major league debut, still the youngest big league player ever: Joe Nuxhall.

Dixie Walker won the batting title at .357, followed by Stan Musial at .347. Musial led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. He also led with 51 doubles. Bill Nicholson led with 116 runs, 33 homers, and 122 RBI. Musial and Phil Cavarretta tied with 197 hits. Johnny Barrett had 19 triples and 28 steals to lead the league.

Bucky Walters led the league with 23 wins, Joe Heusser with a 2.38 ERA (edging Walters' 2.40), and Bill Voiselle led with 161 strikeouts. Ace Adams had 13 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Stan Musial (St. Louis) 38, Dixie Walker (Brooklyn) 33, Augie Galan (Brooklyn) 32, Bill Nicholson (Chicago) and Jim Russell (Pittsburgh) 31, Frank McCormick (Cincinnati) 29, Johnny Hopp (St. Louis) 28, Tommy Holmes (Boston) and Bob Elliott (Pittsburgh) 27, Ray Mueller (Cincinnati) 26, Phil Cavarretta (Chicago), Mel Ott (New York) and Johnny Barrett (Pittsburgh) 25. MVP Marty Marion had 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) 32, Bill Voiselle (New York), Rip Sewell (Pittsburgh) and Mort Cooper (St. Louis) 24, Jim Tobin (Boston) 23, Ed Heusser (Cincinnati) 20, Claude Passeau (Chicago), Ken Raffensberger (Philadelphia) and Ted Wilks (St. Louis) 18.

WAR (Wins Against Replacement) scores: Musial 9.1, Nicholson 6.5, Galan 6.4, Walker, McCormick, and Hopp (career year) 6.0, Russell and Ott 5.4, Elliott, Barrett, and Phil Weintraub (New York) 4.4, Cavarretta 4.3, Holmes and Buster Adams (Philadelphia) 4.2, Marty Marion (St. Louis) 4.0.

Pitchers; Cooper 5.2, Sewell 4.9 (best year), Walters 4.5, Passeau 4.4, Wilks (rookie) and Fritz Ostermueller (Brooklyn/Pittsburgh) 4.3, Tobin 4.2 (last good year), Red Munger (St. Louis) 3.9, Nate Andrews (Boston) 3.8, Raffensberger 3.7, Heusser 3.4 (career year), Voiselle 3.0 (rookie, career year).

Actual award voting: MVP Top Ten | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+------+--+---+--+
1 Marty Marion STL 7 190 336 0.57 | 506 135 6 .267 .686 1
2 Bill Nicholson CHC 4 189 336 0.56 | 582 167 33 .287 .935 3
3 Dixie Walker BRO 3 145 336 0.43 | 535 191 13 .357 .963 6
4 Stan Musial STL 3 136 336 0.40 | 568 197 12 .347 .990 7
5 Bill Voiselle NYG 0 107 336 0.32 | 105 22 0 .210 .523 0| 21-16 313 3.02 1.260 161
5 Bucky Walters CIN 3 107 336 0.32 | 107 30 0 .280 .648 0| 23-8 285 2.40 1.123 77 1
7 Ray Mueller CIN 2 85 336 0.25 | 555 159 10 .286 .751 4
8 Walker Cooper STL 1 72 336 0.21 | 397 126 13 .317 .855 4
9 Mort Cooper STL 0 63 336 0.19 | 94 19 0 .202 .491 0| 22-7 252 2.46 1.138 97 1
10 Bob Elliott PIT 0 57 336 0.17 | 538 160 10 .297 .848 9

Top player: Stan Musial. It wasn't really close, but it was a strange year in the MVP voting with Musial finishing 4th in spite of batting .347 and leading the league in OPS for the pennant winners. Perhaps it was because Musial had won the year before and dropped ten points in batting average. Still, the voting was very odd and wildly split. Shortstop Marty Marion is one of the oddest awards choices ever. Even Babe Dahlgren got a first-place vote!

#1 Stan Musial, #2 Bill Nicholson HR and RBI leader, #3 Dixie Walker the batting champ, #4 Augie Galan, #5 Johnny Hopp.

Top pitcher: Veteran Bucky Walters had a last hurrah leading the league with 23 wins and finishing a close second in ERA.

#1 Bucky Walters, #2 Mort Cooper, #3 Bill Voiselle, #4 Max Lanier, #5 Rip Sewell.

Top rookie: Bill Voiselle, although there is some doubt about his rookie status. He led the league in strikeouts.

Top manager: Billy Southworth led the Cardinals to the pennant again.

1944 American League

It was the thick of World War II, and troops were island-hopping in the Pacific. The D-Day landing to retake continental Europe happened in June. More and more ballplayers were getting called into the service, and many saw combat. It was a time when anything could happen in baseball, and 1944 was the year that "even the Browns" could win the pennant, as the St. Louis Browns won their one and only AL title. It was a great pennant race, with Detroit finishing just a game back, and New York third at six games back. Boston finished at .500, followed by Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington. The remaining stars were mostly obviously handicapped, like Lou Boudreau and his bad ankles. Hal Newhouser burst onto the scene with a terrific year.

With the baseballs deadened (apparently rubber was harder to come by), offense was down in general, and stolen bases were up. Lou Boudreau won the batting title with a .327 average. Bob Johnson led in on-base, while Bobby Doerr edged Johnson for the slugging percentage crown by a fraction of a point. Doerr and Johnson were second and third in batting average. Boudreau also led in doubles with 45. Snuffy Stirnweiss led in runs with 125, hits with 205, steals with 55, and tied Johnny Lindell for the triples lead with 16. Nick Etten led with 22 home runs, and Vern Stephens with 109 RBI.

Hal Newhouser and Dizzy Trout were the top pitchers. Newhouser edged Trout in wins 29-27, while Trout returned the favor in ERA 2.12 to 2.22. Newhouser led with 187 strikeouts. Joe Berry, George Caster, and Gordon Maltzberger each had 12 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Snuffy Stirnweiss (New York) 35, Vern Stephens (St. Louis) 34, Stan Spence (Washington) 33, Bob Johnson (Boston) 31, Lou Boudreau (Cleveland) 28, Bobby Doerr (Boston) 27, Johnny Lindell (New York) 26, Nick Etten (New York) 25, Ken Keltner (Cleveland), Mike (Pinky) Higgins, Dick Wakefield, and Rudy York (Detroit) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Dizzy Trout (Detroit) 42, Hal Newhouser (Detroit) 35, Jack Kramer (St. Louis) 22, Tex Hughson (Boston), Hank Borowy (New York), Bobo Newsom (Philadelphia) and Nels Potter (St. Louis) 20, Joe Berry (Philadelphia) 18.

WAR (Wins Against Replacement) scores: Stirnweiss 7.6, Johnson 6.9, Boudreau 6.8, Doerr 6.4, Spence 5.7, Stephens 5.2, Keltner 4.5, Lindell 4.4 (career year), Etten 4.1 (career year), Wakefield 3.9 (in half a season), Higgins 3.6 (last good year), Roy Cullenbine (Cleveland) 3.2.

Pitchers, Trout 8.3, Newhouser 7.1, Hughson 5.0, Potter 4.6, Kramer 4.4 (career year), Johnny Niggeling (Washington) 4.3, Newsom 3.7, Borowy 3.5, Bob Muncrief (St. Louis) 3.4, Berry (39-year-old rookie) 2.7.

Actual award voting: MVP Top Ten | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Max Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+--+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Hal Newhouser DET 7 236 336 0.70 | 120 29 0 .242 .553 1| 29-9 312 2.22 1.172 187 2
2 Dizzy Trout DET 10 232 336 0.69 | 133 36 5 .271 .745 2| 27-14 352 2.12 1.127 144
3 Vern Stephens SLB 4 193 336 0.57 | 559 164 20 .293 .826 2
4 Snuffy Stirnweiss NYY 1 129 336 0.38 | 643 205 8 .319 .849 55
5 Dick Wakefield DET 2 128 336 0.38 | 276 98 12 .355 1.040 2
6 Lou Boudreau CLE 0 84 336 0.25 | 584 191 3 .327 .843 11
7 Bobby Doerr BOS 0 75 336 0.22 | 468 152 15 .325 .927 5
8 Stan Spence WSH 0 56 336 0.17 | 592 187 18 .316 .877 3
9 Nels Potter SLB 0 52 336 0.15 | 82 13 0 .159 .378 0| 19-7 232 2.83 1.211 91
10 Bob Johnson BOS 0 51 336 0.15 | 525 170 17 .324 .959 2

Top player: Snuffy Stirnweiss. The MVP votes went to the two outstanding pitchers, but Stirnweiss had a great year of his own. He led the league in runs, hits, steals, and times on base, and played a great second base. He was a longshot for any award, as the Yankees fell from the pennant, but Stirnweiss had a great year.

#1 Snuffy Stirnweiss, #2 Lou Boudreau leading in average and doubles, #3 Bob Johnson, the veteran OPS leader, #4 Vern Stephens of the pennant winners and league RBI leader, #5 Stan Spence, third in OPS.

Top pitcher: Dizzy Trout. It was a strange MVP vote, with Trout getting more first-place votes but Newhouser winning the poll. Trout had a lower ERA and more innings, so he gets this nod. Newhouser had more wins, 29 to 27, and more strikeouts.

#1 Dizzy Trout, #2 Hal Newhouser, #3 Tex Hughson, #4 Jack Kramer, #5 Nels Potter.

Top rookie: Most good young players were in the service, but Joe Berry had a strong debut out of the bullpen for Philadelphia, with 12 saves. He was second in the league in games pitched.

Top manager: Luke Sewell, who brought the Browns in for that sole pennant.

1943 National League

The War was heating up in Europe and in the Pacific, and more healthy young men, such as baseball players, were being called into service. A few remained, though. The Cardinals took the pennant again with 105 wins, far ahead of Cincinnati, Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh. The Cardinals lost the World Series to the Yankees. Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia were in the second division, while New York dropped to last, losing 98.

Stan Musial easily won the batting title at .357, outdistancing Babe Herman at .330. Musial also led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. He also led with 220 hits, 48 doubles, and 20 triples. Arky Vaughan led with 112 runs and 20 steals, even though he was 31. Bill "Swish" Nicholson led with 28 HR and 128 RBI. He was the only guy over 20 HR and one of three to top 100 RBI. The others were Bob Elliott at 101 and Herman with 100.

Max Lanier led pitchers with a 1.90 ERA, and the three-way tie for the lead in wins included Mort Cooper, Elmer Riddle, and Rip Sewell all with 21. Johnny Vander Meer led with 174 strikeouts and Les Webber had 10 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Stan Musial (St. Louis) 39, Bill Nicholson (Chicago) 31, Augie Galan (Brooklyn) 29, Arky Vaughan (Brooklyn) 28, Billy Herman (Brooklyn) and Eric Tipton (Cincinnati) 27, Lonnie Frey (Cincinnati), Bob Elliott (Pittsburgh) and Lou Klein (St. Louis) 25, Ray Mueller (Cincinnati) 24, Tommy Holmes (Boston) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Mort Cooper (St. Louis) 28, Nate Andrews (Boston) 25, Jim Tobin (Boston) 24, Elmer Riddle (Cincinnati), Rip Sewell (Pittsburgh) and Max Lanier (St. Louis) 23, Al Javery (Boston) 20, Hiram Bithorn (Chicago), Johnny Vander Meer (Cincinnati) and Schoolboy Rowe (Philadelphia) 19.

WAR (Wins Against Replacement) scores: Musial 8.9, Nicholson 6.8, Galan 6.0, Vaughan 5.7 (last year as regular), Herman (last good year) and Klein (only year as regular) 5.3, Elliott 4.9, Tipton (career year) and Frey (last good year) 4.7, Elbie Fletcher (Pittsburgh) 4.4.

Pitchers, Cooper 4.9, Bithorn 4.8, Sewell 4.0, Lanier 3.9 (best year), Andrews and Whit Wyatt (Brooklyn) 3.8, Riddle 3.4, Claude Passeau (Chicago) and Max Butcher (Pittsburgh) 3.3, Vander Meer 3.2, Howie Pollet (St. Louis) 3.1, Rowe 3.0.

Actual award voting: (MVP Top 11) 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 Stan Musial STL 13 267 336 0.79 617 220 13 .357 .988 9
2 Walker Cooper STL 5 192 336 0.57 449 143 9 .318 .812 1
3 Bill Nicholson CHC 5 181 336 0.54 608 188 29 .309 .917 4
4 Billy Herman BRO 0 140 336 0.42 585 193 2 .330 .815 4
5 Mort Cooper STL 0 130 336 0.39 100 17 1 .170 .416 0 21-8 274 2.30 1.120 141 3
6 Rip Sewell PIT 0 127 336 0.38 105 30 0 .286 .642 7 21-9 265 2.54 1.289 65 3
7 Elmer Riddle CIN 0 68 336 0.20 93 18 0 .194 .461 0 21-11 260 2.63 1.314 69 3
8 Bob Elliott PIT 0 52 336 0.15 581 183 7 .315 .820 4
9 Frank McCormick CIN 0 26 336 0.08 472 143 8 .303 .758 2
10 Eddie Miller CIN 0 24 336 0.07 576 129 2 .224 .564 8
10 Clyde Shoun CIN 1 24 336 0.07 42 13 0 .310 .689 0 14-5 147 3.06 1.204 61 7

Top player: Stan Musial by a large margin. Musial led in average, doubles, triples, hits, and OPS. He also led the pennant winners. Not even a close race.
#1 Stan Musial, #2 Bill Nicholson, the home run and RBI leader, #3 Augie Galan the walks leader, #4 Arky Vaughan in his last year as a regular, #5 Billy Herman.

Top pitcher: Mort Cooper, leader in wins, 2nd in ERA and strikeouts. He did benefit from the stellar Cardinal defense, but his other numbers make it impossible to pick anyone else.
#1 Mort Cooper, #2 Hiram Bithorn (the pride of the Dominican Republic), #3 Nate Andrews, #4 Rip Sewell, #5 Max Lanier.

