1998 National League

It was the year of the home run chase in the NL, as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa waged war on Roger Maris' single-season home run record. McGwire finished with 70, and Sosa with 66, as both surpassed the record. The Padres won the pennant, although they had the least victories of any division winner, but that total was still 98. It served as a capstone for Tony Gwynn's career. Atlanta won 106 games to take the East, Houston won 102 to claim the Central, and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants in a one-game playoff to claim the Wild Card spot when both finished the regular schedule with 89 wins. The Mets won 88. Meanwhile, the stripped Florida Marlins lost 108 games, the new Arizona Diamondbacks lost 97, as did the Expos, and the new (to the NL) Brewers were also-rans in the Central.

The big story, of course, was the assault on the home run record, with Mark McGwire's 70 and Sammy Sosa's 66 both topping the all-time mark of 61. Steroids were barely a whisper, but would become a shout a few years later. Greg Vaughn was third in homers with 50.

In other categories, to which scant attention was paid at the time, Larry Walker won the batting title with a .363 mark while John Olerud hit .354. Third was Dante Bichette at .331. Sosa led with 134 runs, McGwire had 130, Jeff Bagwell 124. Bichette had 219 hits, Craig Biggio 210. Biggio had 51 doubles, Bichette and Dmitri Young 48. David Delucci had 12 triples and Barry Larkin 10. Sosa posted 158 RBI, McGwire 147, Vinny Castilla 144. Tony Womack had 58 steals, Biggio 50.

Tom Glavine was the sole 20-game winner, Shane Reynolds and Kevin Tapani won 19, Kevin Brown and Greg Maddux won 18 each. Maddux led with a 2.22 ERA followed by Brown at 2.38 then Glavine and Al Leiter at 2.47. Curt Schilling had 300 strikeouts, Brown 257 and Kerry Wood 233. Trevor Hoffman set the pace with 53 saves and Rod Beck had 51.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mark McGwire (St. Louis) 41, Sammy Sosa (Chicago) and Craig Biggio (Houston) 35, John Olerud (New York) and Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 34, Mike Piazza (Los Angeles/Florida/New York) 33, Fernando Vina (Milwaukee), Scott Rolen (Philadelphia) and Greg Vaughn (San Diego) 30, Chipper Jones (Atlanta), Moises Alou and Jeff Bagwell (Houston) and Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal) 29, Andres Galarraga (Atlanta), Mark Grace (Chicago) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 27, Andruw Jones (Atlanta), Jeff Cirillo (Milwaukee), Bobby Abreu (Philadelphia) and Jason Kendall (Pittsburgh) 26, Javier Lopez (Atlanta), Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) and Jeff Kent (San Francisco) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Kevin Brown (San Diego) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 25, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 23, Curt Schilling (Philadelphia) 22, Al Leiter (New York) 21, Trevor Hoffman (San Diego) 20, Robb Nen (San Francisco) 19, Ugueth Urbina (Montreal) 17, John Smoltz (Atlanta), Pete Harnisch (Cincinnati), Shane Reynolds (Houston) and Rick Reed (New York) 16.

WARP3 scores: McGwire 11.5 (best season), Sosa 9.6, Biggio 9.6, Olerud 10.9, Bonds 12.5, Piazza 9.4, Vina 8.3 (best season), Rolen 10.1, Vaughn 9.9 (career year), C. Jones 8.7, Alou 9.0 (best season), Bagwell 9.3, Guerrero 6.7, Galarraga 6.1 (last big year), Grace 7.9, Lankford 7.5 (last big year), A. Jones 9.1, Cirillo 9.3 (best year), Abreu 6.7, Kendall 9.3 (best year), Lopez 8.3, Larkin 7.7, Kent 7.3.

Pitchers, Brown 9.8, Maddux 10.6, Glavine 9.9, Schilling 8.8, Leiter 8.0 (best season), Hoffman 8.2, Nen 8.3 (best season), Urbina 8.0, Smoltz 6.1, Harnisch 6.1, Reynolds 5.7, Reed 6.1.

WAR leaders, position players: Bonds and McGwire 8.8, Olerud 8.4, C. Jones and Sosa 7.4, A. Jones and Rolen 7.3, Brian Jordan (Atlanta) 7.2, Alou 7.1, Bagwell and Guerrero 7.0, Piazza 6.8, Biggio, Cirillo, and Abreu 6.7, Lankford 6.5, Larkin 6.2, Kendall and Vaughn 6.1, Bell 6.0, Galarraga 5.3, Walker 5.2.

WAR leaders, pitchers: Brown 9.3, Schilling 8.6, Maddux 7.6, Smoltz 5.3, Glavine 4.9, Leiter 4.7, Reynolds 4.6, Darryl Kile (Colorado) and Kerry Wood (Chicago) 4.4, Mark Clark (Chicago) 4.1, Dreifort 3.8, Daal 3.7, Cordova and Tomko 3.6, Benes and Perez 3.5, Johnson, Millwood, Nen, and Thomson 3.4.  RJ was 10-1 down the stretch for the Astros.

Actual award winners:
MVP: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+---+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Sammy Sosa CHC 30 438 448 0.98 | 643 198 66 .308 1.024 18|
2 Mark McGwire STL 2 272 448 0.61 | 509 152 70 .299 1.222 1|
3 Moises Alou HOU 0 215 448 0.48 | 584 182 38 .312 .981 11|
4 Greg Vaughn SDP 0 185 448 0.41 | 573 156 50 .272 .960 11|
5 Craig Biggio HOU 0 163 448 0.36 | 646 210 20 .325 .906 50|
6 Andres Galarraga ATL 0 147 448 0.33 | 555 169 44 .305 .991 7|
7 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 117 448 0.26 | 3 0 0 .000 .000 0| 4-2 73 1.48 0.85 86 53
8 Barry Bonds SFG 0 66 448 0.15 | 552 167 37 .303 1.047 28|
9 Chipper Jones ATL 0 56 448 0.12 | 601 188 34 .313 .951 16|
9 Jeff Kent SFG 0 56 448 0.12 | 526 156 31 .297 .914 9|
11 Vinny Castilla COL 0 49 448 0.11 | 645 206 46 .319 .951 5|
12 John Olerud NYM 0 38 448 0.08 | 557 197 22 .354 .998 2|
13 Vladimir Guerrero MON 0 25 448 0.06 | 623 202 38 .324 .960 11|
14 Mike Piazza TOT 0 15 448 0.03 | +561 184 32 .328 .960 1|
15 Tony Gwynn SDP 0 11 448 0.02 | 461 148 16 .321 .865 3|
16 Kevin Brown SDP 0 8 448 0.02 | 82 17 0 .207 .488 0| 18-7 257 2.38 1.07 257
17 Larry Walker COL 0 7 448 0.02 | 454 165 23 .363 1.075 14|
18 Rod Beck CHC 0 5 448 0.01 | 1 0 0 .000 .000 0| 3-4 80 3.02 1.32 81 51
19 Jeromy Burnitz MIL 0 4 448 0.01 | 609 160 38 .263 .838 7|
20 Scott Rolen PHI 0 3 448 0.01 | 601 174 31 .290 .923 14|
21 Dante Bichette COL 0 2 448 0.00 | 662 219 22 .331 .866 14|
21 Tom Glavine ATL 0 2 448 0.00 | 71 17 0 .239 .532 0| 20-6 229 2.47 1.20 157
21 Randy Johnson TOT 0 2 448 0.00 | 32 2 0 .062 .156 0| 10-1 84 1.28 0.98 116
24 Javy Lopez ATL 0 1 448 0.00 | 489 139 34 .284 .868 5|
24 Mickey Morandini CHC 0 1 448 0.00 | 582 172 8 .296 .765 13|

Sosa easily won, probably because of the combination of RBI total and the Cubs making the postseason.

Cy Young: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Tom Glavine ATL 11 99 160 0.62 | 20-6 229 2.47 1.20 157
2 Trevor Hoffman SDP 13 88 160 0.55 | 4-2 73 1.48 0.85 86 53
3 Kevin Brown SDP 8 76 160 0.48 | 18-7 257 2.38 1.07 257
4 Greg Maddux ATL 0 10 160 0.06 | 18-9 251 2.22 0.98 204
4 John Smoltz ATL 0 10 160 0.06 | 17-3 168 2.90 1.13 173
6 Al Leiter NYM 0 3 160 0.02 | 17-6 193 2.47 1.15 174
7 Randy Johnson TOT 0 2 160 0.01 | 10-1 84 1.28 0.98 116

Interesting three-way race, but they ignored the ERA leader.

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Kerry Wood CHC 16 128 160 0.80 | 54 7 2 .130 .386 0| 13-6 167 3.40 1.21 233
2 Todd Helton COL 15 119 160 0.74 | 530 167 25 .315 .911 3|
3 Travis Lee ARI 0 21 160 0.13 | 562 151 22 .269 .775 8|
4 Kerry Ligtenberg ATL 1 18 160 0.11 | | 3-2 73 2.71 1.03 79 30
5 Brad Fullmer MON 0 2 160 0.01 | 505 138 13 .273 .773 6|

Manager: 1st Max |
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Larry Dierker HOU 16 102 160 0.64 | 102-60 1
2 Bruce Bochy SDP 5 70 160 0.44 | 98-64 1
3 Jim Riggleman CHC 5 55 160 0.34 | 90-73 2
4 Dusty Baker SFG 6 39 160 0.24 | 89-74 2
5 Bobby Cox ATL 0 17 160 0.11 | 106-56 1
6 Bobby Valentine NYM 0 5 160 0.03 | 88-74 2

Top player: Mark McGwire. I just can't ignore the 70-homer year.
#1 Mark McGwire, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Sammy Sosa, #4 John Olerud, #5 Craig Biggio, #6 Scott Rolen.

Top pitcher: Kevin Brown in his best overall year.
#1 Kevin Brown, #2 Greg Maddux, #3 Tom Glavine, #4 Curt Schilling, #5 Robb Nen.

Top rookie: Todd Helton, over Kerry Wood. Hindsight helps here.

Top manager: Larry Dierker for me as well. Bochy, Cox and Riggelman are also good choices.

1998 American League

The New York Yankees had an incredible season, winning 114 games in the regular season and then eleven more in the postseason to win the World Series, their second in three years. The Yankees finished 22 games in front of Boston, which had the second-best record in the league and won the Wild Card. Toronto was 3rd in the division with 88 wins. Baltimore won 79 and new entry Tampa Bay lost 99 games, as Detroit moved to the Central and Milwaukee to the NL. Cleveland took the Central crown with 89 wins, 9 ahead of the White Sox. Texas won 88 games to take the West, three ahead of Anaheim.

Bernie Williams took the batting title with a .339 average even though he missed nearly a month with injuries. Mo Vaughn was second at .337, Albert Belle third at .328, then Eric Davis at .327 and Derek Jeter at .324. Jeter led with 127 runs scored, followed by Ray Durham at 126. Alex Rodriguez had 213 hits, Vaughn 205, Jeter 203 and Belle 200. Juan Gonzalez led with 50 doubles followed by Belle at 48 and Edgar Martinez at 46. Jose Offerman had 13 triples and Johnny Damon 10. Ken Griffey, Jr. belted 56 home runs, leading an early charge on Roger Maris. Belle had 49 and Jose Canseco 46. Gonzalez had 157 RBI, Belle 152 and Griffey 146. Rickey Henderson had 66 steals, Kenny Lofton 54 and Shannon Stewart 51.

Roger Clemens, David Cone, and Rick Helling tied with 20 wins each. Pedro Martinez and Aaron Sele won 19 apiece. Clemens led with a 2.65 ERA, Pedro was at 2.89, Kenny Rogers 3.17. Clemens completed a pitchers' triple crown with 271 strikeouts, Pedro had 251 and Randy Johnson 213 with Chuck Finley at 212. Tom Gordon led relievers with 46 saves, Troy Percival and John Wetteland had 42.

Win Shares leaders, players; Albert Belle (Chicago) 37, Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 30, Jose Offerman (Kansas City) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (Seattle) 29, Nomar Garciaparra (Boston), Scott Brosius, Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams (New York) and Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 27, Paul O'Neill (New York) 26, Mo Vaughn (Boston), Ray Durham and Frank Thomas (Chicago), Manny Ramirez (Cleveland) and Juan Gonzalez (Texas) 25, Jim Edmonds (Anaheim), Rafael Palmeiro (Baltimore), Edgar Martinez (Seattle) and Carlos Delgado (Toronto) 24, Damion Easley (Detroit) and Jason Giambi (Oakland) 23, Tim Salmon (Anaheim), Chuck Knoblauch (New York) and Ben Grieve (Oakland) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Roger Clemens (Toronto) 25, Pedro Martinez (Boston) 21, Kenny Rogers (Oakland) 19, Chuck Finley (Anaheim), Tom Gordon (Boston), Brian Moehler (Detroit), Tim Belcher (Kansas City), David Cone (New York) and Rolando Arrojo (Tampa Bay) 17, Bartolo Colon and Mike Jackson (Cleveland) 16.

WARP3 scores: Belle 11.7, A. Rodriguez 11.3, Offerman 8.7 (best season), Griffey 12.5, Garciaparra 9.3, Brosius 8.3 (best season), Jeter 9.1, Williams 9.2, I. Rodriguez 11.0, O'Neill 8.9 (last big season), Vaughn 8.7 (last big season), Durham 9.1, Thomas 6.7, Ramirez 8.7, Gonzalez 7.6, Edmonds 9.2, Palmeiro 10.3, E. Martinez 9.2, Delgado 8.6, Easley 8.0 (best season), Giambi 5.8, Salmon 7.0, Knoblauch 7.7, Grieve 5.5 (rookie).

