2002 American League

New York and Oakland each had 103 wins, taking their respective divisions, but it was Wild-Card Anaheim, with 99 wins, that won the pennant and World Series.  Minnesota's 94 wins took the Central, and Boston and Seattle with 93 wins were out of the money.  Those six teams were the only AL clubs over .500, as it was a have-and-have-not season.  Detroit and Tampa Bay each lost 106 games, and Kansas City lost 100.

Manny Ramirez won the batting title and also led in on-base, while Jim Thome led in slugging and OPS.  Thome was one point ahead of Ramirez in OPS+.  Ramirez had a .349 average, Mike Sweeney .340, and Bernie Williams .333.  Alex Rodriguez led in homers and RBI, hitting 57 homers while Jim Thome hit 52, and driving in 142 runs to lead lead Magglio Ordonez at 135 and Miguel Tejada drove in 131.  Garrett Anderson and Nomar Garciaparra tied with 56 doubles, while Alfonso Soriano led in runs, hits and steals.  Miguel Tejada won the MVP.  

Barry Zito led in wins and took the Cy Young; he had 23 victories, Derek Lowe won 21, Pedro Martinez 20.  Martinez led in ERA at 2.26 and strikeouts with 239.  Lowe was second with a 2.58 ERA, Zito third at 2.75, Tim Wakefield came in at 2.81.  Roger Clemens had 192 strikeouts, Zito and Mike Mussina 182 each.  Eddie Guardado led in saves with 45, Billy Koch had 44, Troy Percival and Ugueth Urbina 40.  Paul Byrd had seven complete games, Jeff Weaver threw three shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players; Alex Rodriguez (Texas) 35, Jim Thome (Cleveland) and Jason Giambi (New York) 34, Miguel Tejada (Oakland) 32, Bernie Williams and Alfonso Soriano (New York) 30, Manny Ramirez (Boston) 29, Nomar Garciaparra (Boston) and John Olerud (Seattle) 27, Magglio Ordonez (Chicago) and Carlos Delgado (Toronto) 26, Jacque Jones (Minnesota), Eric Chavez (Oakland) and Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle) 25, Garrett Anderson (Anaheim) and Derek Jeter (New York) 24, Randy Winn (Tampa Bay) 23, Troy Glaus and Tim Salmon (Anaheim), Carlos Beltran (Kansas City), Jorge Posada (New York) and Eric Hinske (Toronto) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Barry Zito (Oakland) 25, Tim Hudson (Oakland) 23, Derek Lowe (Boston) 22, Pedro Martinez (Boston) and Roy Halladay (Toronto) 21, Billy Koch and Mark Mulder (Oakland) 19, Jarrod Washburn (Anaheim) and Paul Byrd (Kansas City) 18, Mark Buehrle (Chicago) 17, Jamie Moyer (Seattle) 16, Tim Wakefield (Boston), Mike Mussina and David Wells (New York) and Kenny Rogers (Texas) 15.

WARP3 scores:  Rodriguez 12.6, Thome 10.3, Giambi 10.7, Tejada 8.3, Williams 8.0, Soriano 8.6, Ramirez 8.2, Garciaparra 9.2, Olerud 9.2 (last big year), Ordonez 8.1, Delgado 8.2, Jones 6.6, Chavez 6.7, Suzuki 7.8, Anderson 6.5, Jeter 6.9, Winn 7.0, Glaus 7.7, Salmon 5.8, Beltran 7.9, Posada 8.8, Hinske 6.0 (rookie).  Pitchers, Zito 9.7, Hudson 8.9, Lowe 11.3, Martinez 9.1, Halladay 9.6, Koch 6.9, Mulder 7.0, Washburn 6.8, Byrd 7.8 (career year), Buehrle 8.7, Moyer 7.2, Wakefield 6.6, Mussina 7.0, Wells 6.0, Rogers 6.8.

WAR winners, position players:  Rodriguez 10.0, Giambi and Thome 7.0, Jeter 5.8, Soriano 5.7, Beltran 5.6, Chavez and Ramirez 5.4, Cameron and Jones 5.3, Koskie and Williams 5.1, Ordonez 5.0, Sweeney 4.9.  Pitchers:  Martinez 8.3, Halladay 7.8, Lowe 6.0, Hudson 5.3, Buerhle and Mussina 4.8, Clemens 4.7, Washburn and Wells 4.5, Mulder, Weaver, and Zito 4.4.

Actual award winners:

MVP (top 16):   Season Results
Rk Name      Team 1^st Place Points Max Points Share|   AB  H  HR   BA    OPS  SB|  W-L   IP  ERA   WHIP  SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
  1 Miguel Tejada     OAK   21    356    392  0.91 |  662 204 34  .308  .861   7|                           
  2 Alex Rodriguez    TEX    5    254    392  0.65 |  624 187 57  .300 1.015   9|                           
  3 Alfonso Soriano   NYY    2    234    392  0.60 |  696 209 39  .300  .880  41|                           
  4 Garret Anderson   ANA    0    184    392  0.47 |  638 195 29  .306  .871   6|                           
  5 Jason Giambi      NYY    0    162    392  0.41 |  560 176 41  .314 1.034   2|                           
  6 Torii Hunter      MIN    0    132    392  0.34 |  561 162 29  .289  .859  23|                           
  7 Jim Thome         CLE    0     69    392  0.18 |  480 146 52  .304 1.122   1|                           
  8 Magglio Ordonez   CHW    0     59    392  0.15 |  590 189 38  .320  .978   7|                           
  9 Manny Ramirez     BOS    0     39    392  0.10 |  436 152 33  .349 1.097   0|                           
10 Bernie Williams   NYY    0     32    392  0.08 |  612 204 19  .333  .908   8|                           
11 David Eckstein    ANA    0     24    392  0.06 |  608 178  8  .293  .752  21|                           
11 Nomar Garciaparra BOS    0     24    392  0.06 |  635 197 24  .310  .880   5|                           
13 Barry Zito        OAK    0     22    392  0.06 |    4   0  0  .000  .000   0| 23-5  229  2.75  1.13 182  
14 Eric Chavez       OAK    0     14    392  0.04 |  585 161 34  .275  .860   8|                           
15 Eddie Guardado    MIN    0     12    392  0.03 |                            |  1-3   68  2.93  1.05  70 45
15 Troy Percival     ANA    0     12    392  0.03 |                            |  4-1   56  1.92  1.12  68 40

Cy Young:     Season Results
Rk Name      Team 1^st Place Points Max Points Share|  W-L   IP  ERA   WHIP  SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
  1 Barry Zito        OAK   17    114    140  0.81 | 23-5  229  2.75  1.13 182  
  2 Pedro Martinez    BOS   11     96    140  0.69 | 20-4  199  2.26  0.92 239  
  3 Derek Lowe        BOS    0     41    140  0.29 | 21-8  220  2.58  0.97 127  
  4 Jarrod Washburn   ANA    0      1    140  0.01 | 18-6  206  3.15  1.17 139   

Rookie of the Year   Season Results
Rk Name     Team 1^st Place Points Max Points Share|   AB  H  HR   BA    OPS  SB|  W-L   IP  ERA   WHIP  SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
  1 Eric Hinske       TOR   19    122    140  0.87 |  566 158 24  .279  .845  13|                           
  2 Rodrigo Lopez     BAL    9     97    140  0.69 |    3   0  0  .000  .000   0| 15-9  197  3.57  1.19 136  
  3 Jorge Julio       BAL    0     14    140  0.10 |                            |  5-6   68  1.99  1.21  55 25
  4 Bobby Kielty      MIN    0      5    140  0.04 |  289  84 12  .291  .890   4|                           
  4 John Lackey       ANA    0      5    140  0.04 |                            |  9-4  108  3.66  1.35  69  
  6 Josh Phelps       TOR    0      3    140  0.02 |  265  82 15  .309  .925   0|                           
  7 Kevin Mench       TEX    0      2    140  0.01 |  366  95 15  .260  .775   1|                           
  8 Mark Ellis        OAK    0      1    140  0.01 |  345  94  6  .272  .753   4|                           
  8 Tony Fiore        MIN    0      1    140  0.01 |    3   0  0  .000  .000   0| 10-3   91  3.16  1.29  55  
  8 Dustan Mohr       MIN    0      1    140  0.01 |  383 103 12  .269  .759   6|                           
  8 Carlos Pena       TOT    0      1    140  0.01 | +397  96 19  .242  .764   2| 

Manager:
Rk Name             Team 1^st Place Points Max Points Share |    W-L    Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
  1 Mike Scioscia     ANA   17    116    140   0.83 |   99-63     2
  2 Art Howe          OAK    9     74    140   0.53 |  103-59     1
  3 Ron Gardenhire    MIN    2     59    140   0.42 |   94-67     1
  4 Joe Torre         NYY    0      3    140   0.02 |  103-58     1

Top player:  Alex Rodriguez.  It's pretty clear in retrospect that Rodriguez was easily the best player in the AL in 2002.  To me, at least, that's what the most valuable guy is.  A-Rod is tops in both WS and WARP.