Top rookie: Most young players were in the service. Lou Klein debuted at 24 and hit .287 and played 2B everyday for the pennant-winning Cardinals.

Top manager: Billy Southworth brought his team home on top. Hard to argue with that.

1943 American League

Most of the best players in the league were off fighting a war, and most of the minor leaguers who would otherwise have replaced them were gone too. Those who remained were injured in some way, or older veterans not as much in demand by the armed forces. Many minor league veterans got a second chance during this period. The New York Yankees won the pennant again, 13.5 games ahead of the Senators, with Cleveland third, Chicago fourth, and Detroit fifth. St. Louis and Boston trailed, while the Philadelphia A's were last.

Luke Appling at 36 years old won the batting title with a .328 average, as just four qualifiers batted .300. Dick Wakefield, Ralph Hodgin, and Doc Cramer were the other .300 hitters. Appling led in on-base, Rudy York in slugging, and Charlie Keller in OPS. George Case scored 102 runs and stole 62 bases, as his type of running game came back into vogue with offense generally down. Wakefield led in hits with 200 and doubles with 38. York led with 34 homers and 118 RBI. Johnny Lindell and Wally Moses tied for the triples lead with 12.

Spud Chandler led pitchers with 20 wins and a 1.64 ERA. Dizzy Trout tied him with his own 20 wins. Allie Reynolds led with 151 strikeouts, and Gordon Maltzberger had 14 saves. Bet you never heard of him before.

Win Shares leaders, players; Luke Appling (Chicago) 40, Charlie Keller (New York) 36, Lou Boudreau (Cleveland) 32, Joe Gordon (New York) and Stan Spence (Washington) 28, Roy Cullenbine (Cleveland) 27, Rudy York (Detroit) 26, George Case (Washington) 25, Bobby Doerr (Boston), Jeff Heath (Cleveland) and Dick Wakefield (Detroit) 24, Vern Stephens (St. Louis) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Spud Chandler (New York) 29, Dizzy Trout (Detroit) 23, Tex Hughson (Boston) and Tiny Bonham (New York) 20, Early Wynn (Washington) 19, Orval Grove (Chicago) 18, Tommy Bridges (Detroit) 17, Virgil Trucks (Detroit) and Butch Wensloff (New York) 16.

WAR (Wins Against Replacement) scores: Boudreau 6.7, Appling and Keller 6.5, Gordon 5.7 (then off to the service), York 5.5, Spence 4.4, Cullenbine 4.2, Case and Doerr 4.0, Bill Dickey (New York) 3.6, Heath 3.5, Bob Johnson (Washington) 3.3, Stephens 3.2, Wakefield (rookie) and Jerry Priddy (Washington) 3.0.

Pitchers, Chandler 6.0, Trout 4.6, Bonham 4.5, Hughson and Bridges (last good year) 4.4, Johnny Niggeling (St. Louis/Washington) 3.6, Denny Galehouse (St. Louis) 3.5, Trucks (then into the service) and Jesse Flores (Philadelphia) 3.3, Nels Potter (St. Louis) 3.1.

Actual award voting (top 10): Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+---+--+
1 Spud Chandler NYY 12 246 336 0.73 97 25 2 .258 .658 0 20-4 253 1.64 0.992 134
2 Luke Appling CHW 5 215 336 0.64 585 192 3 .328 .825 27
3 Rudy York DET 1 152 336 0.45 571 155 34 .271 .893 5
4 Billy Johnson NYY 3135 336 0.40 592 166 5 .280 .710 3
5 Bob Johnson WSH 1 116336 0.35 438 116 7 .265 .762 11
6 Dick Wakefield DET 0 72 336 0.21 633 200 7 .316 .811 4
7 Nick Etten NYY 0 61 336 0.18 583 158 14 .271 .775 3
8 Bill Dickey NYY 2 58 336 0.17 242 85 4 .351 .937 2
9 Vern Stephens SLB 0 49 336 0.15 512 148 22 .289 .839 3
10 Lou Boudreau CLE 0 40336 0.12 539 154 3 .286 .776 4

Top player: Luke Appling, batting champ, 4th in steals, and the White Sox' 36-year-old shortstop. He went into working for the war effort for the duration after this season.
#1 Luke Appling, #2 Lou Boudreau, #3 Charlie Keller, #4 Joe Gordon, #5 Rudy York.

Top pitcher: Spud Chandler dominated the league with a 20-4 record, leading in wins, ERA, and WHIP.
#1 Spud Chandler, #2 Dizzy Trout, #3 Tiny Bonham, #4 Tex Hughson, #5 Tommy Bridges.

Top rookie: Dick Wakefield got a big bonus to sign, but never did much outside of this season.

Top manager: Joe McCarthy kept the Yankees on top in spite of depleted ranks. This would be the last World Series win of McCarthy's illustrious managerial career.

1942 National League

The U.S. had entered the war in Europe and Asia, making it truly a World War. Ballplayers were getting drafted into the military, but it didn't affect the NL as much yet, as many of the National's stars were veterans beyond prime drafting age. That would change as the war went on and demand for manpower increased. On the field, the Cardinals outlasted the Dodgers in one of the great pennant races, with St. Louis winning 106 games to Brooklyn's 104. The Dodgers were probably the best second-place team ever. St. Louis also beat the Yankees in the World Series. New York was 3rd and Cincinnati 4th. Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Boston were also-rans, while Philadelphia lost 109 and finished dead last. The continually downtrodden Phillies were to undergo a nickname change to Blue Jays, and be operated by the league for awhile as the owner went bankrupt.

Ernie Lombardi, now with Boston, won the batting title at .330. Enos Slaughter was second at .318, Stan Musial third at .315. Elbie Fletcher led in on-base, Johnny Mize in slugging, Mel Ott in OPS. Ott also led with 118 runs and 30 HR. Mize and Dolph Camilli had 26 homers for second. Mize led with 110 RBI, Camilli had 109. Slaughter led with 188 hits, 17 triples, and 292 total bases. Marty Marion led with 38 doubles, Pete Reiser with 20 steals.

Mort Cooper led the league with 22 wins and a 1.78 ERA, while Johnny Vander Meer led with 186 strikeouts. Johnny Beazley won 21. He was also second in ERA with a 2.13 mark, and Curt Davis third at 2.36. Cooper had 10 shutouts and Jack Tobin 28 complete games. Hugh Casey led with 13 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Enos Slaughter (St. Louis) 37, Mel Ott (New York) 35, Johnny Mize (New York) 32, Dolph Camilli and Pete Reiser (Brooklyn), Bill Nicholson (Chicago) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 28, Pee Wee Reese (Brooklyn) 27, Stan Hack (Chicago) and Elbie Fletcher (Pittsburgh) 26, Lonny Frey (Cincinnati) 23, Bob Elliott (Pittsburgh) and Marty Marion (St. Louis) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Mort Cooper (St. Louis) 29, Johnny Beazley (St. Louis) 22, Ray Starr and Johnny Vander Meer (Cincinnati) 21, Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) 20, Claude Passeau (Chicago) 19, Curt Davis (Brooklyn) and Tommy Hughes (Philadelphia) 18, Larry French (Brooklyn) 18.

WARP3 scores: Slaughter 7.1 (career best year, and off to the military), Ott 7.0 (last big year), Mize 6.6 (and into the service), Reese 6.2, Camilli 5.9 (last good year), Musial 5.8 (rookie), Nicholson 5.5, Reiser 5.4 (and into the military), Fletcher 4.9, Marion 4.8 (best season), Hack 4.6, Frey 4.5, Billy Herman (Brooklyn) 3.8.

Pitchers, Cooper 6.8 (career year), Starr 4.4 (career year at age 36), Beazley 4.1 (rookie, off to war and never the same), Vander Meer 3.8 (best year), Davis 3.6, French 3.2 (final year), Bill Lohrmann (St. Louis/New York) 2.8, Howie Krist (St. Louis) 2.6, Max Lanier (St. Louis) 2.5.

WAR, position players: Slaughter 7.0, Ott 6.6, Nicholson 6.1, Mize 6.0, Musial 5.7, Reese 5.6, Frey 5.5, Hack 5.3, Camilli 5.2, Fletcher 5.1, Marion 5.0, Reiser 4.6. Pitchers, Cooper 6.8, Starr 4.4, Beazley 4.1, Vander Meer 3.8, Davis 3.6, French 3.2, Lohrman 2.8, Krist 2.6, Lanier 2.5.

Actual award voting: (top 10) | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+
1 Mort Cooper STL 13 263 336 0.78 | 103 19 0 .184 .402 0| 22-7 279 1.78 0.987 152
2 Enos Slaughter STL 6 200 336 0.60 | 591 188 13 .318 .906 9
3 Mel Ott NYG 4 190 336 0.57 | 549 162 30 .295 .912 6
4 Mickey Owen BRO 0 103 336 0.31 | 421 109 0 .259 .642 10
5 Johnny Mize NYG 0 97 336 0.29 | 541 165 26 .305 .901 3
6 Pete Reiser BRO 0 91 336 0.27 | 480 149 10 .310 .838 20
7 Marty Marion STL 1 81 336 0.24 | 485 134 0 .276 .718 8
8 Dolph Camilli BRO 0 42 336 0.12 | 524 132 26 .252 .843 10
9 Bob Elliott PIT 0 39 336 0.12 | 560 166 9 .296 .774 2
10 Claude Passeau CHC 0 33 336 0.10 | 105 19 2 .181 .429 0| 19-14 278 2.68 1.286 89

Top player: Enos Slaughter was 5th in OPS+, but it was close, and he was a far better defensive player than the guys ahead of him. Slaughter led in hits, total bases and triples, was 2nd in batting average and runs.
#1 Enos Slaughter, #2 Mel Ott, #3 Johnny Mize, #4 Bill Nicholson, #5 Stan Musial.

Top pitcher: Mort Cooper led in wins and ERA, 2nd in strikeouts.
#1 Mort Cooper, #2 Johnny Beazley, #3 Johnny Vander Meer, #4 Whit Wyatt, #5 Curt Davis.

Top rookie: Stan Musial hit .315 for the pennant winners, while Johnny Beazley was #2 in wins and ERA.

Top manager: Billy Southworth guided the Cardinals in to the winner's circle.

1942 American League

Some of the top players were off to military service. Hank Greenberg was discharged the day before Pearl Harbor was attacked, and reenlisted the day after. Bob Feller and Cecil Travis, as well as many lesser stars, shipped out. On the field, it was the Yankees again, by 9 games over Boston. The Browns climbed to a third place finish, and the other teams were below .500. In order: Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia.

Ted Williams won the Triple Crown, with a .356 average, 36 HR, and 137 RBI. He led in on-base, slugging, and OPS, in total bases and walks, and in runs with 141. Johnny Pesky led in hits with 205 and was second in average at .331. Chet Laabs was second in homers with 27, Joe DiMaggio second in RBI with 114. Don Kolloway had 40 doubles, Stan Spence 15 triples, and George Case 44 steals.

Tex Hughson led pitchers with 22 wins, followed by Tiny Bonham's 21. Ted Lyons had a 2.10 ERA, followed by Bonham at 2.27 and Spud Chandler at 2.38. Hughson and Bobo Newsom had 113 strikeouts, and Johnny Murphy 11 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Ted Williams (Boston) 46, Charlie Keller (New York) 34, Joe DiMaggio (New York) 32, Joe Gordon (New York) 31, Les Fleming (Cleveland) and Stan Spence (Washington) 29, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky (Boston) 28, Bob Johnson (Philadelphia) 26, Phil Rizzuto (New York) and Walt Judnich (St. Louis) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Tex Hughson (Boston) 28, Ted Lyons (Chicago) and Tiny Bonham (New York) 21, Johnny Humphries (Chicago) and Jim Bagby, Jr. (Cleveland) 20, Spud Chandler (New York) 19, Hal White (Detroit) 18, Al Benton and Hal Newhouser (Detroit) and Johnny Niggeling (St. Louis) 17.

WAR (Wins Against Replacement): Williams 11.0 (then off to war), Gordon 8.4, Keller 7.2, J. DiMaggio 6.8 (then into the military), Pesky (rookie, then into the military) and Rizzuto (then into the military) 5.4, Judnich 5.0 (then off to war), D. DiMaggio (then off to war) and Bobby Doerr (also Boston) 4.6, Fleming 4.1 (rookie, then off to war. It was his only year as an everyday player.), Harlond Clift (St. Louis) 3.8, Chet Laabs (St. Louis) 3.7, Lou Boudreau (Cleveland) 3.6, Johnson 3.3, Jeff Heath (Cleveland) 3.2.

Pitchers, Hughson 5.6, Bonham and White (rookie, career year) 4.4, Lyons 4.3 (last full season), Benton 4.2, Niggeling 3.8, Humphries 3.4 (career year), Tommy Bridges (Detroit) 3.3, Newhouser, Chandler 5.5, and Virgil Trucks (Detroit) 3.2, Hank Borowy (New York) 3.0.

Actual award voting: MVP top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+
1 Joe Gordon NYY 12 270 336 0.80 | 538 173 18 .322 .900 12
2 Ted Williams BOS 9 249 336 0.74 | 522 186 36 .356 1.147 3
3 Johnny Pesky BOS 2 143 336 0.43 | 620 205 2 .331 .791 12
4 Vern Stephens SLB 1 140 336 0.42 | 575 169 14 .294 .774 1
5 Tiny Bonham NYY 0 102 336 0.30 | 74 9 0 .122 .288 0| 21-5 226 2.27 0.987 71
6 Tex Hughson BOS 0 92 336 0.27 | 102 18 0 .176 .442 0| 22-6 281 2.59 1.185 113 4
7 Joe DiMaggio NYY 0 86 336 0.26 | 610 186 21 .305 .875 4
8 Stan Spence WSH 0 65 336 0.19 | 629 203 4 .323 .817 5
9 Phil Marchildon PHA 0 39 336 0.12 | 84 20 0 .238 .535 0| 17-14 244 4.20 1.455 110 1
10 Lou Boudreau CLE 0 34 336 0.10 | 506 143 2 .283 .749 7

Top hitter: Ted Williams. Everyone thinks he was robbed in 1941, but he really was ripped off in 1942, winning the Triple Crown but losing the MVP in a close vote. Gordon was great, but Teddy Ballgame was better. Most of the top players were drafted or volunteered after this season. Many had cushy duty, and continued to play ball while in uniform, but some like Williams served combat duty.
#1 Ted Williams, #2 Joe Gordon, #3 Charlie Keller, #4 Joe DiMaggio, #5 Johnny Pesky.

