1970 American League

The second year of divisional play brought repeats by Baltimore and Oakland, and a repeat by Baltimore in winning the LCS. It was a happier ending for Orioles' fans, as the Birds won the World Series in 5 games on a tremendous performance by Brooks Robinson. Seattle, on the verge of bankruptcy, was bought by a group of Milwaukee businessmen headed by Bud Selig and moved to the City of Beer on the very eve of the season. Court fights over this eventually brought baseball back to Seattle in 1977.
Expansion teams Kansas City and Milwaukee each lost 97 games, but were tied for fourth as the White Sox lost 106. This left Oakland and California 2nd and 3rd respectively. Baltimore easily outdistanced New York and Boston, with Detroit, Cleveland and Washington as also-rans. The East was much stronger than the West.

Alex Johnson led in batting average with his .329 mark edging Carl Yastremski's by a fraction of a point. Yaz led in on-base, slugging, and OPS. Tony Oliva was third at .325. Frank Howard led in HR with 44 and RBI with 126. Harmon Killebrew was second in homers with 41, followed by Yaz at 40. Tony Conigliaro was second in RBI with 116. Yaz had 125 runs, Cesar Tovar had 13 triples, and Tover, Oliva, and Amos Otis each had 36 doubles. Bert Campaneris had 42 steals. Boog Powell won an unlikely MVP award. Boog was 5th in homers, 3rd in RBI, and 3rd in OPS.

Diego Segui led in ERA with a 2.56 mark, followed by Jim Palmer at 2.71. Sam McDowell led in strikeouts with 304, followed by Mickey Lolich at 230. Ron Perranoski had 34 saves, and there was a three-way tie for wins between Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar, and Jim Perry with 24. Clyde Wright won 22. McDowell and Palmer led with 305 innings, Cuellar had 21 complete games. Perry took the Cy Young.

Win Shares leaders, players; Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) 36, Roy White (New York) 34, Jim Fregosi (California) and Tommy Harper (Milwaukee) 33, Boog Powell (Baltimore) 31, Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva (Minnesota) and Frank Howard (Washington) 30, Alex Johnson (California) and Cesar Tovar (Minnesota) 28, Bobby Murcer (New York) 27, Don Buford and Frank Robinson (Baltimore), Thurman Munson (New York) and Bert Campaneris (Oakland) 26, Reggie Smith (Boston) and Amos Otis (Kansas City) 25, Sal Bando (Oakland) 24, Dave Johnson (Baltimore) and Rico Petrocelli (Boston) 23, Paul Blair (Baltimore) 22, Brooks Robinson (Baltimore) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Sam McDowell (Cleveland) 30, Jim Palmer (Baltimore) 25, Dave McNally (Baltimore) 22, Jim Perry (Minnesota) 21, Clyde Wright (California) and Mudcat Grant (Oakland) 20, Lindy McDaniel and Fritz Peterson (New York) 19, Mike Cuellar (Baltimore) and Mel Stottlemyre (New York) 18, Ray Culp (Boston), Tommy John (Chicago) and Mickey Lolich (Detroit) 17.

WARP3 scores: Yastrzemski 7.1, White 6.7, Fregosi 6.1 (last good year), Harper 8.6 (career year), Powell 7.1, Killebrew 5.2, Oliva 6.0, Howard 6.2, Johnson 5.0, Tovar 2.8, Murcer 2.5, Buford 3.4, F. Robinson 4.3, Munson 6.3 (rookie), Campaneris 7.0, Smith 4.5, Otis 3.1, Bando 4.8, Johnson 5.1, Petrocelli 5.9, Blair 5.3, B. Robinson 3.5. Pitchers, McDowell 6.9, Palmer 5.6, McNally 3.9, Perry 5.0, Wright 4.5, Grant 4.9, McDaniel 4.4, Peterson 4.6, Cuellar 2.1, Stottlemyre 4.1, Culp 5.3, John 6.3, Lolich 4.6.

Actual award winners;
MVP (top 20 | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+------+---+-----+--+--+
1 Boog Powell BAL 11 234 336 0.70 | 526 156 35 .297 .962 1|
2 Tony Oliva MIN 5 157 336 0.47 | 628 204 23 .325 .878 5|
3 Harmon Killebrew MIN 1 152 336 0.45 | 527 143 41 .271 .957 0|
4 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 2 136 336 0.40 | 566 186 40 .329 1.044 23|
5 Frank Howard WSA 1 91 336 0.27 | 566 160 44 .283 .962 1|
6 Tommy Harper MIL 1 78 336 0.23 | 604 179 31 .296 .899 38|
7 Brooks Robinson BAL 2 75 336 0.22 | 608 168 18 .276 .764 1|
8 Alex Johnson CAL 0 70 336 0.21 | 614 202 14 .329 .830 17|
9 Jim Perry MIN 0 63 336 0.19 | 97 24 1 .247 .572 0| 24-12 279 3.04 1.130 168
10 Frank Robinson BAL 0 60 336 0.18 | 471 144 25 .306 .918 2|
11 Mike Cuellar BAL 0 45 336 0.13 | 112 10 2 .089 .257 0| 24-8 298 3.48 1.149 190
12 Luis Aparicio CHW 0 35 336 0.10 | 552 173 5 .313 .776 8|
12 Jim Fregosi CAL 0 35 336 0.10 | 601 167 22 .278 .812 0|
12 Ron Perranoski MIN 1 35 336 0.10 | 24 1 0 .042 .083 0| 7-8 111 2.43 1.351 55 34
15 Roy White NYY 0 25 336 0.07 | 609 180 22 .296 .860 24|
16 Sam McDowell CLE 0 22 336 0.07 | 105 13 1 .124 .293 0| 20-12 305 2.92 1.203 304
16 Dave McNally BAL 0 22 336 0.07 | 105 14 1 .133 .461 0| 24-9 296 3.22 1.199 185
18 Cesar Tovar MIN 0 16 336 0.05 | 650 195 10 .300 .798 30|
19 Thurman Munson NYY 0 15 336 0.04 | 453 137 6 .302 .801 5|
20 Don Buford BAL 0 12 336 0.04 | 504 137 17 .272 .816 16|

Powell was a clear winner of a very divided vote. No one was sure who was the MVP. 8 guys got first-place votes. You gotta love the guy who cast a first-place vote for Ron Perranoski.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Jim Perry MIN 6 55 120 0.46 | 24-12 279 3.04 1.130 168
2 Dave McNally BAL 5 47 120 0.39 | 24-9 296 3.22 1.199 185
3 Sam McDowell CLE 4 45 120 0.38 | 20-12 305 2.92 1.203 304
4 Mike Cuellar BAL 6 44 120 0.37 | 24-8 298 3.48 1.149 190
5 Jim Palmer BAL 1 11 120 0.09 | 20-10 305 2.71 1.190 199
6 Clyde Wright CAL 1 9 120 0.08 | 22-12 261 2.83 1.204 110
7 Ron Perranoski MIN 1 5 120 0.04 | 7-8 111 2.43 1.351 55 34
The first year for 1-2-3 balloting, and again a very divided ballot. All seven pitchers named got at least one first-place vote.