#1 Alex Rodriguez, #2 Jason Giambi, #3 Jim Thome, #4 Miguel Tejada, #5 Manny Ramirez, #6 Alfonso Soriano.

Top pitcher: Zito led in wins but Pedro Martinez was the most effective pitcher, though in fewer innings.  Roy Halladay also emerged.

#1 Pedro Martinez, #2 Barry Zito, #3 Derek Lowe, #4 Roy Halladay, #5 Tim Hudson.

Top rookie:  Eric Hinske, although he was not able to build on that success.

Top manager:  Mike Scioscia, leading the Angels to their first title ever.

2001 National League

The Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series behind the one-two starting punch of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, and Barry Bonds won the first of four straight MVP awards.  It was a big season for the NL, breaking the Yankees' dominance.  Arizona won 92 games to edge San Francisco's 90 in the West, while Houston and St. Louis each won 93 in the Central, with the Astros taking the tiebreaker to push the Cards into the Wild Card.  Atlanta took the East with 88 victories, two ahead of Philadelphia.  Chicago won 88, Los Angeles won 86, and the Mets 82.  Pittsburgh lost 100 games and Cincinnati 96 to bring up the rear.

Bonds hit 73 home runs to set a new single-season record.  He ran away with the OPS lead.  Larry Walker won the batting title, batting .350.  Todd Helton hit .336, Moises Alou and Lance Berkman .331.  Sammy Sosa led in runs with 146:  Helton scored 132.  Sosa led in RBI with 160, Helton had 146 and Luis Gonzalez 142.  Rich Aurilia led in hits with 206 followed by Juan Pierre's 202.  Lance Berkman had 55 doubles, Helton 54.  Juan Pierre and Jimmy Rollins tied for the steals lead with 46.  Rollins had 12 triples.  Sosa had 64 homers, Gonzalez 57, Helton and Shawn Green 49.

Matt Morris and Curt Schilling tied for the wins lead with 22, Randy Johnson had 21, Jon Leiber 20.  Johnson led in ERA with a 2.49 mark, strikeouts with 372, and won the Cy Young.  Schilling was second in ERA at 2.98, John Burkett at 3.04, Greg Maddux at 3.05.  Schilling was second in strikeouts with 293, Chan Ho Park K'd 218, Kerry Wood 217.  Robb Nen led in saves with 45.  Armando Benitez, Trevor Hoffman, and Jeff Shaw tied at 43.

Win Shares leaders, players; Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 54, Sammy Sosa (Chicago) 42, Luis Gonzalez (Arizona) 37, Shawn Green (Los Angeles) 34, Rich Aurilia (San Francisco) 33, Lance Berkman (Houston) 32, Phil Nevin (San Diego) 31, Jeff Bagwell (Houston), Gary Sheffield (Los Angeles) and Jim Edmonds (St. Louis) 30, Chipper Jones (Atlanta), Scott Rolen (Philadelphia), Brian Giles (Pittsburgh), Ryan Klesko (San Diego) and Albert Pujols (St. Louis) 29, Paul LoDuca (Los Angeles) 28, Aramis Ramirez (Pittsburgh) and Jeff Kent (San Francisco) 27, Todd Helton (Colorado), Cliff Floyd (Florida), Orlando Cabrera (Montreal) and Bobby Abreu (Philadelphia) 26, Larry Walker (Colorado) and Craig Biggio (Houston) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Randy Johnson (Arizona) 26, Curt Schilling (Arizona) 24, Javier Vazquez (Montreal) 21, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 20, Darryl Kile (St. Louis) 18, John Burkett (Atlanta), Wade Miller (Houston) and Matt Morris (St. Louis) 17, Byung-Hyun Kim (Arizona), Tom Glavine (Atlanta), Jon Lieber (Chicago), and Chan Ho Park (Los Angeles) 16.

WARP3 scores:  Bonds 15.5, Sosa 13.6 (best season), Gonzalez 12.3 (best season), Green 9.3, Aurilia 11.6 (career year), Berkman 10.7, Nevin 10.1 (career year), Bagwell 8.9, Sheffield 8.5, Edmonds 8.9, Jones 7.9, Rolen 9.2, Giles 8.7, Klesko 6.1, Pujols 10.2 (rookie), LoDuca 7.7, Ramirez 6.2, Kent 10.0, Helton 10.6, Floyd 9.2, Cabrera 9.1, Abreu 7.1, Walker 8.9, Biggio 5.4.  Pitchers, Johnson 10.3, Schilling 9.7, Vazquez 9.3, Maddux 9.4, Kile 7.8, Burkett 7.2, Miller 6.9, Morris 7.0, Kim 6.1, Glavine 6.8, Lieber 7.1, Park 7.2.

WAR leaders, position players:  Bonds 12.9, Sosa 10.4, Gonzalez 9.4, Walker 8.0. Pujols 7.7, Aurilia and Helton 7.6, Berkman 7.3, Green 7.2, Floyd 6.9, Edmonds 6.7, Chipper 6.5, Rolen 6.1, Giles and Nevin 6.0.  Pitchers:  Johnson 10.7, Schilling 7.6, Vazquez 6.4, Maddux 6.3, Morris 6.0, Burkett 5.2, Ortiz and Penny 4.6, Kile and Oswalt 4.4, Leiber 4.3.

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 Bonds       SFG   30    438    448  0.98 |  476 156 73  .328 1.379  13|                           
  2 Sammy Sosa        CHC    2    278    448  0.62 |  577 189 64  .328 1.174   0|                           
  3 Luis Gonzalez     ARI    0    261    448  0.58 |  609 198 57  .325 1.117   1|                           
  4 Albert Pujols     STL    0    222    448  0.50 |  590 194 37  .329 1.013   1|                           
  5 Lance Berkman     HOU    0    125    448  0.28 |  577 191 34  .331 1.051   7|                           
  6 Shawn Green       LAD    0    112    448  0.25 |  619 184 49  .297  .970  20|                           
  7 Jeff Bagwell      HOU    0    109    448  0.24 |  600 173 39  .288  .966  11|                           
  8 Chipper Jones     ATL    0    100    448  0.22 |  572 189 38  .330 1.032   9|                           
  9 Todd Helton       COL    0     90    448  0.20 |  587 197 49  .336 1.116   7|                           
10 Curt Schilling    ARI    0     24    448  0.05 |   83  11  0  .133  .287   0| 22-6  257  2.98  1.08 293  
11 Randy Johnson     ARI    0     23    448  0.05 |   80   8  0  .100  .243   0| 21-6  250  2.49  1.01 372  
12 Rich Aurilia      SFG    0     20    448  0.04 |  636 206 37  .324  .941   1|                           
13 Mike Piazza       NYM    0     14    448  0.03 |  503 151 36  .300  .957   0|                           
14 Moises Alou       HOU    0     13    448  0.03 |  513 170 27  .331  .949   5|                           
14 Matt Morris       STL    0     13    448  0.03 |   72  10  0  .139  .329   0| 22-8  216  3.16  1.26 185  

Cy Young:    Season Results
Rk Name     Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share|  W-L   IP  ERA   WHIP  SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
  1 Randy Johnson     ARI   30    156    160  0.98 | 21-6  250  2.49  1.01 372  
  2 Curt Schilling    ARI    2     98    160  0.61 | 22-6  257  2.98  1.08 293  
  3 Matt Morris       STL    0     31    160  0.19 | 22-8  216  3.16  1.26 185  
  4 Jon Lieber        CHC    0      2    160  0.01 | 20-6  232  3.80  1.15 148  
  5 Roy Oswalt        HOU    0      1    160  0.01 | 14-3  142  2.73  1.06 144 

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 Albert Pujols     STL   32    160    160  1.00 |  590 194 37  .329 1.013   1|                           
  2 Roy Oswalt        HOU    0     82    160  0.51 |   47   9  0  .191  .421   0| 14-3  142  2.73  1.06 144  
  3 Jimmy Rollins     PHI    0     44    160  0.28 |  656 180 14  .274  .743  46|                           
  4 Adam Dunn         CIN    0      1    160  0.01 |  244  64 19  .262  .948   4|                           
  4 Bud Smith         STL    0      1    160  0.01 |   25   4  0  .160  .352   0|  6-3   85  3.83  1.22  59

Manager:
Rk Name     Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share |    W-L    Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
  1 Larry Bowa        PHI   18    113    160   0.71 |   86-76     2
  2 Jim Tracy         LAD    4     48    160   0.30 |   86-76     3
  3 Bob Brenly        ARI    3     43    160   0.27 |   92-70     1
  4 Tony LaRussa      STL    4     38    160   0.24 |   93-69     1
  5 Larry Dierker     HOU    1     21    160   0.13 |   93-69     1
  6 Don Baylor        CHC    0     13    160   0.08 |   88-74     3
  7 Bobby Cox         ATL    2     12    160   0.08 |   88-74     1
  8 Dusty Baker       SFG    0     10    160   0.06 |   90-72     2

Top player:  Barry Bonds.  Bonds begins the greatest period of sustained excellence of any player ever, kicking his career up to a higher level.

