1957 National League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Jack Sanford PHI 16 16 24 0.67 | 89 15 0 .169 .382 0| 19-8 237 3.08 1.217 188
2 Ed Bouchee PHI 4 4 24 0.17 | 574 168 17 .293 .864 1|
3 Dick Drott CHC 3 3 24 0.12 | 80 8 0 .100 .222 0| 15-11 229 3.58 1.437 170
4 Bob Hazle MLN 1 1 24 0.04 | 134 54 7 .403 1.126 1|

Dick Drott? People voted for Dick Drott?

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

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

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

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

1957 American League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Actual award winners:

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

A five-way battle, with a deserving winner.

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

Rookie of the Year:
| Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+--------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Tony Kubek NYY 23 23 24 0.96 | 431 128 3 .297 .716 6|
2 Frank Malzone BOS 1 1 24 0.04 | 634 185 15 .292 .751 2|

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

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

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

Top manager: Paul Richards got the Orioles to respectability.

1956 National League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Actual award winners:

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

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

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

And the same here.

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

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

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

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

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

1956 American League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WAR leaders, position players (fWAR): Mantle 12.2, Kaline and Berra 7.1, Minoso 6.9, Williams 6.8, Maxwell 6.5, Piersall 6.1, Kuenn 5.9, McDougald, Doby, and Jensen 5.5, Niemann 5.0. Pitchers (bWAR): Wynn 8.2, Score 7.6, Lary 6.7, Pierce 5.9, Ford 5.8, Brewer and Lemon 5.4, Stobbs 5.2, Harshman 4.8, Sullivan 4.1.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top manager: Casey Stengel won the pennant yet again.

1955 National League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+--------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Bill Virdon STL 15 15 24 0.62 | 534 150 17 .281 .755 2|
2 Jack Meyer PHI 7 7 24 0.29 | 20 2 0 .100 .450 0| 6-11 110 3.43 1.278 97 16
3 Don Bessent BRO 2 2 24 0.08 | 20 2 0 .100 .200 0| 8-1 63 2.70 1.137 29 3

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

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

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

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

1955 American League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1954 National League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1954 American League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1953 National League

Brooklyn won the pennant, their second straight, and a total of 105 games. This made the Dodgers feel it was their year in the World Series, but they lost in 6 games to the Yankees. The Braves moved to Milwaukee and jumped up to second, 13 games out. Philadelphia and St. Louis tied for third, well off the pace. New York, Cincinnati and Chicago were also-rans, and Pittsburgh was not quite as terrible as the year before but still lost 104 games.

Carl Furillo won the batting title with a .344 mark, edging Red Schoendienst at .342. Eddie Mathews became the first guy not named Ralph Kiner to lead in homers in some years (well, there was a tie in there)with 47, and Roy Campanella led in RBI with 142 and won the MVP for the second time. Duke Snider and Stan Musial tied for the OPS lead. Musial led in on-base, Snider in slugging. Snider led with 132 runs, Musial with 53 doubles. Richie Ashburn had 205 hits and Junior Gilliam 17 triples. Bill Bruton had 26 stolen bases.

Warren Spahn led in ERA by a safe margin with an astounding 2.10 mark, and tied Robin Roberts for the lead in wins at 23. Carl Erskine and Harvey Haddix won 20. Roberts led in strikeouts with 198, edging Erskine's 187. Roberts was way ahead in innings with 347. Al Brazle's 18 saves beat out Hoyt Wilhelm's 15.

Win Shares leaders, players; Eddie Mathews (Milwaukee) 39, Duke Snider (Brooklyn) 37, Roy Campanella (Brooklyn) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 33, Red Schoendienst (St. Louis) 27, Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) 26, Jim Gilliam, Gil Hodges and Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn) 25 each, Gus Bell and Ted Kluszewski (Cincinnati) and Johnny Logan (Milwaukee) 24, Carl Furillo (Brooklyn) and Solly Hemus (St. Louis) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 35, Warren Spahn (Milwaukee) 31, Harvey Haddix (St. Louis) 27, Carl Erskine (Brooklyn) 20, Curt Simmons (Philadelphia) 19, Wilmer Mizell (St. Louis) 17, Lew Burdette (Milwaukee) and Gerry Staley (St. Louis) 15.

WAR scores (bWAR): Snider 9.5, Mathews 8.9, Musial 7.6, Robinson 7.3, Campanella 7.2, Schoendienst 6.5, Ashburn 6.0, Kluszewski and Pee Wee Reese (Brooklyn) 5.2, Hemus 5.1, Furillo (best year), Bell (best year), and Hank Thompson (New York) 4.7, Hodges and Al Dark (New York) 4.5, Monte Irvin (New York) 4.3, Gilliam 4.1 (rookie).

Pitchers, Roberts 9.6, Spahn 9.4, Haddix 7.0 (rookie, only 20-win season, and career year), Simmons 5.1, Mizell 4.7, Warren Hacker (Chicago) 4.3, Ruben Gomez (New York) 4.3, Erskine 4.1 (only 20-win season), Staley 4.0, Bob Buhl (Milwaukee) 3.8, Burdette and Paul Minner (Chicago) 3.2.

We reach the end of an era, as Musial and Robinson are no longer the dominant players. Musial would stick around for several more seasons, but Robinson was winding down.

Actual award winners, MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+-
1 Roy Campanella BRO 17 297 336 0.88 | 519 162 41 .312 1.006 4|
2 Eddie Mathews MLN 3 216 336 0.64 | 579 175 47 .302 1.033 1|
3 Duke Snider BRO 1 157 336 0.47 | 590 198 42 .336 1.046 16|
4 Red Schoendienst STL 2 155 336 0.46 | 564 193 15 .342 .907 3|
5 Warren Spahn MLN 0 120 336 0.36 | 105 23 2 .219 .550 0| 23-7 266 2.10 1.058 148 3
6 Robin Roberts PHI 1 106 336 0.32 | 123 22 1 .179 .489 0| 23-16 347 2.75 1.110 198 2
7 Ted Kluszewski CIN 0 69 336 0.21 | 570 180 40 .316 .950 2|
8 Stan Musial STL 0 62 336 0.18 | 593 200 30 .337 1.046 3|
9 Carl Erskine BRO 0 54 336 0.16 | 93 20 0 .215 .460 0| 20-6 247 3.54 1.248 187 3
9 Carl Furillo BRO 0 54 336 0.16 | 479 165 21 .344 .973 1|
11 Pee Wee Reese BRO 0 27 336 0.08 | 524 142 13 .271 .794 22|
12 Jackie Robinson BRO 0 19 336 0.06 | 484 159 12 .329 .927 17|
13 Del Ennis PHI 0 14 336 0.04 | 578 165 29 .285 .839 1|
14 Gil Hodges BRO 0 13 336 0.04 | 520 157 31 .302 .943 1|
15 Monte Irvin NYG 0 11 336 0.03 | 444 146 21 .329 .947 2|
16 Danny O'Connell PIT 0 10 336 0.03 | 588 173 7 .294 .762 3|
17 Harvey Haddix STL 0 9 336 0.03 | 97 28 1 .289 .749 0| 20-9 253 3.06 1.142 163 1
18 Frank Thomas PIT 0 6 336 0.02 | 455 116 30 .255 .837 1|
19 Richie Ashburn PHI 0 5 336 0.01 | 622 205 2 .330 .802 14|
20 Gus Bell CIN 0 3 336 0.01 | 610 183 30 .300 .879 0|
20 Johnny Logan MLN 0 3 336 0.01 | 611 167 11 .273 .724 2|
22 Ruben Gomez NYG 0 2 336 0.01 | 72 15 0 .208 .441 0| 13-11 204 3.40 1.309 113
22 Granny Hamner PHI 0 2 336 0.01 | 609 168 21 .276 .768 2|
24 Del Crandall MLN 0 1 336 0.00 | 382 104 15 .272 .759 2|
24 Hank Thompson NYG 0 1 336 0.00 | 388 117 24 .302 .967 6|