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+---+---+------+--+
1 Thurman Munson NYY 23 23 24 0.96 | 453 137 6 .302 .801 5|
2 Roy Foster CLE 1 1 24 0.04 | 477 128 23 .268 .824 3|
This voting, at least, was clear.

Top player: Carl Yastrzemski. Clearly the best player in the league, with the OPS lead and good defense.
#1 Carl Yastrzemski, #2 Tommy Harper, #3 Boog Powell, #4 Roy White, #5 Jim Fregosi.

Top pitcher: Sam McDowell, one of four in the running for the writers' award. Sudden Sam should have gotten the call in this, his last big season.
#1 Sam McDowell, #2 Jim Palmer, #3 Jim Perry, #4 Mudcat Grant, #5 Clyde Wright.

Top rookie: Thurman Munson, pretty easily.

Top manager: Earl Weaver won an awful lot of games.

1969 National League

Expansion swelled the league to 12 teams and 2 divisions. San Diego was added, as was Montreal, making this a truly international league. Atlanta won a strong West Division, with San Franciso 3 games out, Cincinnati four back, Los Angeles 8 behind, and Houston 12 back with their first .500 finish ever. San Diego was last, of course, with 110 losses. In the East, a big surprise as the Mets took first place with 100 victories. The best the now 8-year-old franchise had managed before was 73 wins. Chicago led for the first half but fell off to 8 games out. Pittsburgh finished 12 out and St. Louis was 13 back. Philadelphia lost 99 games and was the only returning team below .500. Montreal lost 110 games, the same as their sister Padres franchise did. The Mets had more surprises up their jersey sleeves, as they upset the Braves in the inaugural League Championship Series, then toppled the mighty Orioles in the World Series.

Pete Rose won his second straight batting title with a .348 average, edging Roberto Clemente's .345. Cleon Jones was third at .340. Lou Brock led in steals with 53, edging Joe Morgan at 49. Willie McCovey led in HR, RBI, and OPS, and won the MVP. McCovey's 45 HR was just ahead of Hank Aaron at 44, while Mac's 126 RBI edged Ron Santo at 123 and Tony Perez at 122. Bobby Bonds and Rose each scored 120 runs. Matty Alou had 231 hits. Alou had 41 doubles and Clemente 12 triples.

Tom Seaver led in wins with 25 and got the Cy Young. Phil Niekro was second with 23 victories. Sevem others won 20 or more. Fergie Jenkins led in strikeouts with 273, edging Bob Gibson at 269. Juan Marichal led in ERA with a 2.10 mark, followed by Steve Carlton at 2.17, Gibson at 2.18, and Seaver at 2.21. Fred Gladding led in saves with 29, followed by Wayne Granger and Cecil Upshaw at 27.

Win Shares leaders, players; Willie McCovey (San Francisco) 39, Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) 38, Pete Rose (Cincinnati) 37, Jim Wynn (Houston) 36, Tony Perez (Cincinnati) and Bobby Bonds (San Francisco) 31, Cleon Jones (New York) 30, Johnny Bench (Cincinnati), Tommie Agee (New York) and Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 28, Bobby Tolan (Cincinnati), Rusty Staub (Montreal), Matty Alou and Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh) 27, Ron Santo (Chicago) and Lee May (Cincinnati) 26, Billy Williams (Chicago) and Joe Morgan (Houston) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bob Gibson (St. Louis) 33, Tom Seaver (New York) 32, Juan Marichal (San Francisco) 29, Phil Niekro (Atlanta) and Bill Hands (Chicago) 28, Claude Osteen and Bill Singer (Los Angeles) and Gaylord Perry (San Francisco) 26, Fergie Jenkins (Chicago), Larry Dierker (Houston) and Jerry Koosman (New York) 25, Steve Carlton (St. Louis) 24.

WARP3 scores: McCovey 11.4 (best year), Aaron 10.2, Rose 10.1, Wynn 9.7, Perez 10.5, Bonds 9.9, Jones 9.4 (career year), Bench 9.3, Agee 8.4, Clemente 8.5, Tolan 7.6, Staub 9.7, Alou 6.3, Stargell 8.3, Santo 6.1, May 6.4, Williams 6.4, Morgan 5.9. Pitchers, Gibson 11.5, Seaver 8.7, Marichal 9.5 (last big year), Niekro 9.4, Hands 9.6 (career year), Osteen 8.8, Singer 7.3, Perry 7.7, Jenkins 8.9, Dierker 11.6 (career year), Koosman 5.9, Carlton 8.9.

Actual award winners:
MVP (top 20: 38 players received at least one vote) | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+----+-----+---+--+
1 Willie McCovey SFG 11 265 336 0.79 | 491 157 45 .320 1.108 0|
2 Tom Seaver NYM 11 243 336 0.72 | 91 11 0 .121 .354 1| 25-7 273 2.21 1.039 208
3 Hank Aaron ATL 2 188 336 0.56 | 547 164 44 .300 1.003 9|
4 Pete Rose CIN 0 127 336 0.38 | 627 218 16 .348 .940 7|
5 Ron Santo CHC 0 124 336 0.37 | 575 166 29 .289 .869 1|
6 Tommie Agee NYM 0 89 336 0.26 | 565 153 26 .271 .806 12|
7 Cleon Jones NYM 0 82 336 0.24 | 483 164 12 .340 .904 16|
8 Roberto Clemente PIT 0 51 336 0.15 | 507 175 19 .345 .955 4|
9 Phil Niekro ATL 0 47 336 0.14 | 95 20 0 .211 .479 0| 23-13 284 2.56 1.027 193 1
10 Tony Perez CIN 0 28 336 0.08 | 629 185 37 .294 .883 4|
11 Maury Wills TOT 0 17 336 0.05 | +623 171 4 .274 .673 40|
12 Ernie Banks CHC 0 15 336 0.04 | 565 143 23 .253 .725 0|
13 Johnny Bench CIN 0 12 336 0.04 | 532 156 26 .293 .840 6|
13 Rico Carty ATL 0 12 336 0.04 | 304 104 16 .342 .951 0|
15 Tony Gonzalez TOT 0 8 336 0.02 | +502 135 12 .269 .724 4|
15 Wayne Granger CIN 0 8 336 0.02 | 21 2 0 .095 .304 0| 9-6 145 2.80 1.265 68 27
15 Ron Hunt SFG 0 8 336 0.02 | 478 125 3 .262 .702 9|
15 Don Kessinger CHC 0 8 336 0.02 | 664 181 4 .273 .698 11|
15 Denis Menke HOU 0 8 336 0.02 | 553 149 10 .269 .756 2|
15 Jimmy Wynn HOU 0 8 336 0.02 | 495 133 33 .269 .943 23|
McCovey and Seaver got the same number of first-place votes, but Big Mac got more overall support.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Tom Seaver NYM 23 23 24 0.96 | 25-7 273 2.21 1.039 208
2 Phil Niekro ATL 1 1 24 0.04 | 23-13 284 2.56 1.027 193 1
Niekro actually got a vote!