#1 Barry Bonds, #2 Sammy Sosa, #3 Luis Gonzalez, #4 Rich Aurilia, #5 Lance Berkman, #6 Albert Pujols.

Top pitcher:  Randy Johnson again dominates a league.

#1 Randy Johnson, #2 Curt Schilling, #3 Greg Maddux, #4 Javier Vazquez, #5 Matt Morris.

Top rookie:  Albert Pujols leads an impressive class.

Top manager:  Larry Dierker helmed a strong Astros squad.

2001 American League

It was the fourth straight pennant for the Yankees, but their three-peat of World Championships came to an end as they lost the Series to the Diamondbacks. Seattle put up an amazing 116 regular-season wins, but fell to the Yankees in the ALCS in five games. Oakland took the Wild Card spot at 102 wins. Cleveland won the Central with 91 wins and New York won 95. Minnesota won 85 games, Chicago 83 and Boston 82. Tampa Bay brought up the rear with 100 losses. Baltimore lost 98, Kansas City 97, Detroit 96.

Ichiro Suzuki arrived in Seattle after a stellar career in Japan and won the AL batting title and MVP. His .350 average led Jason Giambi at .342, Roberto Alomar at .336, Bret Boone at .331, and Frank Catalanatto at .330. Ichiro also led the league in hits (242) and steals (56). Alex Rodriguez led in homers (52) and runs (133). Jim Thome hit 49 homers, Rafael Palmeiro 47. Bret Boone led in RBI with 141, Juan Gonzalez had 140, A-Rod 135. Cristian Guzman had 14 triples. Jason Giambi led in doubles, on-base, slugging and OPS.

Mark Mulder led the league in wins with 21, Roger Clemens and Jaime Moyer won 20 each. Freddy Garcia led in ERA with a 3.05 mark, Mike Mussina was at 3.15, Joe Mays 3.16. Hideo Nomo led in strikeouts with 220, Mussina had 214, Clemens 213. Mariano Rivera had 50 saves. Roger Clemens took the Cy Young with a 20-3 record.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jason Giambi (Oakland) 38, Roberto Alomar (Cleveland) and Alex Rodriguez (Texas) 37, Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle) 36, Bret Boone (Seattle) 32, Jim Thome (Cleveland) 31, Mike Cameron (Seattle) 29, Derek Jeter (New York) 28, Carlos Beltran (Kansas City) 27, Eric Chavez (Oakland) 26, Manny Ramirez (Boston), Magglio Ordonez (Chicago), Miguel Tejada (Oakland), Edgar Martinez (Seattle) and Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) 25, Jeff Conine (Baltmore), Corey Koskie (Minnesota) and Bernie Williams (New York) 24, Juan Gonzalez (Cleveland), Jorge Posada (New York) and Carlos Delgado (Toronto) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Joe Mays (Minnesota) 22, Mike Mussina (New York) 20, Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera (New York) 19, Mark Buehrle (Chicago), Mark Mulder (Oakland) and Freddy Garcia (Seattle) 18, Keith Foulke (Chicago), Brad Radke (Minnesota) and Tim Hudson (Oakland) 17, Steve Sparks (Detroit) 16.

WARP3 scores: Giambi 12.1, Alomar 11.6, Rodriguez 13.5, Suzuki 8.9, Boone 12.3, Thome 8.0, Cameron 8.0, Jeter 6.9, Beltran 9.6, Chavez 9.0, Ramirez 8.7, Ordonez 7.6, Tejada 6.3, Martinez 7.6, Palmeiro 7.7, Conine 5.7, Koskie 8.9, Williams 9.0, Gonzalez 8.3, Posada 7.4, Delgado 7.4. Pitchers, Mays 10.0 (career year), Mussina 9.6, Clemens 7.7, Rivera 8.4, Buehrle 8.3, Mulder 8.5, Garcia 7.3, Foulke 8.7, Radke 7.5, Hudson 7.6, Sparks 7.2 (career year).

WAR leaders from Fangraphs, position players; Giambi 9.3, Boone and Rodriguez 7.8, Alomar 6.7, Suzuki 6.1, Koskie 5.8, Cameron, Chavez, and Thome 5.5, Beltran 5.4, Glaus 5.3, Ramirez 5.2, Williams 4.9, Martinez 4.7, Olerud 4.6.

Pitchers: Mussina 7.1, Pettitte 5.9, Clemens and Mulder 5.8, Garcia 5.5, Hudson and Radke 5.3, Zito 5.0, Colon and Weaver 4.2, Buerhle and Davis 4.1, Mays 4.0.

Actual award winners:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+
1 Ichiro Suzuki SEA 11 289 392 0.74 | 692 242 8 .350 .838 56
2 Jason Giambi OAK 8 281 392 0.72 | 520 178 38 .342 1.137 2
3 Bret Boone SEA 7 259 392 0.66 | 623 206 37 .331 .950 5
4 Roberto Alomar CLE 2 165 392 0.42 | 575 193 20 .336 .956 30
5 Juan Gonzalez CLE 0 156 392 0.40 | 532 173 35 .325 .960 1
6 Alex Rodriguez TEX 0 141 392 0.36 | 632 201 52 .318 1.021 18
7 Jim Thome CLE 0 107 392 0.27 | 526 153 49 .291 1.040 0
8 Roger Clemens NYY 0 67 392 0.17 | 2 0 0 .000 .000 0| 20-3 220 3.51 1.26 213
9 Manny Ramirez BOS 0 50 392 0.13 | 529 162 41 .306 1.014 0
10 Derek Jeter NYY 0 42 392 0.11 | 614 191 21 .311 .858 27
11 Mariano Rivera NYY 0 27 392 0.07 | | 4-6 81 2.34 0.90 83 50
12 Tino Martinez NYY 0 18 392 0.05 | 589 165 34 .280 .830 1
13 Mark Mulder OAK 0 12 392 0.03 | 5 1 0 .200 .400 0| 21-8 229 3.45 1.16 153
14 Doug Mientkiewicz MIN 0 5 392 0.01 | 543 166 15 .306 .851 2
14 Rafael Palmeiro TEX 0 5 392 0.01 | 600 164 47 .273 .944 1
16 Mike Cameron SEA 0 4 392 0.01 | 540 144 25 .267 .832 34
16 Cristian Guzman MIN 0 4 392 0.01 | 493 149 10 .302 .814 25
16 Edgar Martinez SEA 0 4 392 0.01 | 470 144 23 .306 .966 4
19 Kazuhiro Sasaki SEA 0 3 392 0.01 | | 0-4 67 3.24 0.88 62 45
19 Miguel Tejada OAK 0 3 392 0.01 | 622 166 31 .267 .801 11
21 Garret Anderson ANA 0 2 392 0.01 | 672 194 28 .289 .792 13
21 Torii Hunter MIN 0 2 392 0.01 | 564 147 27 .261 .784 9
21 Mike Sweeney KCR 0 2 392 0.01 | 559 170 29 .304 .916 10
21 Barry Zito OAK 0 2 392 0.01 | 5 0 0 .000 .000 0| 17-8 214 3.49 1.23 205
25 Corey Koskie MIN 0 1 392 0.00 | 562 155 26 .276 .850 27
25 Shannon Stewart TOR 0 1 392 0.00 | 640 202 12 .316 .834 27