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+
1 Jim Gilliam BRO 11 11 24 0.46 | 605 168 6 .278 .798 21|
2 Harvey Haddix STL 4 4 24 0.17 | 97 28 1 .289 .749 0| 20-9 253 3.06 1.142 163 1
3 Ray Jablonski STL 3 3 24 0.12 | 604 162 21 .268 .735 2|
4 Bill Bruton MLN 2 2 24 0.08 | 613 153 1 .250 .636 26|
4 Rip Repulski STL 2 2 24 0.08 | 567 156 15 .275 .738 3|
6 Fred Baczewski TOT 1 1 24 0.04 | + 47 9 1 .191 .464 0|+11-4 148 3.64 1.369 61 1
6 Jim Greengrass CIN 1 1 24 0.04 | 606 173 20 .285 .784 6|

Top player: Roy Campanella. Eddie Mathews and Duke Snider provide strong competition, along with perennial favorite Stan Musial, but Campy was the best of 1953. 4th in OPS, 1st in RBI, and strong defense behind the plate clinch this for the Dodger catcher.
#1 Roy Campanella, #2 Eddie Mathews, #3 Duke Snider, #4 Stan Musial, #5 Red Schoendienst, #6 Jackie Robinson.

Top pitcher: Robin Roberts in a close call over Warren Spahn. Spahnie had the ERA lead, but also a better team, and Roberts leads in WARP and Win Shares.
#1 Robin Roberts, #2 Warren Spahn, #3 Harvey Haddix, #4 Curt Simmons, #5 Carl Erskine.

Top rookie: Harvey Haddix. Jim Gilliam's win was a bit strange, since he received no MVP votes while 20-game winner Haddix did. Perhaps Haddix' 1952 debut of 42 innings threw things Gilliam's way.

Top manager: Charlie Grimm piloted the transplanted Braves into 2nd place, from 7th the year before.

1953 American League

The Yankees won their fifth straight pennant, and then beat the Dodgers in the World Series for their 5th straight championship, setting a record that still stands. The 1949-53 Yankees are not usually included in discussions of the greatest teams ever, but they had more success than anyone ever did. One reason is that they didn't seem dominant while winning. This was their easiest pennant, an 8.5 game margin over the Indians, with Chicago 3rd, Boston 4th, and Washington 5th at exactly .500. Detroit and Philadelphia lost over 90 each, and St. Louis lost 100 games.

Al Rosen of Cleveland led the league in HR with 43 and RBI with 145, but lost the batting title to Mickey Vernon by one point, .337 to .336. The only one of those categories where anyone else was close was Gus Zernial's 42 home runs. Gene Woodling led in on-base, with Rosen ahead in slugging and OPS. Rosen also led with 115 runs. Rookie Harvey Kuenn led with 209 hits, Vernon with 43 doubles, Jim Rivera with 16 triples, and Minnie Minoso with 25 steals.

Ed Lopat led the league in ERA with a 2.42 mark, Billy Pierce in strikeouts with 186, and the Senators' Bob Porterfield in wins with 22. Pierce was second in ERA at 2.72. Bob Lemon and Mel Parnell won 21 each, Virgil Trucks 20. Ellis Kinder continued to define the role of relief ace, leading the league in games with 69 and saves with 27.

Win Shares leaders, players; Al Rosen (Cleveland) 42, Mickey Vernon (Washington) 29, Yogi Berra (New York) 28, Ray Boone (Cleveland/Detroit) 27, Minnie Minoso (Chicago), Larry Doby (Cleveland) and Mickey Mantle (New York) 26, Jim Busby (Washington) 25, Ed Yost (Washington) 24, Bobby Avila (Cleveland) 22, Nellie Fox (Chicago), Gil McDougald (New York) and Gus Zernial (Philadelphia) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Virgil Trucks (St. Louis/Chicago) 25, Billy Pierce (Chicago) 24, Ellis Kinder and Mel Parnell (Boston) 23, Mickey McDermott (Boston) and Bob Lemon (Cleveland) 22, Mike Garcia (Cleveland) and Bob Porterfield (Washington) 21, Whitey Ford (New York) 17.

WAR scores: Rosen 9.7, Vernon 6.0, Mantle 5.3, Boone and Minoso 5.1, Berra 4.9, Avila 4.7, Doby 4.6, Gene Woodling (New York) 4.5, Yost and Phil Rizzuto (New York) 4.4, McDougald 4.1, George Strickland (Cleveland) 3.9, Busby 3.8 (career year).

Pitchers, Pierce 6.5, Trucks 6.3, Parnell 4.7, Porterfield 4.6, McDermott and Garcia 4.2, Ed Lopat (New York) 3.9, Lemon 3.6, Kinder, Ford, and Johnny Sain (New York) 3.4.

Actual award voting, MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--
1 Al Rosen CLE 24 336 336 1.00 | 599 201 43 .336 1.034 8|
2 Yogi Berra NYY 0 167 336 0.50 | 503 149 27 .296 .886 0|
3 Mickey Vernon WSH 0 162 336 0.48 | 608 205 15 .337 .921 4|
4 Minnie Minoso CHW 0 100 336 0.30 | 556 174 15 .313 .875 25|
5 Virgil Trucks TOT 0 81 336 0.24 | + 88 19 1 .216 .520 0|+20-10 264 2.93 1.260 149 3
6 Phil Rizzuto NYY 0 76 336 0.23 | 413 112 2 .271 .734 4|
7 Bob Porterfield WSH 0 64 336 0.19 | 98 25 3 .255 .716 1| 22-10 255 3.35 1.239 77
8 Ray Boone TOT 0 59 336 0.18 | +497 147 26 .296 .909 3|
9 Jim Piersall BOS 0 56 336 0.17 | 585 159 3 .272 .683 11|
10 Billy Pierce CHW 0 55 336 0.16 | 87 11 0 .126 .300 0| 18-12 271 2.72 1.172 186 3
11 Ellis Kinder BOS 0 41 336 0.12 | 29 11 0 .379 .793 0| 10-6 107 1.85 1.140 39 27
12 Hank Bauer NYY 0 37 336 0.11 | 437 133 10 .304 .841 2|
12 Allie Reynolds NYY 0 37 336 0.11 | 41 5 0 .122 .436 0| 13-7 145 3.41 1.386 86 13
14 Mel Parnell BOS 0 27 336 0.08 | 94 21 0 .223 .521 1| 21-8 241 3.06 1.382 136
15 Harvey Kuenn DET 0 23 336 0.07 | 679 209 2 .308 .742 6|
16 Bob Lemon CLE 0 22 336 0.07 | 112 26 2 .232 .661 2| 21-15 287 3.36 1.371 98 1
17 Ed Lopat NYY 0 18 336 0.05 | 63 12 0 .190 .488 0| 16-4 178 2.42 1.127 50
18 Gus Zernial PHA 0 16 336 0.05 | 556 158 42 .284 .914 4|
19 Dave Philley PHA 0 11 336 0.03 | 620 188 9 .303 .782 13|
20 Whitey Ford NYY 0 8 336 0.02 | 75 20 0 .267 .639 0| 18-6 207 3.00 1.435 110
21 Billy Goodman BOS 0 5 336 0.01 | 514 161 2 .313 .793 1|
22 Mickey Mantle NYY 0 4 336 0.01 | 461 136 21 .295 .895 8|
23 Gene Woodling NYY 0 3 336 0.01 | 395 121 10 .306 .898 2|
23 Eddie Yost WSH 0 3 336 0.01 | 577 157 9 .272 .799 7|
25 Billy Martin NYY 0 2 336 0.01 | 587 151 15 .257 .710 6|
26 Chico Carrasquel CHW 0 1 336 0.00 | 552 154 2 .279 .689 5|
26 George Kell BOS 0 1 336 0.00 | 460 141 12 .307 .866 5|
26 Ted Williams BOS 0 1 336 0.00 | 91 37 13 .407 1.410 0|