Rookie: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Ted Sizemore LAD 14 14 24 0.58 | 590 160 4 .271 .670 5|
2 Coco Laboy MON 3 3 24 0.12 | 562 145 18 .258 .717 0|
2 Al Oliver PIT 3 3 24 0.12 | 463 132 17 .285 .778 8|
4 Bob Didier ATL 2 2 24 0.08 | 352 90 0 .256 .628 1|
4 Larry Hisle PHI 2 2 24 0.08 | 482 128 20 .266 .797 18|

Top player: Willie McCovey. Other arguments can be made, but McCovey is on top of both meta-stats, as well as the writers' vote. That's a clean sweep.
#1 Willie McCovey, #2 Hank Aaron, #3 Pete Rose, #4 Jimmy Wynn, #5 Tony Perez, #6 Bobby Bonds.

Top pitcher: Bob Gibson. Seaver got all the attention, but Gibson had a better year. He wasn't as good as in 1968, so he didn't get the notice.
#1 Bob Gibson, #2 Juan Marichal, #3 Tom Seaver, #4 Phil Niekro, #5 Larry Dierker, #6 Bill Hands.

Top rookie: Al Oliver. Oliver, Hisle, and Richie Hebner are all viable candidates. Not sure how Sizemore snuck in there.

Top manager: Gil Hodges turned in one of the great all-time managing jobs.

1969 American League

Expansion came, giving the AL 12 teams and 2 divisions. Seattle received the Pilots (who would fly to a new home in Milwaukee during spring training 1970) and the AL returned to Kansas City with the Royals franchise. Both new teams inhabited the West division along with Minnesota, Oakland, Chicago and California. The East included six established teams, with Boston, New York, Baltimore, Cleveland, Washington, and defending champs Detroit. Baltimore proved to be a powerhouse, with 109 wins and a 19-game margin over the Tigers in the East. Minnesota took the West by 9 games over surging Oakland. Cleveland ended up with the worst record in the league, at 99 losses.

Rod Carew won his first (of many) batting title by posting a .332 average, Tommy Harper led in steals with 73, and Reggie Jackson led in slugging and OPS. Harmon Killebrew led in on-base, HR and RBI and took the MVP award. Killebrew had 49 HR and 140 RBI. Frank Howard was second with 48 HR, Boog Powell second with 121 RBI. Jackson scored 123 runs. Tony Oliva had 197 hits and 39 doubles. Del Unser had 8 triples.

Denny McLain led in wins again but was down to a "mere" 24, and tied for the Cy Young with 23-game winner Mike Cuellar. Dick Bosman led in ERA with a 2.19 mark, followed by Jim Palmer at 2.34. Sam McDowell led in strikeouts with 279, Mickey Lolich was second with 271. Ron Perranoski led in saves with 31. McLain had 325 innings and 9 shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, players; Reggie Jackson (Oakland) 41, Rico Petrocelli (Boston) 37, Sal Bando (Oakland) 36, Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota) and Frank Howard (Washington) 34, Frank Robinson (Baltimore) 32, Paul Blair (Baltimore) 28, Boog Powell (Baltimore) and Jim Northrup (Detroit) 27, Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) and Jim Fregosi (California) 26, Tony Oliva (Minnesota) 25, Don Buford (Baltimore), Mike Andrews and Reggie Smith (Boston), and Mike Epstein and Ken McMullen (Washington) 24, Leo Cardenas (Minnesota) and Horace Clarke (New York) 23, Roy White (New York) and Dick Green (Oakland) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Denny McLain (Detroit) 29, Mel Stottlemyre (New York) 26, Mike Cuellar (Baltimore) 24, Fritz Peterson (New York) 23, Andy Messersmith (California) 22, Ken Tatum (California), Sam McDowell (Cleveland), Mickey Lolich (Detroit), Ron Perranoski and Jim Perry (Minnesota) 20, Jim Palmer (Baltimore) and Blue Moon Odom (Oakland) 18.

WARP3 scores: Jackson 11.8, Petrocelli 11.1, Bando 9.7, Killebrew 9.4, Howard 8.3, Robinson 10.2, Blair 9.3, Powell 8.1, Northrup 6.4, Yastrzemski 6.7, Fregosi 8.0, Oliva 7.7, Buford 6.3, Andrews 5.4, Smith 6.6, Epstein 6.5, McMullen 7.5, Cardenas 9.1, Clarke 7.7, White 7.3, Green 7.5 (best year). Pitchers, McLain 9.5, Stottlemyre 7.8, Cuellar 6.6, Peterson 6.9 (best year), Messersmith 8.7, Tatum 7.4 (rookie), McDowell 9.0, Lolich 6.7, Perranoski 8.4, Perry 7.9, Palmer 5.8, Odom 6.2.