A near-photo finish with Ichiro, Giambi and Boone.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Roger Clemens NYY 21 122 140 0.87 | 20-3 220 3.51 1.26 213
2 Mark Mulder OAK 2 60 140 0.43 | 21-8 229 3.45 1.16 153
3 Freddy Garcia SEA 4 55 140 0.39 | 18-6 239 3.05 1.12 163
4 Jamie Moyer SEA 1 12 140 0.09 | 20-6 210 3.43 1.10 119
5 Mike Mussina NYY 0 2 140 0.01 | 17-11 229 3.15 1.07 214
6 Tim Hudson OAK 0 1 140 0.01 | 18-9 235 3.37 1.22 181

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 Ichiro Suzuki SEA 27 138 140 0.99 | 692 242 8 .350 .838 56
2 C.C. Sabathia CLE 1 73 140 0.52 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 17-5 180 4.39 1.35 171
3 Alfonso Soriano NYY 0 35 140 0.25 | 574 154 18 .268 .736 43
4 David Eckstein ANA 0 6 140 0.04 | 582 166 4 .285 .712 29

Manager: |
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Lou Piniella SEA 22 128 140 0.91 | 116-46 1
2 Art Howe OAK 5 77 140 0.55 | 102-60 2
3 Tom Kelly MIN 1 25 140 0.18 | 85-77 2
4 Jimy Williams BOS 0 12 140 0.09 | 65-53 2
5 Joe Torre NYY 0 8 140 0.06 | 95-65 1
6 Charlie Manuel CLE 0 1 140 0.01 | 91-71 1
6 Mike Scioscia ANA 0 1 140 0.01 | 75-87 3

Top player: Jason Giambi, who won the previous MVP, was more deserving this time. He probably didn't win in 2001 because he already had in 2000. Silly voters, yet again.
#1 Jason Giambi, #2 Alex Rodriguez, #3 Bret Boone, #4 Roberto Alomar, #5 Ichiro Suzuki, #6 Carlos Beltran.

Top pitcher: Mike Mussina was the most consistently effective starter in the AL.
#1 Mike Mussina, #2 Roger Clemens, #3 Mark Mulder, #4 Freddy Garcia, #5 Andy Pettitte.

Top rookie: Ichiro Suzuki, with no worlds left to conquer in Asia, took America by storm.

Top manager: Lou Piniella with an amazing 116 victories.

2000 National League

The Mets won the pennant as the Wild Card team, after winning 94 games and finishing one behind Atlanta in the East. St. Louis won the Central with the same 95 victories as the Braves, and the Giants led the league with 97 regular season victories. Los Angeles won 86, Arizona and Cincinnati won 85, and Colorado won 82. The worst teams were Philadelphia and Chicago, with 97 losses, Montreal with 95, and Pittsburgh with 93.

Todd Helton led the league in batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, hits, total bases, doubles and RBI, but was 8th in OPS+. Coors Effect. Helton posted a .372 average, Moises Alou .355, Vlad Guerrero .345. Jeff Bagwell led in runs with 152, followed by Helton with 138. Sammy Sosa hit 50 homers, Barry Bonds 49, Jeff Bagwell 47. Helton had 147 RBI, Sosa 138, Bagwell 132. Luis Castillo had 62 steals. Barry Bonds led in OPS+. Jeff Kent, hitting behind Bonds, won the MVP.

Tom Glavine led in wins with 21, followed by Darryl Kile with 20 then Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux with 19. Kevin Brown had a 2.58 ERA, Johnson 2.64 and Jeff D'Amico 2.66. Randy Johnson led in strikeouts with 347; Chan Ho Park was way behind with 217. Antonio Alfonseca led with 45 saves. Johnson won the Cy Young.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Kent (San Francisco) 37, Edgardo Alfonzo (New York) 36, Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 32, Gary Sheffield (Los Angeles) 31, Andruw Jones (Atlanta) and Sammy Sosa (Chicago) 30, Todd Helton (Colorado), Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal) and Jim Edmonds (St. Louis) 29, Mike Piazza (New York) 28, Luis Gonzalez (Arizona), Chipper Jones (Atlanta) and Brian Giles (Pittsburgh) 27, Jeff Bagwell (Houston) and Jose Vidro (Montreal) 25, Ken Griffey Jr. (Cincinnati) and Jason Kendall (Pittsburgh) 24, Bobby Abreu (Philadelphia) and Ryan Klesko (San Diego) 23, Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green (Los Angeles) and Phil Nevin (San Diego) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Randy Johnson (Arizona) 26, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) 24, Tom Glavine (Atlanta) 21, Kevin Brown (Los Angeles) 20, Mike Hampton (New York) 19, Danny Graves (Cincinnati) and Chan Ho Park (Los Angeles) 18, Ryan Dempster (Florida), Armando Benitez and Al Leiter (New York) and Darryl Kile (St. Louis) 17.

WARP3 scores: Kent 11.4 (peak year), Alfonzo 11.2, Bonds 11.4, Sheffield 9.3, A. Jones 10.3, Sosa 8.2, Helton 10.9, Guerrero 7.8, Edmonds 9.2, Piazza 8.0, Gonzalez 7.5, C. Jones 7.5, Giles 10.3, Bagwell 9.1, Vidro 7.4, Griffey 8.1, Kendall 8.8, Abreu 8.7, Klesko 5.1, Beltre 6.3, Green 6.4, Nevin 6.4. Pitchers, Johnson 9.6, Maddux 10.7, Glavine 8.8, Brown 8.0, Hampton 8.4, Graves 7.8, Park 8.6, Dempster 5.5, Benitez 6.6, Leiter 7.0, Kile 6.5.

WAR, position players (fWAR): Helton 8.6, A.Jones 7.9, Bonds 7.8, Kent 7.6, Hidalgo 7.5, Abreu 7.2, Sheffield 6.8, Alfonzo and Edmonds 6.7, Gile 6.6, Guerrero 6.5, Bagwell and C.Jones 6.2, Sosa 6.1, Piazza 6.0.

Pitchers (fWAR): Johnson 9.7, Maddux 7.2, Brown 6.2, Vazquez 5.2, Glavine and Schilling 4.7, Hernandez and Leiter 4.6, Astacio and Rusch 4.5, Hampton 4.4, Lieber 4.2, Millwood 4.1, Benson and Kile 4.0.

Actual award winners:
MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---
1 Jeff Kent SFG 22 392 448 0.88 | 587 196 33 .334 1.021 12
2 Barry Bonds SFG 6 279 448 0.62 | 480 147 49 .306 1.127 11
3 Mike Piazza NYM 3 271 448 0.60 | 482 156 38 .324 1.012 4
4 Jim Edmonds STL 0 208 448 0.46 | 525 155 42 .295 .994 10
5 Todd Helton COL 1 198 448 0.44 | 580 216 42 .372 1.162 5
6 Vladimir Guerrero MON 0 117 448 0.26 | 571 197 44 .345 1.074 9
7 Jeff Bagwell HOU 0 102 448 0.23 | 590 183 47 .310 1.039 9
8 Andruw Jones ATL 0 95 448 0.21 | 656 199 36 .303 .907 21
9 Gary Sheffield LAD 0 71 448 0.16 | 501 163 43 .325 1.081 4
9 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 71 448 0.16 | 604 193 50 .320 1.040 7
11 Chipper Jones ATL 0 23 448 0.05 | 579 180 36 .311 .970 14
12 Greg Maddux ATL 0 12 448 0.03 | 80 15 0 .188 .454 0| 19-9 249 3.00 1.07 190
12 Robb Nen SFG 0 12 448 0.03 | | 4-3 66 1.50 0.85 92 41
14 Tom Glavine ATL 0 8 448 0.02 | 68 10 0 .147 .388 0| 21-9 241 3.40 1.19 152
15 Edgardo Alfonzo NYM 0 6 448 0.01 | 544 176 25 .324 .967 3
15 Ellis Burks SFG 0 6 448 0.01 | 393 135 24 .344 1.025 5
17 Randy Johnson ARI 0 5 448 0.01 | 83 13 0 .157 .376 0| 19-7 249 2.64 1.12 347
18 Darryl Kile STL 0 4 448 0.01 | 73 9 0 .123 .366 0| 20-9 232 3.91 1.18 192
19 Brian Giles PIT 0 3 448 0.01 | 559 176 35 .315 1.026 6
20 Moises Alou HOU 0 2 448 0.00 | 454 161 30 .355 1.039 3
20 Richard Hidalgo HOU 0 2 448 0.00 | 558 175 44 .314 1.028 13
22 Antonio Alfonseca FLA 0 1 448 0.00 | | 5-6 70 4.24 1.51 47 45
Kent with a decent margin over Bonds and Piazza a strong third.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Randy Johnson ARI 22 133 160 0.83 | 19-7 249 2.64 1.12 347
2 Tom Glavine ATL 4 64 160 0.40 | 21-9 241 3.40 1.19 152
3 Greg Maddux ATL 3 59 160 0.37 | 19-9 249 3.00 1.07 190
4 Robb Nen SFG 2 20 160 0.12 | 4-3 66 1.50 0.85 92 41
5 Darryl Kile STL 1 8 160 0.05 | 20-9 232 3.91 1.18 192
6 Kevin Brown LAD 0 4 160 0.02 | 13-6 230 2.58 0.99 216