Pitchers, Clemens 11.2, P. Martinez 9.8, Rogers 10.3 (best season), Finley 7.4, Gordon 7.9 (best season), Moehler 8.2 (career year), Belcher 7.2, Cone 7.1, Arrojo 8.2 (rookie, career year), Colon 7.9, Jackson 6.7 (career year).

WAR position player leaders: A. Rodriguez 8.4, Garciaparra 7.5, Belle 7.4, Palmeiro 7.2, Griffey 7.1, I. Rodriguez 6.7, Vaughn 6.6, Jeter 6.5, Ventura 6.1, E. Martinez 6.0, Delgado and Lofton 5.9, O'Neill 5.8, Ramirez 5.7, Brosius and J. Gonzalez 5.3, Williams 5.2, Easley 5.1, Offerman 5.0, Valentin 4.8.

WAR pitching leaders: Clemens 8.8, P. Martinez 6.7, Moyer, Cone, Erickson, and Sele 5.3, Mussina 5.2, Colon and Radke 5.0, Rogers 4.9, Finley 4.8, Burkett and Wells 4.6, Thompson 4.5, Johnson 4.4, Helling 4.1.

Actual award winners:
MVP: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----++-----+-----+---+--+
1 Juan Gonzalez TEX 21 357 392 0.91 | 606 193 45 .318 .997 2|
2 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 5 232 392 0.59 | 604 195 35 .323 .946 12|
3 Derek Jeter NYY 2 180 392 0.46 | 626 203 19 .324 .864 30|
4 Ken Griffey SEA 0 135 392 0.34 | 633 180 56 .284 .977 20|
4 Mo Vaughn BOS 0 135 392 0.34 | 609 205 40 .337 .993 0|
6 Manny Ramirez CLE 0 127 392 0.32 | 571 168 45 .294 .976 5|
7 Bernie Williams NYY 0 103 392 0.26 | 499 169 26 .339 .997 15|
8 Albert Belle CHW 0 98 392 0.25 | 609 200 49 .328 1.055 6|
9 Alex Rodriguez SEA 0 92 392 0.23 | 686 213 42 .310 .919 46|
10 Ivan Rodriguez TEX 0 50 392 0.13 | 579 186 21 .321 .871 9|
11 Roger Clemens TOR 0 49 392 0.12 | 4 0 0 .000 .200 0| 20-6 235 2.65 1.10 271
12 Paul O'Neill NYY 0 36 392 0.09 | 602 191 24 .317 .882 15|
13 Tom Gordon BOS 0 27 392 0.07 | | 7-4 79 2.72 1.01 78 46
14 Darin Erstad ANA 0 7 392 0.02 | 537 159 19 .296 .839 20|
14 Tim Salmon ANA 0 7 392 0.02 | 463 139 26 .300 .943 0|
16 David Wells NYY 0 3 392 0.01 | 4 1 0 .250 .500 0| 18-4 214 3.49 1.05 163
16 John Wetteland TEX 0 3 392 0.01 | | 3-1 62 2.03 0.98 72 42
18 Eric Davis BAL 0 2 392 0.01 | 452 148 28 .327 .970 7|
18 Travis Fryman CLE 0 2 392 0.01 | 557 160 28 .287 .845 10|
18 Rafael Palmeiro BAL 0 2 392 0.01 | 619 183 43 .296 .945 11|
21 Carlos Delgado TOR 0 1 392 0.00 | 530 155 38 .292 .978 3|
21 Rick Helling TEX 0 1 392 0.00 | 5 1 0 .200 .400 0| 20-7 216 4.41 1.33 164
21 Mike Jackson CLE 0 1 392 0.00 | | 1-1 64 1.55 0.88 55 40
21 Pedro Martinez BOS 0 1 392 0.00 | 7 0 0 .000 .000 0| 19-7 234 2.89 1.09 251
21 Jim Thome CLE 0 1 392 0.00 | 440 129 30 .293 .997 1|

Cy Young: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Roger Clemens TOR 28 140 140 1.00 | 20-6 235 2.65 1.10 271
2 Pedro Martinez BOS 0 65 140 0.46 | 19-7 234 2.89 1.09 251
3 David Wells NYY 0 31 140 0.22 | 18-4 214 3.49 1.05 163
4 David Cone NYY 0 16 140 0.11 | 20-7 208 3.55 1.18 209

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1stPlace Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+-
1 Ben Grieve OAK 23 130 140 0.93 | 583 168 18 .288 .844 2|
2 Rolando Arrojo TBD 4 61 140 0.44 | 3 0 0 .000 .000 0| 14-12 202 3.56 1.29 152
3 Mike Caruso CHW 0 34 140 0.24 | 523 160 5 .306 .721 22|
4 Orlando Hernandez NYY 1 25 140 0.18 | 7 0 0 .000 .000 0| 12-4 141 3.13 1.17 131
5 Magglio Ordonez CHW 0 1 140 0.01 | 535 151 14 .282 .741 9|
5 Sidney Ponson BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 4 2 0 .500 1.000 0| 8-9 135 5.27 1.47 85 1

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Joe Torre NYY 23 128 140 0.91 | 114-48 1
2 Jimy Williams BOS 3 59 140 0.42 | 92-70 2
3 Terry Collins ANA 2 38 140 0.27 | 85-77 2
4 Johnny Oates TEX 0 11 140 0.08 | 88-74 1
5 Mike Hargrove CLE 0 8 140 0.06 | 89-73 1
6 Tim Johnson TOR 0 4 140 0.03 | 88-74 3
6 Jerry Manuel CHW 0 4 140 0.03 | 80-82 2

Top player: Derek Jeter.  Working the "best player/best team" theme here, in the absence of an outstanding candidate.  This is the year Jeter should have won, with a 114-win team.
#1 Derek Jeter, #2 Albert Belle, #3 Alex Rodriguez, #4 Ken Griffey Jr., #5 Nomar Garciaparra, #6 Ivan Rodriguez.

Top pitcher: Roger Clemens, easily.
#1 Roger Clemens, #2 Pedro Martinez, #3 Kenny Rogers, #4 David Cone, #5 Chuck Finley.

Top rookie: Ben Grieve, although Magglio Ordonez would have the better career.

Top manager: Joe Torre. It's tough to win 114 games.

1997 National League

The Florida Marlins won the pennant and the World Series in just their fifth year of existence, coming from the Wild Card spot. The team was almost immediately dismantled by an owner crying poverty in spite of obscene profits, and was soon sold, then won another title six years later. Puts a lie to teams crying poverty and poor stadiums, doesn't it? At any rate, Atlanta won the NL East and had the league's most victories with 101, with Florida nine games behind and the Mets 13 games back. Houston won the Central with but 84 victories, five games ahead of Pittsburgh, and San Francisco won the West with 90 victories, two games ahead of Los Angeles and seven games ahead of Colorado. The Marlins, although they were the Wild Card winners, actually had the second-best record in the league.

Tony Gwynn won the batting title with a .372 mark, finishing just ahead of Larry Walker (.366) and Mike Piazza (.362). Walker led in home runs (49), OPS and total bases and won the MVP. Andres Galarraga led in RBI (140) followed by Jeff Bagwell with 135 and Walker with 130, Tony Womack in steals with 60 trailed by Deion Sanders at 56 and Delino Deshields at 55, Craig Biggio in runs with 146 followed by Walker with 143, and Mark Grudzielanek in doubles with 54 as next was Gwynn with 49. Second in homers was Bagwell with 43, then Galarraga at 41 and Piazza, Barry Bonds, and Vinny Castilla at 40 each.

Pedro Martinez won the ERA title (1.90) and the Cy Young, with Greg Maddux (2.20) second, Darryl Kile third (2.57) Ismael Valdes fourth (2.65) and Kevin Brown fifth (2.69). Denny Neagle led in victories with 20, then came Maddux, Kile, and Shawn Estes at 19 and Martinez, Curt Schilling, and Alex Fernandez at 17. Schilling led in strikeouts with 319 trailed by Pedro at 305. Jeff Shaw led in saves with 42 followed by Trevor Hoffman and Rod Beck at 37.

Win Shares leaders, players; Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) and Tony Gwynn (San Diego) 39, Craig Biggio (Houston) 38, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 36, Larry Walker (Colorado) and Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 32, Scott Rolen (Philadelphia) 29, Edgardo Alfonzo (New York) and J.T. Snow (San Francisco) 28, Jeff Blauser (Atlanta) and John Olerud (New York) 27, Ken Caminiti (San Diego) 26, Raul Mondesi (Los Angeles) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 24, Chipper Jones (Atlanta) and Moises Alou (Florida) 23, Gary Sheffield (Florida), Todd Hundley (New York), Jason Kendall (Pittsburgh) and Jeff Kent (San Francisco) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Greg Maddux (Atlanta) and Pedro Martinez (Montreal) 26, Kevin Brown (Florida) 23, Curt Schilling (Philadelphia) 22, Tom Glavine, Denny Neagle and John Smoltz (Atlanta), Jeff Shaw (Cincinnati) and Darryl Kile (Houston) 21, Rick Reed (New York) 17.

WARP3 scores: Piazza 12.4 (best season), Gwynn 7.6 (last big year), Biggio 12.3 (best season), Bonds 11.4, Walker 10.5 (best season), Bagwell 9.3, Rolen 8.3 (rookie), Alfonzo 7.4 (breakout year), Snow 5.5, Blauser 8.7 (best year, last good year), Olerud 7.3, Caminiti 8.4 (last good year), Mondesi 8.5, Lankford 7.4, Jones 5.4, Alou 5.9, Sheffield 6.7, Hundley 7.5 (last good year), Kendall 8.3.

Pitchers, Maddux 10.5, Martinez 10.9, Brown 8.7, Schilling 9.4, Glavine 8.0, Neagle 7.6 (best year), Smoltz 8.5, Shaw 7.2 (best year), Kile 8.3 (best year), Reed 6.9.

WAR leaders, players: Biggio 9.7, Walker and Piazza 9.4, Bonds 9.2, Bagwell 8.3, Mondesi 6.0, Alfonso and Lankford 5.9, Blauser and Kenny Lofton (Atlanta) 5.5, Rondell White (Expos) 5.1, Mark Grace (Cubs) and Charles Johnson (Florida) 5.0, Kendall 4.8, Olerud 4.7, Hundley, Rolen, and Bill Spiers (Houston) 4.6, Gwynn 4.5.

Pitchers: Martinez 8.8, Schilling 8.6, Maddux 8.2, Smoltz 6.9, Brown 6.4, Neagle 5.4, Andy Benes (St. Louis) 5.1, Matt Morris (St. Louis) 4.9, Kile 4.3, John Thomson (Rockies) 4.2, Glavine 3.8, Reed and Valdez 3.6.
Actual award winners:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+-
1 Larry Walker COL 22 359 392 0.92 | 568 208 49 .366 1.172 33|
2 Mike Piazza LAD 3 263 392 0.67 | 556 201 40 .362 1.070 5|
3 Jeff Bagwell HOU 3 233 392 0.59 | 566 162 43 .286 1.017 31|
4 Craig Biggio HOU 0 157 392 0.40 | 619 191 22 .309 .916 47|
5 Barry Bonds SFG 0 123 392 0.31 | 532 155 40 .291 1.031 37|
6 Tony Gwynn SDP 0 113 392 0.29 | 592 220 17 .372 .957 12|
7 Andres Galarraga COL 0 85 392 0.22 | 600 191 41 .318 .974 15|
8 Jeff Kent SFG 0 80 392 0.20 | 580 145 29 .250 .789 11|
9 Chipper Jones ATL 0 70 392 0.18 | 597 176 21 .295 .850 20|
10 Moises Alou FLA 0 60 392 0.15 | 538 157 23 .292 .866 9|
11 Charles Johnson FLA 0 22 392 0.06 | 416 104 19 .250 .802 0|
12 Greg Maddux ATL 0 16 392 0.04 | 67 7 0 .104 .301 1| 19-4 233 2.20 0.95 177
13 Edgardo Alfonzo NYM 0 10 392 0.03 | 518 163 10 .315 .823 11|
14 Curt Schilling PHI 0 9 392 0.02 | 81 14 0 .173 .366 1| 17-11 254 2.97 1.05 319
15 Raul Mondesi LAD 0 8 392 0.02 | 616 191 30 .310 .901 32|
16 Ray Lankford STL 0 6 392 0.02 | 465 137 31 .295 .996 21|
16 Pedro Martinez MON 0 6 392 0.02 | 69 8 0 .116 .327 0| 17-8 241 1.90 0.93 305
16 Mark McGwire TOT 0 6 392 0.02 | 174 44 24 .253 1.095 2|
19 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 5 392 0.01 | 642 161 36 .251 .779 22|
19 Kevin Young PIT 0 5 392 0.01 | 333 100 18 .300 .867 11|
21 Jeff Blauser ATL 0 4 392 0.01 | 519 160 17 .308 .886 5|
22 Vinny Castilla COL 0 3 392 0.01 | 612 186 40 .304 .904 2|
22 Darryl Kile HOU 0 3 392 0.01 | 89 11 0 .124 .336 0| 19-7 256 2.57 1.18 205
24 Rod Beck SFG 0 2 392 0.01 | | 7-4 70 3.47 1.07 53 37
24 Tony Womack PIT 0 2 392 0.01 | 641 178 6 .278 .700 60|
26 Kenny Lofton ATL 0 1 392 0.00 | 493 164 5 .333 .837 27|
26 J.T. Snow SFG 0 1 392 0.00 | 531 149 28 .281 .898 6|


Cy Young:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points MaxPoints Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Pedro Martinez MON 25 134 140 0.96 | 17-8 241 1.90 0.93 305
2 Greg Maddux ATL 3 75 140 0.54 | 19-4 233 2.20 0.95 177
3 Denny Neagle ATL 0 24 140 0.17 | 20-5 233 2.97 1.08 172
4 Curt Schilling PHI 0 12 140 0.09 | 17-11 254 2.97 1.05 319
5 Darryl Kile HOU 0 7 140 0.05 | 19-7 256 2.57 1.18 205