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 Harmon Killebrew MIN 16 294 336 0.88 | 555 153 49 .276 1.011 8|
2 Boog Powell BAL 6 227 336 0.68 | 533 162 37 .304 .942 1|
3 Frank Robinson BAL 2 162 336 0.48 | 539 166 32 .308 .955 9|
4 Frank Howard WSA 0 115 336 0.34 | 592 175 48 .296 .976 1|
5 Reggie Jackson OAK 0 110 336 0.33 | 549 151 47 .275 1.018 13|
6 Denny McLain DET 0 85 336 0.25 | 106 17 0 .160 .348 0| 24-9 325 2.80 1.092 181
7 Rico Petrocelli BOS 0 71 336 0.21 | 535 159 40 .297 .992 3|
8 Mike Cuellar BAL 0 55 336 0.16 | 103 12 0 .117 .279 0| 23-11 291 2.38 1.004 182
9 Jim Perry MIN 0 40 336 0.12 | 93 16 0 .172 .430 0| 20-6 262 2.82 1.185 153
10 Rod Carew MIN 0 30 336 0.09 | 458 152 8 .332 .853 19|
11 Paul Blair BAL 0 28 336 0.08 | 625 178 26 .285 .804 20|
12 Leo Cardenas MIN 0 27 336 0.08 | 578 162 10 .280 .741 5|
13 Dave McNally BAL 0 25 336 0.07 | 94 8 1 .085 .295 0| 20-7 269 3.22 1.176 166
13 Ron Perranoski MIN 0 25 336 0.07 | 24 2 0 .083 .237 0| 9-10 120 2.11 1.145 62 31
15 Tony Oliva MIN 0 21 336 0.06 | 637 197 24 .309 .851 10|
16 Sal Bando OAK 0 18 336 0.05 | 609 171 31 .281 .885 1|
17 Cesar Tovar MIN 0 9 336 0.03 | 535 154 11 .288 .757 45|
18 Mel Stottlemyre NYY 0 8 336 0.02 | 101 18 1 .178 .498 0| 20-14 303 2.82 1.201 113
18 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 0 8 336 0.02 | 603 154 40 .255 .870 15|
20 Ed Brinkman WSA 0 7 336 0.02 | 576 153 2 .266 .653 2|
20 Jim Fregosi CAL 0 7 336 0.02 | 580 151 12 .260 .742 9|
22 Reggie Smith BOS 0 6 336 0.02 | 543 168 25 .309 .895 7|
23 Brooks Robinson BAL 0 5 336 0.01 | 598 140 23 .234 .693 2|
23 Del Unser WSA 0 5 336 0.01 | 581 166 7 .286 .731 8|
25 Mike Epstein WSA 0 4 336 0.01 | 403 112 30 .278 .965 2|
It was a power hitters' year with Killebrew and Powell running 1-2.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Mike Cuellar BAL 10 10 24 0.42 | 23-11 291 2.38 1.004 182
1 Denny McLain DET 10 10 24 0.42 | 24-9 325 2.80 1.092 181
3 Jim Perry MIN 3 3 24 0.12 | 20-6 262 2.82 1.185 153
4 Dave McNally BAL 1 1 24 0.04 | 20-7 269 3.22 1.176 166

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 Lou Piniella KCR 9 9 24 0.38 | 493 139 11 .282 .741 2|
2 Mike Nagy BOS 6 6 24 0.25 | 65 5 0 .077 .259 1| 12-2 197 3.11 1.469 84
3 Carlos May CHW 5 5 24 0.21 | 367 103 18 .281 .873 1|
4 Ken Tatum CAL 4 4 24 0.17 | 21 6 2 .286 .937 0| 7-2 86 1.36 1.043 65 22

With the two-division setup, the normal voting habits were disturbed. It caused some confusion, having two "winners" at the end of the regular season.

Top player: Reggie Jackson. The best players in the league were Jackson and Petrocelli, and Jackson was much closer to the pennant race. So, in a close race, the edge goes to the contender.
#1 Reggie Jackson, #2 Rico Petrocelli, #3 Frank Robinson, #4 Harmon Killebrew, #5 Sal Bando, #6 Paul Blair.

Top pitcher: Denny McLain. The second year in a row at the top for McLain, and the last. His troubles, legal and otherwise, began soon after.
#1 Denny McLain, #2 Mel Stottlemyre, #3 Andy Messersmith, #4 Sam McDowell, #5 Ron Perranoski.

Top rookie: Lou Piniella. Tatum had the better year, but Piniella had more long-term potential.

Top manager: Earl Weaver pushed the right buttons for the Orioles.

1968 National League

The 97-win Cardinals won the pennant easily, by nine games over the Giants. Chicago was third, Cincinnati 4th and Atlanta 5th. Pittsburgh was 6th, LA and Philly tied for 7th, the Mets 9th (their second time of not being last) and the Astros last with 90 losses.

Pete Rose won his first batting title by three points, .335 to .332, over Matty Alou. Rose also led in OBP. Willie McCovey led in HR with 36, RBI with 105, slugging, and OPS. McCovey was the league's only 100-RBI guy, as Ron Santo and Billy Williams tied for second with 98. Richie Allen was second with 33 HR. Rose and Felipe Alou each had 210 hits. Lou Brock led in doubles with 46, triples with 14, and steals with 62.

"The year of the pitcher" was evident in the National League. Don Drysdale hurled 58 consecutive shutout innings while Bob Gibson tossed 13 shutouts and posted a 1.12 ERA for the season. Gibson started 34 games, and completed 28 of them. In the other six, he was removed from a pinch-hitter. That may be a modern record, over 30 starts and never relieved in the middle of an inning. Gibson won the MVP for his performance. Juan Marichal led in wins with 26, followed by Gibson at 22, while Gibson of course led in ERA as well as strikeouts with 268. Fergie Jenkins was second in strikeouts with 260, and third in wins with 20. Bob Bolin was second in ERA with a 1.99 mark. Marichal had 326 innings and 30 complete games. Phil Regan led in saves with 25.

Win Shares leaders, players; Willie McCovey (San Francisco) 34, Hank Aaron (Atlanta), Pete Rose (Cincinnati), Jim Wynn (Houston) and Dick Allen (Philadelphia) 32, Felipe Alou (Atlanta) and Lou Brock (St. Louis) 31, Billy Williams (Chicago) and Willie Mays (San Francisco) 30, Ron Santo (Chicago) and Rusty Staub (Houston) 28, Tom Haller (Los Angeles) and Curt Flood (St. Louis) 27, Tony Perez (Cincinnati) and Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 25, Johnny Bench (Cincinnati) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Bob Gibson (St. Louis) 36, Fergie Jenkins (Chicago) 25, Juan Marichal (San Francisco) 24, Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver (New York) 23, Phil Regan (LA/Chicago) 20, Pat Jarvis (Atlanta) and Gaylord Perry (San Francisco) 19, Phil Niekro (Atlanta), Bill Hands (Chicago), Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) and Chris Short (Philadelphia) 18.