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 Rafael Furcal ATL 25 144 160 0.90 | 455 134 4 .295 .776 40
2 Rick Ankiel STL 6 87 160 0.54 | 68 17 2 .250 .674 0| 11-7 175 3.50 1.30 194
3 Jay Payton NYM 1 37 160 0.23 | 488 142 17 .291 .778 5
4 Pat Burrell PHI 0 10 160 0.06 | 408 106 18 .260 .822 0
5 Mitch Meluskey HOU 0 7 160 0.04 | 337 101 14 .300 .888 1
6 Lance Berkman HOU 0 1 160 0.01 | 353 105 21 .297 .949 6
6 Juan Pierre COL 0 1 160 0.01 | 200 62 0 .310 .673 7
6 Chuck Smith FLA 0 1 160 0.01 | 40 4 0 .100 .200 0| 6-6 123 3.23 1.35 118

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Dusty Baker SFG 30 154 160 0.96 | 97-65 1
2 Tony LaRussa STL 1 59 160 0.37 | 95-67 1
3 Bobby Cox ATL 1 41 160 0.26 | 95-67 1
4 Bobby Valentine NYM 0 16 160 0.10 | 94-68 2
5 John Boles FLA 0 15 160 0.09 | 79-82 3
6 Buddy Bell COL 0 2 160 0.01 | 82-80 4
7 Felipe Alou MON 0 1 160 0.01 | 67-95 4

Top player: Jeff Kent. I was unkind to Kent's selection at the time, but both metastats have him at or tied for the top spot. Kent, Bonds and Alfonzo, who got little mention, are all good choices, but Kent is a little bit better.
#1 Jeff Kent, #2 Barry Bonds, #3 Edgardo Alfonzo, #4 Andruw Jones, #5 Todd Helton, #6 Gary Sheffield.

Top pitcher: Randy Johnson had the most impressive year. No one blows away the field.
#1 Randy Johnson, #2 Greg Maddux, #3 Tom Glavine, #4 Mike Hampton, #5 Kevin Brown.

Top rookie: Rafael Furcal led rookies with 17 Win Shares, ahead of Payton and Ankiel with 14 each.

Top manager: Dusty Baker led the Giants to the most victories.

2000 American League

The Yankees won another pennant and World Series although they won just 87 regular season games. New York was 2.5 games ahead of Boston in the East, with Chicago winning the Central at 95 wins five ahead of Cleveland. Oakland took the West with Seattle as the Wild Card. Both won 91 games, the A's won on the tiebreaker of winning the season series. Toronto and Anaheim also finished over .500. The Twins lost 93, the Devil Rays 92, and the Rangers 91 at the bottom.

Nomar Garciaparra won another batting title, at .372, Darin Erstad had his career year with a .355 average, and Manny Ramirez batted .351. Troy Glaus lead in HR with 47, followed by Frank Thomas and Jason Giambi at 43. Edgar Martinez collected 145 RBI, Mike Sweeney 144, Thomas 143. Johnny Damon led in steals (46)and runs (136), Carlos Delgado in doubles and total bases, Darin Erstad in hits with 240. Jason Giambi led in walks, on-base and won the MVP. Manny Ramirez led in slugging and OPS. Giambi edged Ramirez and Delgado in OPS+.

Tim Hudson and David Wells tied for the lead in wins 20, Andy Pettitte won 19, Pedro Martinez 18. Pedro led in strikeouts with 284 and in ERA by nearly two runs, 1.74 to Roger Clemens' 3.70. Pedro won the Cy Young. Todd Jones and Derek Lowe tied for the lead in saves with 42. Mike Mussina pitched 238 innings.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jason Giambi (Oakland) 38, Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 37, Carlos Delgado (Toronto) 36, Frank Thomas (Chicago) 34, Darin Erstad (Anaheim) 30, Nomar Garciaparra (Boston) and Jorge Posada (New York) 29, Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 28, Manny Ramirez (Cleveland) 27, Bobby Higginson (Detroit), Johnny Damon and Mike Sweeney (Kansas City) and Bernie Williams (New York) 26, Troy Glaus (Anaheim) 25, Carl Everett (Boston) and Jose Valentin (Chicago) 24, Tim Salmon (Anaheim), Derek Jeter (New York), Miguel Tejada (Oakland) and Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) 23, Magglio Ordonez (Chicago), Travis Fryman (Cleveland) and John Olerud (Seattle) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Pedro Martinez (Boston) 29, Derek Lowe (Boston) 19, Mike Mussina (Baltimore) and David Wells (Toronto) 18, Keith Foulke (Chicago), Chuck Finley (Cleveland), Roger Clemens (New York) and Billy Koch (Toronto) 16, Bartolo Colon (Cleveland), Brad Radke (Minnesota), Tim Hudson (Oakland), Rick Helling and Kenny Rogers (Texas) 15.

WARP3 scores: Giambi 11.8, Rodriguez 14.3, Delgado 10.3 (last big year), Thomas 9.7, Erstad 10.8 (career year), Garciaparra 11.3, Posada 10.9, E. Martinez 8.9, Ramirez 8.4, Higginson 9.0 (best year), Damon 8.5, Sweeney 7.8, Williams 8.2, Glaus 11.6, Everett 6.9, Valentin 7.1 (peak), Salmon 8.9, Jeter 7.8, Tejada 7.2, Palmeiro 6.1, Ordonez 6.6, Fryman 7.4 (last good year), Olerud 8.4.

Pitchers, P. Martinez 13.7 (best year), Lowe 8.1, Mussina 8.8, Wells 8.1, Foulke 5.4, Finley 7.3, Clemens 7.0, Koch 7.4 (best year), Colon 7.2, Radke 8.1, Hudson 6.8, Helling 7.3, Rogers 8.0.

WAR leaders (bWAR), position players: Rodriguez 9.6, Erstad 8.8, Glaus 8.3, Giambi 7.8, Garciaparra 7.7, Delgado 7.5, Posada 6.2, Thomas 6.0, Martinez 5.4, Justice 5.3, Alomar 5.1, Stewart and Williams 5.0, Ramirez 4.9, Everett 4.8, Fryman 4.7.

Pitchers: Martinez 10.1, Wells 6.8, Mussina 6.4, Radke 5.1, Rogers 5.0, Finley 4.9, Colon 4.7, Burba 4.6, Sele 4.5, Pettitte 4.0, Clemens and Sirotka 3.8, Hudson 3.7, Milton 3.6, Moehler 3.4, Loaiza 3.3.

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 Jason Giambi OAK 14 317 392 0.81 | 510 170 43 .333 1.123 2
2 Frank Thomas CHW 10 285 392 0.73 | 582 191 43 .328 1.061 1
3 Alex Rodriguez SEA 4 218 392 0.56 | 554 175 41 .316 1.026 15
4 Carlos Delgado TOR 0 206 392 0.53 | 569 196 41 .344 1.134 0
5 Pedro Martinez BOS 0 103 392 0.26 | | 18-6 217 1.74 0.74 284
6 Edgar Martinez SEA 0 97 392 0.25 | 556 180 37 .324 1.002 3
6 Manny Ramirez CLE 0 97 392 0.25 | 439 154 38 .351 1.154 1
8 Darin Erstad ANA 0 94 392 0.24 | 676 240 25 .355 .951 28
9 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 0 66 392 0.17 | 529 197 21 .372 1.033 5
10 Derek Jeter NYY 0 44 392 0.11 | 593 201 15 .339 .896 22
11 Mike Sweeney KCR 0 33 392 0.08 | 618 206 29 .333 .930 8
12 Magglio Ordonez CHW 0 28 392 0.07 | 588 185 32 .315 .917 18
13 David Justice TOT 0 23 392 0.06 | +524 150 41 .286 .961 2
13 Bernie Williams NYY 0 23 392 0.06 | 537 165 30 .307 .957 13
15 Tim Hudson OAK 0 8 392 0.02 | 3 0 0 .000 .000 0| 20-6 202 4.14 1.24 169
16 Miguel Tejada OAK 0 5 392 0.01 | 607 167 30 .275 .828 6
17 Travis Fryman CLE 0 2 392 0.01 | 574 184 22 .321 .908 1
17 David Wells TOR 0 2 392 0.01 | 6 1 0 .167 .333 0| 20-8 230 4.11 1.29 166
19 Johnny Damon KCR 0 1 392 0.00 | 655 214 16 .327 .877 46