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+-
1 Harvey Kuenn DET 23 23 24 0.96 | 679 209 2 .308 .742 6|
2 Tom Umphlett BOS 1 1 24 0.04 | 495 140 3 .283 .707 4|

Top Player: Al Rosen was far and away the best player in the AL in 1953, and there really wasn't any contest, as the voters of the time recognized. No one else had any kind of a standout year, pitcher or hitter. Rosen was one batting average point away from the Triple Crown, and led in RBI by 30. It was a true rout.
#1 Al Rosen, #2 Mickey Vernon, #3 Yogi Berra, #4 Ray Boone, #5 Mickey Mantle, #6 Larry Doby.

Top pitcher: Virgil Trucks in something less than a runaway. With two teams, Trucks was 4th in wins, 3rd in ERA, and 2nd in strikeouts. It's really a photo-finish with Trucks and Pierce. I'll go with Trucks based on a higher MVP finish with a meta-stats split.
#1 Virgil Trucks, #2 Billy Pierce, #3 Mel Parnell, #4 Bob Porterfield, #5 Ellis Kinder.

Top rookie: Harvey Kuenn had little competition, and hit .308. He spent five years as a regular shortstop before moving to the outfield, although he would occasionally move in to third base.

Top manager: Casey Stengel. He never met a lineup he couldn't change for tomorrow's game, but his team won by 8.5 games.

1952 National League

Brooklyn took the pennant after blowing the lead the year before, and losing at the end in 1950. This was the beginning of a run of four pennants in five years. The Dodgers would do it with offense, and pitching that was good enough. The World Series was a 7-game loss to the Yankees. The Giants finished second, 4.5 games back, losing Willie Mays for most of the year to the military. St. Louis was third, Philadelphia 4th and the Cubs 5th with a .500 record, Cincinnati sixth, and the Braves finished 7th in their last year in Boston, while Pittsburgh finished last with 112 losses and one of the worst teams of the 20th century. The Cubs' Hank Sauer won an MVP by leading the league in RBI and tying in HRs, in one of the all-time odd selections over 28-game winner Robin Roberts, or even batting titlist Stan Musial.

Musial posted a .336 average, besting Frankie Baumholtz at .325. Jackie Robinson led in on-base, while Musial led in slugging and OPS. Musial led in hits with 194, doubles with 42, and tied Solly Hemus for the runs lead with 105. Bobby Thomson led with 14 triples. Ralph Kiner and Hank Sauer had 37 homers, and Sauer had 121 RBI. Pee Wee Reese had 30 steals.

Robin Roberts had 28 wins, and next best was Sal Maglie with 18. No idea why that didn't impress MVP voters. Roberts led with 330 innings and 30 complete games. He was a workhorse. Warren Spahn led with 183 strikeouts. 29-year old rookie knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm pitched only in relief, but had enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, and won it with a 2.43 mark. He would pitch 21 years in the majors in spite of his late start. Al Brazle had 16 saves while rookie Joe Black had 15.

Win Shares leaders, players; Stan Musial (St. Louis) 37, Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn) 34, Hank Sauer (Chicago) and Al Dark (New York) 28, Solly Hemus (St. Louis) 27, Gil Hodges (Brooklyn) 26, Sid Gordon (Boston), Duke Snider (Brooklyn), Bobby Thomson (New York), and Red Schoendienst (St. Louis) 25, Pee Wee Reese (Brooklyn), Ted Kluszewski (Cincinnati), Whitey Lockman (New York) and Enos Slaughter (St. Louis) 23, Roy Campanella (Brooklyn) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 32, Bob Rush (Chicago) 23, Warren Spahn (Boston) and Ken Raffensberger (Cincinnati) 22, Joe Black (Brooklyn) 20, Warren Hacker (Chicago), Hoyt Wilhelm (New York) and Karl Drews (Philadelphia) 18, Carl Erskine (Brooklyn), Sal Maglie (New York), Curt Simmons (Philadelphia) and Murry Dickson (Pittsburgh) 17.

WARP3 scores: Robinson 8.7, Musial 7.7, Hemus 6.4, Hodges 5.6, Sauer and Dark 5.3, Reese 4.9, Snider 4.8, Gordon and Schoendienst 4.6, Thomson 4.3, Slaughter 4.2, Ralph Kiner (Pittsburgh) 4.1, Campanella and Granny Hamner (Philadelphia) 3.8, Kluszewski 3.7, Lockman 3.6.

Pitchers, Roberts 7.9, Raffensberger 5.9, Spahn 5.8, Hacker 5.2, Drews 4.7 (career year), Rush 4.5, Erskine 4.3, Billy Loes (Brooklyn) 4.2, Dickson 4.1, Black (rookie, career year) and Maglie 4.0, Simmons 3.9 (back from service).

WAR, position players (fWAR): Robinson and Musial 8.4, Hemus 7.1, Sauer 6.1, Dark 5.8, Hodges 5.7, Gordon 5.4, Schoendienst 5.2, Reese and Thomson 5.1, Snider 5.0, Kiner 4.8, Hamner and Campanella 4.7, Slaughter 4.6. Pitchers (bWAR): Roberts 7.9, Raffensberger 5.9, Spahn 5.8, Hacker 5.2, Drews 4.7, Rush 4.5, Erskine 4.3, Loes 4.2, Dickson 4.1, Black and Maglie 4.0.