Top pitcher: Tex Hughson. Without Bob Feller, this was a wide-open field. Hughson led in wins, tied for the lead in strikeouts, and was 2nd in ERA.
#1 Tex Hughson, #2 Tiny Bonham, #3 Ted Lyons, #4 Johnny Niggeling, #5 Spud Chandler.

Top rookie: Johnny Pesky delivered a .331 average and led the league in hits. Hal White turned in a solid year on the mound.

Top manager: Joe McCarthy pushing the buttons again.

1941 National League

Brooklyn's Dodgers won their first pennant in 21 years after a furious pennant race with the Cardinals, finishing 2.5 games ahead. The two teams were obviously the class of the league, trading the lead back and forth all season, and at no time did more than four games separate them. Two-time defending champ Cincinnati placed third. Pittsburgh was 4th, followed by New York, Chicago and Boston. Philadelphia brought up the rear, dropping 111 games. Brooklyn featured a four-man gang of Dixie Walker, Joe Medwick, Dolph Camilli and Pete Reiser, and strong pitching from Kirby Higbe and Whit Wyatt.

Pete Reiser won the batting title at .343, and also led in slugging and OPS. He just couldn't break the habit of running into outfield walls. Reiser led in runs with 117 and triples with 17. Elbie Fletcher led in on-base, Stan Hack in hits with 186, Reiser and Johnny Mize tied with 39 doubles, Danny Murtaugh led with 18 steals. Dolph Camilli had the finest season of his career, leading the NL with 34 homers and 120 RBI.

For the pitchers, Kirby Higbe and Whit Wyatt won 22 games each, while Elmer Riddle and Bucky Walters won 19. Riddle had a 2.24 ERA with Wyatt second at 2.34 and Ernie White third at 2.40. Johnny Vander Meer had 202 strikeouts with Wyatt second again at 176.

Win Shares leaders, players; Pete Reiser (Brooklyn) 34, Stan Hack (Chicago) 30, Dolph Camilli (Brooklyn) 29, Elbie Fletcher (Pittsburgh) 28, Dixie Walker (Brooklyn), Mel Ott (New York) and Johnny Mize (St. Louis) 26, Joe Medwick (Brooklyn), Lonnie Frey (Cincinnati) and Vince DiMaggio (Pittsburgh) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Whit Wyatt (Brooklyn) 28, Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) 27, Elmer Riddle (Cincinnati) 26, Ernie White (St. Louis) 22, Kirby Higbe (Brooklyn) 21, Johnny Vander Meer (Cincinnati) and Lon Warneke (St. Louis) 19.

WARP3 scores: Reiser 8.2 (career year of an injury-riddled career), Camilli 6.8, Hack 6.4, Fletcher 6.3, Walker 5.9, Mize 5.4, Medwick 5.0, Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 4.9, Ott 4.5, Bill Nicholson (Chicago) 4.2, Frey and Jimmy Brown (St. Louis) 4.1, DiMaggio 4.0.

Pitchers, Wyatt 6.7 (career year), Walters 5.6, Riddle 5.1(rookie), White 4.4 (rookie, career year), Vander Meer 4.0, Jim Tobin (Boston) 3.9, Hal Schumacher (New York) 3.8, Higbe and Warneke (last good year) 3.6.

WAR leaders, position players: Reiser 7.7, Camilli 7.1, Fletcher 5.9, Hack 5.8, Mize 5.6, Walker 5.5, Ott 5.0, Medwick 4.6, Brown 4.2, Jurges and V. DiMaggio 4.0. Pitchers: Wyatt 6.7, Walters 5.6, Riddle 5.1, White 4.4, Vander Meer 4.0, Tobin 3.9, Schumacher 3.8, Higbe and Warneke 3.6, Derringer and Melton 3.2.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+----
1 Dolph Camilli BRO 19 300 336 0.89 | 529 151 34 .285 .962 3
2 Pete Reiser BRO 2 183 336 0.54 | 536 184 14 .343 .964 4
3 Whit Wyatt BRO 0 151 336 0.45 | 109 26 3 .239 .639 0| 22-10 288 2.34 1.058 176 1
4 Jimmy Brown STL 1 107 336 0.32 | 549 168 3 .306 .769 2
5 Elmer Riddle CIN 0 98 336 0.29 | 71 16 0 .225 .538 0| 19-4 217 2.24 1.103 80 1
6 Ernie White STL 0 77 336 0.23 | 79 15 0 .190 .460 0| 17-7 210 2.40 1.138 117 2
7 Kirby Higbe BRO 0 64 336 0.19 | 112 21 0 .188 .448 0| 22-9 298 3.14 1.262 121 3
8 Johnny Hopp STL 0 61 336 0.18 | 445 135 4 .303 .813 15
9 Johnny Mize STL 0 48 336 0.14 | 473 150 16 .317 .941 4
10 Dixie Walker BRO 1 34 336 0.10 | 531 165 9 .311 .843 4

Top player: Pete Reiser. Not sure why the hustling batting champ didn't win the vote, but the veteran HR and RBI champ Camilli did. This was the only year Reiser could stay healthy the whole season. It was pretty close, but Reiser's defensive value in CF puts him over the top.
#1 Pete Reiser, #2 Dolph Camilli, #3 Stan Hack, #4 Elbie Fletcher, #5 Dixie Walker, #6 Johnny Mize.

Top pitcher: Whit Wyatt had the year of his lifetime, tying teammate Higbe for the lead in wins and placing #2 in ERA and strikeouts.
#1 Whit Wyatt, #2 Bucky Walters, #3 Elmer Riddle, #4 Ernie White, #5 Johnny Vander Meer.

Top rookie: Elmer Riddle, just barely a rookie, had a strong season.

Top manager: Leo Durocher brought the Dodgers home in front.

1941 American League

The War raging in Europe since 1939 began to take a toll on the National Pasttime, as a few players, most notably Hank Greenberg, entered military service. The big wave would not hit until the next year, and would then begin to affect the quality of the game. Stateside, the Yankees ran away with the pennant and then won the World Series, although Ted Williams hit .406 for the second-place Red Sox. Joe DiMaggio set a record with his 56-game hitting streak. Only the Yankees and Red Sox finished over .500, with the White Sox at that mark, as the Tigers sank with the absence of Greenberg and the aging of Charlie Gehringer. Cleveland tied Detroit at fourth, St. Louis and Washington tied for 6th, and Philadelphia was last.

Ted Williams became the last .400 hitter, batting .406 for the season. He led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. Williams also led with 135 runs and 37 homers. Cecil Travis had 218 hits, Lou Boudreau 45 doubles, Jeff Heath 20 triples. George Case stole 33 bases. Joe DiMaggio had 348 total bases and 125 RBI in addition to a long hitting streak.

Among pitchers, Bob Feller had 25 wins and 260 strikeouts, while Thornton Lee led with a 2.37 ERA. Lee also had 22 wins for second place. Al Benton was second in ERA at 2.97, Charlie Wagner third at 3.07. Bobo Newsom was second in strikeouts with 175. Feller threw 343 innings. Johnny Murphy led with 15 saves. Lee pitched 30 complete games.

Win Shares leaders, players; Ted Williams (Boston) 42, Joe DiMaggio (New York) 41, Cecil Travis (Washington) 34, Charlie Keller (New York) 32, Luke Appling (Chicago) 29, Jeff Heath (Cleveland) 28, Tommy Henrich (New York) 26, Taffy Wright (Chicago) and Sam Chapman (Philadelphia) 25, Joe Gordon (New York) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Thornton Lee (Chicago) 32, Bob Feller (Cleveland) 30, Eddie Smith (Chicago) and Al Benton (Detroit) 20, Dutch Leonard (Washington) 19, Bob Muncrief (St. Louis) 18, Sid Hudson (Washington) 17, Marius Russo (New York) 16.

WAR scores: Williams 11.3, DiMaggio 9.4, Travis 6.8 (then went to war and came back well past his prime), Keller 6.6, Gordon 5.1, Joe Cronin (Boston) 4.9, Appling and Chapman (then lost his prime to the war) 4.9, Heath 4.7 (career year), Henrich 4.4, Phil Rizzuto (New York) 4.3, Jimmie Foxx (Boston) 4.0.

Pitchers, Lee 8.2 (career year), Feller 7.5 (some say his war service saved his arm---I don't know), Smith 5.1 (best year), Muncrief 4.4 (rookie), Benton and Leonard 4.3, Charlie Wagner (Boston) 4.2, Denny Galehouse (St. Louis) 3.8, Mickey Harris (Boston) 3.6, Phil Marchildon (Philadelphia) and Tommy Bridges (Detroit) 3.4.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+----+---+--+--+
1 Joe DiMaggio NYY 15 291 336 0.87 | 541 193 30 .357 1.083 4
2 Ted Williams BOS 8 254 336 0.76 | 456 185 37 .406 1.287 2
3 Bob Feller CLE 0 174 336 0.52 | 120 18 1 .150 .459 0| 25-13 343 3.15 1.394 260 2
4 Thornton Lee CHW 1 144 336 0.43 | 114 29 0 .254 .578 0| 22-11 300 2.37 1.166 130 1
5 Charlie Keller NYY 0 126 336 0.38 | 507 151 33 .298 .996 6
6 Cecil Travis WSH 0 101 336 0.30 | 608 218 7 .359 .930 2
7 Joe Gordon NYY 0 60 336 0.18 | 588 162 24 .276 .824 10
8 Jeff Heath CLE 0 37 336 0.11 | 585 199 24 .340 .982 18
9 Dick Newsome BOS 0 32 336 0.10 | 78 19 0 .244 .545 0| 19-10 214 4.13 1.469 58
10 Roy Cullenbine SLB 0 29 336 0.09 | 501 159 9 .317 .917 6

Top player: Ted Williams. Much has been made of this MVP vote over the years, and how Williams in his .406 season was robbed by DiMaggio's streak, or not. While Williams was certainly ahead offensively, when you add in defense they come in at a virtual dead heat, as shown by the WS and WAR numbers. Williams comes out slightly ahead in Win Shares, with a larger margin in WAR.
#1 Ted Williams, #2 Joe DiMaggio, #3 Cecil Travis, #4 Charlie Keller, #5 Joe Gordon.

Top pitcher: Thornton Lee, a fine pitcher, had to have the year of his life to beat out fireballing Bob Feller. It's close, with Feller's wins and strikeouts advantage balancing Lee's ERA lead, but both WS and WARP point to Lee by a nose.
#1 Thornton Lee, #2 Bob Feller, #3 Eddie Smith, #4 Dutch Leonard, #5 Al Benton.

Top rookie: Bob Muncrief turned in a fine year. He was never able to build on it, but was a member of the 1944 Browns' pennant winning rotation.

Top manager: Joe McCarthy returns to the top with the Yankees.

1940 National League

The Cincinnati Reds won their second straight pennant, and second ever World Series. This was their first untainted World's Championship, as the first time had been over the 1919 Black Sox. The Reds outpaced Brooklyn by 12 games. St. Louis was 3rd and Pittsburgh 4th, followed by Chicago, New York, and Boston. Philadelphia lost 103 games to finish last. Cincinnati won with pitching and defense, a hallmark of manager Bill McKechnie, but would become infected with another McKechnie hallmark, the sacrifice of too much offense to get defense. The offense was already slipping.

Debs Garms ran away with the batting title at .355: Ernie Lombardi was second at .319. Elbie Fletcher led in on-base, while Johnny Mize topped the slugging and OPS boards. Mize led with 43 HR and 137 RBI, and also in total bases. Arky Vaughan led with 113 runs and also 15 triples. Stan Hack and Frank McCormick tied with 191 hits, while Lonny Frey stole 22 bases.

Bucky Walters led with 22 wins and a 2.48 ERA, while Kirby Higbe led with 137 strikeouts. Claude Passeau was second in strikeouts and ERA and tied for second in wins. The league lead in saves was seven.

Win Shares leaders, players; Johnny Mize (St. Louis) 33, Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 31, Frank McCormick and Billy Werber (Cincinnati) 27, Elbie Fletcher (Pittsburgh) 26, Dolph Camilli (Brooklyn) and Stan Hack (Chicago) 25, Chet Ross (Boston), Lonnie Frey (Cincinnati) and Mel Ott (New York) 24, Dixie Walker (Brooklyn), Terry Moore and Enos Slaughter (St. Louis) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) 32, Claude Passeau (Chicago) 28, Paul Derringer (Cincinnati) 24, Kirby Higbe (Philadelphia) 21, Hugh Mulcahy (Philadelphia) 19, Dick Errickson (Boston), Larry French (Chicago), Junior Thompson and Jim Turner (Cincinnati), and Lon Warneke (Chicago) 18.

WAR scores: Vaughan 7.4, Mize 7.0, Frey 6.6, McCormick 6.0, Fletcher 5.5, Hack 5.4, Camilli, Ott, and Eddie Miller (Boston) 5.1, Werber 5.0 (last good year), Moore (career year) and Debs Garms (Pittsburgh) 4.3, Ross 4.1 (rookie, only year as regular), Slaughter and Jimmy Gleeson (Chicago) 4.0.