Rookie:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+-
1 Scott Rolen PHI 28 140 140 1.00 | 561 159 21 .283 .846 16|
2 Livan Hernandez FLA 0 25 140 0.18 | 29 5 0 .172 .441 0| 9-3 96 3.18 1.24 72
2 Matt Morris STL 0 25 140 0.18 | 73 15 0 .205 .489 0| 12-9 217 3.19 1.28 149
4 Rich Loiselle PIT 0 22 140 0.16 | 1 0 0 .000 .000 0| 1-5 73 3.10 1.38 66 29
5 Andruw Jones ATL 0 15 140 0.11 | 399 92 18 .231 .745 20|
6 Vladimir Guerrero MON 0 9 140 0.06 | 325 98 11 .302 .833 3|
7 Jose Guillen PIT 0 4 140 0.03 | 498 133 14 .267 .712 1|
7 Brett Tomko CIN 0 4 140 0.03 | 36 5 0 .139 .329 0| 11-7 126 3.43 1.21 95
9 Jeremi Gonzalez CHC 0 3 140 0.02 | 40 4 0 .100 .263 0| 11-9 144 4.25 1.35 93
9 Tony Womack PIT 0 3 140 0.02 | 641 178 6 .278 .700 60|
11 Kevin Orie CHC 0 1 140 0.01 | 364 100 8 .275 .781 2|
11 Neifi Perez COL 0 1 140 0.01 | 313 91 5 .291 .777 4|

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Dusty Baker SFG 17 110 140 0.79 | 90-72 1
2 Gene Lamont PIT 10 92 140 0.66 | 79-83 2
3 Larry Dierker HOU 1 34 140 0.24 | 84-78 1
4 Bobby Valentine NYM 0 7 140 0.05 | 88-74 3
5 Bobby Cox ATL 0 6 140 0.04 | 101-61 1
6 Terry Francona PHI 0 2 140 0.01 | 68-94 5
7 Jim Leyland FLA 0 1 140 0.01 | 92-70 2

Top player: Mike Piazza. The two best players in the league were Piazza and Biggio. Biggio played for a division-winning team, but Piazza's team actually won more games. That's the trouble with these three-division setups, they make things more confusing. I'll go with Piazza by a nose.
#1 Mike Piazza, #2 Craig Biggio, #3 Larry Walker, #4 Barry Bonds, #5 Jeff Bagwell, #6 Jeff Blauser.

Top pitcher: Pedro Martinez. Like with the players, it could have been either of two, here Pedro and Maddux. I'll go with Pedro, but just barely.
#1 Pedro Martinez, #2 Greg Maddux, #3 Curt Schilling, #4 Kevin Brown, #5 John Smoltz.

Top rookie: Scott Rolen, who was almost not a rookie off the previous year's strong performance.

Top manager: With the benefit of the postseason to work with, Jim Leyland.

1997 American League

Baltimore and New York had the best regular season records as East Division and Wild Card winners, respectively, but Cleveland won the Central crown and their second pennant in three years. Seattle took the West, and Anaheim was the only other AL team over .500. Oakland lost 97 games for the league's worst record. Baltimore beat Seattle and Cleveland beat New York in the Division Series, then the Indians topped the Orioles in six in the ALCS.

Frank Thomas easily took the batting average race with a .347 mark. Edgar Martinez was second at .330, followed by David Justice at .329 and Manny Ramirez and Bernie Williams at .328. Ken Griffey, Jr. led the loop with 125 runs and Nomar Garciaparra was second with 122. Garciaparra led the way with 209 hits. John Valentin led with 47 doubles and Jeff Cirillo had 46. Garciaparra produced 11 triples, Chuck Knoblauch 10.

Griffey chased history and ended with 56 home runs, Tino Martinez placing second with 44. Juan Gonzalez had 42, Jay Buhner and Jim Thome 40. Griffey also led with 147 RBI, Martinez had 141, Gonzalez 131. Brian Hunter had 74 steals, Knoblauch 62 and Tom Goodwin 50. Martinez and Thomas posted .456 on-base averages, Griffey led with a .647 slugging.

Roger Clemens led the way with 21 wins, while Randy Johnson and Brad Radke were 20-game winners. Clemens completed a pitcher's Triple Crown by leading in ERA with 2.05 and strikeouts with 292. Johnson was second in ERA with 2.29 and strikeouts with 291. Third place in ERA went to David Cone at 2.82 and Andy Pettitte put up a 2.88 mark. Cone was also third in strikeouts with 222, Mike Mussina fourth with 218. Randy Myers led with 45 saves, Mariano Rivera had 43.

Win Shares leaders, players; Frank Thomas (Chicago) 39, Ken Griffey (Seattle) 36, Tim Salmon (Anaheim) 29, Paul O'Neill (New York) 28, Tino Martinez (New York) and Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 27, Brady Anderson (Baltimore), Nomar Garciaparra (Boston), David Justice and Jim Thome (Cleveland) and Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 26, Bobby Higginson (Detroit) 25, Tony Clark (Detroit), Jeff Cirillo (Milwaukee) and Bernie Williams (New York) 24, Chuck Knoblauch (Minnesota) 23, Mo Vaughn (Boston) and Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 22, Roberto Alomar (Baltimore), John Valentin (Boston), Manny Ramirez (Cleveland), Jay Bell (Kansas City) and Dan Wilson (Seattle) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Roger Clemens (Toronto) 32, Randy Johnson (Seattle) 23, Justin Thompson (Detroit) 21, Andy Pettitte (New York) 20, Mike Mussina (Baltimore), Doug Jones (Milwaukee) and Pat Hentgen (Toronto) 19, Kevin Appier (Kansas City) 18, Jimmy Key (Baltimore) and Jeff Fassero (Seattle) 17, Scott Erickson (Baltimore), Brad Radke (Minnesota), David Cone (New York) and John Wetteland (Texas) 16.

WARP3 scores: Thomas 10.4, Griffey 12.4, Salmon 8.3, O'Neill 9.0, T. Martinez 10.2 (peak season), E. Martinez 9.6, Anderson 7.8, Garciaparra 9.0 (rookie), Justice 8.4 (best year), Thome 7.9, I. Rodriguez 10.7, Higginson 8.4, Clark 6.8 (best season), Cirillo 8.5, Williams 8.6, Knoblauch 7.8, Vaughn 7.0, A. Rodriguez 7.5, Alomar 7.5, Valentin 9.4, Ramirez 9.1, Bell 10.2, Wilson 7.6 (best year).

Pitchers, Clemens 14.8 (best year), Johnson 11.1, Thompson 9.7 (career year), Pettitte 9.9 (best year), Mussina 8.2, Jones 8.2 (last big year), Hentgen 8.8, Appier 8.4, Key 7.7 (last good year), Fassero 8.2, Erickson 6.9, Radke 8.3, Cone 7.3, Wetteland 6.8.

WAR for position players: Griffey 9.4, Thomas 7.3, Garciaparra 6.6, Martinez and I. Rodriguez 6.4, Knoblauch 6.3, Bell 5.6, T. Martinez 5.5, Thome and B. Williams 5.3, Cirillo 5.1, Jeromy Burnitz (Milwaukee) 5.0, Ramirez 4.8, Salmon 4.7, A. Rodriguez 4.6, Cameron and Valentin 4.5. WAR for pitchers: Clemens 11.1, Pettitte 7.4, Johnson 7.0, Mussina and Radke 5.5, Appier 5.3, Burkett, Cone, and Gordon 5.0, Fassero and Thompson 4.9, Erickson 4.7, Tewksbury and Wells 4.4, Hentgen 4.2. Actual Award Winners:
MVP (top 15): | 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 Ken Griffey SEA 28 392 392 1.00 | 608 185 56 .304 1.028 15|
2 Tino Martinez NYY 0 248 392 0.63 | 594 176 44 .296 .948 3|
3 Frank Thomas CHW 0 172 392 0.44 | 530 184 35 .347 1.067 1|
4 Randy Myers BAL 0 128 392 0.33 | | 2-3 60 1.51 1.16 56 45
5 David Justice CLE 0 90 392 0.23 | 495 163 33 .329 1.013 3|
6 Jim Thome CLE 0 89 392 0.23 | 496 142 40 .286 1.001 1|
7 Tim Salmon ANA 0 84 392 0.21 | 582 172 33 .296 .911 9|
8 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 0 83 392 0.21 | 684 209 30 .306 .875 22|
9 Juan Gonzalez TEX 0 66 392 0.17 | 533 158 42 .296 .924 0|
10 Roger Clemens TOR 0 56 392 0.14 | 2 1 0 .500 1.667 0| 21-7 264 2.05 1.03 292
11 Randy Johnson SEA 0 42 392 0.11 | | 20-4 213 2.28 1.05 291
12 Paul O'Neill NYY 0 37 392 0.09 | 553 179 21 .324 .912 10|
13 Rafael Palmeiro BAL 0 36 392 0.09 | 614 156 38 .254 .815 5|
14 Sandy Alomar CLE 0 22 392 0.06 | 451 146 21 .324 .900 0|
14 Edgar Martinez SEA 0 22 392 0.06 | 542 179 28 .330 1.009 2|
Griffey was an easy winner.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Roger Clemens TOR 25 134 140 0.96 | 21-7 264 2.05 1.03 292
2 Randy Johnson SEA 2 77 140 0.55 | 20-4 213 2.28 1.05 291
3 Brad Radke MIN 0 17 140 0.12 | 20-10 240 3.87 1.19 174
4 Randy Myers BAL 1 14 140 0.10 | 2-3 60 1.51 1.16 56 45
5 Andy Pettitte NYY 0 9 140 0.06 | 18-7 240 2.88 1.24 166
6 Mike Mussina BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 15-8 225 3.20 1.12 218
What idiot voted for Myers?

Rookie: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+----
1 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 28 140 140 1.00 | 684 209 30 .306 .875 22|
2 Jose Cruz TOT 0 61 140 0.44 | +395 98 26 .248 .814 7|
3 Jason Dickson ANA 0 27 140 0.19 | 2 0 0 .000 .000 0| 13-9 204 4.29 1.43 115
4 Deivi Cruz DET 0 12 140 0.09 | 436 105 2 .241 .577 3|
5 Jaret Wright CLE 0 7 140 0.05 | 3 0 0 .000 .000 0| 8-3 90 4.38 1.28 63
6 Mike Cameron CHW 0 5 140 0.04 | 379 98 14 .259 .789 23|

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Davey Johnson BAL 10 88 140 0.63 | 98-64 1
2 Buddy Bell DET 4 50 140 0.36 | 79-83 3
3 Phil Garner MIL 5 42 140 0.30 | 78-83 3
4 Lou Piniella SEA 3 30 140 0.21 | 90-72 1
5 Terry Collins ANA 4 24 140 0.17 | 84-78 2
6 Mike Hargrove CLE 2 13 140 0.09 | 86-75 1
7 Joe Torre NYY 0 5 140 0.04 | 96-66 2

A very divided vote.

Top player: Ken Griffey, Jr. is the tops. Thomas was actually a better hitter, but had no defensive value while Griffey certainly did.
#1 Ken Griffey, #2 Frank Thomas, #3 Tino Martinez, #4 Ivan Rodriguez, #5 Edgar Martinez, #6 Paul O'Neill.

Top pitcher: Roger Clemens is the clear winner.
#1 Roger Clemens, #2 Randy Johnson, #3 Andy Pettitte, #4 Justin Thompson, #5 Mike Mussina.

Top rookie: Nomar Garciaparra was head and shoulders above the rest.

Top manager: Dave Johnson, who managed Baltimore to the most wins in the league.