WARP3 scores: McCovey 10.2, Aaron 12.4, Rose 10.0, Wynn 10.4, Allen 8.3, Alou 8.9, Brock 8.7, Williams 7.7, Mays 10.7, Santo 10.0 (last big year), Staub 7.0, Haller 8.3 (career year), Flood 7.9, Perez 9.7, Clemente 9.9, Bench 8.1 (rookie). Pitchers, Gibson 13.3, Jenkins 8.8, Marichal 7.0, Koosman 6.3 (rookie), Seaver 7.7, Jarvis 5.4, Regan 5.8, Perry 6.1, Niekro 5.7, Hands 4.4, Drysdale 6.3 (last good year), Short 6.4 (last good year).

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 Bob Gibson STL 14 242 280 0.86 | 94 16 0 .170 .456 1| 22-9 305 1.12 0.853 268
2 Pete Rose CIN 6 205 280 0.73 | 626 210 10 .335 .861 3|
3 Willie McCovey SFG 0 135 280 0.48 | 523 153 36 .293 .923 4|
4 Curt Flood STL 0 116 280 0.41 | 618 186 5 .301 .705 11|
5 Juan Marichal SFG 0 93 280 0.33 | 123 20 0 .163 .376 0| 26-9 326 2.43 1.046 218
6 Lou Brock STL 0 73 280 0.26 | 660 184 6 .279 .746 62|
7 Mike Shannon STL 0 55 280 0.20 | 576 153 15 .266 .710 1|
8 Billy Williams CHC 0 48 280 0.17 | 642 185 30 .288 .836 4|
9 Glenn Beckert CHC 0 40 280 0.14 | 643 189 4 .294 .695 8|
10 Felipe Alou ATL 0 33 280 0.12 | 662 210 11 .317 .803 12|
11 Matty Alou PIT 0 32 280 0.11 | 558 185 0 .332 .758 18|
12 Hank Aaron ATL 0 19 280 0.07 | 606 174 29 .287 .852 28|
13 Ernie Banks CHC 0 14 280 0.05 | 552 136 32 .246 .756 2|
13 Jerry Koosman NYM 0 14 280 0.05 | 91 7 1 .077 .227 0| 19-12 264 2.08 1.100 178
13 Willie Mays SFG 0 14 280 0.05 | 498 144 23 .289 .860 12|
16 Johnny Bench CIN 0 11 280 0.04 | 564 155 15 .275 .743 1|
17 Phil Regan TOT 0 7 280 0.02 | + 21 3 0 .143 .372 0|+12-5 135 2.27 1.069 67 25
18 Fergie Jenkins CHC 0 6 280 0.02 | 100 16 1 .160 .438 0| 20-15 308 2.63 1.039 260
19 Tony Perez CIN 0 5 280 0.02 | 625 176 18 .282 .769 3|
20 Nelson Briles STL 0 4 280 0.01 | 80 11 0 .138 .349 0| 19-11 244 2.81 1.256 141
20 Dal Maxvill STL 0 4 280 0.01 | 459 116 1 .253 .627 0|
22 Steve Blass PIT 0 3 280 0.01 | 80 11 0 .138 .305 0| 18-6 220 2.12 1.126 132
22 Tom Haller LAD 0 3 280 0.01 | 474 135 4 .285 .733 1|
24 Ron Santo CHC 0 2 280 0.01 | 577 142 26 .246 .775 3|
25 Clay Carroll TOT 0 1 280 0.00 | + 29 6 0 .207 .440 0|+ 7-8 144 2.69 1.153 71 17
25 Tommy Helms CIN 0 1 280 0.00 | 507 146 2 .288 .668 5|
Gibson and Rose were the contenders, and Gibson won. Deservedly so.

Cy Young: Gibson was a unanimous pick.

Rookie: 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 Johnny Bench CIN 10 10 20 0.50 | 564 155 15 .275 .743 1|
2 Jerry Koosman NYM 9 9 20 0.45 | 91 7 1 .077 .227 0| 19-12 264 2.08 1.100 178
A close one between two outstanding rookies.

Top player: Hank Aaron. Aaron wins for his combination of solid hitting and solid defense. Rose was a bit behind him offensively, McCovey was not his equal with the glove.
#1 Hank Aaron, #2 Willie McCovey, #3 Pete Rose, #4 Jim Wynn, #5 Willie Mays, #6 Ron Santo.

Top pitcher: Bob Gibson. There can be no other answer to this question in 1968.
#1 Bob Gibson, #2 Fergie Jenkins, #3 Juan Marichal, #4 Tom Seaver, #5 Jerry Koosman.

Top rookie: Johnny Bench. Not by a large margin over Koosman, but by enough.

Top manager: Red Schoendienst won the pennant again.

1968 American League

"The Year of the Pitcher" saw only one AL .300 hitter, Carl Yastrzemski winning the batting title at a mere .301. After this season, the strike zone was shrunk and the mound lowered to bring back offense. Detroit's Denny McLain won 31 games, the first 30-game winner for years. The Tigers won 103 games and the pennant pretty easily, with a 12-game margin over 1966 winners Baltimore, as McLain won the MVP. Cleveland was 3rd, Boston fell from the pennant to 4th, New York back up to 5th, and Oakland (formerly Kansas City) 6th, while below .500 were Minnesota 7th, California and Chicago (tied) and Washington last.

Yaz also led in walks, on-base, and OPS, Frank Howard in home runs with 44, Ken Harrelson in RBI with 109. Howard, at 106, was the only other guy to drive in 100 runs. Bert Campaneris had 177 hits and 62 steals, Dick McAuliffe had 95 runs, Reggie Smith hit 37 doubles and Jim Fregosi 13 triples. Willie Horton was second in homers with 36. Second place in batting average was Danny Cater, at .290. So not only was there only one .300 hitter, it wasn't really even close.

Luis Tiant led in ERA with a 1.60 mark. It wasn't out of line with others: Sam McDowell posted a 1.81 mark, Dave McNally 1.95, McLain 1.96, Tommy John 1.98. It was a ridiculous year for pitching. McDowell led in strikeouts with 283, followed by McLain with 280. McLain's 31 wins and 28 complete games were well ahead of the pack: McNally was second in wins with 22. Mel Stottlemyre and Tiant each won 21. Al Worthington led in saves with 18. 45-year-old Hoyt Wilhelm tied for fourth in saves.