Pitchers, Walters 6.4, Passeau 6.2 (career year), French 4.5, Derringer 4.3, Rip Sewell (Pittsburgh) 4.2, Errickson 4.1 (career year), Higbe, Warneke, Whit Wyatt and Freddie Fitzsimmons (both Brooklyn) and Mort Cooper (St. Louis) 3.7.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+----
1 Frank McCormick CIN 16 274 336 0.82 | 618 191 19 .309 .850 2
2 Johnny Mize STL 6 209 336 0.62 | 579 182 43 .314 1.039 7
3 Bucky Walters CIN 0 146 336 0.43 | 117 24 1 .205 .488 2| 22-10 305 2.48 1.092 115
4 Paul Derringer CIN 1 121 336 0.36 | 108 18 0 .167 .370 0| 20-12 297 3.06 1.105 115
5 Freddie Fitzsimmons BRO 0 84 336 0.25 | 47 5 0 .106 .304 0| 16-2 134 2.81 1.080 35 1
6 Dixie Walker BRO 0 71 336 0.21 | 556 171 6 .308 .793 3
7 Harry Danning NYG 0 64 336 0.19 | 524 157 13 .300 .803 3
8 Stan Hack CHC 0 61 336 0.18 | 603 191 8 .317 .834 21
9 Ernie Lombardi CIN 1 38 336 0.11 | 376 120 14 .319 .871 0
10 Billy Werber CIN 0 36 336 0.11 | 584 162 12 .277 .777 16

Top player: Johnny Mize led in homers and OPS by large margins, and also led in RBI. He was 5th in average.
#1 Johnny Mize, #2 Arky Vaughan, #3 Frank McCormick, #4 Billy Werber, #5 Stan Hack.

Top pitcher: Bucky Walters again, a big reason the Reds won these two pennants.
#1 Bucky Walters, #2 Claude Passeau, #3 Paul Derringer, #4 Lon Warneke, #5 Whit Wyatt.

Top rookie: Chet Ross had a strong rookie year for Boston but could never repeat it.

Top manager: Bill McKechnie, but his style would soon overwhelm the team.

1940 American League

The Detroit Tigers won the pennant, the only interruption of the Yankees' run of six pennants in seven years. It wasn't easy, as this was the best AL pennant race in years, with the Indians one game back and the Yankees two games back. Chicago and Boston tied for 4th, just 8 behind. Boston led the early going, then Detroit and Cleveland swapped the lead back and forth. The Yankees made a run at the end. St. Louis and Washington were also-rans, while Philadelphia lost 100. The Yankee offense struggled as the loss of Lou Gehrig was felt, especially when Bill Dickey got old and Frankie Crosetti hit just .194. The pitching also struggled a bit.

Joe DiMaggio won another batting title at .352, edging Luke Appling at .348 and Ted Williams at .344. Williams led in on-base, while Hank Greenberg led in slugging and OPS, as well as total bases, doubles (50), home runs (41) and RBI (150). Williams led with 134 runs. Playing in the toughest hitters' park, DiMaggio led in OPS+. Barney McCoskey led with 19 triples and George Case with 35 steals.

Bob Feller dominated the pitching categories again with another Triple Crown. He had 27 wins, 261 strikeouts, and a 2.61 ERA. Bobo Newsom was second in all categories with 21 wins, 164 strikeouts, and a 2.83 ERA. Al Benton led with 17 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Hank Greenberg (Detroit) and Joe DiMaggio (New York) 31, Ted Williams (Boston) and Lou Boudreau (Cleveland) 30, Luke Appling (Chicago) 28, Hal Trosky (Cleveland) 27, Rudy York (Detroit) and Joe Gordon (New York) 26, Joe Cronin and Jimmie Foxx (Boston), Barney McCosky (Detroit) and Charlie Keller (New York) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bob Feller (Cleveland) 34, Bobo Newsom (Detroit) 26, Johnny Rigney (Chicago) 24, Eldon Auker (St. Louis) 22, Dutch Leonard and Ken Chase (Washington) 20, Thornton Lee (Chicago) 19, Eddie Smith (Chicago) and Schoolboy Rowe (Detroit) 18.

WAR scores: DiMaggio 7.3, Greenberg 6.4, Williams 6.0, Gordon 5.8, Appling 5.6, Boudreau (first year as regular) and Keller 5.4, Foxx 4.6, York 4.4, McCosky 4.0, Harlond Clift (St. Louis) 3.9, Joe Kuhel (Chicago) 3.5, Trosky (last good year), Frankie Hayes (Philadelphia) and Charlie Gehringer (Detroit) 3.4.

Pitchers, Feller 9.4, Newsom 7.3, Rigney 6.0, Auker 5.0 (last good year), Leonard and Rowe 4.9, Chase (career year) and Tommy Bridges (Detroit) 4.8, Lee and Johnny Babich (Philadelphia) 4.4, Smith 3.9.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--
1 Hank Greenberg DET 16 292 336 0.87 | 573 195 41 .340 1.103 6
2 Bob Feller CLE 6 222 336 0.66 | 115 18 2 .157 .481 0| 27-11 320 2.61 1.133 261 4
3 Joe DiMaggio NYY 0 151 336 0.45 | 508 179 31 .352 1.051 1
4 Bobo Newsom DET 1 120 336 0.36 | 107 23 0 .215 .484 0| 21-5 264 2.83 1.269 164
5 Lou Boudreau CLE 1 119 336 0.35 | 627 185 9 .295 .814 6
6 Jimmie Foxx BOS 0 110 336 0.33 | 515 153 36 .297 .993 4
7 Schoolboy Rowe DET 0 62 336 0.18 | 67 18 1 .269 .752 1| 16-3 169 3.46 1.260 61
8 Rudy York DET 0 61 336 0.18 | 588 186 33 .316 .993 3
9 Rip Radcliff SLB 0 55 336 0.16 | 584 200 7 .342 .858 6
10 Luke Appling CHW 0 54 336 0.16 | 566 197 0 .348 .862 3

Top player: Hank Greenberg. Almost a dead heat between Greenberg and DiMaggio, but Greenberg holds the trump card of the pennant-winning team.
#1 Hank Greenberg, #2 Joe DiMaggio, #3 Ted Williams, #4 Lou Boudreau, #5 Luke Appling.

Top pitcher: Bob Feller by a margin rarely seen. Triple crown winner.
#1 Bob Feller, #2 Bobo Newsom, #3 Johnny Rigney, #4 Elden Auker, #5 Dutch Leonard.

Best rookie: Walt Judnich edges out Dom DiMaggio. Both lost significant parts of their careers, and a shot at the Hall of Fame, to war service. Judnich hit .303 with 24 HR and 89 RBI for St. Louis, and DiMaggio hit .301 and played great defense for Boston.

Best manager: Del Baker brought the Tigers home in front after a terrific pennant race.

1939 National League

The Cincinnati Reds won their first pennant in 20 years by beating out the Cardinals; the margin was 4.5 games. The Reds had a comfortable lead for much of the summer, with the Cardinals making a run at the end. Brooklyn was third, Chicago fourth, and New York 5th. Pittsburgh and Boston trailed, while Philadelphia finished last, losing 106 times. Cincy and St. Louis fought it out, with the best pitching defeating the best hitting. But each team was 2nd in the other's specialty.

Johnny Mize won the batting title at .349, and also led with 28 home runs. He led the league in slugging, OPS, and total bases as well. Billy Werber led with 115 runs, Frank McCormick with 209 hits and 128 RBI. Enos Slaughter had 52 doubles, Billy Herman 18 triples, while Stan Hack and Lee Handley tied with 17 steals.

Bucky Walters won a pitching Triple Crown, leading the league with 27 wins and a 2.29 ERA, and tying Claude Passeau with 117 strikeouts. Paul Derringer had 25 wins, Curt Davis 22, Luke Hamlin 20. Bob Bowman had a 2.60 ERA, Carl Hubbell 2.75.

Win Shares leaders, players; Johnny Mize (St. Louis) 33, Dolph Camilli (Brooklyn) and Mel Ott (New York) 28, Harry Danning (New York) 27, Billy Herman (Chicago), Lonnie Frey, Ival Goodman, Frank McCormick, and Billy Werber (all Cincinnati) and Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 25, Joe Medwick (St. Louis) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) 38, Paul Derringer (Cincinnati) 26, Curt Davis (St. Louis) 22, Hugh Casey (Brooklyn) and Claude Passeau (Philadelphia/Chicago) 21, Bill Lee (Chicago) 20, Luke Hamlin (Brooklyn) and Bob Bowman (St. Louis) 19, Mort Cooper (St. Louis) 18.

WAR scores: Mize 7.4, Camilli 6.2, Frey 6.0, Ott 5.8, Goodman 5.4, McCormick and Billy Myers (Cincinnati) 5.2, Vaughan 4.9, Werber 4.5, Herman 4.3, Danning (career year), Max West (Boston) and Billy Jurges (New York) 4.2, Medwick 4.1.

Pitchers, Walters 7.7 (career year), Passeau 5.3, Derringer 4.8, Bowman 4.6 (rookie, only good year), Lee 4.5, Casey 4.4 (rookie), Hamlin 4.1 (career year), Larry French (Chicago) 3.7, Junior Thompson (Cincinnati) 3.2, Cooper 3.1 (rookie).

WAR, position players: Mize 7.9, Camilli 6.8, Frey 6.2, Ott 5.9, Goodman and Myers 5.5, McCormick 5.4, Vaughan 5.3, Werber 4.8, Medwick 4.7, West 4.6, Herman 4.4, Slaughter 4.3. Pitchers: Walters 7.7, Passeau 5.3, Derringer 4.8, Bowman 4.6, Lee 4.5, Casey 4.4, Hamlin 4.1, French 3.7, Thompson 3.2, Cooper 3.1.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+-
1 Bucky Walters CIN 18 303 336 0.90 | 120 39 1 .325 .790 1| 27-11 319 2.29 1.125 137
2 Johnny Mize STL 1 178 336 0.53 | 564 197 28 .349 1.070 0
3 Paul Derringer CIN 2 174 336 0.52 | 110 23 0 .209 .453 0| 25-7 301 2.93 1.183 128
4 Frank McCormick CIN 2 159 336 0.47 | 630 209 18 .332 .869 1
5 Curt Davis STL 0 106 336 0.32 | 105 40 1 .381 .855 0| 22-16 248 3.63 1.319 70 7
6 Jimmy Brown STL 1 99 336 0.29 | 645 192 3 .298 .719 4
7 Joe Medwick STL 0 81 336 0.24 | 606 201 14 .332 .886 6
8 Leo Durocher BRO 0 52 336 0.15 | 390 108 1 .277 .695 2
9 Harry Danning NYG 0 33 336 0.10 | 520 163 16 .313 .838 4
10 Luke Hamlin BRO 0 32 336 0.10 | 103 13 1 .126 .319 0| 20-13 270 3.64 1.146 88

Top hitter: Johnny Mize, the top man on the top offense. If the Cards win the pennant, he wins the MVP. The pitcher from the pennant winners beat him out. Mize led the league in average and homers, and was 3rd in RBI.
#1 Johnny Mize, #2 Dolph Camilli, #3 Mel Ott, #4 Lonny Frey, #5 Ival Goodman, #6 Frank McCormick.

Top pitcher: Bucky Walters swept the Reds along to the pennant, winning the pitchers' triple crown.
#1 Bucky Walters, #2 Paul Derringer, #3 Claude Passeau, #4 Bill Lee, #5 Hugh Casey.

Top rookie: Hugh Casey of Brooklyn was quite effective, beating out one-year wonder and reliever Bowman. Mort Cooper would have the best career.

Top manager: Bill McKechnie got the Reds back to the top.

1939 American League

The Yankees won their fourth straight pennant and then won their fourth straight World Series by sweeping the Reds. They took the pennant by a 17-game margin, with Lou Gehrig forced to the sidelines by the disease that would take his life and now bears his name. It was easy to believe that New York would continue to win the Series for the foreseeable future. Boston finished second, followed by Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit, all over .500. Washington was mediocre, Philadelphia lost 97 games, and St. Louis lost 111.

Joe DiMaggio won the batting title with a .381 average. Veteran Jimmie Foxx was second at .360, and led in other percentage categories; on-base, slugging, and OPS. Yankees third baseman and leadoff man Red Rolfe led in runs with 139, hits with 213, and doubles with 46. Foxx led in home runs with 35, and rookie teammate Ted Williams led in RBI with 145. DiMaggio had 126, Bob Johnson 114, Hank Greenberg 112. George Case led with 51 steals.

Veteran Lefty Grove led in ERA with a 2.51 mark, but phenom Bob Feller led in innings, wins with 24 and strikeouts with 246. Feller and Bobo Newsom tied for the lead in complete games, while Red Ruffing led with five shutouts. Johnny Murphy led with 19 saves, edging Clint Brown at 18.

Win Shares leaders, players; Joe DiMaggio (New York) 34, Ted Williams (Boston) 32, Jimmie Foxx (Boston) and Red Rolfe (New York) 30, Bob Johnson (Philadelphia) 29, Bill Dickey (New York) 27, Ken Keltner (Cleveland) 26, Joe Gordon and George Selkirk (New York) 25, Luke Appling (Chicago) and Hank Greenberg (Detroit) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bob Feller (Cleveland) 32, Bobo Newsom (St. Louis/Detroit) 26, Lefty Grove (Boston) 23, Red Ruffing (New York) 22, Dutch Leonard (Washington) 21, Ted Lyons and Johnny Rigney (Chicago) 20, Tommy Bridges (Detroit) 19, Thornton Lee (Chicago) and Al Milnar (Cleveland) 18.

WAR (Wins Against Replacement) scores: DiMaggio 8.9, Foxx 7.1, Rolfe 6.9, Williams 6.8 (rookie), Gordon 6.5, Johnson 6.0 (best year), Selkirk 5.9 (best year), Dickey (last great season) and Buddy Lewis (Washington) 5.3, Greenberg 5.2, Hal Trosky (Cleveland) and Charlie Keller (New York) 5.1, Keltner (breakthrough year) and Charlie Gehringer (Detroit) 4.6, Appling 4.3.