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Pedro Martinez BOS 28 140 140 1.00 | 18-6 217 1.74 0.74 284
2 Tim Hudson OAK 0 54 140 0.39 | 20-6 202 4.14 1.24 169
3 David Wells TOR 0 46 140 0.33 | 20-8 230 4.11 1.29 166
4 Andy Pettitte NYY 0 7 140 0.05 | 19-9 205 4.35 1.46 125
5 Todd Jones DET 0 3 140 0.02 | 2-4 64 3.52 1.44 67 42
6 Roger Clemens NYY 0 1 140 0.01 | 13-8 204 3.70 1.31 188
6 Mike Mussina BAL 0 1 140 0.01 | 11-15 238 3.79 1.19 210

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 Kazuhiro Sasaki SEA 17 104 140 0.74 | | 2-5 63 3.16 1.16 78 37
2 Terrence Long OAK 7 83 140 0.59 | 584 168 18 .288 .788 5
3 Mark Quinn KCR 4 56 140 0.40 | 500 147 20 .294 .830 5
4 Ben Molina ANA 0 3 140 0.02 | 473 133 14 .281 .739 1
5 Kelly Wunsch CHW 0 2 140 0.01 | | 6-3 61 2.93 1.29 51 1
6 Steve Cox TBD 0 1 140 0.01 | 318 90 11 .283 .832 1
6 Adam Kennedy ANA 0 1 140 0.01 | 598 159 9 .266 .703 22
6 Mark Redman MIN 0 1 140 0.01 | 4 0 0 .000 .000 0| 12-9 151 4.76 1.41 117
6 Barry Zito OAK 0 1 140 0.01 | | 7-4 93 2.72 1.18 78

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Jerry Manuel CHW 25 134 140 0.96 | 95-67 1
2 Art Howe OAK 2 74 140 0.53 | 91-70 1
3 Lou Piniella SEA 1 28 140 0.20 | 91-71 2
4 Mike Scioscia ANA 0 8 140 0.06 | 82-80 3
5 Joe Torre NYY 0 5 140 0.04 | 87-74 1
6 Phil Garner DET 0 2 140 0.01 | 79-83 3
7 Jimy Williams BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 85-77 2

Top player: Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod hit nearly as well as the cleanup guys, plus he played shortstop, and played it well. That makes him the best player in the league.
#1 Alex Rodriguez, #2 Jason Giambi, #3 Darin Erstad, #4 Carlos Delgado, #5 Nomar Garciaparra, #6 Frank Thomas.

Top pitcher: Pedro Martinez lapped the field in this season. His ERA was less than half of the next-best guy.
#1 Pedro Martinez, #2 David Wells, #3 Mike Mussina, #4 Derek Lowe, #5 Brad Radke.

Top rookie: Terrence Long had 18 Win Shares, far ahead of the rest of the field.

Top manager: Jerry Manuel, taking the White Sox to the most victories in the league.

1999 National League

The Atlanta Braves won the pennant, then got swept in the Series. The Braves won 103 regular season games, ahead of the Mets, who won 97 counting the playoff with the Reds to earn the Wild Card spot. Houston won 97 in regulation to take the Central, and Arizona won 100 to take the West. San Francisco, with 86 wins, was the only other team above .500. Florida's Marlins fell from World Champions to the worst team in the league at 98 losses, after selling off their players.

Larry Walker led the league in the percentage categories: batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, from altitude-aided Colorado. Walker batted .379, Luis Gonzalez .336, Bobby Abreu .335, Sean Casey .332. Mark McGwire led in HR and RBI, belting 65 homers while Sammy Sosa hit 63. McGwire had 147 RBI to 142 for Matt Williams and 141 for Sosa. Jeff Bagwell in walks and runs, Craig Biggio in doubles, Luis Gonzalez in hits, Tony Womack in steals. McGwire led in adjusted OPS+, just ahead of Chipper Jones, who led in runs created. Jones won the MVP.

Mike Hampton led in wins, winning 22 with Houston teammate Jose Lima winning 21 and Greg Maddux winning 19. Randy Johnson led in ERA with a 2.48 mark, followed by Kevin Millwood at 2.68 and Hampton at 2.90. Johnson also led in strikeouts with 364, while Kevin Brown had 221 and Pedro Astacio 210. Ugueth Urbina led in saves with 41, Trevor Hoffman had 40 and Billy Wagner 39. Johnson won the Cy Young.

Win Shares leaders, players; Jeff Bagwell (Houston) 37, Chipper Jones (Atlanta) 32, Craig Biggio (Houston) 31, Robin Ventura (New York) and Mark McGwire (St. Louis) 30, Edgardo Alfonzo (New York) 29, Andruw Jones (Atlanta) and Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal) 28, Brian Giles (Pittsburgh) 27, Luis Gonzalez and Matt Williams (Arizona), Sammy Sosa (Chicago), John Olerud (New York) and Bobby Abreu (Philadelphia) 26, Carl Everett (Houston) 25, Steve Finley (Arizona), Barry Larkin and Greg Vaughn (Cincinnati), Larry Walker (Colorado), Gary Sheffield (Los Angeles) and Ellis Burks (San Francisco) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Randy Johnson (Arizona) and Mike Hampton (Houston) 26, Kevin Millwood (Atlanta) 22, Billy Wagner (Houston) 20, Pedro Astacio (Colorado), Kevin Brown (Los Angeles) and Armando Benitez (New York) 19, John Smoltz (Atlanta) and Jose Lima (Houston) 18, Greg Maddux (Atlanta) and Scott Williamson (Cincinnati) 17.

WARP3 scores: Bagwell 9.3, C. Jones 8.4, Biggio 7.1, Ventura 9.2, McGwire 9.1, Alfonzo 7.7, A. Jones 9.1, Guerrero 6.7, Giles 9.3, Gonzalez 7.7, Williams 8.2 (last good year), Sosa 7.6, Olerud 9.1, Abreu 6.9, Everett 7.6 (best season), Finley 7.0, Larkin 9.0 (last big season), Vaughn 5.8, Walker 7.9, Sheffield 7.6, Burks 5.8.

Pitchers, Johnson 9.7, Hampton 10.3, Millwood 8.6 (best year), Wagner 7.2, Astacio 6.6 (best year), Brown 7.9, Benitez 5.6, Smoltz 7.5, Lima 6.8 (career year), Maddux 7.1, Williamson 7.0 (rookie, career year).

WAR leaders, players: Bagwell 8.2, Ventura and C. Jones 7.7, A. Jones 7.3, Giles 7.0, Gonzalez 6.9, Abreu 6.7, McGwire 6.4, Alfonzo 6.3, Olerud 6.2, Everett 6.1, Sosa 5.7, Cameron and Young 5.6, Larkin 5.4, Biggio 5.3, Cirillo and Karros 5.2, Bell and Rolen 5.1, Walker 5.0.