1996 National League

Atlanta was the best team in the league, with 96 regular season wins and a pennant for winning two rounds of playoffs. The Braves finished eight games ahead of Montreal in the East, while St. Louis won 88 games to take the Central, six ahead of Houston and seven ahead of Cincinnati. San Diego won the West with 91 victories, while Los Angeles took the Wild Card with 90 wins. Philadelphia had the worst record, losing 95 games. Tony Gwynn won the batting title, even though he did not have enough plate appearances to qualify. He batted .353, still ahead of Ellis Burks at .344 even with extra ABs added to reach the PA threshhold. Andres Galarraga led in HR and RBI with a Coors-aided 47 and 150. Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds tied for second in homers with 42, Dante Bichette was second in RBI with 141. Eric Young led in steals with 53, ahead of Lance Johnson at 50. Ellis Burks led in slugging, Gary Sheffield in on-base and OPS. Jeff Bagwell had 48 doubles, Lance Johnson 227 hits. Sheffield edged Barry Bonds in OPS+. Ken Caminiti won the MVP for a strong performance, which he later admitted was at least partly attributable to steroid use. John Smoltz won the MVP with his lead in wins (24) and strikeouts (276). Kevin Brown led in ERA with a 1.89 mark, with Gary Maddux second at 2.72. Andy Benes was second in wins with 18. Jeff Brantley and Todd Worrell tied for the saves lead with 44. Smoltz led in innings with 254. Curt Schilling had 8 complete games and Brown three shutouts. Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 41, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 39, Ken Caminiti (San Diego) 38, Gary Sheffield (Florida) 34, Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) 33, Craig Biggio (Houston) 32, Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) 31, Bernard Gilkey (New York) 30, Ellis Burks (Colorado) 28, Steve Finley (San Diego) and Brian Jordan (St. Louis) 27, Chipper Jones (Atlanta) and Lance Johnson (New York) 26, Andres Galarraga (Colorado), Raul Mondesi (Los Angeles) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 25, Marquis Grissom (Atlanta) and Todd Hundley (New York) 24, Vinny Castilla (Colorado) 23, Eric Davis (Cincinnati) and Jeff King (Pittsburgh) 22. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; John Smoltz (Atlanta) 27, Kevin Brown (Florida) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 23, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 22, Trevor Hoffman (San Diego) 20, Al Leiter and Robb Nen (Florida) 19, Jeff Fassero and Mel Rojas (Montreal) 18, Denny Neagle (Pittsburgh/Atlanta) 17, Hideo Nomo and Ismael Valdes (Los Angeles) 16. WAR (Wins Against Replacement) scores: Bonds 10.8, Bagwell 8.3, Gilkey 8.1 (career year), Caminiti 7.9 (career year), Burks 7.6 (best year), Larkin 7.4, Johnson 6.8 (best year), Sheffield and Piazza 6.1, Jordan and Jones 6.0, Sammy Sosa (Chicago) 5.9, Finley 5.8 (best year), Lankford 5.4, Biggio 5.1, Hundley 5.0 (career year), Mark Grace (Chicago) 4.9, Mondesi 4.7, Brian McRae (Chicago) 4.6, Grissom 3.9, Galarraga tied for 21st at 3.8. Runs were cheap in Coors. Pitchers, Brown 7.5 (career year), Maddux 6.3, Smoltz 6.1 (best year), Glavine 5.6, Fassero 5.2, Leiter and Neagle 5.1, Nomo 4.4, Curt Schilling (Philadelphia) 4.3, Pedro Astacio (Los Angeles) 4.2, Valdes 4.1, Hoffman and John Smiley (Cincinnati) 4.0. WAR leaders, position players: Bonds 9.1, Bagwell 7.7, Caminiti and Gilkey 7.6, Burks 7.2, Larkin 6.8, Piazza 6.6, L. Johnson and Sheffield 6.5, C. Jones 6.4, Lankford 5.5, Finley and Sosa 5.4, Jordan 5.3, Hundley 4.8, Biggio 4.7, Grissom 4.6, Conine 4.4, Mondesi 4.2. WAR leaders, pitchers: Smoltz 8.4, Maddux 7.8, Brown 6.8, Fassero 6.0, Reynolds 5.6, Glavine 5.3, P. Martinez 5.2, Schilling 4.9, Smiley 4.6, Kyle, Neagle, Nomo, and Valdez 3.8, Clark 3.6. Actual award winners: MVP (top 15): | 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 Ken Caminiti SDP 28 392 392 1.00 | 546 178 40 .326 1.028 11 2 Mike Piazza LAD 0 237 392 0.60 | 547 184 36 .336 .985 0 3 Ellis Burks COL 0 186 392 0.47 | 613 211 40 .344 1.047 32 4 Chipper Jones ATL 0 158 392 0.40 | 598 185 30 .309 .923 14 5 Barry Bonds SFG 0 132 392 0.34 | 517 159 42 .308 1.076 40 6 Andres Galarraga COL 0 112 392 0.29 | 626 190 47 .304 .958 18 6 Gary Sheffield FLA 0 112 392 0.29 | 519 163 42 .314 1.090 16 8 Brian Jordan STL 0 69 392 0.18 | 513 159 17 .310 .833 22 9 Jeff Bagwell HOU 0 59 392 0.15 | 568 179 31 .315 1.021 21 10 Steve Finley SDP 0 38 392 0.10 | 655 195 30 .298 .885 22 11 John Smoltz ATL 0 33 392 0.08 | 78 17 1 .218 .548 0| 24-8 254 2.94 1.00 276 12 Barry Larkin CIN 0 29 392 0.07 | 517 154 33 .298 .977 36 13 Marquis Grissom ATL 0 23 392 0.06 | 671 207 23 .308 .838 28 14 Bernard Gilkey NYM 0 13 392 0.03 | 571 181 30 .317 .955 17 15 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 12 392 0.03 | 498 136 40 .273 .888 18 Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO Sv +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 John Smoltz ATL 26 136 140 0.97 | 24-8 254 2.94 1.00 276 2 Kevin Brown FLA 2 88 140 0.63 | 17-11 233 1.89 0.94 159 3 Andy Benes STL 0 9 140 0.06 | 18-10 230 3.83 1.27 160 1 4 Hideo Nomo LAD 0 5 140 0.04 | 16-11 228 3.19 1.16 234 5 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 4 140 0.03 | 9-5 88 2.25 0.92 111 42 5 Greg Maddux ATL 0 4 140 0.03 | 15-11 245 2.72 1.03 172 5 Todd Worrell LAD 0 4 140 0.03 | 4-6 65 3.03 1.30 66 44 8 Denny Neagle TOT 0 2 140 0.01 |+16-9 221 3.50 1.24 149 9 Jeff Fassero MON 0 1 140 0.01 | 15-11 232 3.30 1.17 222 9 Al Leiter FLA 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-12 215 2.93 1.26 200 9 Shane Reynolds HOU 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-10 239 3.65 1.13 204 Rookie: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--- 1 Todd Hollandsworth LAD 15 105 140 0.75 | 478 139 12 .291 .785 21 2 Edgar Renteria FLA 10 84 140 0.60 | 431 133 5 .309 .757 16 3 Jason Kendall PIT 1 30 140 0.21 | 414 124 3 .300 .773 5 4 F.P. Santangelo MON 1 15 140 0.11 | 393 109 7 .277 .776 5 5 Rey Ordonez NYM 1 7 140 0.05 | 502 129 1 .257 .592 1 6 Jermaine Dye ATL 0 6 140 0.04 | 292 82 12 .281 .763 1 7 Alan Benes STL 0 5 140 0.04 | 61 9 0 .148 .371 0| 13-10 191 4.90 1.46 131 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Bruce Bochy SDP 10 76 140 0.54 | 91-71 1 2 Felipe Alou MON 8 74 140 0.53 | 88-74 2 3 Tony LaRussa STL 7 69 140 0.49 | 88-74 1 4 Bobby Cox ATL 3 24 140 0.17 | 96-66 1 5 Bill Russell LAD 0 6 140 0.04 | 49-37 2 6 Terry Collins HOU 0 3 140 0.02 | 82-80 2 Top player: The two best in the league by Win Shares and WAR were Jeff Bagwell and Barry Bonds. Bonds' team finished last, Bagwell's was second. Ken Caminiti won the MVP with a team that won its division. It's a tough choice, but I will take Bagwell as a compromise choice. #1 Barry Bonds, #2 Jeff Bagwell, #3 Ken Caminiti, #4 Barry Larkin, #5 Gary Sheffield, #6 Mike Piazza. Top pitcher: The best year for John Smoltz. Kevin Brown was terrific too, and Greg Maddux the usual. #1 John Smoltz, #2 Kevin Brown, #3 Greg Maddux, #4 Tom Glavine, #5 Jeff Fassero. Top rookie: Edgar Renteria, who combined offensive value with a key defensive position. Top manager: Bruce Bochy got the Padres to the division title.

1996 American League

Cleveland had the best record, but the Yankees won their first pennant in 15 years and then defeated the Braves for the World Championship. The Yankees had 92 wins and took the AL East by four games over Baltimore (the wild-card winner) and seven games over the Red Sox. Cleveland won 99 and edged the White Sox by 14.5 games. Texas won the West with 90 victories by 4.5 games over Seattle. Detroit had a horrible year, losing 109 games as the only AL team with 100 losses. Juan Gonzalez won the MVP in spite of not leading the league in any categories. Alex Rodriguez led the league in batting average (.358), runs (141), doubles (54) and total bases. Frank Thomas was second in batting average at .349, followed by Paul Molitor at .341. Mark McGwire led in homers with 52, on-base, slugging and OPS. Brady Anderson was second in homers with 50. Albert Belle led in RBI with 148, followed by Gonzalez at 144. Molitor led in hits with 225, Chuck Knoblauch in triples with 14, and Kenny Lofton in steals with 70. Pat Hentgen won the Cy Young leading in innings and placing second in wins (20) and ERA (3.22) and led with 10 complete games. Andy Pettitte led in wins with 21, Juan Guzman in ERA at 2.93, Roger Clemens in strikeouts with 257, John Wetteland in saves with 43. Win Shares leaders, players; Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 34, Chuck Knoblauch (Minnesota) 32, Roberto Alomar (Baltimore) and Albert Belle (Cleveland) 31, Rafael Palmeiro (Baltimore) 30, Mo Vaughn (Boston) and Mark McGwire (Oakland) 29, Brady Anderson (Baltimore), Frank Thomas (Chicago), Jim Thome (Cleveland) and Ken Griffey Jr. 28, Bernie Williams (New York) 26, Kenny Lofton and Manny Ramirez (Cleveland), Edgar Martinez (Seattle) and Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 23, Cal Ripken (Baltimore), Tim Salmon (California), Paul O'Neill (New York) and Jay Buhner (Seattle) 22. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Pat Hentgen (Toronto) 24, Ken Hill (Texas) 22, Charles Nagy (Cleveland) 21, Roger Clemens (Boston) 20, Alex Fernandez (Chicago), Kevin Appier and Tim Belcher (Kansas City) 19, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera (New York) 18, Roberto Hernandez (Chicago) and Juan Guzman (Toronto) 17. WARP3 scores: Knoblauch 9.7 (best year), Rodriguez 9.5 (at age 20!), Alomar 8.2, Belle 7.6, Griffey 7.1, McGwire 6.9, Thomas 6.8, Thome 6.6, Martinez and Robin Ventura (Chicago) 6.2, Anderson 5.5 (best season, his 50-homer year), O'Neill 5.1, Rodriguez and Scott Brosius (Oakland) 5.0, Mark McLemore (Texas) 4.7, Ramirez, Rusty Greer (Texas) and Tony Phillips (Chicago) 4.6, Palmeiro and Vaughn 4.5. Pitchers, Clemens 7.0, Hentgen 6.7 (career year), Hernandez 6.3 (best year), Fernandez 6.0 (best year), Hill 5.9 (career year), Nagy 5.7, Appier 5.2, Pettitte and Guzman (best year) 4.9, Rivera and Heathcliff Slocumb (Boston) 4.7, Belcher and Chuck Finley (California) 4.4. WAR leaders, position players: Griffey 10.2, A. Rodriguez 9.8, Knoblauch 8.4, Thome 7.9, McGwire 7.6, Anderson 7.3, Thomas and Vaughn 6.5, E. Martinez 6.4, I. Rodriguez 5.9, Belle 5.7, Alomar 5.6, Ventura 5.4, D. Martinez 5.2, Edmonds and Lofton 5.1, Greer 5.0, Palmeiro 4.9, Ramirez 4.7, Cirillo 4.6, Valentin 4.4. WAR leaders, pitchers: Clemens 7.6, Appier 6.6, Hentgen and Hill 6.4, Nagy 5.8, Mussina 5.4, Finley 5.3, Guzman 4.9, Fernandez 4.8, McDonald and Pettitte 4.7, Rivera 4.4, Alvarez 4.3, Haney 4.2, Belcher and Hershiser 4.1. Actual award winners: MVP: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Juan Gonzalez TEX 11 290 392 0.74 | 541 170 47 .314 1.011 2 2 Alex Rodriguez SEA 10 287 392 0.73 | 601 215 36 .358 1.045 15 3 Albert Belle CLE 2 228 392 0.58 | 602 187 48 .311 1.033 11 4 Ken Griffey SEA 4 188 392 0.48 | 545 165 49 .303 1.020 16 5 Mo Vaughn BOS 0 132 392 0.34 | 635 207 44 .326 1.003 2 6 Rafael Palmeiro BAL 0 104 392 0.27 | 626 181 39 .289 .927 8 7 Mark McGwire OAK 0 100 392 0.26 | 423 132 52 .312 1.198 0 8 Frank Thomas CHW 0 88 392 0.22 | 527 184 40 .349 1.085 1 9 Brady Anderson BAL 0 53 392 0.14 | 579 172 50 .297 1.034 21 10 Ivan Rodriguez TEX 1 52 392 0.13 | 639 192 19 .300 .814 5 11 Kenny Lofton CLE 0 34 392 0.09 | 662 210 14 .317 .817 75 12 Mariano Rivera NYY 0 27 392 0.07 | | 8-3 108 2.09 0.99 130 5 13 Paul Molitor MIN 0 19 392 0.05 | 660 225 9 .341 .858 18 14 Andy Pettitte NYY 0 11 392 0.03 | | 21-8 221 3.87 1.36 162 15 Jim Thome CLE 0 9 392 0.02 | 505 157 38 .311 1.062 2 16 Chuck Knoblauch MIN 0 8 392 0.02 | 578 197 13 .341 .965 45 17 Jay Buhner SEA 0 6 392 0.02 | 564 153 44 .271 .926 0 17 Bernie Williams NYY 0 6 392 0.02 | 551 168 29 .305 .926 17 19 John Wetteland NYY 0 4 392 0.01 | | 2-3 64 2.83 1.18 69 43 20 Roberto Alomar BAL 0 3 392 0.01 | 588 193 22 .328 .938 17 21 Terry Steinbach OAK 0 1 392 0.00 | 514 140 35 .272 .871 0 Gonzalez edged Rodriguez by one first-place vote and three points. He didn't deserve to do so. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Pat Hentgen TOR 16 110 140 0.79 | 20-10 266 3.22 1.25 177 2 Andy Pettitte NYY 11 104 140 0.74 | 21-8 221 3.87 1.36 162 3 Mariano Rivera NYY 1 18 140 0.13 | 8-3 108 2.09 0.99 130 5 4 Charles Nagy CLE 0 12 140 0.09 | 17-5 222 3.41 1.25 167 5 Mike Mussina BAL 0 5 140 0.04 | 19-11 243 4.81 1.37 204 6 Alex Fernandez CHW 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-10 258 3.45 1.24 200 6 Roberto Hernandez CHW 0 1 140 0.01 | 6-5 85 1.91 1.22 85 38 6 Ken Hill TEX 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-10 251 3.63 1.38 170 Rookie: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+---+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Derek Jeter NYY 28 140 0 1.00 | 582 183 10 .314 .800 14 2 James Baldwin CHW 0 64 140 0.46 | | 11-6 169 4.42 1.33 127 3 Tony Clark DET 0 30 140 0.21 | 376 94 27 .250 .802 0 4 Rocky Coppinger BAL 0 6 140 0.04 | | 10-6 125 5.18 1.49 104 4 Jose Rosado KCR 0 6 140 0.04 | | 8-6 107 3.21 1.19 64 6 Darin Erstad CAL 0 3 140 0.02 | 208 59 4 .284 .708 3 7 Tony Batista OAK 0 1 140 0.01 | 238 71 6 .298 .783 7 7 Tim Crabtree TOR 0 1 140 0.01 | | 5-3 67 2.54 1.20 57 1 7 Jeff D'Amico MIL 0 1 140 0.01 | | 6-6 86 5.44 1.38 53 Manager (top 5): Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Johnny Oates TEX 12 89 140 0.64 | 90-72 1 1 Joe Torre NYY 10 89 140 0.64 | 92-70 1 3 Lou Piniella SEA 3 35 140 0.25 | 85-76 2 4 Mike Hargrove CLE 2 22 140 0.16 | 99-62 1 5 Buddy Bell DET 1 5 140 0.04 | 53-109 5 Top player: Alex Rodriguez got robbed of the MVP for the first time at the tender age of 20. It wouldn't be the last time. A-Rod was the class of the league even at that tender age. #1 Alex Rodriguez, #2 Chuck Knoblauch, #3 Ken Griffey, Jr, #4 Albert Belle, #5 Roberto Alomar, #6 Brady Anderson. Top pitcher: Pat Hentgen had the year of his lifetime. #1 Pat Hentgen, #2 Roger Clemens, #3 Ken Hill, #4 Charles Nagy, #5 Kevin Appier. Top rookie: Derek Jeter makes his initial mark. Top manager: Joe Torre brings the bacon back to the Big Apple.