Pitchers, Feller 8.6, Newsom 7.5, Grove 6.5 (last strong year), Ruffing 5.1 (last 20-win season), Bridges 4.8, Leonard 4.6, Mel Harder (Cleveland) 4.5, Lyons 4.4, Rigney 4.3, Milnar 3.9 (best year), Lefty Gomez (New York) 3.8, Lee 3.7.

WAR, position players: DiMaggio 9.1, Foxx 8.0, Williams 7.9, Gordon and Rolfe 7.3, Johnson 7.2, Greenberg 6.6, Selkirk 6.4, Lewis 6.2, Dickey and Trosky 5.9, Keller and Keltner 5.5. Pitchers: Feller 8.6, Newsom 7.5, Grove 6.5, Ruffing 5.1, Bridges 4.8, Leonard 4.6, Harder 4.5, Lyons 4.4, Rigney 4.3, Milnar 3.9, Gomez 3.8, Lee 3.7.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--
1 Joe DiMaggio NYY 15 280 336 0.83 | 462 176 30 .381 1.119 3
2 Jimmie Foxx BOS 1 170 336 0.51 | 467 168 35 .360 1.158 4| 0-0 1 0.00 0.000 1
3 Bob Feller CLE 3 155 336 0.46 | 99 21 0 .212 .599 0| 24-9 297 2.85 1.244 246 1
4 Ted Williams BOS 0 126 336 0.38 | 565 185 31 .327 1.045 2
5 Red Ruffing NYY 0 116 336 0.35 | 114 35 1 .307 .689 1| 21-7 233 2.93 1.226 95
6 Bill Dickey NYY 3 110 336 0.33 | 480 145 24 .302 .915 5
7 Dutch Leonard WSH 1 71 336 0.21 | 95 21 0 .221 .482 0| 20-8 269 3.54 1.233 88
8 Bob Johnson PHA 0 52 336 0.15 | 544 184 23 .338 .993 15
9 Joe Gordon NYY 0 43 336 0.13 | 567 161 28 .284 .876 11
10 Mike Kreevich CHW 1 38 336 0.11 | 541 175 5 .323 .826 23

Top player: Joe DiMaggio, as the voters were right on the money. Joe D. was right behind Foxx in OPS, and was also one of the greats with the glove.
#1 Joe DiMaggio, #2 Jimmie Foxx, #3 Ted Williams, #4 Red Rolfe, #5 Bob Johnson, #6 Bill Dickey.

Top pitcher: Bob Feller led in wins and strikeouts and was 3rd in ERA, and threw a lot more innings than the guys ahead of him.
#1 Bob Feller, #2 Bobo Newsom, #3 Lefty Grove, #4 Red Ruffing, #5 Dutch Leonard.

Top rookie: Ted Williams posted one of the great rookie seasons ever.

Top manager: Joe McCarthy guided the Yankees to the pinnacle again.

1938 National League

Chicago pulled out the last of their string of every-third-year pennants, in a terrific pennant race, with Pittsburgh finishing two back, New York five back, and Cincinnati six back in overcoming a mediocre decade. The Giants and Pirates led most of the way, and the Cubbies did not take first until the last days of the season, overtaking the Pirates on September 28. Boston also finished above .500, St. Louis and Brooklyn trailed, while Philadelphia lost 105 games.

Ernie Lombardi won the batting title at .342, with Johnny Mize close behind at .337. Mize led in slugging and OPS, Mel Ott led on on-base. Ott also led with 116 runs and 36 homers. Mize led with 16 triples and 326 total bases. Joe Medwick had 47 doubles and 122 RBI to lead, coming off his Triple Crown season. Frank McCormick led with 209 hits, and Stan Hack did so with a mere 16 stolen bases.

The Cubs' Bill Lee won two legs of the pitcher's Triple Crown, with 22 wins and a 2.66 ERA. Paul Derringer was second with 21 wins, and Charlie Root with a 2.86 ERA. Clay Bryant topped the league with 135 strikeouts, and Dick Coffman paced the loop with 12 saves. Johnny Vander Meer pitched no-hitters in consecutive starts in June, the only time this has been done.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mel Ott (New York) 36, Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 34, Stan Hack (Chicago) 33, Ival Goodman (Cincinnati) and Johnny Mize (St. Louis) 28, Dolph Camilli (Brooklyn) 25, Ernie Lombardi (Cincinnati) 24, Johnny Rizzo (Pittsburgh) 23, Joe Medwick (St. Louis) 22, Gus Suhr (Pittsburgh) 21, Vince DiMaggio and Elbie Fletcher (Boston) and Billy Herman (Chicago) 20.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bill Lee (Chicago) 28, Paul Derringer (Cincinnati) 25, Clay Bryant (Chicago) 23, Russ Bauers (Pittsburgh) 19, Jim Tobin (Pittsburgh) 17, Lou Fette and Danny MacFayden (Boston) and Johnny "Double No-Hit" Vander Meer (Cincinnati) 16.

WAR (Wins Against Replacement) leaders, players: Ott 8.7, Vaughan 8.5, Mize 6.5, Hack 5.6, Goodman 5.5, Lombardi 5.1, Medwick 4.4, Camilli 4.3, Young 4.0, Dick Bartell (New York) 3.9, Rizzo 3.8.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Lee 7.1, Derringer 5.5, Bryant 4.8, Freddie Fitzsimmons (Brooklyn) 3.8, Bauers and Vander Meer 3.2, MacFayden 3.1, Bill McGee (St. Louis) and Luke Hamlin (Brooklyn) 3.0, Fette, Charlie Root (Chicago) and Carl Hubbell (New York) 2.9.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+
1 Ernie Lombardi CIN 10 229 336 0.68 | 489 167 19 .342 .915 0
2 Bill Lee CHC 5 166 336 0.49 | 101 20 0 .198 .476 1| 22-9 291 2.66 1.220 121 2
3 Arky Vaughan PIT 0 163 336 0.49 | 541 174 7 .322 .876 14
4 Mel Ott NYG 0 132 336 0.39 | 527 164 36 .311 1.024 2
5 Frank McCormick CIN 0 130 336 0.39 | 640 209 5 .327 .773 1
6 Johnny Rizzo PIT 0 96 336 0.29 | 555 167 23 .301 .882 1
7 Stan Hack CHC 0 87 336 0.26 | 609 195 4 .320 .843 16
8 Paul Derringer CIN 0 70 336 0.21 | 119 21 2 .176 .425 0| 21-14 307 2.93 1.186 132 3
9 Mace Brown PIT 0 62 336 0.18 | 38 5 0 .132 .316 0| 15-9 133 3.80 1.500 55 5
10 Gabby Hartnett CHC 0 61 336 0.18 | 299 82 10 .274 .825 1

Top player: Mel Ott was the best player in the league, leading in runs, HR, and on-base average. But the Giants did not win the pennant after winning the previous two, so a New York player was unlikely to win. Ernie Lombardi won because he won the batting title and the Reds were a surprise team. He wasn't the top player, however.
#1 Mel Ott, #2 Arky Vaughan, #3 Johnny Mize, #4 Ernie Lombardi, #5 Ival Goodman, #6 Stan Hack.

Top pitcher: Bill Lee led the league in wins and ERA. Teammate Clay Bryant led in strikeouts.
#1 Bill Lee, #2 Paul Derringer, #3 Clay Bryant, #4 Rick Bauers, #5 Johnny Vander Meer.

Top rookie: Johnny Rizzo was a pleasant surprise for the Pirates, but he was never this good again.

Top manager: Gabby Hartnett took over the Cubs from Charley Grimm down the stretch and urged them to the pennant.

1938 American League

New York won its third straight pennant and swept the Cubs in the World Series. Boston made a respectable showing, finishing 9.5 games back, but that was as close as anyone could get to the Yankee juggernaut. Cleveland finished third and Detroit fourth, followed by Washington and Chicago. St. Louis and Philadelphia both barely missed losing 100 games.

Jimmie Foxx led the league with a .349 average, followed by Jeff Heath at .343 and Ben Chapman at .340. Foxx also led the league in on-base, slugging, and OPS, and with 175 RBI. Hank Greenberg led in runs with 144 and challenged Babe Ruth's single-season record with 58 home runs in a tougher hitting park. Joe Vosmik led with 201 hits, Joe Cronin with 51 doubles, Heath with 18 triples, and Frankie Crosetti with 27 steals.

For pitching leaders, Red Ruffing had 21 wins, and Bobo Newsom won 20. Rookie Bob Feller gained 240 strikeouts, with Newsom second again at 226. Lefty Grove led with a 3.08 ERA, followed by Ruffing at 3.31. Newsom had 31 complete games. Johnny Murphy had 11 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jimmie Foxx (Boston) and Hank Greenberg (Detroit) 34, Joe Cronin (Boston) and Joe DiMaggio (New York) 30, Charlie Gehringer and Rudy York (Detroit) and Bill Dickey (New York) 27, Earl Averill (Cleveland) 26, Hal Trosky (Cleveland), Lou Gehrig (New York) and Harlond Clift (St. Louis) 25, Buddy Myer (Washington) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Red Ruffing (New York) 25, Bob Feller (Cleveland) 22, Bobo Newsom (St. Louis) 21, Mel Harder (Cleveland) 20, Thornton Lee (Chicago), Lefty Gomez (New York) and George Caster (Philadelphia) 19.

WARP3 scores: Cronin 8.5, Myer 7.4 in his last full season, Foxx 7.0, Greenberg 6.6, Dickey 6.4, Clift 6.2, Cecil Travis (Washington) 6.0, DiMaggio and Jeff Heath (Cleveland) 5.7, Joe Gordon (New York) 5.2, Ben Chapman (Boston) 5.0, Bob Johnson (Philadelphia) 4.8, Averill 4.7 in his last full season, Gehringer 4.5, York 4.4, Trosky 4.3.

Pitchers, Caster 6.2, Newsom 6.0, Ruffing 5.9, Feller 5.2 in his first full year (19, but not a rookie), Lee 5.0, Harder 4.7, Gomez 4.5 in his last good year, also Dutch Leonard (Washington) 4.5, Lefty Grove (Boston) and Monte Stratton (Chicago) 4.2.

WAR leaders, position players: Foxx 9.4, Greenberg 8.8, Cronin 7.7, Clift 7.1, DiMaggio 7.0, Dickey 6.4, Gehringer 6.3, Averill, Gehrig, and Myer 6.0, York 5.9, Johnson 5.8. Pitchers: Ruffing 5.7, Feller 5.3, Caster, Grove, Harder, and Lee 4.8, Gomez 4.6, Lyons and Newsom 4.2, Rigney 4.1.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----
1 Jimmie Foxx BOS 19 305 336 0.91 | 565 197 50 .349 1.166 5
2 Bill Dickey NYY 3 196 336 0.58 | 454 142 27 .313 .981 3
3 Hank Greenberg DET 0 162 336 0.48 | 556 175 58 .315 1.122 7
4 Red Ruffing NYY 0 146 336 0.43 | 107 24 3 .224 .695 0| 21-7 247 3.31 1.326 127
5 Bobo Newsom SLB 0 111 336 0.33 | 124 31 0 .250 .538 0| 20-16 330 5.08 1.595 226 1
6 Joe DiMaggio NYY 0 106 336 0.32 | 599 194 32 .324 .967 6
7 Joe Cronin BOS 0 92 336 0.27 | 530 172 17 .325 .964 7
8 Earl Averill CLE 0 34 336 0.10 | 482 159 14 .330 .965 5
9 Cecil Travis WSH 0 33 336 0.10 | 567 190 5 .335 .833 6
10 Charlie Gehringer DET 0 27 336 0.08 | 568 174 20 .306 .911 14

Top player: The big hitters Foxx and Greenberg were the best in the AL in 1938, with Foxx leading the league in average and RBI, Greenberg threatening Ruth's record with a 58 homer season. It's a tough choice between them.

#1 Jimmie Foxx, #2 Hank Greenberg, #3 Joe Cronin, #4 Joe DiMaggio, #5 Bill Dickey.

Top pitcher: Not a good overall year for AL pitchers. Youngster Bob Feller didn't draw any voting support in spite of stellar stats including the strikeout lead. Old pro Ruffing was the best of the lot.
#1 Red Ruffing, #2 Bob Feller, #3 Bobo Newsom, #4 Lefty Gomez, #5 George Caster.

Top rookie: Joe Gordon batted but .255 for the Yankees, but hit 25 HR and played stellar defense for the champs, who didn't miss Tony Lazzeri at all. Sam Chapman of Philadelphia also had a good year.

Top manager: Joe McCarthy did it again.

1937 National League

The Giants overcame the Cubs in a close race to the finish, with Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Boston all over .500. Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and last-place Cincinnati all lost at least 90 games with the Reds losing 98. The Cubs had the best offense and Boston the best pitching, but the Giants claimed the best combination, finishing third and second respectively.

Joe "Ducky" Medwick of St. Louis dominated the leader boards, leading the NL in batting at .374, runs with 111, hits with 237, doubles with 56, RBI with 154, and a tie with Mel Ott in homers at 31. Medwick also led in slugging, OPS, total bases, and Runs Created. That didn't leave much, but Arky Vaughan led with 17 triples and Augie Galan with 23 steals. Johnny Mize was second in batting average at .364 while Gabby Hartnett and Paul Waner checked in at .354. Dolph Camilli had 27 homers, Frank Demaree had 115 RBI.

On the pitching side, Carl Hubbell led with 22 wins and 159 strikeouts, while Jim Turner led with a 2.38 ERA. Turner, Cliff Melton, and Lou Fette won 20 each, Melton was second in ERA at 2.61 and Dizzy Dean third with a 2.69 mark.