Actual award voting, MVP (top 30): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+--
1 Hank Sauer CHC 8 226 336 0.67 | 567 153 37 .270 .892 1|
2 Robin Roberts PHI 7 211 336 0.63 | 112 14 0 .125 .406 0| 28-7 330 2.59 1.021 148 2
3 Joe Black BRO 8 208 336 0.62 | 36 5 0 .139 .278 0| 15-4 142 2.15 1.005 85 15
4 Hoyt Wilhelm NYG 0 133 336 0.40 | 38 6 1 .158 .416 0| 15-3 159 2.43 1.155 108 11
5 Stan Musial STL 0 127 336 0.38 | 578 194 21 .336 .970 7|
6 Enos Slaughter STL 0 92 336 0.27 | 510 153 11 .300 .831 6|
7 Jackie Robinson BRO 0 31 336 0.09 | 510 157 19 .308 .904 24|
8 Pee Wee Reese BRO 0 29 336 0.09 | 559 152 6 .272 .734 30|
8 Duke Snider BRO 1 29 336 0.09 | 534 162 21 .303 .863 7|
10 Roy Campanella BRO 0 25 336 0.07 | 468 126 22 .269 .805 8|
10 Red Schoendienst STL 0 25 336 0.07 | 620 188 7 .303 .772 9|
12 Alvin Dark NYG 0 24 336 0.07 | 589 177 14 .301 .788 6|
13 Murry Dickson PIT 0 22 336 0.07 | 107 24 0 .224 .493 0| 14-21 278 3.56 1.275 112 2
14 Del Ennis PHI 0 18 336 0.05 | 592 171 20 .289 .816 6|
14 Whitey Lockman NYG 0 18 336 0.05 | 606 176 13 .290 .759 2|
16 Bobby Thomson NYG 0 17 336 0.05 | 608 164 24 .270 .813 5|
17 Frank Baumholtz CHC 0 16 336 0.05 | 409 133 4 .325 .787 5|
17 Ted Kluszewski CIN 0 16 336 0.05 | 497 159 16 .320 .892 3|
19 Gil Hodges BRO 0 15 336 0.04 | 508 129 32 .254 .886 2|
19 Roy McMillan CIN 0 15 336 0.04 | 540 132 7 .244 .656 4|
21 Eddie Mathews BSN 0 13 336 0.04 | 528 128 25 .242 .767 6|
22 Bobby Adams CIN 0 9 336 0.03 | 637 180 6 .283 .696 11|
23 Billy Cox BRO 0 8 336 0.02 | 455 118 6 .259 .639 10|
23 Warren Hacker CHC 0 8 336 0.02 | 58 7 0 .121 .256 1| 15-9 185 2.58 0.946 84 1
23 Ralph Kiner PIT 0 8 336 0.02 | 516 126 37 .244 .884 3|
23 Sal Maglie NYG 0 8 336 0.02 | 69 5 0 .072 .208 0| 18-8 216 2.92 1.269 112 1
23 Ken Raffensberger CIN 0 8 336 0.02 | 75 8 1 .107 .290 0| 17-13 247 2.81 1.182 93 1
23 Warren Spahn BSN 0 8 336 0.02 | 112 18 2 .161 .440 1| 14-19 290 2.98 1.159 183 3
29 Preacher Roe BRO 0 7 336 0.02 | 57 4 0 .070 .187 0| 11-2 159 3.12 1.273 83
30 Sid Gordon BSN 0 6 336 0.02 | 522 151 25 .289 .866 0|

A very odd departure from the usual procedure, which would have been to elect Roberts. A split vote snuck through the veteran Sauer. Jackie Robinson got astonishingly little support. 40 players received votes.

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---
1 Joe Black BRO 19 19 24 0.79 | 36 5 0 .139 .278 0| 15-4 142 2.15 1.005 85 15
2 Hoyt Wilhelm NYG 3 3 24 0.12 | 38 6 1 .158 .416 0| 15-3 159 2.43 1.155 108 11
3 Dick Groat PIT 1 1 24 0.04 | 384 109 1 .284 .632 2|
3 Eddie Mathews BSN 1 1 24 0.04 | 528 128 25 .242 .767 6|
The top rookie seasons were by 28-year old pitchers Black and Wilhelm. Black had a slightly more impressive year, and his team won the pennant. Oddly, all three of the other guys who got votes had better careers than Black, who never had another good year.

Top player: Jackie Robinson. A four-year run as a dominant player yielded Jackie only one MVP. It should have been more. He deserved this one.
#1 Jackie Robinson, #2 Stan Musial, #3 Hank Sauer, #4 Solly Hemus, #5 Gil Hodges, #6 Al Dark.

Top pitcher: Robin Roberts. Unfortunately, his dominant years were before Cy Young Awards. He would have probably won a couple, including this one, with his 28-victory season.
#1 Robin Roberts, #2 Bob Rush, #3 Ken Raffensberger, #4 Warren Spahn, #5 Joe Black.

Top rookie: Joe Black, really, even though he never did anything else. Wilhelm, Mathews, and Groat would carry the ball for the Class of 1952, NL version.

Top manager: Charlie Dressen got the Dodgers back to the top.

1952 American League

New York won its fourth straight pennant, and then the fourth straight World Series (to tie the 36-39 team's record) but had to outlast the Indians by 2 games. Chicago was a distant third, Philadelphia finished above .500 and fourth on the strength of a career year and MVP performance by Bobby Shantz, who won 24 games. The A's also had the Rookie of the Year, Harry Byrd. Washington finished 5th, Boston 6th with Ted Williams in Korea, and St. Louis was 7th with Detroit and its 104 losses bringing up the rear.

Mickey Mantle stepped forward with a strong year in his first full season. Ferris Fain also bolstered the A's by winning the batting title at .327. Fain led in on-base, Larry Doby in slugging, and Mantle in OPS. Larry Doby and Luke Easter powered Cleveland and finished 1-2 in homers with 32 and 31 respectively, while teammate Al Rosen led in RBI with 105, edging Doby's 104. Doby led in runs with 104. Nellie Fox had 192 hits, Fain had 43 doubles, Bobby Avila had 11 triples, and Minnie Minoso had 22 steals.

Shantz led pitchers with his 24 wins. Early Wynn was second with 23, and Mike Garcia and Bob Lemon tied at 22. The Yankees' Allie Reynolds led in ERA with a 2.06 mark, and strikeouts with 160. Garcia was second in ERA with a 2.37 mark. Shantz was third. He was also third in strikeouts with 152. Wynn had 153. Lemon led the league in innings with 310. Harry Dorish had 11 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Larry Doby (Cleveland) 34, Mickey Mantle (New York) 32, Al Rosen (Cleveland) 31, Yogi Berra (New York) 29, Ferris Fain (Philadelphia) 28, Eddie Joost (Philadelphia) 26, Eddie Robinson (Chicago) 25, Bobby Avila (Cleveland) 24, Eddie Yost (Washington) 23, Nellie Fox (Chicago) and Pete Runnels (Washington) 22, Minnie Minoso (Chicago), Dale Mitchell (Cleveland), Hank Bauer, Phil Rizzuto, and Gene Woodling (New York), Gus Zernial (Philadelphia) and Jackie Jensen (Washington) all 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bobby Shantz (Philadelphia) 33, Bob Lemon (Cleveland) 25, Allie Reynolds (New York) 24, Billy Pierce (Chicago) and Mike Garcia (Cleveland) 23, Early Wynn (Cleveland) 21, Bob Porterfield (Washington) 20, Joe Dobson (Chicago) and Harry Byrd (Philadelphia) 18, Vic Raschi (New York) 17.