1995 National League

Atlanta won 90 games, and went on to win the only World Series of their 1990s dynasty. The Braves ripped through the NL East, winning by 21 games. Cincinnati took the NL Central by 9 games over Houston and 12 over Chicago, while Los Angeles took the NL West by a game over Colorado, which took the Wild Card. Pittsburgh was the worst team in the league with 86 losses. Tony Gwynn won the batting title at .368 and tied for the lead in hits with 197, while Dante Bichette tied Gwynn for hits and led in HR (40) and RBI (128) as well as total bases. Mike Piazza was second in average at .346, Bichette third at .340. Quilvio Veras led in steals with 56, followed by Barry Larkin at 51. Craig Biggio scored 123 runs, Mark Grace had 51 doubles, Eric Young and Brett Butler tied with 9 triples. Sammy Sosa and Larry Walked tied for second in homers with 36, while Sosa was second in RBI with 119. Barry Bonds edged Piazza in OPS. Piazza had the edge in OPS+. Greg Maddux led in wins with 19 and ERA at 1.63. Pete Schourek was second in wins with 18, Ramon Martinez third with 17. Hideo Nomo led in strikeouts with 236, and was second in ERA at 2.54. Randy Myers led in saves with 38, followed by Tom Henke with 36. Win Shares leaders, players; Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 36, Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) 30, Craig Biggio (Houston) 29, Reggie Sanders (Cincinnati) and Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) 27, Sammy Sosa (Chicago) and Eric Karros (Los Angeles) 25, Ken Caminiti (San Diego) 24, Mark Grace (Chicago), Dante Bichette (Colorado) and Tony Gwynn (San Diego) 23, Raul Mondesi (Los Angeles) and Ray Lankford (St. Louis) 22, Ron Gant (Cincinnati) 21, Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff (Atlanta), Jeff Conine (Florida), Jeff Bagwell (Houston) and Matt Williams (San Francisco) 20, David Justice (Atlanta) and Steve Finley (San Diego) 19. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 30, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 20, John Smoltz (Atlanta) and Hideo Nomo (Los Angeles) 17, Mark Wohlers (Atlanta), Pete Schourek (Cincinnati) and Denny Neagle (Pittsburgh) 16, Jaime Navarro (Chicago) and Ismael Valdez (Los Angeles) 15, Curtis Leskanic (Colorado), Todd Worrell (Los Angeles), Pedro Martinez (Montreal) and Andy Ashby (San Diego) 14. WARP3 scores: Bonds 9.4, Biggio 8.2, Piazza 7.3, Caminiti 7.1, Larkin 6.8, Sanders 6.0 (peak season), Karros 5.9, Williams 5.6, Bagwell 5.4, Gwynn and Jose Vizcaino (New York) 5.3, Mondesi 5.2, Grace 4.6, Delino DeShields (Los Angeles) 4.5, Jim Eisenreich (Philadelphia) 4.3, Gant 4.2 (returning from broken leg), Sosa, Conine, and Jose Offerman (Los Angeles) 4.1. Pitchers, Maddux 10.8, Glavine 5.3, Neagle 5.1, Wohlers 4.8 (peak season), Tom Henke (St. Louis) 4.5, Worrell and Kevin Ritz (Colorado) 4.1, Schourek 4.0 (career year), P. Martinez 3.7, Smoltz and Navarro 3.6, Nomo (rookie), Leskanic, Steve Reed (Colorado) and Chris Hammond (Florida) 3.3. WAR leaders, position players: Bonds 7.7, Sanders 6.6, Biggio 6.2, Piazza 6.0, Larkin 5.3, Sosa 5.2, Grace 4.7, Karros and Walker 4.6, Bagwell, Jordan, and Williams 4.5, Lankford 4.3, Mondesi 4.1, Caminiti and White 3.7, Justice and McRae 3.6. WAR leaders, pitchers: Maddux 8.0, Reynolds 5.0, Nomo 4.9, Smoltz 4.7, Neagle 4.6, Glavine and Smiley 4.4, Schourek 4.3, Ritz 4.0, Fassero 3.8, Navarro and Valdez 3.5, P. Martinez 3.3, Leskanic 3.2, Ashby 3.0. Actual award winners: MVP: (top 15)| 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 Barry Larkin CIN 11 281 392 0.72 | 496 158 15 .319 .886 51 2 Dante Bichette COL 6 251 392 0.64 | 579 197 40 .340 .984 13 3 Greg Maddux ATL 7 249 392 0.64 | 72 11 0 .153 .367 0| 19-2 210 1.63 0.81 181 4 Mike Piazza LAD 3 214 392 0.55 | 434 150 32 .346 1.006 1 5 Eric Karros LAD 0 135 392 0.34 | 551 164 32 .298 .905 4 6 Reggie Sanders CIN 0 120 392 0.31 | 484 148 28 .306 .975 36 7 Larry Walker COL 0 88 392 0.22 | 494 151 36 .306 .988 16 8 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 81 392 0.21 | 564 151 36 .268 .840 34 9 Tony Gwynn SDP 0 72 392 0.18 | 535 197 9 .368 .888 17 10 Craig Biggio HOU 0 58 392 0.15 | 553 167 22 .302 .889 33 11 Ron Gant CIN 1 31 392 0.08 | 410 113 29 .276 .940 23 12 Barry Bonds SFG 0 21 392 0.05 | 506 149 33 .294 1.009 31 13 Mark Grace CHC 0 14 392 0.04 | 552 180 16 .326 .911 6 14 Derek Bell HOU 0 12 392 0.03 | 452 151 8 .334 .827 27 15 Jeff Bagwell HOU 0 5 392 0.01 | 448 130 21 .290 .894 12 A close vote....with Barry Bonds 12th? Maddux almost won, and this would have been a good season to give it to the pitcher. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Greg Maddux ATL 28 140 140 1.00 | 19-2 210 1.63 0.81 181 2 Pete Schourek CIN 0 55 140 0.39 | 18-7 190 3.22 1.07 160 3 Tom Glavine ATL 0 30 140 0.21 | 16-7 199 3.08 1.25 127 4 Hideo Nomo LAD 0 29 140 0.21 | 13-6 191 2.54 1.06 236 5 Ramon Martinez LAD 0 8 140 0.06 | 17-7 206 3.66 1.25 138 Rookie: (top 6)| 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 Hideo Nomo LAD 18 118 140 0.84 | 66 6 0 .091 .180 0| 13-6 191 2.54 1.06 236 2 Chipper Jones ATL 10 104 140 0.74 | 524 139 23 .265 .803 8 3 Quilvio Veras FLA 0 14 140 0.10 | 440 115 5 .261 .757 56 4 Jason Isringhausen NYM 0 4 140 0.03 | 27 4 0 .148 .419 0| 9-2 93 2.81 1.28 55 4 John Mabry STL 0 4 140 0.03 | 388 119 5 .307 .752 0 4 Carlos Perez MON 0 4 140 0.03 | 45 6 1 .133 .471 0| 10-8 141 3.69 1.20 106 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Don Baylor COL 19 122 140 0.87 | 77-67 2 2 Davey Johnson CIN 8 89 140 0.64 | 85-59 1 3 Bobby Cox ATL 1 20 140 0.14 | 90-54 1 4 Terry Collins HOU 0 11 140 0.08 | 76-68 2 5 Jim Riggleman CHC 0 6 140 0.04 | 73-71 3 6 Dallas Green NYM 0 3 140 0.02 | 69-75 2 7 Bruce Bochy SDP 0 1 140 0.01 | 70-74 3 Top player: Barry Larkin. It's a homer vote, as Bonds and Piazza both rank as better: but not so much better that I can't make the case, much as the writers did. And Larkin clearly had a spectacular year for a surprise Reds team. #1 Barry Larkin, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Mike Piazza, #4 Craig Biggio, #5 Ken Caminiti, #6 Reggie Sanders. Top pitcher: Greg Maddux, and it's not even close. It's easy to see the domination of the Braves' staff by this time. #1 Greg Maddux, #2 Tom Glavine, #3 Pete Schourek, #4 Denny Neagle, #5 Mark Wohlers. Top rookie: Hideo Nomo. The choice is between Nomo, who clearly had the better season, and Chipper Jones, who would almost certainly have the better career. I'll take Nomo this time. Top manager: Davey Johnson, guiding the Reds in to the Central crown.