Win Shares leaders, players; Joe Medwick (St. Louis) 40, Johnny Mize (St. Louis) 34, Mel Ott (New York) 32, Billy Herman (Chicago) 29, Dick Bartell (New York) and Paul Waner (Pittsburgh) 28, Gene Moore (Boston) 27, Frank Demaree (Chicago) 26, Gabby Hartnett (Chicago), Dolph Camilli (Philadelphia) and Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Jim Turner (Boston) 27, Cliff Melton (New York) 25, Lou Fette (Boston) and Carl Hubbell (New York) 23, Tex Carleton and Bill Lee (Chicago) and Claude Passeau (Philadelphia) 18, Danny MacFayden (Boston), Russ Bauers (Pittsburgh) and Dizzy Dean (St. Louis) 17.

WARP3: Medwick 8.3 (Triple Crown), Herman 8.2, Bartell 7.3, Ott 6.7, Tony Cuccinello (Boston) 6.5, Mize 6.3, Vaughan 5.7 (off year), Camilli 5.6, Moore 5.4 (peak, second of two years as an everyday player), Hartnett 5.3 (last big year), Stan Hack (Chicago) 5.0, Augie Galan (Chicago) 4.7, Waner 4.6 (last big year), Demaree 4.2 (last big year).

Pitchers, Turner 6.2 as a 33-year old rookie, Passeau 5.7, Lee Grissom (Cincinnati) 5.6, Dean 5.2, Van Lingle Mungo (Brooklyn) 5.1, Melton 4.9 as a 25-year old rookie, Bucky Walters (Cincinnati) 4.7, Fette 4.6 as a 30-year old rookie, Bauers 4.5 (as a 23-year old rookie), Carleton 4.3 (last good year), Bob Weiland (St. Louis) 4.0, Hubbell (last 20-win season), and Ed Brandt (Pittsburgh) 3.6, Lee 3.5, Paul Derringer (Cincinnati) 3.4.

WAR leaders, position players: Medwick 8.1, Ott 6.7, Bartell 6.5, Mize 6.1, Camilli 6.1, Herman 5.5, Moore 5.2, Vaughan 4.8, Hartnett 4.6, Waner 4.4, Cuccinello and Demaree 4.3. Pitchers: Turner 5.6, Melton 4.9, Dean 4.5, Carleton 4.4, Fette 4.3, Grissom 4.0, Bauers and Lee 3.9, Hubbell 3.8, Mungo 3.6.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-------+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Joe Medwick STL 2 70 80 0.88 | 633 237 31 .374 1.056 4
2 Gabby Hartnett CHC 3 68 80 0.85 | 356 126 12 .354 .971 0
3 Carl Hubbell NYG 1 52 80 0.65 | 97 21 0 .216 .474 0| 22-8 262 3.20 1.207 159 4
4 Jim Turner BSN 0 30 80 0.38 | 96 24 0 .250 .554 0| 20-11 257 2.38 1.091 69 1
5 Lou Fette BSN 0 29 80 0.36 | 92 22 0 .239 .521 0| 20-10 259 2.88 1.251 70
6 Dick Bartell NYG 1 26 80 0.32 | 516 158 14 .306 .836 5
7 Mel Ott NYG 0 24 80 0.30 | 545 160 31 .294 .931 7
8 Paul Waner PIT 0 21 80 0.26 | 619 219 2 .354 .855 4
9 Billy Herman CHC 0 19 80 0.24 | 564 189 8 .335 .875 2
10 Johnny Mize STL 0 18 80 0.22 | 560 204 25 .364 1.021 2

Top player: Triple-crown winner Joe Medwick (.371-31-154) just barely beat out Cub veteran Gabby Hartnett in the MVP voting, but Medwick was the best player by far. Ott (.294-31-95 with 102 walks) is second, Billy Herman and his .335 average next, Mize (.364-25-113) and Bartell (.306, 14 HR) in the honor slots.
#1 Joe Medwick, #2 Mel Ott, #3 Billy Herman, #4 Johnny Mize, #5 Dick Bartell.

Top pitcher: It was a year of rookies of all ages. Minor league veteran Jim Turner (20-11, 2.38) was the best in the league in his debut. Cliff Melton (20-9, 2.61) and Lou Fette ((20-10, 2.88) also made their debuts, and were quite spectacular.
#1 Jim Turner, #2 Cliff Melton, #3 Lou Fette, #4 Carl Hubbell, #5 Dizzy Dean.

Top rookie: I'll go with Melton as the youngest of the top debuting pitchers.

Top manager: Bill Terry edges out Charlie Grimm, as the Giants edged out the Cubs.

1937 American League

The Yankees ran away with their second straight pennant and then trashed the Giants in the World Series, clearly dominating the baseball world. The Yanks were in first to stay by June, and by August had the race well in hand. Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Boston all finished over .500, Washington was mediocre, while Philadelphia lost 97 games and St. Louis lost 108. The Yankees scored about a run more and allowed about a run less than the average AL team, finishing first both ways.

Charlie Gehringer won the batting title at .371, Joe DiMaggio led in slugging, and Lou Gehrig in on-base and OPS. DiMaggio led with 156 runs and 46 homers, Beau Bell of St. Louis with 218 hits and 51 doubles, and Hank Greenberg with 183 RBI. Mike Kreevich and Dixie Walker tied with 16 triples, and Ben Chapman and Billy Werber tied with 35 steals.

Lefty Gomez topped the pitching categories, with 21 wins to teammate Red Ruffing's 20, a 2.33 ERA to Monte Stratton's 2.40, and 194 strikeouts to Bobo Newsom's 166. Clint Brown of Chicago had 18 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players: Joe DiMaggio (New York) 39, Lou Gehrig (New York) 36, Hank Greenberg (Detroit) and Bill Dickey (New York) 33, Charlie Gehringer (Detroit) 30, Luke Appling (Chicago) 28, Joe Cronin (Boston), Earl Averill and Hal Trosky (Cleveland) 24, Jimmie Foxx (Boston), Mike Kreevich (Chicago), Lyn Lary (Cleveland) and Harlond Clift (St. Louis) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Lefty Gomez (New York) 29, Lefty Grove (Boston) 27, Red Ruffing (New York) 24, Elden Auker (Detroit) 22, Jack Wilson (Boston) and Johnny Allen (Cleveland) 20, Monte Stratton (Chicago) and Tommy Bridges (Detroit) 19.

WARP3 scores: DiMaggio 10.5, Gehringer 9.6, Dickey 9.4, Gehrig 8.1, Greenberg 7.8, Cecil Travis (Washington) 6.7, Bob Johnson (Philadelphia) 6.4, Appling 6.1, Wally Moses (Philadelphia) 4.7, Kreevich 4.6 (best year), Red Rolfe (New York) and Billy Rogell (Detroit) 4.5.

Pitchers, Grove 8.1, Gomez 7.9, Allen 5.8 (as he went 15-1), Ruffing and Wilson (career year) 5.1, Stratton 4.9 (best year), Auker and Mel Harder (Cleveland) 4.6, Johnny Marcum (Boston) 4.3, Eddie Smith (Philadelphia) 4.1.

WAR leaders, position players: DiMaggio 10.1, Gehrig 9.5, Greenberg 9.2, Gehringer 8.4, Clift and Dickey 7.7, Appling 7.0, Johnson 6.3, Travis 5.6, Moses 5.5, Stone 5.3. Pitchers: Gomez 8.9, Grove 8.0, Ruffing 6.3, Allen 6.1, Stratton 4.9, Wilson 4.5, Auker 4.3, Lee 4.1, Bridges 3.7, Harder and Smith 3.4.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+---------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Charlie Gehringer DET 6 78 80 0.98 | 564 209 14 .371 .978 11
2 Joe DiMaggio NYY 2 74 80 0.92 | 621 215 46 .346 1.085 3
3 Hank Greenberg DET 0 48 80 0.60 | 594 200 40 .337 1.105 8
4 Lou Gehrig NYY 0 42 80 0.52 | 569 200 37 .351 1.116 4
5 Bill Dickey NYY 0 22 80 0.28 | 530 176 29 .332 .987 3
5 Luke Sewell CHW 0 22 80 0.28 | 412 111 1 .269 .700 4
7 Joe Cronin BOS 0 19 80 0.24 | 570 175 18 .307 .887 5
8 Red Ruffing NYY 0 18 80 0.22 | 129 26 1 .202 .523 0| 20-7 256 2.98 1.210 131
9 Lefty Gomez NYY 0 14 80 0.18 | 105 21 0 .200 .455 1| 21-11 278 2.33 1.171 194
10 Mike Kreevich CHW 0 13 80 0.16 | 583 176 12 .302 .818 10


Best player: Joe DiMaggio, who put up an impressive .346-46-167 line. Gehringer won the actual vote over DiMaggio, but Joltin' Joe was the AL's best player. Gehrig posted a .351-37-159 line, Gehringer a .371 average and 133 runs, Greenberg drove in 183 runs, Dickey was .332-29-133.
#1 Joe DiMaggio, #2 Lou Gehrig, #3 Charlie Gehringer, #4 Hank Greenberg, #5 Bill Dickey.

Best pitcher: Lefty Gomez won the pitching triple crown and is clearly the best of 1937. Grove and Ruffing had big years.
#1 Lefty Gomez, #2 Lefty Grove, #3 Red Ruffing, #4 Eldon Auker, #5 Johnny Allen.

Best rookie: There is a serious lack of rookies who played a full season, but the best of the group is Spud Chandler, 7-4 with a 2.84 record for the Yankees in 12 games. Tommy Henrich hit .320 in 206 AB to rank second.

Best manager: Joe McCarthy is the only serious candidate here.

1936 National League

The New York Giants won the pennant behind stars Carl Hubbell and Mel Ott, with St. Louis and Chicago tied for second, five games back, and Pittsburgh fourth, 8 games back. New York got off to an early lead, then fell as low as fifth in July, though staying over .500, and slowly worked their way back up the standings. After being introduced the previous year to the major league at Cincinnati, night baseball continued to spread and is often credited with saving baseball during the Depression. The Reds were fifth, followed by Boston and Brooklyn. Not much could help the Phillies, who lost 100 games.

Paul Waner won the batting title at .373, edging Babe Phelps at .367. Arky Vaughan led in on-base, with Ott leading in slugging and OPS. Vaughan led with 122 runs, just ahead of Pepper Martin's 121. Joe "Ducky" Medwick led the league in doubles with 64, hits with 223, and RBI with 138. Ott led with 33 homers, Ival Goodman with 14 triples, and Martin with 23 steals.

Hubbell led the league with 26 wins and a 2.31 ERA, while Van Lingle Mungo had 238 strikeouts to pace the loop. Dizzy Dean won 24 and logged 11 saves and 195 strikeouts. Danny MacFayden was second in ERA with a 2.87 mark.

Win Shares leaders, players: Mel Ott (New York) and Joe Medwick (St. Louis) 36, Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 35, Paul Waner (Pittsburgh) 32, Billy Herman (Chicago) 29, Johnny Mize (St. Louis) 26, Gus Suhr (Pittsburgh) 25, Frank Demaree (Chicago), Kiki Cuyler (Cincinnati), Dick Bartell (New York) and Pepper Martin (St. Louis) 24, Wally Berger and Tony Cuccinello (Boston) and Jo-Jo Moore (New York) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Carl Hubbell (New York) 37, Dizzy Dean (St. Louis) 31, Van Lingle Mungo (Brooklyn) 24, Danny MacFayden (Boston) 22, Larry French (Chicago) 21, Bill Lee (Chicago) 20, Bill Swift (Pittsburgh) 18.

WARP3 scores: Vaughan 10.2, Ott 9.0, Herman 8.5, Waner 8.4, Medwick 7.8, Cuccinello 6.9 (career year), Bartell 6.3, Demaree 5.4, Suhr (career year) and Gus Mancuso (New York) 4.8, Mize 4.6 (rookie), Gabby Hartnett (Chicago) 4.4, Moore 4.3, Dolph Camilli (Philadelphia) 4.2, Joe Stripp (Brooklyn) 3.9, Berger 3.8 in his last big year, .

Pitchers, Hubbell 9.7, Dean 8.2 in his last big year, Bucky Walters (Philadelphia) 6.6, Mungo 6.2, MacFayden 6.2 in his career year, Claude Passeau (Philadelphia) 5.4, Ed Brandt (Brooklyn) 4.7, French 4.3, Lee and Paul Derringer (Cincinnati) 4.2, Tex Carleton (Chicago) 4.1, Swift 4.0 (last good year).

WAR leaders, position players: Ott 7.7, Vaughan 7.2, Waner 6.7, Herman 6.5, Medwick 6.1, Bartell 6.0, Camilli 5.5, Cuccinello 5.3, Suhr 5.2, Demaree 4.8, Berger 4.2, Mize 4.1. Pitchers: Hubbell 9.0, Dean 6.3, Mungo 5.8, MacFayden 5.5, French and Lee 4.3, Brandt 4.1, Lucas 3.7, Frankhouse 3.5, Walters 3.4.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Carl Hubbell NYG 6 60 80 0.75 | 110 25 0 .227 .484 0| 26-6 304 2.31 1.059 123 3
2 Dizzy Dean STL 0 53 80 0.66 | 121 27 0 .223 .512 0| 24-13 315 3.17 1.152 195 11
3 Billy Herman CHC 0 37 80 0.46 | 632 211 5 .334 .862 5
4 Joe Medwick STL 0 30 80 0.38 | 636 223 18 .351 .964 3
5 Paul Waner PIT 0 29 80 0.36 | 585 218 5 .373 .965 7
6 Mel Ott NYG 0 28 80 0.35 | 534 175 33 .328 1.036 6
7 Frank Demaree CHC 0 17 80 0.21 | 605 212 16 .350 .896 4
8 Gus Mancuso NYG 0 13 80 0.16 | 519 156 9 .301 .755 0
9 Danny MacFayden BSN 0 12 80 0.15 | 83 8 0 .096 .266 0| 17-13 267 2.87 1.252 86
10 Leo Durocher STL 0 8 80 0.10 | 510 146 1 .286 .674 3

Top player: Mel Ott, missed in the voting again. He often got a year likMee this, when an impressive pitcher beat him out. That doesn't matter to us, using separate categories. Ott led the league in homers and OPS and had a .328-33-135 line. Arky Vaughan led the league in walks and runs and ranks #2. Joe Medwick #3 with a .351-18-138 performance that led the league in hits and RBI, and Paul Waner #4 with his batting crown at .373. Billy Herman, top player in the MVP voting, is #5.