WAR scores: Doby 7.3, Rosen 6.8, Mantle 6.6, Berra 5.5, Avila 5.0, Rizzuto 4.9, Fain 4.5, Woodling 4.1 (best year), Bauer 3.9, Mitchell 3.8, Minoso and Joe Collins (New York) 3.7, Joost (last full year), Gil McDougald (New York), Billy Goodman (Boston), and Luke Easter (Cleveland) 3.5, Robinson 3.3.

Pitchers, Shantz 8.2 (career year), Pierce 6.7, Garcia 6.3 (best year), Lemon 6.0, Reynolds 5.3 (best year, at age 37), Porterfield 5.1, Wynn 4.7, Dobson 4.6 (last good year), Byrd 3.7 (rookie, career year), Connie Marrero (Washington) 3.6.

Actual award winners, MVP (top 25): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----
1 Bobby Shantz PHA 16 280 336 0.83 | 96 19 0 .198 .513 0| 24-7 280 2.48 1.048 152
2 Allie Reynolds NYY 4 183 336 0.54 | 85 13 0 .153 .376 0| 20-8 244 2.06 1.191 160 6
3 Mickey Mantle NYY 3 143 336 0.43 | 549 171 23 .311 .924 4|
4 Yogi Berra NYY 0 104 336 0.31 | 534 146 30 .273 .835 2|
5 Early Wynn CLE 0 99 336 0.29 | 99 22 0 .222 .529 0| 23-12 286 2.90 1.299 153 3
6 Ferris Fain PHA 0 66 336 0.20 | 538 176 2 .327 .867 3|
7 Nellie Fox CHW 1 59 336 0.18 | 648 192 0 .296 .700 5|
8 Bob Lemon CLE 0 58 336 0.17 | 124 28 2 .226 .565 0| 22-11 310 2.50 1.101 131 4
9 Mike Garcia CLE 0 52 336 0.15 | 95 13 0 .137 .348 0| 22-11 292 2.37 1.269 143 4
10 Al Rosen CLE 0 51 336 0.15 | 567 171 28 .302 .911 8|
11 Eddie Robinson CHW 0 47 336 0.14 | 594 176 22 .296 .848 2|
12 Larry Doby CLE 0 46 336 0.14 | 519 143 32 .276 .924 5|
13 Luke Easter CLE 0 40 336 0.12 | 437 115 31 .263 .850 1|
14 Phil Rizzuto NYY 0 33 336 0.10 | 578 147 2 .254 .678 17|
15 Eddie Joost PHA 0 20 336 0.06 | 540 132 20 .244 .803 5|
16 Billy Goodman BOS 0 18 336 0.05 | 513 157 4 .306 .764 8|
17 Jackie Jensen TOT 0 12 336 0.04 | +589 165 10 .280 .759 18|
17 Satchel Paige SLB 0 12 336 0.04 | 39 5 0 .128 .278 0| 12-10 138 3.07 1.254 91 10
17 Vic Raschi NYY 0 12 336 0.04 | 69 13 0 .188 .490 0| 16-6 223 2.78 1.188 127
20 Dale Mitchell CLE 0 11 336 0.03 | 511 165 5 .323 .801 6|
21 Hank Bauer NYY 0 10 336 0.03 | 553 162 17 .293 .818 6|
21 Gene Woodling NYY 0 10 336 0.03 | 408 126 12 .309 .870 1|
23 Pete Runnels WSH 0 8 336 0.02 | 555 158 1 .285 .701 0|
24 Clint Courtney SLB 0 7 336 0.02 | 413 118 5 .286 .743 0|
25 Dick Gernert BOS 0 6 336 0.02 | 367 89 19 .243 .780 4|

An interesting voting year, as pitchers took the top two spots, five of the top nine, and 12 of the 35 named on at least one ballot. Shantz, the most valuable single commodity in the league in 1952, was a deserving winner.

Rookie of the Year: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-------+---
1 Harry Byrd PHA 9 9 24 0.38 | 75 10 0 .133 .327 0| 15-15 228 3.31 1.498 116 2
2 Clint Courtney SLB 8 8 24 0.33 | 413 118 5 .286 .743 0|
3 Sammy White BOS 7 7 24 0.29 | 381 107 10 .281 .732 2|

Top player: Larry Doby, by a nose over Mantle. Doby only finished 12th in the voting, but led the league in runs, homers, and slugging, and was 2nd in RBI. Played a solid CF too. No real spectacular players in the AL this year, with Ted Williams in the service.
#1 Larry Doby, #2 Mickey Mantle, #3 Al Rosen, #4 Yogi Berra, #5 Ferris Fain, #6 Phil Rizzuto.

Top pitcher: Bobby Shantz had the year of a lifetime, going 24-7 and lifting a mediocre team over .500. Leader in wins and WHIP, 3rd in ERA, 4th in strikeouts.
#1 Bobby Shantz, #2 Allie Reynolds, #3 Bob Lemon, #4 Mike Garcia, #5 Billy Pierce.

Top rookie: Harry Byrd was the best of a weak field. Two journeymen catchers finished behind him in the voting.

Top manager: Casey Stengel did it again.

1951 National League

It is often remembered as the greatest pennant race of all time: the Dodgers built a big lead, and in August the Giants were down by 13 games. Then the New Yorkers came roaring down the stretch, catching the Brooklyn team and forcing a playoff, which the Giants won on Bobby Thomson's home run into the left field stands. Those two teams were the only real contenders, as the Cardinals faded to a weak third, Boston and Philadelphia were just under .500, and Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Chicago were never a factor. None of those clubs was terrible, but none was any good. Willie Mays came up and started 0-for-21, but once he got going helped ignite the Giants. Roy Campanella won the MVP with a solid year as the Dodgers' catcher. Mays and Nichols both went to the service (the Korean War was going on) soon after the season.

Stan Musial won the batting title with a .355 mark, followed by Richie Ashburn at .344. Ralph Kiner led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. Kiner and Musial tied in runs at 124. Ashburn led in hits with 221. Al Dark had 41 doubles. Musial tied Gus Bell with 12 triples. Kiner led with 42 homers. Monte Irvin had 121 RBI. Sam Jethroe had 35 steals.

Larry Jansen and Sal Maglie both won 23 games. Don Newcombe and Warren Spahn tied at 164 strikeouts. Chet Nichols had a 2.88 ERA, followed by Maglie at 2.93 and Spahn at 2.98. Robin Roberts led with 315 innings. Spahn had 26 complete games and 7 shutouts. Ted Wilks had 13 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Stan Musial (St. Louis) 39, Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn) 38, Ralph Kiner (Pittsburgh) 35, Roy Campanella (Brooklyn) 33, Monte Irvin (New York) 29, Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) 28, Al Dark (New York) 27, Gil Hodges (Brooklyn) and Bobby Thomson (New York) 26, Eddie Stanky (New York) 24, Sam Jethroe (Boston) 23, Sid Gordon (Boston), Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider (Brooklyn) and Willie Jones (Philadelphia) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Sal Maglie (Brooklyn) and Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 28, Warren Spahn (Boston) 26, Larry Jansen (New York) 24, Don Newcombe and Preacher Roe (Brooklyn) 21, Ewell Blackwell (Cincinnati) 19, Ken Raffensberger (Cincinnati), Bubba Church (Philadelphia) and Murry Dickson (Pittsburgh) 18.