1995 American League

The season got off to a late start, but it did start, and play through to a real World Series. It was quite a relief for baseball fans. Cleveland proved the class of the league, winning 100 games in spite of the shortened season to take the AL Central and plowing through the playoffs before losing the World Series. Boston was seven games in front of the Yankees for the AL East crown, although the Yanks took the Wild Card, while Seattle beat out the Angels by a game for the AL West lead. Edgar Martinez led the league in batting average (.356) and OPS, and tied for the lead in runs (121) and doubles (52). Albert Belle led in home runs (50), total bases, and slugging, and tied for the league lead in RBI (126), runs, and doubles. Mo Vaughn tied for the lead in RBI, and won the MVP award. Yes, it was silly. More about that later. Kenny Lofton led in steals (54) and triples (13). Lance Johnson had 186 hits. Mike Mussina led in wins with 19, followed by David Cone and Randy Johnson at 18. Johnson led in ERA with a 2.48 mark, and strikeouts with 294. Tim Wakefield was second in ERA at 2.95. Todd Stottlemyre was second in strikeouts at 205. Jose Mesa led in saves with 46. Johnson won the Cy Young. Win Shares leaders, players; Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 32, Albert Belle (Cleveland) 30, John Valentin (Boston) and Tim Salmon (California) 29, Frank Thomas (Chicago) 28, Chuck Knoblauch (Minnesota) and Bernie Williams (New York) 27, Manny Ramirez (Cleveland) 25, Mo Vaughn (Boston) and Jim Thome (Cleveland) 24, Carlos Baerga (Cleveland) and Mark McGwire (Oakland) 23, Rafael Palmeiro (Baltimore), Jim Edmonds (California) and Kenny Lofton (Cleveland) 21, Kirby Puckett (Minnesota) and Tino Martinez (Seattle) 20, Brady Anderson (Baltimore), Tony Phillips (California), Travis Fryman (Detroit) and Rickey Henderson (Oakland) 19. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Randy Johnson (Seattle) 22, Kenny Rogers (Texas) 21, Mike Mussina (Baltimore) 20, David Cone (Toronto/New York) 19, Tim Wakefield (Boston) 18, Jose Mesa (Cleveland) 17, Dennis Martinez (Cleveland), Kevin Appier and Mark Gubicza (Kansas City) 16, Jack McDowell (New York) 15, Roger Pavlik (Texas) and Al Leiter (Toronto) 14. WARP3 scores: Belle 10.7, E. Martinez 8.6, Salmon 8.1, Thomas and Williams 7.8, Knoblauch 6.9, Valentin 6.4, McGwire 6.2, Baerga (last good year), Palmeiro, and Edmonds 5.8, Cal Ripken (Baltimore) 5.7, Thome 5.6, Marty Cordova (Minnesota) and Stan Javier (Oakland) 5.4, Omar Vizquel (Cleveland) 4.7, Ramirez, Wade Boggs (New York) and Roberto Alomar (Toronto) 4.4, Chili Davis (California) 4.3, Phillips, Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) and Robin Ventura (Chicago) 4.2, Vaughn and Fryman 4.0. Pitchers, Johnson 8.6, Mesa 6.9 (peak season), Rogers 5.8, Wakefield 5.7 (peak season), Mussina and Leiter 4.8, David Wells (Detroit) 4.3, Gubicza (last good year) and Felipe Lira (Detroit) 4.2, D. Martinez (last good year) and Jeff Nelson (Seattle) 4.0, Appier and Cone 3.9, Pavlik 3.8. WAR leaders, position players: Valentin 8.4, Belle 7.6, E. Martinez 7.5, Williams 6.7, Knoblauch 6.6, Thome 6.3, Salmon 6.0, Palmeiro 5.9, Thomas 5.8, Edmonds 5.5, Vaughn 5.2, Ventura 5.1, T. Martinez 4.9, Ripken 4.4, Boggs and Naehring 4.3, Lofton 4.1. WAR leaders, pitchers: Johnson 9.5, Appier 5.6, Mussina 5.2, Hanson 4.8, Brown and Finley 4.6, Cone 4.5, Fernandez 4.4, Langston 4.3, Stottlemyre 4.0, Gordon and Pavlik 3.8, Erickson and Rogers 3.7, Abbott 3.6, D. Martinez and Tewksbury 3.5. Actual award winners: MVP (top 15): | 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 Mo Vaughn BOS 12 308 392 0.79 | 550 165 39 .300 .963 11 2 Albert Belle CLE 11 300 392 0.77 | 546 173 50 .317 1.091 5 3 Edgar Martinez SEA 4 244 392 0.62 | 511 182 29 .356 1.107 4 4 Jose Mesa CLE 1 130 392 0.33 | | 3-0 64 1.12 1.03 58 46 5 Jay Buhner SEA 0 120 392 0.31 | 470 123 40 .262 .909 0 6 Randy Johnson SEA 0 111 392 0.28 | | 18-2 214 2.48 1.05 294 7 Tim Salmon CAL 0 110 392 0.28 | 537 177 34 .330 1.024 5 8 Frank Thomas CHW 0 86 392 0.22 | 493 152 40 .308 1.061 3 9 John Valentin BOS 0 57 392 0.15 | 520 155 27 .298 .931 20 10 Gary Gaetti KCR 0 45 392 0.11 | 514 134 35 .261 .846 3 11 Rafael Palmeiro BAL 0 34 392 0.09 | 554 172 39 .310 .963 3 12 Manny Ramirez CLE 0 30 392 0.08 | 484 149 31 .308 .960 6 13 Tim Wakefield BOS 0 20 392 0.05 | | 16-8 195 2.95 1.18 119 14 Jim Edmonds CAL 0 18 392 0.05 | 558 162 33 .290 .888 1 15 Paul O'Neill NYY 0 14 392 0.04 | 460 138 22 .300 .913 1 Vaughn edged Belle, in spite of Albert's superior stats, in the biggest travesty since the writers would not vote for Ted Williams because they didn't like him. Same story here. Albert didn't make nice with the press, so they didn't vote for him. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Randy Johnson SEA 26 136 140 0.97 | 18-2 214 2.48 1.05 294 2 Jose Mesa CLE 2 54 140 0.39 | 3-0 64 1.12 1.03 58 46 3 Tim Wakefield BOS 0 29 140 0.21 | 16-8 195 2.95 1.18 119 4 David Cone TOT 0 18 140 0.13 |+18-8 229 3.57 1.23 191 5 Mike Mussina BAL 0 14 140 0.10 | 19-9 222 3.29 1.07 158 6 Charles Nagy CLE 0 1 140 0.01 | 16-6 178 4.55 1.43 139 Two guys voted for Mesa over Johnson? Weird. I mean, Mesa did well, but just 64 innings? Really? This was not a good year for AL award voting. Rookie (top 5): | 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 Cordova MIN 13 105 140 0.75 | 512 142 24 .277 .839 20 2 Garret Anderson CAL 13 99 140 0.71 | 374 120 16 .321 .857 6 3 Andy Pettitte NYY 1 16 140 0.11 | | 12-9 175 4.17 1.41 114 4 Troy Percival CAL 1 13 140 0.09 | | 3-2 74 1.95 0.85 94 3 5 Shawn Green TOR 0 8 140 0.06 | 379 109 15 .288 .835 1 A lot of future stars here. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank< +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Lou Piniella SEA 9 86 140 0.61 | 79-66 1 2 Kevin Kennedy BOS 11 74 140 0.53 | 86-58 1 3 Mike Hargrove CLE 8 71 140 0.51 | 100-44 1 4 Buck Showalter NYY 0 8 140 0.06 | 79-65 2 5 Marcel Lachemann CAL 0 5 140 0.04 | 78-67 2 6 Phil Garner MIL 0 4 140 0.03 | 65-79 4 7 Bob Boone KCR 0 3 140 0.02 | 70-74 2 8 Johnny Oates TEX 0 1 140 0.01 | 74-70 3 A very split vote. Top player: Albert Belle. Belle was certainly the best in the league, and played on the best team, making the MVP vote just look petty. Which it was, certainly. #1 Albert Belle, #2 Edgar Martinez, #3 John Valentin, #4 Tim Salmon, #5 Chuck Knoblauch, #6 Bernie Williams. Top pitcher: Randy Johnson took his place at the top in this season. #1 Randy Johnson, #2 Mike Mussina, #3 Tim Wakefield, #4 Kenny Rogers, #5 David Cone. Top rookie: Garrett Anderson, equal to award-winner Cordova and two years younger. Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi were also rookies in this season. Top manager: Mike Hargrove, directing the Indians to the best record in the league.

1994 National League

The Year Without a World Series. It could be a movie. Nothing could be more depressing to a baseball fan than a season that just stops, and doesn't go to its natural end. It was the season that ruined baseball in Montreal, as the Expos could have won it all. Their six-game lead went for naught. So did Cincinnati's half-game advantage over the Astros in the Central, and LA's lead in the West. Jeff Bagwell won the MVP, as he was first in OPS, runs with 106, and RBI with 116, as well as slugging, and second in average at .368 and homers with 39. He would probably not have won the award had the season continued, as a broken wrist had effectively ended his season just before competition ceased, and he would likely have been surpassed. Tony Gwynn won the batting title with a .394 mark, Matt Williams had a shot at the home run record with 41, and Craig Biggio had the edge on Deion Sanders for steals 39 to 38. Craig Biggio and Larry Walker each had 44 doubles, Darren Lewis and Brett Butler had nine triples apiece. Bagwell had a healthy lead in runs created over Barry Bonds. Ken Hill and Greg Maddux tied for the wins lead with 16, while Maddux held the ERA title with a cool 1.56 mark. Bret Saberhagen was second with 2.74. Andy Benes led in strikeouts with 189 followed by Jose Rijo at 176. John Franco led in saves with 30. Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 30, Craig Biggio (Houston) 26, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 25, Fred McGriff (Atlanta) and Moises Alou (Montreal) 22, Mike Piazza (New York) and Larry Walker (Montreal) 21, David Justice (Atlanta), Barry Larkin (Cincinnati), Brett Butler (Los Angeles), Bobby Bonilla (New York) and Jay Bell (Pittsburgh) 19, Kevin Mitchell (Cincinnati), Tim Wallach (Montreal), Jeff Kent (New York) and Matt Williams (San Francisco) 18, Wil Cordero and Marquis Grissom (Montreal), Tony Gwynn (San Diego) and Gregg Jefferies (St. Louis) 17. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 26, Bret Saberhagen (New York) 16, Danny Jackson (Philadelphia) 14, Marvin Freeman (Colorado), Doug Drabek (Houston) and Zane Smith (Pittsburgh) 13, Tom Glavine (Atlanta), Butch Henry, Ken Hill and John Wetteland (Montreal) 12. WARP3 scores: Bagwell 11.7, Bonds 8.6, Williams 7.3, Biggio 7.2, Gwynn 6.8, Larkin 6.6, Cordero 6.4 (career year), Mitchell 5.8 (last big year), Justice 5.7, Grissom 5.6, Alou 5.5, Bonilla 5.4, Butler 5.3 (last big year), Piazza and Walker 5.1, Ken Caminiti (Houston) 5.0, McGriff 4.8, Bell and Sammy Sosa (Chicago) 4.6. Pitchers, Maddux 10.5, Saberhagen 6.0, Freeman 5.2 (career year), Drabek 4.9, Smith 4.8 (best year), Jackson 4.6 (last good year), Doug Jones (Philadelphia) 4.3, Steve Trachsel (Chicago) 4.2, Henry 4.1 (best year), Kevin Gross (Los Angeles) 3.9, Hill, Jeff Brantley (Cincinnati) and Trevor Hoffman (San Diego) 3.8, Glavine 3.6, Jose Rijo (Cincinnati) 3.2. WAR leaders, position players: Bagwell 7.8, Bonds 6.0, MGriff 4.9, Alou 4.8, Biggio, Walker, and Williams 4.5, Grissom 4.3, Mitchell 4.2, Gwynn 4.1, Caminiti, Piazza, and Sosa 3.9, Justice 3.8, Larkin 3.7, Bell 3.6, Conine 3.5. WAR leaders, pitchers: Maddux 7.4, Saberhagen 5.2, Jackson and Rijo 4.1, Benes 3.9, Glavine 3.6, P. Martinez 3.5, Gross 3.2, Hanson 3.1, Fassero 3.0, Ashby and Drabek 2.9. Actual award winners: MVP (top 16): | 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 Jeff Bagwell HOU 28 392 392 1.00 | 400 147 39 .368 1.201 15 2 Matt Williams SFG 0 281 392 0.72 | 445 119 43 .267 .926 1 3 Moises Alou MON 0 183 392 0.47 | 422 143 22 .339 .989 7 4 Barry Bonds SFG 0 144 392 0.37 | 391 122 37 .312 1.073 29 5 Greg Maddux ATL 0 133 392 0.34 | 63 14 0 .222 .488 0| 16-6 202 1.56 0.90 156 6 Mike Piazza LAD 0 121 392 0.31 | 405 129 24 .319 .910 1 7 Tony Gwynn SDP 0 112 392 0.29 | 419 165 12 .394 1.022 5 8 Fred McGriff ATL 0 96 392 0.24 | 424 135 34 .318 1.012 7 9 Kevin Mitchell CIN 0 86 392 0.22 | 310 101 30 .326 1.110 2 10 Andres Galarraga COL 0 42 392 0.11 | 417 133 31 .319 .949 8 11 Larry Walker MON 0 23 392 0.06 | 395 127 19 .322 .981 15 12 Marquis Grissom MON 0 22 392 0.06 | 475 137 11 .288 .771 36 12 Ken Hill MON 0 22 392 0.06 | 48 7 0 .146 .342 0| 16-5 155 3.32 1.22 85 14 Dante Bichette COL 0 19 392 0.05 | 484 147 27 .304 .882 21 15 Hal Morris CIN 0 18 392 0.05 | 436 146 10 .335 .875 6 16 Craig Biggio HOU 0 17 392 0.04 | 437 139 6 .318 .893 39 Cy Young (top 5): | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Greg Maddux ATL 28 140 140 1.00 | 16-6 202 1.56 0.90 156 2 Ken Hill MON 0 56 140 0.40 | 16-5 155 3.32 1.22 85 3 Bret Saberhagen NYM 0 42 140 0.30 | 14-4 177 2.74 1.03 143 4 Doug Drabek HOU 0 4 140 0.03 | 12-6 165 2.84 1.07 121 4 Marvin Freeman COL 0 4 140 0.03 | 10-2 113 2.80 1.21 67 Rookie: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Raul Mondesi LAD 28 140 140 1.00 | 434 133 16 .306 .849 11 2 John Hudek HOU 0 27 140 0.19 | | 0-2 39 2.97 1.07 39 16 3 Ryan Klesko ATL 0 25 140 0.18 | 245 68 17 .278 .907 1 4 Steve Trachsel CHC 0 22 140 0.16 | 43 8 0 .186 .414 0| 9-7 146 3.21 1.28 108 5 Cliff Floyd MON 0 10 140 0.07 | 334 94 4 .281 .731 10 5 Joey Hamilton SDP 0 10 140 0.07 | 40 0 0 .000 .047 0| 9-6 109 2.98 1.17 61 7 William Van Landingham SFG 0 9 140 0.06 | 31 2 0 .065 .129 0| 8-2 84 3.54 1.35 56 8 Hector Carrasco CIN 0 3 140 0.02 | 6 0 0 .000 .000 0| 5-6 56 2.24 1.28 41 6 8 Bobby Jones NYM 0 3 140 0.02 | 46 5 0 .109 .239 0| 12-7 160 3.15 1.33 80 10 Javy Lopez ATL 0 2 140 0.01 | 277 68 13 .245 .718 0 11 Shane Reynolds HOU 0 1 140 0.01 | 33 3 0 .091 .209 0| 8-5 124 3.05 1.20 110 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Felipe Alou MON 27 138 140 0.99 | 74-40 1 2 Davey Johnson CIN 0 51 140 0.36 | 66-48 1 3 Terry Collins HOU 0 31 140 0.22 | 66-49 2 4 Dallas Green NYM 1 12 140 0.09 | 55-58 3 5 Don Baylor COL 0 8 140 0.06 | 53-64 3 5 Tommy Lasorda LAD 0 8 140 0.06 | 58-56 1 7 Bobby Cox ATL 0 3 140 0.02 | 68-46 2 8 Dusty Baker SFG 0 1 140 0.01 | 55-60 2 An easy voting year. And even better, the choices were correct. Top player: Jeff Bagwell, clearly. He wouldn't have been if the season had come to its natural conclusion, due to injury, but we don't play the what-if game here. #1 Jeff Bagwell, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Craig Biggio, #4 Larry Walker, #5 Tony Gwynn. Top pitcher: Greg Maddux with an astounding season. #1 Greg Maddux, #2 Bret Saberhagen, #3 Danny Jackson, #4 Marvin Freeman, #5 Doug Drabek. Top rookie: Raul Mondesi in a pretty unexciting year overall. Top manager: Felipe Alou's Expos had the best record in the league when everything stopped.