Top pitcher: Carl Hubbell, the Meal Ticket earning his nickname at 26-6, 2.31 ERA leading the league in wins and ERA. Dizzy Dean pre-injury ranks #2 at 24-13, 3.17. Van Lingle Mungo led in strikeouts and will rank #3 in a down year for NL pitchers. Danny MacFayden had the year of his life to place #4 at 17-13 with the second-best ERA in the league. Larry French's 18-9 for the Cubs ranks #5.

Top rookie: John Mize, the Big Cat, debuted with a .329-19-93 line.

Top manager: Bill Terry got the Giants back to the winner's circle with a load of help from his stars.

1936 American League

The New York Yankees started a run of four straight pennants with an offensive juggernaut that also kept opposition runs off the board better than any other team in the AL. The Babe Ruth era was over, but Lou Gehrig was still around, new star Joe DiMaggio arrived, Bill Dickey came into his prime, and Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez anchored the pitching staff. The Yankees won 102 games, defeating Detroit by 19.5 games, Washington and Chicago by 20, and Cleveland by 22.5. Boston was close to .500, while St. Louis and Philadelphia were the doormats. The Yankees also won the World Series in six games.

Chicago's Luke Appling led the league with a .388 average, with Earl Averill second at .378. Gehrig led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. He also led in runs with 167 and homers with 49. Averill led with 232 hits, and tied for the triples lead with DiMaggio, each having 15. Charlie Gehringer had 60 doubles. Hal Trosky had 162 RBI and also led in total bases. Lyn Lary had 38 steals.

For pitchers, Tommy Bridges had 23 wins; Vern Kennedy was second with 21, Wes Ferrell, Johnny Allen, and Red Ruffing won 20 each. Lefty Grove led with a 2.81 ERA, trailed by Allen at 3.44 and Pete Appleton at 3.53. Bridges led with 175 strikeouts with Allen next at 165 and Bobo Newsom at 156.

Win Shares leaders, players; Lou Gehrig (New York) 38, Charlie Gehringer (Detroit) 34, Luke Appling (Chicago) 29, Earl Averill (Cleveland) 27, Jimmie Foxx (Boston) 26, Bill Dickey and Joe DiMaggio (New York) 25, Zeke Bonura (Chicago), Frankie Crosetti and Red Rolfe (New York) 24, Goose Goslin (Detroit) and Harlond Clift (St. Louis) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Lefty Grove (Boston) 29, Wes Ferrell (Boston) 27, Tommy Bridges (Detroit) 26, Johnny Allen (Cleveland) 25, Red Ruffing (New York) 23, Schoolboy Rowe (Detroit) 21, Vern Kennedy (Chicago), Monte Pearson (New York) and Harry Kelley (Philadelphia) 20.

WARP3 scores: Gehrig 8.1, Gehringer 7.9, Rolfe 6.0, Dickey 5.7, Appling 5.5, John Stone (Washington) 5.1, Averill and Odell Hale (Cleveland) 4.7, DiMaggio 4.4 (rookie), Crosetti 4.3, Foxx 4.0 (first year in Boston), Bob Johnson (Philadelphia) 3.9, Clift 3.6. RBI leader Hal Trosky had 21 Win Shares and a WARP3 of 2.4.

Pitchers: Grove 7.3, Allen 6.2 (first year in Cleveland), Ferrell (last good year), and Kelley (his only good year) 5.4, Bridges 5.2 in his best season, Ruffing 4.4, Pearson (best season) and Ivy Andrews (St. Louis) 4.1, Rowe 3.9.

WAR leaders, position players: Gehrig 10.8, Gehringer 8.6, Appling 8.1, Averill 7.9, Foxx 7.8, Clift 6.4, DiMaggio 6.2, Rolfe 6.1, Dickey and Hale 6.0, Bonura 5.8, Trosky 5.7. Pitchers: Grove 8.9, Allen 6.4, Bridges 6.3, Ferrell 6.2, Kelley 5.5, Pearson 4.7, Ruffing 4.5, Appleton 4.1, Andrews 3.9, Rowe 3.8.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Lou Gehrig NYY 0 73 80 0.91 | 579 205 49 .354 1.174 3
2 Luke Appling CHW 0 65 80 0.81 | 526 204 6 .388 .981 10
3 Earl Averill CLE 0 48 80 0.60 | 614 232 28 .378 1.065 3
4 Charlie Gehringer DET 0 39 80 0.49 | 641 227 15 .354 .987 4
5 Bill Dickey NYY 0 29 80 0.36 | 423 153 22 .362 1.045 0
6 Vern Kennedy CHW 0 27 80 0.34 | 113 32 0 .283 .643 0| 21-9 274 4.63 1.564 99
6 Joe Kuhel WSH 0 27 80 0.34 | 588 189 16 .321 .893 15
8 Joe DiMaggio NYY 0 26 80 0.32 | 637 206 29 .323 .928 4
9 Tommy Bridges DET 0 25 80 0.31 | 118 25 0 .212 .494 0| 23-11 295 3.60 1.371 175
10 Hal Trosky CLE 0 19 80 0.24 | 629 216 42 .343 1.026 6

Top player: Lou Gehrig was the easy leader in OPS+ and posted a .354-49-152 line that included the leading home run total. He is a solid #1 for the pennant-winners. 2nd to Charlie Gehringer for a season where he hit .354 and scored 144 runs. #3 to Luke Appling, winning the batting title at .388. Earl Averill #4 with a .378 average, leading the league in hits. Bill Dickey, Yankee catcher in his breakthrough year, gets #5.

Top pitcher: Lefty Grove led in ERA by a wide margin, posting a 17-12 record with that 2.81 mark. Johnny Allen ranks #2 with a 20-10 record and 3.44 ERA. Tommy Bridges ranks #3 with a 23-11 record and 3.60 ERA. Wes Ferrell #4 at 20-15, 4.19. Red Ruffing #5 at 20-12, 3.85.

Top rookie: Joe DiMaggio in one of the easiest decisions in history. The 21-year-old Californian had a .323-29-125 line and stellar defense that gave the Yankees a spark and started a new version of the Yankee dynasty.

Top manager: Joe McCarthy began his string as the "Push-Button Manager" by pushing all the right buttons.

1935 National League

The Cubs won 100 games and the pennant, beating out defending champs St. Louis by four games. Came up short in the Series, though. New York was third, and Pittsburgh a solid 4th, followed by Brooklyn, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia, with Boston having one of the all-time worst seasons and losing 115 games in spite of stellar play from Wally Berger again. Most important, the first official major league night game was played, in Cincinnati. It would do a lot to boost attendance during the Depression, and after.

Arky Vaughan had a huge year, winning the batting title with a .385 average, leading the league in walks so that he was getting on base in nearly half his plate appearances, and also leading the league in slugging and OPS. He played a good shortstop, too. Joe Medwick was second in average with a .355 mark, and Gabby Hartnett third with a .344. Augie Galan led in runs with 133 and steals with 22. Billy Herman led in hits with 227 and doubles with 57. Ival Goodman had 18 triples. Wally Berger had 34 homers and 130 RBI for the sad-sack Braves. Mel Ott was second with 31 homers and Medwick second with 126 RBI.

Cy Blanton of Pittsburgh, no apparent relation to current pitcher Joe Blanton, led the league with a 2.58 ERA. Dizzy Dean had another great year, with 28 wins and 190 strikeouts to lead the league. Carl Hubbell was second with 23 wins, Paul Derringer third with 22. Bill Swift was second with a 2.70 ERA, Hal Schumacher third at 2.89.

Win Shares leaders, players; Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 39, Mel Ott (New York) 35, Joe Medwick (St. Louis) 33, Augie Galan and Billy Herman (Chicago) 32, Hank Leiber (New York) and Rip Collins (St. Louis) 28, Gabby Hartnett (Chicago) 26, Jo-Jo Moore (New York) 24, Bill Terry (New York) 23, Stan Hack (Chicago) and Paul Waner (Pittsburgh) 22, Wally Berger (Boston) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Dizzy Dean (St. Louis) 31, Carl Hubbell (New York) 26, Cy Blanton (Pittsburgh) 24, Hal Schumacher (New York) 23, Lon Warneke (Chicago) and Paul Dean (St. Louis) 22, Bill Lee (Chicago) and Curt Davis (Philadelphia) 21, Paul Derringer (Cincinnati) and Bill Swift (Pittsburgh) 20.

WARP3 scores: Vaughan 12.2 (best year), Ott 10.4, Herman 8.0 in his first big year, Galan 7.6 in his first full season, Hartnett 7.3, Medwick 6.8, Berger 5.8, Moore 5.5, Leiber 5.4 in his first full season, Collins (last good year) and Waner 5.2, Hack 5.1, Terry 4.9 in his last full season, Dick Bartell (New York) 4.6.

Pitchers, D. Dean 8.0, Davis 7.3, Blanton 6.4 as a rookie in his best year, Warneke 5.3, Hubbell and Swift in his best year 5.0, Schumacher, P. Dean in his last good year, and Syl Johnson (Philadelphia) 4.9, Derringer 4.8, Bob Smith (Boston) 4.5, Van Lingle Mungo (Brooklyn) 4.4.

WAR leaders, position players: Vaughan 9.7, Ott 7.8, Herman 7.3, Medwick 6.5, Galan 6.1, Berger 5.7, Leiber 5.2, Hartnett 5.1, Terry 5.0, Collins and Hack 4.8, Waner 4.4, Moore 3.7. Pitchers: Dean 7.1, Blanton 6.5, Davis 5.6, P. Dean 5.5, Schumacher and Swift 5.0, Hubbell 4.9, Warneke 4.7, French 4.6, Johnson 4.1.

Actual award voting: MVP Top 10
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---
1 Gabby Hartnett CHC 0 75 80 0.94 | 413 142 13 .344 .949 1
2 Dizzy Dean STL 0 66 80 0.82 | 128 30 2 .234 .559 2| 28-12 325 3.04 1.233 190 5
3 Arky Vaughan PIT 0 45 80 0.56 | 499 192 19 .385 1.098 4
4 Billy Herman CHC 0 38 80 0.48 | 666 227 7 .341 .859 6
5 Joe Medwick STL 0 37 80 0.46 | 634 224 23 .353 .962 4
6 Wally Berger BSN 0 20 80 0.25 | 589 174 34 .295 .903 3
6 Carl Hubbell NYG 0 20 80 0.25 | 109 26 1 .239 .556 0| 23-12 303 3.27 1.199 150
6 Bill Terry NYG 0 20 80 0.25 | 596 203 6 .341 .834 7
9 Augie Galan CHC 0 18 80 0.22 | 646 203 12 .314 .866 22
10 Pepper Martin STL 0 16 80 0.20 | 539 161 9 .299 .789 20

Top player: Arky Vaughan had one of the all-time great seasons for Pittsburgh. His .385 average led the league by 32 points, and he also led in walks, OPS and OPS+ while playing a strong shortstop. 19 HR and 99 RBI with 105 runs are also strong credentials. Mel Ott gets my #2 spot with the second-best OPS+ and 31 HR with 114 RBI. Billy Herman's .341 average for the pennant winners plus defense at second base gets him #3. Medwick is #4 with a .353-23-126 line, then Augie Galan's league-leading 133 runs for the Cubs gets him #5. Gabby Hartnett won the MVP mostly for sentimental reasons, although he did play well. I'd put him sixth.

Top pitcher: Dizzy Dean again, leading in wins and strikeouts with a 28-12 record and 3.04 ERA. Carl Hubbell ranks #2 with a 23-12 record and 3.15 ERA. Cy Blanton ranked #3 at 18-13 while leading the league with his 2.58 ERA. Hal Schumacher #4 at 19-9, 2.89. Lon Warneke's 20 wins for #5.

Top rookie: Blanton, but his career would decline from here. He was a 26-year old rookie.

Top manager: Charlie Grimm gets this award for managing the pennant winners.

1935 American League

The Tigers won their second straight pennant by again bludgeoning the league into submission with a superior offense. The Yankees were just three games back with the best pitching in the league. Babe Ruth was gone, off playing his final season with the Boston Braves. Cleveland ran third, and Boston played their best ball in nearly two decades to finish fourth. Then came Chicago, followed by Boston, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. Detroit topped one million in attendance, but the Browns slipped below 100K.

Buddy Myer of Washington won the batting title at .349, edging Joe Vosmik at .348 and Jimmie Foxx at .346. Lou Gehrig led in on-base, while Foxx led in slugging and OPS. Gehrig led in runs with 125, Vosmik in hits with 216 (beating Myer by one this time), and also led in doubles with 47 and triples with 20. Foxx and Hank Greenberg tied with 36 home runs, but Greenberg was all by himself with 170 RBI. Billy Werber led in steals again with 29.

Wes Ferrell topped the league with 25 wins (and also with 38 starts), Tommy Bridges led with 163 strikeouts, and Lefty Grove with a 2.70 ERA. With Grove and Ferrell, Boston had two top pitchers.

Win Shares leaders, players: Hank Greenberg (Detroit) and Lou Gehrig (New York) 34, Buddy Myer (Washington) 33, Charlie Gehringer (Detroit) 31, Jimmie Foxx (Philadelphia) 30, Joe Vosmik (Cleveland) 28, Luke Appling (Chicago) and Mickey Cochrane (Detroit) 24, Billy Rogell (Detroit) 23, Earl Averill (Cleveland) and Red Rolfe (New York) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Wes Ferrell (Boston) 35, Lefty Grove (Boston) 29, Mel Harder (Cleveland) 27, Schoolboy Rowe (Detroit) 23, Red Ruffing (New York) 22, Willis Hudlin (Cleveland) and Ivy Andrews (St. Louis) 21, Ted Lyons (Chicago) 20.