WAR scores: Robinson 9.8, Musial 8.7, Kiner 7.6, Campanella 7.0, Irvin 6.3, Ashburn 5.6, Gordon 5.5, Hodges 5.4, Dark 5.2, Thomson and Stanky 4.8, Jethroe 4.7, Reese 4.6, Earl Torgeson (Boston) 4.1. Willie Mays had 19 Win Shares and a 3.5 WAR.

Pitchers, Spahn 7.1, Roberts 6.9, Maglie 6.1 (career year), Jansen 5.8, Roe 5.6 (last big year), Raffensberger 4.3, Newcombe 3.9 (then to Korea for two years), Church 3.6 (last good year), Ralph Branca (Brooklyn) 3.5, Dickson and Howie Fox (Cincinnati) 3.3, Max Lanier (St. Louis) 3.2, Blackwell 3.1 (last good year),

Actual award voting, MVP: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--
1 Roy Campanella BRO 11 243 336 0.72 | 505 164 33 .325 .983 1|
2 Stan Musial STL 2 191 336 0.57 | 578 205 32 .355 1.063 4|
3 Monte Irvin NYG 5 166 336 0.49 | 558 174 24 .312 .929 12|
4 Sal Maglie NYG 1 153 336 0.46 | 112 17 1 .152 .347 0| 23-6 298 2.93 1.141 146 4
5 Preacher Roe BRO 2 138 336 0.41 | 89 10 0 .112 .244 0| 22-3 258 3.04 1.207 113
6 Jackie Robinson BRO 1 92 336 0.27 | 548 185 19 .338 .957 25|
7 Richie Ashburn PHI 0 69 336 0.21 | 643 221 4 .344 .819 29|
8 Bobby Thomson NYG 1 62 336 0.18 | 518 152 32 .293 .947 5|
9 Murry Dickson PIT 1 59 336 0.18 | 110 30 1 .273 .616 0| 20-16 289 4.02 1.368 112 2
10 Ralph Kiner PIT 0 49 336 0.15 | 531 164 42 .309 1.079 2|
11 Warren Spahn BSN 0 45 336 0.13 | 116 22 1 .190 .514 0| 22-14 311 2.98 1.246 164
12 Alvin Dark NYG 0 30 336 0.09 | 646 196 14 .303 .805 12|
13 Robin Roberts PHI 0 27 336 0.08 | 87 15 0 .172 .529 2| 21-15 315 3.03 1.105 127 2
14 Larry Jansen NYG 0 26 336 0.08 | 96 9 0 .094 .249 0| 23-11 279 3.04 1.112 145
15 Pee Wee Reese BRO 0 15 336 0.04 | 616 176 10 .286 .763 20|
16 Sid Gordon BSN 0 10 336 0.03 | 550 158 29 .287 .883 2|
16 Gil Hodges BRO 0 10 336 0.03 | 582 156 40 .268 .901 9|
18 Ken Raffensberger CIN 0 8 336 0.02 | 82 10 0 .122 .309 0| 16-17 249 3.44 1.086 81 5
19 Ewell Blackwell CIN 0 6 336 0.02 | 82 24 1 .293 .724 0| 16-15 233 3.44 1.294 120 2
19 Carl Furillo BRO 0 6 336 0.02 | 667 197 16 .295 .772 8|
19 Johnny Wyrostek CIN 0 6 336 0.02 | 537 167 2 .311 .767 2|
22 Don Newcombe BRO 0 3 336 0.01 | 103 23 0 .223 .558 0| 20-9 272 3.28 1.199 164
23 Phil Cavarretta CHC 0 1 336 0.00 | 206 64 6 .311 .835 0|
23 Hank Sauer CHC 0 1 336 0.00 | 525 138 30 .263 .810 2|
A divided vote, but a pretty solid victory for Campanella. Like in the AL, eight guys got first-place votes.

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+--+
1 Willie Mays NYG 18 18 24 0.75 | 464 127 20 .274 .828 7|
2 Chet Nichols BSN 4 4 24 0.17 | 51 7 0 .137 .275 0| 11-8 156 2.88 1.353 71 2
3 Clem Labine BRO 2 2 24 0.08 | 21 3 0 .143 .325 0| 5-1 65 2.21 1.103 39

A little surprising the vote was divided, but we have the benefit of hindsight.

Top player: Jackie Robinson. Since Kiner was no fielder, the best players in the league were Musial, Robinson, and Campanella. A strong case could be made for either of the three. I view Robinson as the more dominating force of this group, so I will select Jackie. I do not fault the writers for choosing Campanella, as that is a defensible choice.
#1 Jackie Robinson, #2 Stan Musial, #3 Roy Campanella, #4 Ralph Kiner, #5 Monte Irvin, #6 Richie Ashburn.

Top pitcher: Robin Roberts. Roberts and Spahn were the top NL pitchers through the 1950s, with others occasionally joining them. Roberts' quality was sometimes hidden on mediocre teams.
#1 Robin Roberts, #2 Warren Spahn, #3 Sal Maglie, #4 Larry Jansen, #5 Preacher Roe.

Top rookie: Willie Mays. It's obvious now, perhaps not as much then. It has to be Mays, if for no other reason than how he was the difference-maker in the pennant race.

Top manager: Leo Durocher spurred his team to a furious comeback.

1951 American League

The Yankees took their third straight pennant relatively easily, beating out Cleveland by 5 games. Boston finished third with the top offense but middle-of-the-pack pitching. A park tilted toward hitters had something to do with that. Chicago was 4th, followed by Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington. St. Louis lost 102 games to finish last, but still featured 20-game winner Ned Garver.

Saul Rogovin won a surprise ERA title in a career year split between Detroit and Chicago. Bob Feller led the league in wins. Ted Williams was the best hitter in his return to the lineup, but didn't win the batting title. Mickey Mantle debuted, Joe DiMaggio retired after the season, Yogi Berra won his first MVP and Gil McDougald won the Rookie award. It was a busy year capped by a Yankee World Series victory.

Ferris Fain won the batting title with a .344 average, but Ted Williams led in the other percentage categories; on-base, slugging, and OPS. They paid a lot less attention to those categories then. Dom DiMaggio led with 113 runs, George Kell with 191 hits, Kell, Sam Mele, and Eddie Yost with 36 doubles, Minnie Minoso with 14 triples and 31 steals, and Gus Zernial with 33 HR and 129 RBI.

Bob Feller won 22 games, while Ed Lopat and Vic Raschi won 21. Raschi topped the loop with 164 strikeouts. Saul Rogovin led with a 2.78 ERA, while Lopat was at 2.91. Ellis Kinder had 14 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Ted Williams (Boston) 34, Yogi Berra (New York) 31, Larry Doby (Cleveland) 29, Ed Yost (Washington) 27, Al Rosen (Cleveland), Minnie Minoso (Cleveland/Chicago) and Ed Joost (Philadelphia) 25, Bobby Avila (Cleveland) 24, Gil McDougald and Phil Rizzuto (New York) 23, Nellie Fox (Chicago), George Kell and Vic Wertz (Detroit) 22, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky (Boston) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Early Wynn (Cleveland) 24, Mel Parnell (Boston), Mike Garcia (Cleveland) and Ned Garver (St. Louis) 22, Billy Pierce (Chicago), Bob Lemon (Cleveland), Ed Lopat and Allie Reynolds (New York) 19, Ellis Kinder (Boston), Saul Rogovin (Detroit/Cleveland) and Bob Feller (Cleveland) 18.