1994 American League

The year of no World Series. It was that depressing season of labor unrest when the postseason was cancelled. The baseball schedule didn't end, it just stopped. It should have been an exciting year, the first year of three divisions and a wild card, the first year with expanded playoffs. Instead, there were no playoffs, no postseason. When it stopped, the newly created three divisions were led by New York, Chicago and Texas, although the Rangers were 10 games below .500. That in itself points out a fatal flaw in the three-division setup. The presence of a Wild Card, Cleveland at the time of the stoppage, is another. But enough purist rambling. Paul O'Neill posted the best batting average at .359, trailed by Albert Belle at .357 and Frank Thomas at .353. Thomas led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. He also led with 106 runs scored. Kenny Lofton had 160 hits, Chuck Knoblauch 45 doubles, Lance Johnson 14 triples, and Lofton had 60 steals. Ken Griffey had 40 home runs, Thomas 38, Belle 36. Kirby Puckett led with 112 RBI. Jimmy Key topped the league with 17 wins, David Cone and Mike Mussina each had 16. Steve Ontiveros had a 2.65 ERA and was followed by Roger Clemens at 2.85. Randy Johnson had 204 strikeouts with Clemens second at 168. Lee Smith paced the league with 33 saves. Win Shares leaders, players; Frank Thomas (Chicago) 25, Albert Belle (Cleveland) 24, Paul O'Neill (New York) 23, Kenny Lofton (Cleveland) 21, Chuck Knoblauch and Kirby Puckett (Minnesota) and Ken Griffey (Seattle) 20, Will Clark (Texas) and Paul Molitor (Toronto) 19, Cal Ripken (Baltimore) and Wade Boggs (New York) 18, Rafael Palmeiro (Baltimore) and Mo Vaughn (Boston) 17, Robin Ventura (Chicago), Tony Phillips (Detroit) and Jose Canseco (Texas) 16, Chili Davis (California), Julio Franco (Chicago), Travis Fryman (Detroit), Shane Mack (Minnesota), Don Mattingly (New York), Terry Steinbach (Oakland) and Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 15. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; David Cone (Kansas City) 20, Mike Mussina (Baltimore) 18, Roger Clemens (Boston) 16, Jimmy Key (New York), Randy Johnson (Seattle) and Pat Hentgen (Toronto) 15, Chuck Finley (California), Dennis Martinez (Cleveland) and Ricky Bones (Milwaukee) 14, Charles Nagy (Cleveland) and Kevin Appier (Kansas City) 13. WARP3 scores: Thomas 10.4, Belle and O'Neill 8.1, Lofton (peak) and Phillips 6.8, Griffey 6.3, Boggs 6.2, Ventura 5.8, Mike Stanley (New York) 5.7, Ripken 5.4, Molitor 5.0, Bernie Williams (New York) 4.9, Mack 4.7, Roberto Alomar (Toronto) 4.6, Palmeiro, Franco, Jose Valentin (Milwaukee), and Chris Hoiles (Baltimore) 4.5, Davis 4.4, Rodriguez 4.2, Canseco and Geronimo Berroa (Oakland) 4.1, Clark and Rickey Henderson (Oakland) 4.0, Steinbach and Lou Whitaker (Detroit) 3.8, Vaughn, Fryman, and Jay Buhner (Seattle) 3.7. Pitchers, Johnson 7.2, Cone and Clemens 6.2, Hentgen 6.0, Martinez 5.7, Mussina 5.6, Nagy 4.9, Key 4.5, Finley 4.2, Aaron Sele (Boston) 4.1, Mark Eichhorn (Baltimore) 3.9. WAR leaders, position players: Thomas 7.3, Griffey 7.2, Lofton 7.0, Belle 5.6, Palmeiro and Ripken 4.8, Phillips 4.6, O'Neill 4.5, Boggs 4.4, Knoblauch 3.9, Molitor 3.6, Hoiles and Williams 3.5, Anderson, Franco, E. Martinez, Olerud, Puckett, and Ventura 3.3. WAR leaders, pitchers: Johnson 5.3, Clemens 5.0, McDowell 4.9, Appier 4.4, Cone 4.3, Brown and Key 4.1, D. Martinez and Tapani 3.9, Finley, Hentgen, and Nagy 3.8, Mussina 3.7, McDonald 3.2, Gubicza, Rogers, and Sele 3.1. Actual award winners: MVP (top 15): | 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 Thomas CHW 24 372 392 0.95 | 399 141 38 .353 1.217 2 2 Ken Griffey SEA 3 233 392 0.59 | 433 140 40 .323 1.076 11 3 Albert Belle CLE 0 225 392 0.57 | 412 147 36 .357 1.152 9 4 Kenny Lofton CLE 1 181 392 0.46 | 459 160 12 .349 .948 60 5 Paul O'Neill NYY 0 150 392 0.38 | 368 132 21 .359 1.064 5 6 Jimmy Key NYY 0 102 392 0.26 | | 17-4 168 3.27 1.36 97 7 Kirby Puckett MIN 0 100 392 0.26 | 439 139 20 .317 .902 6 8 Julio Franco CHW 0 49 392 0.12 | 433 138 20 .319 .916 8 9 David Cone KCR 0 40 392 0.10 | | 16-5 172 2.94 1.07 132 10 Joe Carter TOR 0 35 392 0.09 | 435 118 27 .271 .841 11 11 Jose Canseco TEX 0 27 392 0.07 | 429 121 31 .282 .939 15 12 Cal Ripken BAL 0 24 392 0.06 | 444 140 13 .315 .823 1 13 Wade Boggs NYY 0 19 392 0.05 | 366 125 11 .342 .922 2 14 Lee Smith BAL 0 18 392 0.05 | | 1-4 38 3.29 1.17 42 33 15 Will Clark TEX 0 17 392 0.04 | 389 128 13 .329 .932 5 Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 David Cone KCR 15 108 140 0.77 | 16-5 172 2.94 1.07 132 2 Jimmy Key NYY 10 96 140 0.69 | 17-4 168 3.27 1.36 97 3 Randy Johnson SEA 2 24 140 0.17 | 13-6 172 3.19 1.19 204 4 Mike Mussina BAL 1 23 140 0.16 | 16-5 176 3.06 1.16 99 5 Lee Smith BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 1-4 38 3.29 1.17 42 33 Rookie: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+-----+--+--+ 1 Bob Hamelin KCR 25 134 140 0.96 | 312 88 24 .282 .987 4 2 Manny Ramirez CLE 0 44 140 0.31 | 290 78 17 .269 .878 4 3 Rusty Greer TEX 3 42 140 0.30 | 277 87 10 .314 .898 0 4 Chris Gomez DET 0 6 140 0.04 | 296 76 8 .257 .738 5 4 Bill Risley SEA 0 6 140 0.04 | | 9-6 52 3.44 0.96 61 6 Brian Anderson CAL 0 4 140 0.03 | | 7-5 102 5.22 1.45 47 6 Jeffrey Hammonds BAL 0 4 140 0.03 | 250 74 8 .296 .819 5 8 Jim Edmonds CAL 0 2 140 0.01 | 289 79 5 .273 .720 4 9 Jose Valentin MIL 0 1 140 0.01 | 285 68 11 .239 .751 12 Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Buck Showalter NYY 24 132 140 0.94 | 70-43 1 2 Mike Hargrove CLE 4 86 140 0.61 | 66-47 2 3 Gene Lamont CHW 0 17 140 0.12 | 67-46 1 4 Tony LaRussa OAK 0 10 140 0.07 | 51-63 2 5 Hal McRae KCR 0 6 140 0.04 | 64-51 3 6 Butch Hobson BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 54-61 4 Top player: Frank Thomas. I took it away from him last year, but this year even with no defensive value he was the best in the league. #1 Frank Thomas, #2 Albert Belle, #3 Paul O'Neill, #4 Kenny Lofton, #5 Ken Griffey,Jr. Top pitcher: David Cone, pitching very well for a losing team. #1 David Cone, #2 Mike Mussina, #3 Randy Johnson, #4 Roger Clemens, #5 Jimmy Key. Top rookie: Manny Ramirez, with the benefit of hindsight. There were several rookies of similar quality, including Bob Hamelin, Ramirez, Jim Edmonds, and Rusty Greer. When stats are close, go for the youngest player, who is far more likely to have the best career. Hamelin was 26, Ramirez 22. Top manager: Buck Showalter, who could have been the manager to lead the Yankees back to the promised land. Oh well.

1993 National League

The Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies were added as expansion teams, the first new teams since 1977 and first in the NL since 1969. The ability to sign free agents made these teams a bit better than many previous expansion squads, and both managed to avoid last place in their inaugural campaigns. This also added the most extreme hitters' park in baseball, perhaps in its history, with the thin air of Denver coming to the majors. Atlanta and San Francisco staged a huge battle for the NL West division, with the Braves defeating the Giants by one game with 104 victories to 103. Some people even complained that the Giants, after their terrific season, did not make the postseason. It was all moot when the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Braves in the NLCS. The Phillies pulled off a surprise season to outdistance Montreal by three wins, 97 to 94. St. Louis was third with 87 wins, Chicago fourth with 85, while Pittsburgh lost 87, new team Florida lost 98, and the Mets lost 103. Houston was third in the West with 85 wins, LA finished at exactly .500, Cincinnati lost 89, the newbies in Colorado lost 95, and San Diego lost 101. Andres Galarraga won the batting title with a thin air-aided .370, Tony Gwynn was second at .358 and Gregg Jefferies hit .342. Lenny Dykstra had 193 hits while Mark Grace had 192, Charlie Hayes had 45 doubles, Steve Finley 13 triples, Chuck Carr 58 steals. In his first year with the Giants, Barry Bonds led the league with 46 homers and 123 RBI, as well as topping the percentage categories. David Justice was secodn with 40 homers and the runner-up with 120 RBI. John Burkett and Tom Glavine tied for the lead in wins with 22 each. Bill Swift won 21 and Greg Maddux 20. Maddux led in ERA with a 2.36 mark, follwed by Jose Rijo at 2.48. Rijo led in strikeouts with 227, trailed by John Smoltz at 208. Randy Myers led in saves with 53. Maddux won the Cy Young. Win Shares leaders, players; Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 47, Len Dykstra (Philadelphia) 32, Mike Piazza (Los Angeles) 31, Marquis Grissom (Montreal) 30, Jeff Blauser and David Justice (Atlanta) and Darren Daulton (Philadelphia) 29, Rick Wilkins (Chicago), Matt Williams (San Francisco) and Gregg Jefferies (St. Louis) 28, Craig Biggio (Houston), Jay Bell (Pittsburgh) and Robby Thompson (San Francisco) 26, Ron Gant (Atlanta) and John Kruk (Philadelphia) 25, Larry Walker (Montreal) 24, Mark Grace (Chicago), Andres Galarraga (Colorado) and Brett Butler (Los Angeles) 23, Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 22. Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Jose Rijo (Cincinnati) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 25, John Wetteland (Montreal) 21, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 20, Steve Avery (Atlanta), Mark Portugal (Houston) and Billy Swift (San Francisco) 19, Bryan Harvey (Florida) 18, Greg McMichael (Atlanta) 17, John Smoltz (Atlanta), Tommy Greene (Philadelphia) and Rod Beck (San Francisco) 16. 22-game winner John Burkett had 14 Win Shares for the Giants. WARP3 scores: Bonds 12.4, Dykstra 8.2, Piazza 8.1 (rookie), Bell 7.8 (peak), Williams 7.5 (peak), Thompson 7.4 (peak, last good season), Daulton (end of peak) and Wilkins (career year) 7.2, Luis Gonzalez (Houston) 6.6, Justice 6.3, Bagwell 6.2, Biggio 6.1, Grissom (peak) and Blauser 5.8, Orlando Merced (Pittsburgh) 5.7, Delino DeShields (Montreal) 5.5, Walker 5.1, Kruk 4.9 (last good season), Grace 4.7, Ozzie Smith (St. Louis) 4.6, Jefferies, Jeff King (Pittsburgh) and Barry Larkin (Cincinnati) 4.5. Pitchers, Rijo 9.6 (peak), Wetteland 7.0 (peak), Maddux 6.4, Harvey 6.1 (peak, last good year), Portugal 4.8 (career year), Dwight Gooden (New York) 4.6, Swift 4.5 (peak), Armando Reynoso (Colorado) 4.4, Avery (peak) and Jim Gott (Los Angeles) 4.1, Beck 3.9, Glavine and Greene (end of peak) 3.8. WAR leaders, position players: Bonds 10.6, Piazza 7.6, Dykstra 6.9, Bell 6.6, Thompson 6.2, Grissom and Williams 6.0, Gant 5.9, Bagwell and Blauser 5.6, L.Gonzalez and Jefferies 5.5, Daulton and Justice 5.3, Walker 5.1, Grace 5.0, DeShields and Kruk 4.9, Biggio 4.8, McGriff 4.7, Sosa 4.6. WAR leaders, pitchers: Maddux 7.9, Rijo 7.2, Avery 5.4, Greene 5.2, Schilling 5.1, Tewksbury 4.5, Burkett, Drabek, and Swift 4.4, Smoltz 4.3, Candiotti 4.2, Gooden 3.9, Jackson 3.7, Glavine and Portugal 3.6, Benes, Harnisch, and Wetteland 3.4. Actual Award voting: MVP (top 15): | 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 Barry Bonds SFG 24 372 392 0.95 | 539 181 46 .336 1.136 29 2 Lenny Dykstra PHI 4 267 392 0.68 | 637 194 19 .305 .902 37 3 David Justice ATL 0 183 392 0.47 | 585 158 40 .270 .871 3 4 Fred McGriff TOT 0 177 392 0.45 | +557 162 37 .291 .924 5 5 Ron Gant ATL 0 176 392 0.45 | 606 166 36 .274 .854 26 6 Matt Williams SFG 0 103 392 0.26 | 579 170 38 .294 .886 1 7 Darren Daulton PHI 0 79 392 0.20 | 510 131 24 .257 .875 5 8 Marquis Grissom MON 0 66 392 0.17 | 630 188 19 .298 .789 53 9 Mike Piazza LAD 0 49 392 0.12 | 547 174 35 .318 .932 3 10 Andres Galarraga COL 0 45 392 0.11 | 470 174 22 .370 1.005 2 11 Gregg Jefferies STL 0 28 392 0.07 | 544 186 16 .342 .894 46 12 Rod Beck SFG 0 23 392 0.06 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 3-1 79 2.16 0.88 86 48 13 Greg Maddux ATL 0 17 392 0.04 | 91 15 0 .165 .350 0| 20-10 267 2.36 1.05 197 14 Bryan Harvey FLA 0 14 392 0.04 | | 1-5 69 1.70 0.84 73 45 15 Robby Thompson SFG 0 11 392 0.03 | 494 154 19 .312 .870 10 Cy Young (top 5): | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Greg Maddux ATL 22 119 140 0.85 | 20-10 267 2.36 1.05 197 2 Bill Swift SFG 2 61 140 0.44 | 21-8 233 2.82 1.07 157 3 Tom Glavine ATL 4 49 140 0.35 | 22-6 239 3.20 1.36 120 4 John Burkett SFG 0 9 140 0.06 | 22-7 232 3.65 1.14 145 5 Jose Rijo CIN 0 8 140 0.06 | 14-9 257 2.48 1.09 227 Burkett finished behind Swift, although he had won more games. Intelligence on the part of BBWAA voters? Remarkable! Rookie (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 Mike Piazza LAD 28 140 140 1.00 | 547 174 35 .318 .932 3 2 Greg McMichael ATL 0 40 140 0.29 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 2-3 92 2.06 1.06 89 19 3 Jeff Conine FLA 0 31 140 0.22 | 595 174 12 .292 .754 2 4 Chuck Carr FLA 0 18 140 0.13 | 551 147 4 .267 .657 58 5 Al Martin PIT 0 6 140 0.04 | 480 135 18 .281 .820 16 6 Kevin Stocker PHI 0 4 140 0.03 | 259 84 2 .324 .826 5 7 Wil Cordero MON 0 3 140 0.02 | 475 118 10 .248 .695 12 7 Kirk Rueter MON 0 3 140 0.02 | 26 2 0 .077 .249 0| 8-0 86 2.73 1.20 31 9 Carlos Garcia PIT 0 2 140 0.01 | 546 147 12 .269 .716 18 9 Pedro Martinez LAD 0 2 140 0.01 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 10-5 107 2.61 1.24 119 2 Showed ten in order to get Pedro on the list. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Dusty Baker SFG 15 105 140 0.75 | 103-59 2 2 Jim Fregosi PHI 11 92 140 0.66 | 97-65 1 3 Felipe Alou MON 2 27 140 0.19 | 94-68 2 3 Bobby Cox ATL 0 27 140 0.19 | 104-58 1 5 Don Baylor COL 0 1 140 0.01 | 67-95 6 Top player: Barry Bonds. This will get somewhat monotonous, but Bonds was the league's best for a long time, as befits one of the greatest of the game. #1 Barry Bonds, #2 Lenny Dykstra, #3 Mike Piazza, #4 Darren Daulton, #5 David Justice, #6 Jay Bell. Top pitcher: Greg Maddux. Jose Rijo turned in an excellent year for a lesser team. #1 Greg Maddux, #2 Jose Rijo, #3 John Wetteland, #4 Billy Swift, #5 Steve Avery. Top rookie: Mike Piazza, in a runaway. Top manager: Dusty Baker. I will agree with the BBWAA here. A lot of it was riding Barry Bonds, but you have to keep the secondary talent ready as well. Baker did that.