Win Shares leaders, players; Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) 39, Frank Howard (Washington) 38, Bill Freehan (Detroit) 35, Roy White (New York) and Bert Campaneris (Oakland) 29, Ken Harrelson (Boston), Willie Horton and Dick McAuliffe (Detroit) 28, Rick Monday (Oakland) 26, Don Buford and Brooks Robinson (Baltimore), Reggie Smith (Boston) and Reggie Jackson (Oakland) 25, Frank Robinson (Baltimore), Mike Andrews (Boston), Jim Northrup (Detroit), Mickey Mantle (New York) 24 and Ken McMullen (Washington) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Denny McLain (Detroit) 33, Luis Tiant (Cleveland) 28, Dave McNally (Baltimore) 26, Sam McDowell (Cleveland) and Stan Bahnsen (New York) 23, Mel Stottlemyre (New York) 22, Dean Chance (Minnesota) 21, Wilbur Wood (Chicago) 19, Earl Wilson (Detroit) and Blue Moon Odom (Oakland) 17.

WARP3 scores: Yastrzemski 12.0, Howard 9.1, Freehan 11.3, White 8.1, Campaneris 10.8 (career year), Harrelson 7.5 (career year), Horton 7.4 (career year), McAuliffe 8.5, Monday 6.8, Buford 8.3, B. Robinson 9.0, Smith 5.6, Jackson 8.3, F. Robinson 6.9, Andrews 6.7 (career year), Northrup 8.2, Mantle 6.3, McMullen 5.5. Pitchers, McLain 10.3, Tiant 9.9, McNally 9.1, McDowell 7.7, Bahnsen 6.7 (rookie), Stottlemyre 6.9, Chance 8.2 (last good year), Wood 7.8, Wilson 5.7, Odom 5.9.

Actual award winners:
MVP: (top 20)| Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+----+---+-------+--+
1 Denny McLain DET 20 280 280 1.00 | 111 18 0 .162 .359 0| 31-6 336 1.96 0.905 280
2 Bill Freehan DET 0 161 280 0.58 | 540 142 25 .263 .819 0|
3 Ken Harrelson BOS 0 103 280 0.37 | 535 147 35 .275 .874 2|
4 Willie Horton DET 0 102 280 0.36 | 512 146 36 .285 .895 0|
5 Dave McNally BAL 0 78 280 0.28 | 86 11 3 .128 .453 0| 22-10 273 1.95 0.842 202
5 Luis Tiant CLE 0 78 280 0.28 | 87 7 0 .080 .172 0| 21-9 258 1.60 0.871 264
7 Dick McAuliffe DET 0 71 280 0.25 | 570 142 16 .249 .755 8|
8 Frank Howard WSA 0 63 280 0.22 | 598 164 44 .274 .890 0|
9 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 0 50 280 0.18 | 539 162 23 .301 .922 13|
10 Mel Stottlemyre NYY 0 43 280 0.15 | 91 13 0 .143 .386 0| 21-12 279 2.45 1.105 140
11 Bert Campaneris OAK 0 39 280 0.14 | 642 177 4 .276 .692 62|
12 Roy White NYY 0 17 280 0.06 | 577 154 17 .267 .764 20|
13 Jim Northrup DET 0 15 280 0.05 | 580 153 21 .264 .770 4|
14 Luis Aparicio CHW 0 13 280 0.05 | 622 164 4 .264 .636 17|
15 Don Buford BAL 0 11 280 0.04 | 426 120 15 .282 .804 27|
15 Jim Fregosi CAL 0 11 280 0.04 | 614 150 9 .244 .680 9|
17 Reggie Jackson OAK 0 8 280 0.03 | 553 138 29 .250 .768 14|
17 Brooks Robinson BAL 0 8 280 0.03 | 608 154 17 .253 .720 1|
19 Danny Cater OAK 0 5 280 0.02 | 504 146 6 .290 .729 8|
19 Tony Oliva MIN 0 5 280 0.02 | 470 136 18 .289 .833 10|
McLain won unanimously, and was not a bad pick. I think I would have chosen Freehan, though.

Cy Young: McLain was a unanimous pick again.

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 Stan Bahnsen NYY 17 17 20 0.85 | 81 4 0 .049 .163 0| 17-12 267 2.05 1.062 162
2 Del Unser WSA 3 3 20 0.15 | 635 146 1 .230 .560 11|
Bahnsen won but Unser received support, which was odd because Unser didn't have nearly the year Bahnsen had.

Top player: Bill Freehan. It's a toss-up between him and Yaz, but Freehan's team won this time, and Yaz got it last year. Freehan is deserving, and could have won MVP in a more normal year.
#1 Bill Freehan, #2 Carl Yastrzemski, #3 Bert Campaneris, #4 Frank Howard, #5 Ken Harrelson, #6 Dick McAuliffe.

Top pitcher: Denny McLain, for sure. The 31 wins were flashy, but it was also a good season for the hard-living pitcher.
#1 Denny McLain, #2 Luis Tiant, #3 Dave McNally, #4 Sam McDowell, #5 Mel Stottlemyre.

Top rookie: Stan Bahnsen, who was just out of the top five pitchers.

Top manager: Mayo Smith by default. Nobody did a great job this season. It could be Bob Kennedy for nursing the A's to .500.

1967 National League

The St. Louis Cardinals won 101 games and their second World Series of the decade in spite of ace Bob Gibson missing six weeks with a broken leg. Orlando Cepeda won the MVP in his first full year with the Cards as he led the league in RBI. St. Louis won handily over San Francisco, 10.5 games back in second. Chicago was putting together a pitching staff and surged to 3rd, with Cincinnati 4th, Philadelphia 5th, Pittsburgh 6th at exactly .500, Atlanta 7th, a Koufax-less Dodger team 8th, Houston 9th, and the Mets last with 101 losses.

Roberto Clemente won the batting title at .357, well ahead of Tony Gonzalez at .339 or Matty Alou at .338. Clemente also led with 209 hits. Hank Aaron led in homers with 39 as well as in slugging. Lou Brock led in steals with 52. and Dick Allen led in on-base and OPS. Rusty Staub had 44 doubles, Vada Pinson 13 triples. Aaron and Brock tied with 113 runs. Second to Aaron in homers with Jimmy Wynn with 37. The RBI leaders went Cepeda with 111, Clemente with 110, Aaron with 109, Wynn with 107.

Mike McCormick led in wins with 22, and Fergie Jenkins won 20. Phil Niekro led in ERA with a 1.87 mark, followed by Jim Bunning at 2.29 and Chris Short at 2.39. Bunning led in strikeouts with 253, followed by Jenkins at 236. Ted Abernathy led in saves with 28.