WAR leaders: Williams 6.5, Doby 5.9, Joost 5.7, Minoso 5.4 (rookie by today's standards), Berra 5.1, McDougald 4.7 (rookie), Fox 4.4, Avila 4.2 (first full year), Rizzuto, Wertz, and Ferris Fain (Philadelphia) 4.1, Pesky 4.0 (last regular year), Yost 3.7, Gene Woodling (New York) and Elmer Valo (Philadelphia) 3.4, Rosen and Kell 3.1.

Pitchers, Wynn 5.4, Garver and Rogovin 5.0, Pierce 4.8, Lopat 4.7, Garcia 4.3, Parnell 4.2, Reynolds 4.1, Kinder (as a full-time reliever--2 starts) and Mickey McDermott (Boston) 3.8, Feller 3.6 (last good year), Vic Raschi (New York) 3.5.

Actual award voting, MVP: top 25
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-------
1 Yogi Berra NYY 6 184 336 0.55 | 547 161 27 .294 .842 5|
2 Ned Garver SLB 6 157 336 0.47 | 95 29 1 .305 .786 0| 20-12 246 3.73 1.354 84
3 Allie Reynolds NYY 6 125 336 0.37 | 76 14 0 .184 .494 1| 17-8 221 3.05 1.226 126 7
4 Minnie Minoso TOT 1 120 336 0.36 | +530 173 10 .326 .922 31|
5 Bob Feller CLE 0 118 336 0.35 | 81 10 0 .123 .338 0| 22-8 250 3.50 1.338 111
6 Ferris Fain PHA 1 103 336 0.31 | 425 146 6 .344 .921 0|
7 Ellis Kinder BOS 2 66 336 0.20 | 34 4 0 .118 .290 0| 11-2 127 2.55 1.213 84 14
8 Vic Raschi NYY 0 64 336 0.19 | 85 15 0 .176 .431 0| 21-10 258 3.28 1.301 164
9 Gil McDougald NYY 0 63 336 0.19 | 402 123 14 .306 .884 14|
10 Bobby Avila CLE 0 49 336 0.15 | 542 165 10 .304 .783 14|
11 Phil Rizzuto NYY 1 47 336 0.14 | 540 148 2 .274 .696 18|
12 Ed Lopat NYY 1 44 336 0.13 | 84 15 3 .179 .539 0| 21-9 235 2.91 1.193 93
13 Ted Williams BOS 0 35 336 0.10 | 531 169 30 .318 1.019 1|
14 Eddie Joost PHA 0 32 336 0.10 | 553 160 19 .289 .870 10|
15 George Kell DET 0 30 336 0.09 | 598 191 2 .319 .786 10|
16 Early Wynn CLE 0 29 336 0.09 | 108 20 1 .185 .540 0| 20-13 274 3.02 1.218 133 1
17 Nellie Fox CHW 0 25 336 0.07 | 604 189 4 .313 .798 9|
18 Billy Goodman BOS 0 21 336 0.06 | 546 162 0 .297 .761 7|
19 Dom DiMaggio BOS 0 16 336 0.05 | 639 189 12 .296 .788 4|
20 Gus Zernial TOT 0 15 336 0.04 | +571 153 33 .268 .856 2|
21 Bobby Shantz PHA 0 14 336 0.04 | 72 18 0 .250 .613 1| 18-10 205 3.95 1.378 77
22 Mike Garcia CLE 0 11 336 0.03 | 85 18 1 .212 .556 0| 20-13 254 3.15 1.264 118 6
23 Gil Coan WSH 0 8 336 0.02 | 538 163 9 .303 .782 8|
24 Mel Parnell BOS 0 7 336 0.02 | 81 25 0 .309 .709 0| 18-11 221 3.26 1.385 77 2
24 Eddie Robinson CHW 0 7 336 0.02 | 564 159 29 .282 .866 2|

Berra won a close MVP vote, but Williams was not a factor. Eight guys drew first-place votes.

Rookie of the Year: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+-----+---+----
1 Gil McDougald NYY 13 13 24 0.54 | 402 123 14 .306 .884 14|
2 Minnie Minoso TOT 11 11 24 0.46 | +530 173 10 .326 .922 31|

Top player: Ted Williams. The choice comes down to Williams vs. Berra, and the difference is how much importance you attach to being on the winning team. Williams was first in OPS+ with a 164, Berra 10th at 130. Berra was a much better defensive player, but not that much. Williams was low in the MVP voting, probably because he didn't lead the league in any of the attractive counting stat categories. What he was, was the most effective player in the league. Again.
#1 Ted Williams, #2 Yogi Berra, #3 Larry Doby, #4 Ed Joost, #5 Minnie Minoso, #6 Nellie Fox.

Top pitcher: Early Wynn takes the top spot in a year with no clear standout. Wynn led the league in innings and topped a fine Cleveland staff. Ned Garver, second in the MVP vote as a 20-game winner on an also-ran team, is second.
#1 Early Wynn, #2 Ned Garver, #3 Eddie Lopat, #4 Billy Pierce, #5 Mike Garcia.

Top rookie: Minnie Minoso finished ahead of Gil McDougald in MVP voting, then behind him in the Rookie ballot. That's weird. We'll correct it here. The Negro League veteran was the best new player in the AL, at .326. McDougald was great, too.

Top manager: Casey Stengel won his third straight pennant and World Series. It's hard to pick anyone else.

1950 National League

The pennant was won by a surprise from the Whiz Kids of Philadelphia, as the Phillies took their first pennant in 35 years. It was disappointing that young team could not put together a longer run of success. The Phils and that young core of talent slipped under .500 in 1951, and stayed around the middle of the league for the rest of the decade, unable to break out.

The Phils beat out the Dodgers by two games in a great pennant race, with New York 3rd, Boston 4th and St. Louis 5th. Cincinnati and Chicago followed, while Pittsburgh slipped to last as the Pirates were going into one of their worst phases. Dynasties were forming and wilting as the 1950s began. Jim Konstanty won an MVP as a reliever, since he was the big surprise with 16 wins and 22 saves.

Stan Musial won another batting title at .346 and also led in slugging and OPS. Eddie Stanky led in on-base. Earl Torgeson led with 120 runs, Duke Snider had 199 hits, Red Schoendienst had 43 doubles, Richie Ashburn 14 triples, Ralph Kiner 47 home runs, Del Ennis 126 RBI, and Sam Jethroe 35 steals.

Warren Spahn won 21, while Robin Roberts and Johnny Sain won 20. Spahn had 191 strikeouts to edge Ewell Blackwell at 188. Sal Maglie had a 2.71 ERA that bettered Blackwell's 2.97. Konstanty had 22 saves. Vern Bickford tossed 27 complete games.

Win Shares leaders, players; Earl Torgeson (Boston) and Stan Musial (St. Louis) 32, Eddie Stanky (New York) 30, Sid Gordon (Boston), Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider (Brooklyn) 29, Bob Elliott (Boston) and Andy Pafko (Chicago) 27, Del Ennis (Philadelphia) 26, Hank Thompson (New York), Richie Ashburn (Philadelphia) and Ralph Kiner (Pittsburgh) 23, Sam Jethroe (Boston, 32-year-old rookie), Roy Campanella (Brooklyn), Wes Westrum (New York), Willie Jones and Andy Seminick (Philadelphia) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Ewell Blackwell (Cincinnati) and Robin Roberts (Philadelphia) 26, Larry Jansen (New York) 25, Jim Konstanty (Philadelphia) 23, Don Newcombe (Brooklyn) 22, Warren Spahn (Boston), Preacher Roe (Brooklyn) and Sal Maglie (New York) 21, Howie Pollet (St. Louis) 19, Vern Bickford (Boston) 18.