1993 American League

Toronto won their second straight pennant and World Series with a little player turnover (Molitor at DH instead of Winfield, Tony Fernandez taking shortstop) and Joe Carter providing only the second walk-off home run in Series history. The pitching staff lost Jimmy Key to the Yankees and saw Jack Morris collapse, but came through regardless. The Blue Jays won 95 to outpace New York by seven games, while Baltimore and Detroit tied for third with 85 victories. Boston was 5th, Cleveland 6th, and Milwaukee last with 93 losses. The White Sox won the West with 94 victories, while Texas was second with 86. Kansas City was third with 84 victories, Seattle 4th with 82. California and Minnesota tied for 5th with 91 losses, and Oakland collapsed to last with 94 losses. John Olerud led the league in batting average, doubles, on-base, runs created and OPS. It was a very impressive season that somehow didn't get a lot of attention from the awards voters. Olerud hit .363, with teammates Paul Molitor at .332 and Roberto Alomar at .326. He hit 54 doubles. Rafael Palmeiro had 124 runs, Molitor 211 hits, Lance Johnson 14 triples, Kenny Lofton 70 steals. Juan Gonzalez had 46 homers, edging Ken Griffey at 45 with Frank Thomas at 41. Albert Belle edged Thomas 129 to 128 in RBI. Joe Carter was third with 121. Thomas won the MVP award. Jack McDowell led in wins with 22. Randy Johnson and Pat Hentgen were next with 19. Kevin Appier led in ERA with a 2.56 mark; Wilson Alvarez was second at 2.95. Randy Johnson led in strikeouts with 308; no one else even had 200, as second place was Mark Langston with 196. Jeff Montgomery and Duane Ward tied in saves with 45 each. Chuck Finley had 13 complete games, and McDowell four shutouts. McDowell won the Cy Young. Win Shares leaders, players: John Olerud (Toronto) 37, Frank Thomas (Chicago) 32, Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) 31, Roberto Alomar (Toronto) 30, Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle) and Paul Molitor (Toronto) 29, Carlos Baerga (Cleveland) and Travis Fryman (Detroit) 28, Albert Belle (Cleveland) 27, Chris Hoiles (Baltimore) 26, Kenny Lofton (Cleveland), Tony Phillips (Detroit) and Rickey Henderson (Oakland/Toronto) 25, Tim Salmon (California), Mickey Tettleton (Detroit) and Mike Stanley (New York) 24, Greg Vaughn (Milwaukee) and Jay Buhner (Seattle) 22, Lance Johnson and Robin Ventura (Chicago) and Danny Tartabull (New York) 21. Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Kevin Appier (Kansas City) 27, Jeff Montgomery (Kansas City) and Randy Johnson (Seattle) 22, Jack McDowell (Chicago), David Cone (Kansas City) and Jimmy Key (New York) 21, Danny Darwin (Boston), Mark Langston (California) and Alex Fernandez (Chicago) 20, Chuck Finley (California) 19, Wilson Alvarez (Chicago) 18, Ben McDonald (Baltimore) and Duane Ward (Toronto) 17. WARP3 scores: Olerud 8.8 (best year), Griffey 7.8, Hoiles 7.6 (best year), Alomar 7.4, Gonzalez 7.3 (best year), Thomas 7.1, Salmon 6.8 (rookie), Henderson 6.6, Palmeiro (best year), Baerga, and Phillips 6.4, Fryman (best year) and Devon White (Toronto) 6.0, Belle 5.8, Lou Whitaker (Detroit) 5.7, Stanley 5.4 (best year), Molitor 5.3, Johnson and Ventura 5.2. Pitchers, Appier 7.2 (best year), Montgomery 6.7 (best year), Johnson 6.6 (breakout year), Langston 6.4 (best year), Fernandez 5.8, McDowell 5.7, Key 5.4, Ward 5.3 (last good year), Darwin 5.2, Cone and Finley 5.1, Alvarez 5.0. WAR leaders, position players: Griffey 9.0, Olerud 8.4, Hoiles and Lofton 7.3, Thomas 6.7, Palmeiro 6.6, Alomar 6.1, Gonzalez 6.0, Ventura 5.9, White 5.7, Phillips 5.6, G. Vaughn 5.4, Belle and Valentin 5.3, Molitor 5.2, Henderson and Johnson 5.1, Salmon 5.0, Fryman 4.9, Baerga 4.7. WAR leaders, pitchers: Appier 7.4, Johnson 7.1, Langston 5.7, Finley 5.3, Key 5.2, McDowell 5.1, Hanson 4.9, Tapani 4.8, Brown and Cone 4.6, Guzman and McDonald 4.5, Clemens 4.4, Fernandez 3.9, Erickson 3.8, Darwin and Rogers 3.7. Actual award winners: MVP (top 20): | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Frank Thomas CHW 28 392 392 1.00 | 549 174 41 .317 1.033 4 2 Paul Molitor TOR 0 209 392 0.53 | 636 211 22 .332 .911 22 3 John Olerud TOR 0 198 392 0.51 | 551 200 24 .363 1.072 0 4 Juan Gonzalez TEX 0 185 392 0.47 | 536 166 46 .310 1.000 4 5 Ken Griffey SEA 0 182 392 0.46 | 582 180 45 .309 1.025 17 6 Roberto Alomar TOR 0 102 392 0.26 | 589 192 17 .326 .900 55 7 Albert Belle CLE 0 81 392 0.21 | 594 172 38 .290 .922 23 8 Rafael Palmeiro TEX 0 52 392 0.13 | 597 176 37 .295 .926 22 9 Jack McDowell CHW 0 51 392 0.13 | | 22-10 257 3.37 1.29 158 10 Carlos Baerga CLE 0 50 392 0.13 | 624 200 21 .321 .840 15 11 Jimmy Key NYY 0 29 392 0.07 | | 18-6 237 3.00 1.11 173 12 Joe Carter TOR 0 25 392 0.06 | 603 153 33 .254 .802 8 13 Jeff Montgomery KCR 0 15 392 0.04 | | 7-5 87 2.27 1.01 66 45 13 Mike Stanley NYY 0 15 392 0.04 | 423 129 26 .305 .923 1 15 Kenny Lofton CLE 0 11 392 0.03 | 569 185 1 .325 .815 70 16 Chris Hoiles BAL 0 10 392 0.03 | 419 130 29 .310 1.001 1 16 Tony Phillips DET 0 10 392 0.03 | 566 177 7 .313 .841 16 18 Mo Vaughn BOS 0 8 392 0.02 | 539 160 29 .297 .915 4 19 Don Mattingly NYY 0 7 392 0.02 | 530 154 17 .291 .809 0 19 Cal Ripken BAL 0 7 392 0.02 | 641 165 24 .257 .748 1 The Big Hurt won a unanimous and undeserved MVP. There were several others better. Cy Young: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO Sv +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Jack McDowell CHW 21 124 140 0.89 | 22-10 257 3.37 1.29 158 2 Randy Johnson SEA 6 75 140 0.54 | 19-8 255 3.24 1.11 308 1 3 Kevin Appier KCR 1 30 140 0.21 | 18-8 239 2.56 1.11 186 4 Jimmy Key NYY 0 14 140 0.10 | 18-6 237 3.00 1.11 173 5 Duane Ward TOR 0 5 140 0.04 | 2-3 72 2.13 1.03 97 45 6 Pat Hentgen TOR 0 3 140 0.02 | 19-9 216 3.87 1.34 122 7 Juan Guzman TOR 0 1 140 0.01 | 14-3 221 3.99 1.45 194 Again the best was missed. Rookie: | Season Results Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+---------+---+-----+-----+---+--+ 1 Tim Salmon CAL 28 140 140 1.00 | 515 146 31 .283 .918 5 2 Jason Bere CHW 0 59 140 0.42 | | 12-5 143 3.47 1.33 129 3 Aaron Sele BOS 0 19 140 0.14 | | 7-2 112 2.74 1.33 93 4 Wayne Kirby CLE 0 12 140 0.09 | 458 123 6 .269 .695 17 5 Rich Amaral SEA 0 8 140 0.06 | 373 108 1 .290 .715 19 6 Brent Gates OAK 0 7 140 0.05 | 535 155 7 .290 .747 7 7 Troy Neel OAK 0 5 140 0.04 | 427 124 19 .290 .840 3 8 Jerry Dipoto CLE 0 1 140 0.01 | | 4-4 56 2.40 1.54 41 11 8 David Hulse TEX 0 1 140 0.01 | 407 118 1 .290 .701 29 This one the BBWAA got right. Manager: Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank +--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+ 1 Gene Lamont CHW 8 72 140 0.51 | 94-68 1 2 Buck Showalter NYY 7 63 140 0.45 | 88-74 2 3 Cito Gaston TOR 6 49 140 0.35 | 95-67 1 4 Kevin Kennedy TEX 3 28 140 0.20 | 86-76 2 5 Lou Piniella SEA 3 24 140 0.17 | 82-80 4 6 Mike Hargrove CLE 1 10 140 0.07 | 76-86 6 7 Johnny Oates BAL 0 5 140 0.04 | 85-77 3 8 Butch Hobson BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 80-82 5 Top player: John Olerud. The batting champion used to get more respect, but not in this season. You bat .363, play excellent defense, and still get no respect. Well, here's some, belatedly. #1 John Olerud, #2 Ken Griffey, Jr., #3 Juan Gonzalez, #4 Roberto Alomar, #5 Frank Thomas, #6 Chris Hoiles. Top pitcher: Kevin Appier. The BBWAA never learns: the ERA leader is almost always a better choice than the wins leader. #1 Kevin Appier, #2 Randy Johnson, #3 Mark Langston, #4 Jack McDowell, #5 Jimmy Key. Top rookie: Tim Salmon, easily. Top manager: Gene LaMont, who got the White Sox to the top of the division.