WARP3 scores: Gehrig 8.4, Foxx 8.0 in his last season in Philly, Greenberg 7.6, Gehringer 7.0, Appling 6.7, Vosmik 6.4 in his best season, Rolfe 5.3 in his first full season. Myer 5.1 (his best season, at age 31), Cochrane 4.6 in his last full season, Bob Johnson (Philadelphia) 4.5, George Selkirk (New York) 4.3, Rogell 3.7.

For the pitchers, Ferrell 9.2, Grove 7.6, Harder 6.5, Rowe 5.5, Andrews 5.1 (best year), Johnny Marcum (Philadelphia) 4.8, Hudlin 4.7 in his last good year, Ruffing 4.2, Tommy Bridges (Detroit) and Bobo Newsom (St. Louis/Washington) 3.6, Lyons and Elden Auker (Detroit) 3.4.

WAR leaders, position players: Gehrig 9.6, Foxx 9.4, Greenberg 8.4, Gehringer 8.1, Appling 7.3, Myer 6.9, Vosmik 6.6, Rogell 5.2, Cochrane 5.1, Johnson 4.7, Hale 4.6. Pitchers: Grove 7.7, Ferrell 6.9, Harder 6.3, Andrews 5.3, Rowe 4.3, Lyons 4.2, Hudlin, Ruffing, and Whitehead 4.1, Gomez 3.8.

Actual award voting, for MVP: (Top 10)
Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----
1 Hank Greenberg DET 8 80 80 1.00 | 619 203 36 .328 1.039 4
2 Wes Ferrell BOS 0 62 80 0.78 | 150 52 7 .347 .960 0| 25-14 322 3.52 1.378 110
3 Joe Vosmik CLE 0 39 80 0.49 | 620 216 10 .348 .946 2
4 Buddy Myer WSH 0 36 80 0.45 | 616 215 5 .349 .907 7
5 Lou Gehrig NYY 0 29 80 0.36 | 535 176 30 .329 1.049 8
6 Charlie Gehringer DET 0 26 80 0.32 | 610 201 19 .330 .911 11
7 Mickey Cochrane DET 0 24 80 0.30 | 411 131 5 .319 .902 5
8 Doc Cramer PHA 0 18 80 0.22 | 644 214 3 .332 .789 6
9 Rollie Helmsley SLB 0 16 80 0.20 | 504 146 0 .290 .730 3
9 Moose Solters TOT 0 16 80 0.20 | +631 201 18 .319 .854 11

Top player: Hank Greenberg. Greenberg, Foxx and Gehrig are in almost a dead heat statistically, but Greenberg's team won. Also, those 170 RBI look mighty impressive. Make Foxx #2 with his tie with Greenberg for the home run lead, and I'll put Gehrig #3. Gehringer makes a fine #4 with his .330 average, and Buddy Myer gets #5 with his batting title. Vosmik would be sixth.

Top pitcher: Wes Ferrell had an impressive 25 wins for the rebuilding Red Sox, and teammate Lefty Grove edges Mel Harder for the #2 spot. Schoolboy Rowe is 4th with Red Ruffing 5th.

Top rookie: Wally Moses batted .325 in 85 games for Philadelphia. He had a good if unspectacular career and was a long-time hitting coach.

Top manager: Mickey Cochrane for bringing the Tigers home again.

1934 National League

The "Gas House Gang" Cardinals won a close pennant race by two games over the Giants, powered by a free-wheeling lineup and the Dean brothers on the mound. Chicago was third, eight games back. Boston was 4th, Pittsburgh 5th, followed by Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Cincinnati was again last.

Paul Waner won the batting title with a .362 average, just ahead of Bill Terry's .354. Waner also led in runs with 122 and hits with 217. Arky Vaughan led in on-base, while Rip Collins led in slugging and OPS. Ethan Allen and Kiki Cuyler had 42 doubles each, while Joe Medwick had 18 triples. Collins tied Mel Ott with 35 homers, while Ott led with 135 RBI. Pepper Martin led with 23 steals.

Dizzy Dean put up a big 30-win year, and also led with 195 strikeouts. Carl Hubbell led in ERA at 2.30. Hubbell also led the league in saves with 8, as well as complete games with 25. It was a different time then. Most games were loaded onto the weekend during the Depression, so that somebody would come out, so doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday were common. Aces might start on Friday and relieve on Sunday, or vice-versa.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mel Ott (New York) 38, Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh) 36, Wally Berger (Boston) 33, Ripper Collins (St. Louis) 32, Paul Waner (Pittsburgh) 30, Bill Terry (New York) 29, Jo-Jo Moore (New York) 26, Billy Urbanski (Boston) 25, Gabby Hartnett (Chicago) and Ducky Medwick (St. Louis) 24.

WS leaders, pitchers; Dizzy Dean (St. Louis) 37, Carl Hubbell (New York) 32, Lon Warneke (Chicago) 26, Hal Schumacher (New York) and Curt Davis (Philadelphia) 24, Van Lingle Mungo (Brooklyn) and Paul Dean (St. Louis) 22.

WARP3: Ott 10.3, Vaughan 10.1, Waner 8.6, Hartnett 7.0, Len Koenecke (Brooklyn) and Dick Bartell (Philadelphia) 6.0, Collins 5.5 (career year), Kiki Cuyler (Chicago) 4.6, Urbanski (career year), Frankie Frisch (St. Louis) and Chuck Klein (Chicago) 4.5, Moore 4.4, Terry 4.2.

Pitchers; D. Dean 9.7, Davis 8.1 (as a 30-year-old rookie), Hubbell 7.6, Mungo 7.2, Benny Frey (Cincinnati) 6.8, Paul Derringer (Cincinnati) 6.5, Warneke 5.8, P. Dean 5.4 (as a 20-year-old rookie), Ed Brandt (Boston) 5.0, Schumacher and Waite Hoyt (Pittsburgh) 4.8.

WAR leaders, position players: Ott 7.5, Vaughan 7.2, Collins 6.8, Waner 6.5, Terry 6.1, Koenecke and Berger 5.1, Leslie 4.3, Cuyler and Jackson 4.0, Hartnett 3.9. Pitchers: D. Dean 8.1, Hubbell 7.4, Davis 6.8, Mungo and Warneke 5.0, P. Dean 4.8, Hoyt 4.4, Frey 3.8, Derringer 3.7, Collins and Walker 3.5.

Actual MVP voting (top 15):
Place Name Team Points
1 Dizzy Dean STL 78
2 Paul Waner PIT 50
3 Jo-Jo Moore NYG 42
4 Travis Jackson NYG 39
5 Mel Ott NYG 37
6 Ripper Collins STL 32
7 Bill Terry NYG 30
8 Curt Davis PHI 18
9 Paul Dean STL 16
9 Carl Hubbell NYG 16
9 Hal Schumacher NYG 16
12 Wally Berger BSN 13
13 Lon Warneke CHC 10
14 Gabby Hartnett CHC 9
15 Gordon Slade CIN 5

Best player: Mel Ott, although Arky Vaughan would make a good choice too. Ott was clearly the best hitter in the league, with a .326-35-135 line. Vaughan gets the #2 spot with his .333-12-94 season, although he got just one MVP vote. Paul Waner is #3 after leading the league in average and going .362-14-90. Ripper Collins of the pennant winner was #4 with a tie for Ott for the home run lead and a .333-35-128 line. Gabby Hartnett's .299-22-90 coupled with his excellent defense puts him 5th.

Best pitcher: Dizzy Dean, of course. His 30-7 year, plus a 2.66 ERA. Carl Hubbell led the league in ERA at 2.30 and went 21-12. Curt Davis was 19-17 with a 2.95 ERA in the hitter's haven of Philadelphia. Lon Warneke was 21-10, 3.21 for 4th, Van Lingle Mungo 18-16, 3.37 for 5th.

Best rookie: Paul Dean (or Daffy, if you prefer) since he was 20 to the more productive Curt Davis' 30. Didn't help him have a better career, though. Paul was 19-11 and had a 3.43 ERA. He had the most promise, but ended with 50 career wins to Davis' 158.

Best manager: Frankie Frisch had to coordinate the St. Louis wild bunch. That was a full-time job in itself.

1934 American League

The Tigers won the pennant by a seven-game margin over the Yankees, with an exceptional offense and good pitching. They lost the World Series in seven games, though. The emergence of a young Hank Greenberg gave the Tigers the push they needed. Cleveland was a distant third, while Boston was just at .500 and in fourth place. Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington (in a big falloff from the previous year's pennant) and Chicago made up the second division.

In a display of how different things were in 1934, consider these things: it was the middle of the depression, and before night baseball started, no team drew one million fans. The Tigers led in attendance with a little over 900,000. Only the Yankees and Tigers averaged over 11,000 fans per game. The Browns drew just over 100,000, or about 1500 per game. It was a tough time at the box office.

Mickey Cochrane won the MVP for the pennant winners, but Lou Gehrig won the Triple Crown for the second-place team. Gehrig had a .363 average, just ahead of the Tigers' Charlie Gehringer at .356, hit 49 homers to best Jimmie Foxx's 44, and drove in 165 runs to finish ahead of Hal Trosky's 142. Gehrig also led in on-base, slugging, OPS, and total bases. Gehringer led with 134 runs and 214 hits, Hank Greenberg had 63 doubles, Ben Chapman had 13 triples, and Billy Werber stole 40 bases.

The Yankees had another Triple Crown winner in pitcher Lefty Gomez, who had 26 wins, 158 strikeouts, and a 2.33 ERA to lead the league. Second-place finishers were Schoolboy Rowe with 24 wins, Tommy Bridges with 151 strikeouts, and Mel Harder with a 2.61 ERA.

Win Shares leaders, players; Lou Gehrig (New York) 41, Charlie Gehringer (Detroit) 37, Earl Averill (Cleveland) 33, Jimmie Foxx (Philadelphia) 32, Hank Greenberg (Detroit) 31, Hal Trosky (Cleveland) 28, Bill Werber (Boston) 26, Billy Rogell (Detroit) 24, Al Simmons (Chicago), Mickey Cochrane and Marv Owen (Detroit) 23.

WS leaders, pitchers; Lefty Gomez (New York) 31, Schoolboy Rowe (Detroit) 28, Mel Harder (Cleveland) 27, Tommy Bridges (Detroit) 22, Bobo Newsom (St. Louis) 21, Wes Ferrell (Boston) and Johnny Murphy (New York) 18, Fritz Ostermueller (Boston), Monte Pearson (Cleveland) and Red Ruffing (New York) 17.

WARP3: Gehrig 10.1, Gehringer 8.6, Averill 7.4 (best year), Foxx 6.4, Bob Johnson (Philadelphia) 5.2, Werber 5.0, Greenberg 4.7, Cochrane and Babe Ruth (New York) 4.6, Tony Lazzeri (New York) 4.5, Bill Dickey (New York) 4.4, Simmons 3.8 (last big year), Rogell and Rollie Helmsley (St. Louis) 3.7.

Pitchers; Gomez 6.6, Harder 6.5, Rowe 5.7 (first full year), Ostermueller 4.4 (rookie), Ferrell 4.3, Bobby Burke (Washington) 4.2, Newsom 4.1 (rookie), Bridges 3.8, George Earnshaw (Chicago) 3.4, Murphy (rookie, best year, by far his most use), and Johnny Welch (Boston) 3.3.

WAR leaders, position players: Gehrig 11.5, Foxx 9.6, Gehringer 9.2, Averill 7.4, Greenberg 7.1, Werber 6.3, Trosky 6.1, Rogell 5.4, Simmons and Johnson 5.3, Manush 5.2. Pitchers: Gomez 8.1, Harder 6.8, Rowe 5.8, Bridges 5.7, Newsom 4.9, Ostermueller 4.6, Murphy 4.4, Burke and Ferrell 3.9, Blaeholder 3.8.

Actual MVP voting(top 15):
Place Name Team Points
1 Mickey Cochrane DET 67
2 Charlie Gehringer DET 65
3 Lefty Gomez NYY 60
4 Schoolboy Rowe DET 59
5 Lou Gehrig NYY 54
6 Hank Greenberg DET 29
7 Hal Trosky CLE 18
8 Wes Ferrell BOS 16
9 Marv Owen DET 13
10 Jimmie Foxx PHA 11
11 Al Simmons CHW 9
12 Roy Johnson BOS 8
12 Billy Werber BOS 8
14 Goose Goslin DET 6
15 Sam West SLB 5
The voters zeroed in on a top five of three Tigers and two Yankees. Three more Tigers came in down-ballot. The Detroit team really impressed the BBWAA voters.

Best player: Lou Gehrig. Larrupin' Lou won the Triple Crown, but couldn't win the MVP. He gets this award, though, but I was tempted to vote for Gehringer. Gehrig's .363-49-165 line is too hard to ignore. Gehringer didn't have the same power, but his defense supplements his .356-11-127 line as he was second in batting average. Earl Averill had a terrific year at .313-31-113 and nets third place, with Jimmie Foxx #4 at .334-44-130. Hank Greenberg's first big year, with a .339-26-138 line and all those doubles, gets him #5.

Best pitcher: Lefty Gomez. Again, Lefty is the best pitcher in the league, but this time it is Gomez putting up Grove-like stats, with a 26-5 record and a league-leading ERA of 2.33. Mel Harder places second with a 20-12, 2.61 season. Schoolboy Rowe places 3rd in his first full year with a 24-8 record and 3.45 ERA. Tommy Bridges' 22-11, 3.67 earns him 4th, with Bobo Newsom's 16-20, 4.01 for the lowly Browns good enough for 5th.

Best rookie: Hal Trosky made a strong showing in his first full year, going .330-35-142. Bobo Newsom second with a 16-20 record and 4.01 ERA, which still meant a 124 ERA+. Johnny Murphy and Fritz Ostermueller also earn notice.

Best manager: Mickey Cochrane will take this trophy, for guiding the Tigers to their first pennant since 1909.