WAR scores: Stanky 8.0, Robinson 7.5, Torgeson 6.4, Musial and Gordon 6.3, Pafko 6.2, Snider 5.6, Elliott 5.2, Ennis 5.1, Thompson 5.0 (career year), Kiner and Al Dark (New York) 4.7, Campanella 4.4, Seminick 4.3, Pee Wee Reese (Brooklyn) 3.9, Westrum 3.7 (career year).

Pitchers, Roberts 7.0, Blackwell 6.3, Roe 5.5, Jansen 5.4, Spahn 5.2, Bickford 5.1 (career year), Maglie (first full year at 33) 4.9, Pollet (last good year) and Max Lanier St. Louis) 4.4, Murry Dickson (Pittsburgh) 4.3, Newcombe 4.1, Konstanty 4.0 (career year).

Actual award voting: MVP:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Jim Konstanty PHI 18 286 336 0.85 | 37 4 0 .108 .216 0| 16-7 152 2.66 1.039 56 22
2 Stan Musial STL 1 158 336 0.47 | 555 192 28 .346 1.034 5|
3 Eddie Stanky NYG 2 144 336 0.43 | 527 158 8 .300 .872 9|
4 Del Ennis PHI 0 104 336 0.31 | 595 185 31 .311 .923 2|
5 Ralph Kiner PIT 1 91 336 0.27 | 547 149 47 .272 .998 2|
6 Granny Hamner PHI 2 79 336 0.24 | 637 172 11 .270 .694 2|
7 Robin Roberts PHI 0 68 336 0.20 | 102 12 0 .118 .299 0| 20-11 304 3.02 1.180 146 1
8 Gil Hodges BRO 0 55 336 0.16 | 561 159 32 .283 .875 6|
9 Duke Snider BRO 0 53 336 0.16 | 620 199 31 .321 .932 16|
10 Sal Maglie NYG 0 51 336 0.15 | 66 8 0 .121 .353 1| 18-4 206 2.71 1.238 96 1
11 Ewell Blackwell CIN 0 41 336 0.12 | 89 13 0 .146 .349 0| 17-15 261 2.97 1.207 188 4
12 Andy Pafko CHC 0 38 336 0.11 | 514 156 36 .304 .989 4|
13 Roy Campanella BRO 0 29 336 0.09 | 437 123 31 .281 .916 1|
14 Andy Seminick PHI 0 25 336 0.07 | 393 113 24 .288 .925 0|
15 Jackie Robinson BRO 0 23 336 0.07 | 518 170 14 .328 .923 12|
16 Curt Simmons PHI 0 22 336 0.07 | 77 12 0 .156 .373 0| 17-8 215 3.40 1.239 146 1
17 Preacher Roe BRO 0 15 336 0.04 | 91 14 0 .154 .337 0| 19-11 251 3.30 1.241 125 1
18 Ted Kluszewski CIN 0 14 336 0.04 | 538 165 25 .307 .863 3|
18 Don Newcombe BRO 0 14 336 0.04 | 97 24 1 .247 .648 0| 19-11 267 3.70 1.246 130 3
18 Warren Spahn BSN 0 14 336 0.04 | 106 23 1 .217 .511 1| 21-17 293 3.16 1.225 191 1
21 Johnny Sain BSN 0 12 336 0.04 | 102 21 1 .206 .512 0| 20-13 278 3.95 1.308 96
22 Sid Gordon BSN 0 11 336 0.03 | 481 146 27 .304 .960 2|
23 Jim Hearn TOT 0 10 336 0.03 | + 45 7 0 .156 .418 1|+11-4 134 2.49 0.955 58
24 Bob Elliott BSN 0 8 336 0.02 | 531 162 24 .305 .898 2|
24 Pee Wee Reese BRO 0 8 336 0.02 | 531 138 11 .260 .750 17|
24 Eddie Waitkus PHI 0 8 336 0.02 | 641 182 2 .284 .700 3|
27 Sam Jethroe BSN 0 6 336 0.02 | 582 159 18 .273 .780 35|
27 Earl Torgeson BSN 0 6 336 0.02 | 576 167 23 .290 .885 15|
29 Hank Sauer CHC 0 5 336 0.01 | 540 148 32 .274 .868 1|
30 Vern Bickford BSN 0 4 336 0.01 | 116 16 0 .138 .298 0| 19-14 312 3.46 1.331 126
30 Carl Furillo BRO 0 4 336 0.01 | 620 189 18 .305 .813 8|
32 Wes Westrum NYG 0 3 336 0.01 | 437 103 23 .236 .808 2|
33 Larry Jansen NYG 0 2 336 0.01 | 96 16 1 .167 .411 0| 19-13 275 3.01 1.065 161 3
33 Dick Sisler PHI 0 2 336 0.01 | 523 155 13 .296 .815 1|
33 Hank Thompson NYG 0 2 336 0.01 | 512 148 20 .289 .854 8|
36 Willie Jones PHI 0 1 336 0.00 | 610 163 25 .267 .793 5|

Rookie of the Year:
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+----+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Sam Jethroe BSN 11 11 24 0.46 | 582 159 18 .273 .780 35|
2 Bob Miller PHI 5 5 24 0.21 | 61 11 0 .180 .390 0| 11-6 174 3.57 1.420 44 1
3 Danny O'Connell PIT 4 4 24 0.17 | 315 92 8 .292 .768 7|
4 Bubba Church PHI 2 2 24 0.08 | 44 8 0 .182 .427 0| 8-6 142 2.73 1.190 50 1
5 Bill Serena CHC 1 1 24 0.04 | 435 104 17 .239 .760 1|

Top player: Jackie Robinson. I'll go with the best all-around player in the league over the loop's best hitter. There's a lot of ways to go with this. Musial, Robinson, best leadoff man Eddie Stanky, HR leader Kiner, RBI leader Ennis for the pennant winners, runs leader Torgeson, but Jackie was the best.
#1 Jackie Robinson, #2 Stan Musial, #3 Eddie Stanky, #4 Earl Torgeson, #5 Andy Pafko, #6 Duke Snider.

Top pitcher: Robin Roberts for the pennant winners, in another tough pick. Warren Spahn led in wins and strikeouts, Sal Maglie in ERA, Ewell Blackwell may have been most effective, Konstanty was outstanding, but Roberts presents the best overall case; 2nd in wins, 4th in ERA and strikeouts.
#1 Robin Roberts, #2 Ewell Blackwell, #3 Warren Spahn, #4 Larry Jansen, #5 Jim Konstanty.

Top rookie: Negro League veteran Sam Jethroe in a slack year for rookies. At .273 with 18 HR and 35 SB, Jethroe is the only viable candidate. Already approaching his mid-30s, Jethroe didn't last long.

Top manager: Eddie Sawyer got the Phillies to the Series.