Doin' the Win Shares thing...

Players; Ron Santo (Chicago) 38, Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 35, Hank Aaron (Atlanta) and Orlando Cepeda (St. Louis) 34, Lou Brock and Tim McCarver (both St. Louis) 30, Dick Allen (Philadelphia) and Jim Ray Hart (San Francisco) 29, Billy Williams (Chicago), Rusty Staub and Jim Wynn (Houston) 28 each, Adolpho Phillips (Chicago), Joe Morgan (Houston), Tony Gonzalez (Philadelphia) and Curt Flood (St. Louis) 26, Vada Pinson and Pete Rose (Cincinnati) and Willie McCovey (San Francisco) 24.

Pitchers: Jim Bunning (Philadelphia) 25, Ted Abernathy (Cincinnati) 24, Phil Niekro (Atlanta), Fergie Jenkins (Chicago), and Tom Seaver (New York) 21 each, Mike McCormick and Gaylord Perry (San Francisco) 20, Gary Nolan (Cincinnati) 19, Don Drysdale (Los Angeles) and Dick Hughes (St. Louis) 18, Mel Queen (Cincinnati) 17.

WARP3 scores for these guys; Queen 6.1 (only good year), Hughes 5.1 (career year), Drysdale 6.6, Perry 6.8, McCormick 5.8, Nolan 6.8 (rookie), Seaver 7.6 (rookie), Jenkins 7.3, Niekro 6.6, Abernathy 7.0, Bunning 9.9. Also; McCovey 7.5, Rose 7.4, Pinson 4.6, Flood 8.4, Gonzalez 9.1 (best year), Morgan 8.5, Phillips 9.3 (career year), Wynn 8.6, Staub 7.6, Williams 9.4, Hart 8.6, Allen 8.8, McCarver 10.3, Brock 7.9, Cepeda 10.2, Aaron 12.0, Clemente 12.0, Santo 13.8.

Actual award winners:
MVP (top 20): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+--+-----+-----+---+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Orlando Cepeda STL 20 280 280 1.00 | 563 183 25 .325 .923 11|
2 Tim McCarver STL 0 136 280 0.49 | 471 139 14 .295 .822 8|
3 Roberto Clemente PIT 0 129 280 0.46 | 585 209 23 .357 .954 9|
4 Ron Santo CHC 0 103 280 0.37 | 586 176 31 .300 .906 1|
5 Hank Aaron ATL 0 79 280 0.28 | 600 184 39 .307 .943 17|
6 Mike McCormick SFG 0 73 280 0.26 | 84 10 1 .119 .336 0| 22-10 262 2.85 1.148 150
7 Lou Brock STL 0 49 280 0.18 | 689 206 21 .299 .799 52|
8 Tony Perez CIN 0 43 280 0.15 | 600 174 26 .290 .818 0|
9 Julian Javier STL 0 41 280 0.15 | 520 146 14 .281 .718 6|
10 Pete Rose CIN 0 40 280 0.14 | 585 176 12 .301 .808 11|
11 Jimmy Wynn HOU 0 29 280 0.10 | 594 148 37 .249 .826 16|
12 Fergie Jenkins CHC 0 26 280 0.09 | 93 14 0 .151 .404 0| 20-13 289 2.80 1.082 236
13 Curt Flood STL 0 24 280 0.09 | 514 172 5 .335 .793 2|
14 Ernie Banks CHC 0 22 280 0.08 | 573 158 23 .276 .765 2|
15 Nelson Briles STL 0 20 280 0.07 | 40 6 0 .150 .359 0| 14-5 155 2.43 1.153 94 6
16 Rusty Staub HOU 0 12 280 0.04 | 546 182 10 .333 .871 0|
17 Jim Ray Hart SFG 0 10 280 0.04 | 578 167 29 .289 .882 1|
17 Dick Hughes STL 0 10 280 0.04 | 78 10 0 .128 .278 0| 16-6 222 2.67 0.954 161 3
19 Dick Allen PHI 0 9 280 0.03 | 463 142 23 .307 .970 20|
20 Ted Abernathy CIN 0 8 280 0.03 | 17 1 0 .059 .118 0| 6-3 106 1.27 0.978 88 28
Cepeda was a unanimous selection.

Cy Young: 1st Max | Season Results
Rk Name Team Place Points Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Mike McCormick SFG 18 18 20 0.90 | 22-10 262 2.85 1.148 150
2 Jim Bunning PHI 1 1 20 0.05 | 17-15 302 2.29 1.039 253
2 Fergie Jenkins CHC 1 1 20 0.05 | 20-13 289 2.80 1.082 236
McCormick's gaudy win total got him the award.

Rookie: 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 Tom Seaver NYM 11 11 20 0.55 | 77 11 0 .143 .399 2| 16-13 251 2.76 1.203 170
2 Dick Hughes STL 6 6 20 0.30 | 78 10 0 .128 .278 0| 16-6 222 2.67 0.954 161 3
3 Gary Nolan CIN 3 3 20 0.15 | 67 7 0 .104 .297 0| 14-8 227 2.58 1.125 206
Seaver takes a fairly close vote split among three successful pitchers.

Top player: Ron Santo. He didn't lead the league in any flashy categories, but he was a force in the Cubs rising to 3rd place. This went ignored as Cepeda got what was partly a career achievement award, for sparking the Cards to the pennant with a big RBI year. Santo was a significantly better player in 1967, though.
#1 Ron Santo, #2 Roberto Clemente, #3 Hank Aaron, #4 Orlando Cepeda, #5 Tim McCarver, #6 Billy Williams.

Top pitcher: Jim Bunning, at age 35, was the best pitcher in the league. In the first year of the post-Koufax era, there was no real dominant pitcher. Bunning was certainly the best one, and gets my vote. Bunning was 2nd in ERA, tied for 3rd in wins, first in innings and strikeouts, but had a record just above .500 at 17-15. Therefore, the voters mostly ignored him. Niekro was better per inning, but started the year in the bullpen and didn't throw as many innings.
#1 Jim Bunning, #2 Fergie Jenkins, #3 Tom Seaver, #4 Phil Niekro, #5 Ted Abernathy.

Top rookie was Seaver. Much as I would love to pick Gary Nolan, it was Tom Terrific all the way.

Top manager: Red Schoendienst kept the Birds together even when Gibson was out.