Pitchers: Johnson 9.8, Brown 6.8, Reynolds 6.2, Maddux 5.8, Millwood 5.7, Smoltz and Astacio 5.5, Hampton 5.1, Lima 4.9, Lieber 4.5, Glavine 4.4, Hermanson 4.2, Daal 4.0, Benson 3.7, Schilling and Wagner 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 Chipper Jones ATL 29 432 448 0.96 | 567 181 45 .319 1.074 25|
2 Jeff Bagwell HOU 1 276 448 0.62 | 562 171 42 .304 1.045 30|
3 Matt Williams ARI 2 269 448 0.60 | 627 190 35 .303 .880 2|
4 Greg Vaughn CIN 0 121 448 0.27 | 550 135 45 .245 .881 15|
5 Mark McGwire STL 0 115 448 0.26 | 521 145 65 .278 1.120 0|
6 Robin Ventura NYM 0 113 448 0.25 | 588 177 32 .301 .908 1|
7 Mike Piazza NYM 0 109 448 0.24 | 534 162 40 .303 .936 2|
8 Edgardo Alfonzo NYM 0 88 448 0.20 | 628 191 27 .304 .886 9|
9 Sammy Sosa CHC 0 87 448 0.19 | 625 180 63 .288 1.002 7|
10 Larry Walker COL 0 35 448 0.08 | 438 166 37 .379 1.168 11|
11 Vladimir Guerrero MON 0 34 448 0.08 | 610 193 42 .316 .978 14|
12 Craig Biggio HOU 0 32 448 0.07 | 639 188 16 .294 .843 28|
13 Jay Bell ARI 0 31 448 0.07 | 589 170 38 .289 .931 7|
14 Sean Casey CIN 0 23 448 0.05 | 594 197 25 .332 .938 0|
15 Randy Johnson ARI 0 21 448 0.05 | 97 12 0 .124 .289 0| 17-9 272 2.48 1.02 364
16 Billy Wagner HOU 0 19 448 0.04 | | 4-1 75 1.57 0.78 124 39
17 Carl Everett HOU 0 15 448 0.03 | 464 151 25 .325 .969 27|
18 Luis Gonzalez ARI 0 12 448 0.03 | 614 206 26 .336 .952 9|
19 Brian Giles PIT 0 11 448 0.02 | 521 164 39 .315 1.032 6|
19 Brian Jordan ATL 0 11 448 0.02 | 576 163 23 .283 .811 13|
21 Mike Hampton HOU 0 10 448 0.02 | 74 23 0 .311 .806 0| 22-4 239 2.90 1.28 177
22 Barry Larkin CIN 0 7 448 0.02 | 583 171 12 .293 .810 30|
23 Bobby Abreu PHI 0 6 448 0.01 | 546 183 20 .335 .995 27|
24 Barry Bonds SFG 0 3 448 0.01 | 355 93 34 .262 1.006 15|
24 Matt Mantei TOT 0 3 448 0.01 | + 1 0 0 .000 .000 0|+ 1-3 65 2.76 1.35 99 32
26 Jeff Kent SFG 0 2 448 0.00 | 511 148 23 .290 .877 13|
26 Kevin Millwood ATL 0 2 448 0.00 | 78 12 1 .154 .393 0| 18-7 228 2.68 1.00 205
28 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 1 448 0.00 | 3 1 0 .333 1.000 0| 2-3 67 2.14 0.94 73 40

Bagwell was a distant second, just behind Chipper in hitting. But Bagwell was a good first baseman, while Jones was a bad third baseman.

Cy Young: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Randy Johnson ARI 20 134 160 0.84 | 17-9 272 2.48 1.02 364
2 Mike Hampton HOU 11 110 160 0.69 | 22-4 239 2.90 1.28 177
3 Kevin Millwood ATL 1 36 160 0.22 | 18-7 228 2.68 1.00 205
4 Jose Lima HOU 0 3 160 0.02 | 21-10 246 3.58 1.22 187
4 Billy Wagner HOU 0 3 160 0.02 | 4-1 75 1.57 0.78 124 39
6 Kevin Brown LAD 0 1 160 0.01 | 18-9 252 3.00 1.07 221
6 Trevor Hoffman SDP 0 1 160 0.01 | 2-3 67 2.14 0.94 73 40

Hampton's 2.90 ERA in Houston was actually more impressive than Johnson's 2.48 in Phoenix.

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 Scott Williamson CIN 17 118 160 0.74 | 7 0 0 .000 .125 0| 12-7 93 2.41 1.04 107 19
2 Preston Wilson FLA 9 88 160 0.55 | 482 135 26 .280 .852 11|
3 Warren Morris PIT 6 69 160 0.43 | 511 147 15 .288 .787 3|
4 Kris Benson PIT 0 5 160 0.03 | 65 10 0 .154 .391 0| 11-14 197 4.07 1.36 139
5 Joe McEwing STL 0 3 160 0.02 | 513 141 9 .275 .730 7|
6 Kevin McGlinchy ATL 0 1 160 0.01 | 2 0 0 .000 .000 0| 7-3 70 2.82 1.36 67

Manager:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Jack McKeon CIN 17 115 160 0.72 | 96-67 2
2 Bobby Cox ATL 10 98 160 0.61 | 103-59 1
3 Larry Dierker HOU 4 48 160 0.30 | 97-65 1
4 Buck Showalter ARI 1 17 160 0.11 | 100-62 1
5 Bobby Valentine NYM 0 10 160 0.06 | 97-66 2

Top player: Jeff Bagwell, who tops the WS, WARP, and WAR lists. It was a matter of defense, mostly the poor glove of Chipper. He loses status in the meta systems because he doesn't play good defense.
#1 Jeff Bagwell, #2 Chipper Jones, #3 Robin Ventura, #4 Mark McGwire, #5 Andruw Jones, #6 Brian Giles.

Top pitcher: Randy Johnson, still rolling on.
#1 Randy Johnson, #2 Mike Hampton, #3 Kevin Millwood, #4 Kevin Brown, #5 Greg Maddux.

Top rookie: Scott Williamson leads a field of future journeymen. Williamson had 19 WS, Warren Morris 16, Wilson 13, Benson 12.

Top manager: Bobby Cox, another pennant.

1999 American League

The Yankees won the pennant and then swept the World Series. New York won 98 regular season games, down from the previous year but still enough. Boston was 2nd in the East with 94 wins and took the Wild Card. Toronto won 84. Cleveland won the Central with 97 victories and was the only team in the division with a .500 record. Kansas City and Minnesota each lost 97. Texas won the West with 95 victories, eight games ahead of Oakland. In the playoffs, New York topped Texas and Boston overcame Cleveland, then the Yankees beat the Red Sox to make the Series against the Braves.

Nomar Garciaparra won the batting title at .357; Derek Jeter was second at .349, Bernie Williams third with a .342 mark. Ken Griffey led in homers 48, Rafael Palmeiro had 47, Manny Ramirez and Carlos Delgado had 44. Manny Ramirez led in RBI (165), slugging and OPS. Palmeiro had 148 RBI, Delgado and Griffey each 134. Jeter led in hits with 219 (B.J. Surhoff had 202), Roberto Alomar in runs with 138, Shawn Green in total bases and doubles, Brian Hunter in steals with 44 followed by Omar Vizquel with 42. Edgar Martinez edged Manny in on-base. Ivan Rodriguez won the MVP.

Pedro Martinez led in wins, ERA and strikeouts and took the Cy Young. Martinez won 23 while second place was Aaron Sele, Mike Mussina, and Bartolo Colon with 18. Martinez's 2.07 ERA was trailed badly by David Cone at 3.44 and Mussina at 3.50. Strikeouts weren't any closer, as Martinez had 313 while Chuck Finley was second with 200. David Wells led with seven complete games and 232 innings. Mariano Rivera led in saves with 45, Roberto Hernandez and John Wetteland had 43.

Win Shares leaders, players; Roberto Alomar and Manny Ramirez (Cleveland) and Derek Jeter (New York) 35, Bernie Williams (New York) 33, Nomar Garciaparra (Boston) 32, Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle) and Rafael Palmeiro (Texas) 31, Jason Giambi (New York) 30, Ivan Rodriguez (Texas) 28, Jim Thome (Cleveland) 26, Chuck Knoblauch (New York) 25, Albert Belle (Baltimore), Fred McGriff (Tampa Bay), Juan Gonzalez and Rusty Greer (Texas) and Shawn Green (Toronto) 24, Brady Anderson (Baltimore) and Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) 23, Omar Vizquel (Cleveland), John Jaha (Oakland) and Edgar Martinez (Seattle) 22, Carlos Delgado (Toronto) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Pedro Martinez (Boston) 27, Derek Lowe (Boston) 19, Jaime Moyer (Seattle) 18, Mike Mussina (Baltimore), Brad Radke (Minnesota) and Mariano Rivera (New York) 17, Keith Foulke (Chicago), Bartolo Colon (Cleveland) and Freddy Garcia (Seattle) 16, Dave Burba (Cleveland) and David Cone (New York) 15.

WARP3 scores: Alomar 10.7, Ramirez 10.5, Jeter 11.0, Williams 10.8, Garciaparra 11.0, Griffey 9.0, Palmeiro 8.7, Giambi 7.8, I. Rodriguez 10.6, Thome 8.4, Knoblauch 6.5 (last big season), Belle 10.3, McGriff 6.3, Gonzalez 7.0, Greer 6.4 (last good season), Green 9.3, Anderson 8.8 (last big season), A. Rodriguez 8.1, Vizquel 6.2, Jaha 6.7 (best year), Edgar 7.2, Delgado 7.4.

Pitchers, P. Martinez 12.7, Lowe 6.3, Moyer 8.5, Mussina 7.7, Radke 9.2, Rivera 8.1, Foulke 5.5, Colon 7.1, Garcia 8.0 (rookie), Burba 7.0, Cone 6.7 (last big season).

WAR leaders from Fangraphs: (position players) Ramirez and Jeter 7.5, Alomar 7.4, Rodriguez 6.9, Garciaparra 6.3, Velarde and Vizquel 6.1, Green 6.0, Ordonez and Palmeiro 5.5, E. Martinez 5.4, Anderson 5.3, Giambi 5.2, Griffey and Williams 5.0, Lofton and A. Rodriguez 4.8, Singleton and Surhoff 4.7, Bordick 4.5, Beltran and Damon 4.4.

Pitchers: P. Martinez 12.1, Mussina 5.9, Sele 5.2, Finley 4.7, Moyer 4.6, Wells and Radke 4.4, Milton 4.2, Heredia and Rosado 4.1, Colon and Sirotka 4.0, Garcia 3.8, Nagy 3.5, Cone 3.4.

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 Ivan Rodriguez TEX 7 252 392 0.64 | 600 199 35 .332 .914 25|
2 Pedro Martinez BOS 8 239 392 0.61 | 2 0 0 .000 .000 0| 23-4 213 2.07 0.92 313
3 Roberto Alomar CLE 4 226 392 0.58 | 563 182 24 .323 .955 37|
3 Manny Ramirez CLE 4 226 392 0.58 | 522 174 44 .333 1.105 2|
5 Rafael Palmeiro TEX 4 193 392 0.49 | 565 183 47 .324 1.050 2|
6 Derek Jeter NYY 1 177 392 0.45 | 627 219 24 .349 .989 19|
7 Nomar Garciaparra BOS 0 137 392 0.35 | 532 190 27 .357 1.022 14|
8 Jason Giambi OAK 0 49 392 0.12 | 575 181 33 .315 .975 1|
9 Shawn Green TOR 0 44 392 0.11 | 614 190 42 .309 .972 20|
10 Ken Griffey SEA 0 42 392 0.11 | 606 173 48 .285 .960 24|
11 Bernie Williams NYY 0 21 392 0.05 | 591 202 25 .342 .971 9|
12 Carlos Delgado TOR 0 16 392 0.04 | 573 156 44 .272 .948 1|
13 Juan Gonzalez TEX 0 10 392 0.03 | 562 183 39 .326 .980 3|
14 Mariano Rivera NYY 0 9 392 0.02 | | 4-3 69 1.83 0.88 52 45
15 Alex Rodriguez SEA 0 4 392 0.01 | 502 143 42 .285 .943 21|
16 Omar Vizquel CLE 0 3 392 0.01 | 574 191 5 .333 .833 42|
17 Matt Stairs OAK 0 2 392 0.01 | 531 137 38 .258 .899 2|
18 John Jaha OAK 0 1 392 0.00 | 457 126 35 .276 .970 2|
18 B.J. Surhoff BAL 0 1 392 0.00 | 673 207 28 .308 .839 5|
One of the most unusual MVP votes in history. Only 19 players received votes, and the most deserving finished 6th, although that in itself is not unheard of. Six players got first-place votes, which is a lot.

Cy Young: Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Pedro Martinez BOS 28 140 140 1.00 | 23-4 213 2.07 0.92 313
2 Mike Mussina BAL 0 54 140 0.39 | 18-7 203 3.50 1.27 172
3 Mariano Rivera NYY 0 27 140 0.19 | 4-3 69 1.83 0.88 52 45
4 Bartolo Colon CLE 0 14 140 0.10 | 18-5 205 3.95 1.27 161
5 Aaron Sele TEX 0 4 140 0.03 | 18-9 205 4.79 1.53 186
6 David Cone NYY 0 3 140 0.02 | 12-9 193 3.44 1.31 177
6 Jamie Moyer SEA 0 3 140 0.02 | 14-8 228 3.87 1.24 137
6 John Wetteland TEX 0 3 140 0.02 | 4-4 66 3.68 1.30 60 43
9 Freddy Garcia SEA 0 2 140 0.01 | 17-8 201 4.07 1.47 170
10 Keith Foulke CHW 0 1 140 0.01 | 3-3 105 2.22 0.88 123 9
10 Roberto Hernandez TBD 0 1 140 0.01 | 2-3 73 3.07 1.38 69 43
There, that was easy.

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 Carlos Beltran KCR 26 133 140 0.95 | 663 194 22 .293 .791 27|
2 Freddy Garcia SEA 1 45 140 0.32 | 4 1 0 .250 .500 0| 17-8 201 4.07 1.47 170
3 Jeff Zimmerman TEX 0 27 140 0.19 | | 9-3 88 2.36 0.83 67 3
4 Brian Daubach BOS 1 16 140 0.11 | 381 112 21 .294 .921 0|
5 Tim Hudson OAK 0 13 140 0.09 | 4 1 0 .250 .650 0| 11-2 136 3.23 1.34 132
6 Chris Singleton CHW 0 9 140 0.06 | 496 149 17 .300 .818 20|
7 Billy Koch TOR 0 4 140 0.03 | 1 0 0 .000 .000 0| 0-5 64 3.39 1.34 57 31
7 Carlos Lee CHW 0 4 140 0.03 | 492 144 16 .293 .775 4|
9 Trot Nixon BOS 0 1 140 0.01 | 381 103 15 .270 .830 3|

Manager: 1st Max |
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share | W-L Rank
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+------+---------+-----+
1 Jimy Williams BOS 20 115 140 0.82 | 94-68 2
2 Art Howe OAK 5 85 140 0.61 | 87-75 2
3 Joe Torre NYY 0 21 140 0.15 | 98-64 1
4 Johnny Oates TEX 1 18 140 0.13 | 95-67 1
5 Mike Hargrove CLE 2 13 140 0.09 | 97-65 1

Top player: Derek Jeter. Tied for most Win Shares and WAR, and best WARP. It's odd that Jeter could get overlooked, as much attention as he receives, but he was here.
#1 Derek Jeter, #2 Manny Ramirez, #3 Roberto Alomar, #4 Nomar Garciaparra, #5 Ivan Rodriguez, #6 Bernie Williams.

Top pitcher: Pedro Martinez lapped the field. This would have been a good year for a pitcher to win the MVP.
#1 Pedro Martinez, #2 Mike Mussina, #3 Jamie Moyer, #4 Brad Radke, #5 Bartolo Colon.

Top rookie: Carlos Beltran in a strong field. Freddy Garcia also had a strong season, and Tim Hudson, Carlos Lee, and Trot Nixon were among stars to debut here.

Top manager: Mike Hargrove. He was handling a Cleveland mini-dynasty.

Book Review

Book Review: The Big Show: Charles M. Conlon's Golden Age Baseball Photographs. Published 2011 by Abrams.

It's a picture book: well, more accurately, it's a photography book. Conlon was a newspaper proofreader who dabbled in photography as a hobby, when one day the editor of the New York Telegram asked him to take some shots of baseball games and players, to be published in the newspaper and in the annual Spalding's Guides. What followed was a career that lasted from 1904 to 1942 and produced the most memorable collection of photographs in baseball history.

Many of Conlon's photos were printed in the 1993 book Baseball's Golden Age, but this is a different selection, though by the same authors. Constance McCabe has prepared the photos for publication, and brother Neal McCabe provides the captions. Roger Kahn writes the foreword, as Roger Angell did for the first book.

The photographs are often stark and frequently stunning. Each takes up the better part of a page, with the captioning to the side. The black-and-whites are stunningly reproduced. Most are posed shots, but there are some action pics, and I find those the most compelling. A good photograph reveals much about the subject. That often seems the case here.

In these pages you will find pictures of the well-knowns, like Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Rogers Hornsby, and those you have likely never heard of before, like Buddy Gremp, Al Spohrer, and Jackie Hayes. Most are players, but there are also umpires, managers, and a traffic control officer at a Yankees game. You will find Kid Nichols at the end of his career, Amos Rusie in a picture from after his career had ended, and DiMaggio as a rookie.

One of my favorite parts of the book is how the subjects on facing pages often complement each other. Several times we get a set like on pages 66 and 67, one of a young Hank Gowdy in 1911, the other of a veteran Gowdy in 1936 as a coach. We also get sets of Vince DiMaggio and brother Joe on facing pages, both from 1937. There's Herb Pennock in 1916 facing a Pennock from 1934. And, another favorite, the Bob Feller of 1937 across from the Walter Johnson of 1916. Sheer joy.

The captions convey myth more than information. The story of the invention of catcher shin guards by Roger Bresnahan is repeated with his photograph, even though it is provably false. Still, the book is more about myth than truth, and imagery over cold hard fact. It is a spectacular collection of photographs from a century past. I think you will enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book, and thus did not pay for it. The list price is $35, but it is available from various retailers such as amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, walmart.com, and others for about $10 less.