1967 American League

It was the year of "The Impossible Dream," and an impossible pennant race. Four teams went to the wire, as 1966 winners the Orioles faded to 6th with Frank Robinson hurting. There was the Twins, 1965 pennant winners, with their balanced team; the White Sox, sporting the best pitching; Detroit, building a pitching staff to make a run; and the surprise Red Sox, after finishing 9th in 1966 and a non-factor in the race for years, since before Ted Williams retired. Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown with a magical season, and a roster of youngsters and castoffs around him won on the last day, finishing one game ahead of Minnesota and Detroit and three ahead of Chicago. California was 5th, Washington tied the Orioles for 6th, and Cleveland, New York, and Kansas City rounded out the standings.

Nobody wins the Triple Crown since Mantle, then two guys win it consecutive years. Yaz won the Triple Crown with a .321 average, 44 HR, and 121 RBI, tying Harmon Killebrew for the home run lead. Frank Robinson was second in average with a .311 mark. Yaz led in runs with 112 and hits with 189. Tony Oliva led with 34 doubles and Paul Blair with 12 triples. Killebrew was second in RBI with 113. Bert Campaneris led in steals again with 55.

Jim Lonborg and Earl Wilson tied for the lead in wins with 22, and Dean Chance won 20. Joe Horlen lead in ERA at 2.06 followed by Gary Peters at 2.28. Lonborg led in strikeouts with 246, followed by Sam McDowell at 236. Minnie Rojas took the saves lead at 27. Chance led in complete games and innings.

Win Shares numbers:
Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) 42, Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota) 38, Frank Robinson (Baltimore), Bill Freehan and Al Kaline (both Detroit) 30 each, Jim Fregosi and Don Mincher (California) and Frank Howard (Washington) 28 each, Dick McAuliffe (Detroit) 27, Tony Oliva (Minnesota) and Mickey Mantle (New York) 25, Paul Blair and Brooks Robinson (Baltimore) and Bob Allison (Minnesota) 24, Rico Petrocelli and George Scott (Boston) 23, Horace Clarke (New York) 22, Norm Cash (Detroit) and Cesar Tovar (Minnesota) 21.

For pitchers, Joel Horlen (Chicago) 23, Gary Peters (Chicago) 21, Dean Chance (Minnesota) 20, Jim Lonborg (Boston) and Jim Merritt (Minnesota) 19, Earl Wilson (Detroit) 18, Luis Tiant (Cleveland), Catfish Hunter (Kansas City) and Jim Kaat (Minnesota) 17, Minnie Rojas (California), Bob Locker (Chicago), Steve Hargan (Cleveland), Al Downing and Mel Stottlemyre (New York) 16.

WARP3 scores; Yaz 13.1, Killebrew 10.6, F. Robinson 9.3, Freehan 9.4, Kaline 10.3, Fregosi 7.9, Mincher 7.9 (career year), Howard 7.0, McAuliffe 8.5, Oliva 6.6, Mantle 6.4, Blair 10.0, B. Robinson 11.0, Allison 4.4, Petrocelli 8.6, Scott 6.6, Clarke 6.3, Cash 5.8, Tovar 3.9. Also, pitchers Horlen 7.1, Peters 6.9, Chance 7.3, Lonborg 6.4, Merritt 7.5, Wilson 6.1, Tiant 6.3, Hunter 7.3, Kaat 6.9, Rojas 4.0, Locker 4.9, Hargan 6.6, Downing 6.1, Stottlemyre 5.2.

Actual award winners:

MVP (top 15): | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+---------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Carl Yastrzemski BOS 19 275 280 0.98 | 579 189 44 .326 1.040 10|
2 Harmon Killebrew MIN 0 161 280 0.58 | 547 147 44 .269 .965 1|
3 Bill Freehan DET 0 137 280 0.49 | 517 146 20 .282 .835 1|
4 Joe Horlen CHW 0 91 280 0.32 | 83 14 0 .169 .367 0| 19-7 258 2.06 0.953 103
5 Al Kaline DET 0 88 280 0.31 | 458 141 25 .308 .952 8|
6 Jim Lonborg BOS 0 82 280 0.29 | 99 14 0 .141 .346 1| 22-9 273 3.16 1.138 246
7 Jim Fregosi CAL 0 70 280 0.25 | 590 171 9 .290 .744 9|
7 Cesar Tovar MIN 1 70 280 0.25 | 649 173 6 .267 .691 19|
9 Gary Peters CHW 0 37 280 0.13 | 99 21 2 .212 .556 0| 16-11 260 2.28 1.069 215
10 George Scott BOS 0 33 280 0.12 | 565 171 19 .303 .839 10|
11 Frank Robinson BAL 0 31 280 0.11 | 479 149 30 .311 .979 2|
12 Earl Wilson DET 0 20 280 0.07 | 108 20 4 .185 .563 0| 22-11 264 3.27 1.167 184
13 Dean Chance MIN 0 19 280 0.07 | 92 3 0 .033 .151 0| 20-14 284 2.73 1.100 220 1
14 Ron Hansen CHW 0 13 280 0.05 | 498 116 8 .233 .638 0|
15 Jerry Adair TOT 0 11 280 0.04 | +414 112 3 .271 .640 1|

Yaz was not quite unanimous. Tovar snuck in a first-place vote. The guy who cast the vote should have been drummed out of the union.

Cy Young: | Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+------+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Jim Lonborg BOS 18 18 20 0.90 | 22-9 273 3.16 1.138 246
2 Joe Horlen CHW 2 2 20 0.10 | 19-7 258 2.06 0.953 103
First time for each league to award a Cy.

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 Rod Carew MIN 19 19 20 0.95 | 514 150 8 .292 .750 5|
2 Reggie Smith BOS 1 1 20 0.05 | 565 139 15 .246 .704 16|

Top player: Yaz was without a doubt the best. He was also clutch down the stretch, with 22 hits in his last 44 ABs when the Red Sox simply had to win. It was an all-time great season.
#1 Carl Yastrzemski, #2 Harmon Killebrew, #3 Al Kaline, #4 Bill Freehan, #5 Brooks Robinson, #6 Frank Robinson.

Top pitcher: Joel Horlen. Cy Young winner Lonborg got the press as the Bosox won, but was not the best pitcher. ERA leader Horlen, a not-too-shabby 19-7 himself, was the best pitcher this year.
#1 Joel Horlen, #2 Gary Peters, #3 Jim Merritt, #4 Jim Lonborg, #5 Dean Chance.

Top rookie to Rod Carew, with honorable mention to a contribution to the winners from Reggie Smith. But the Twins were in it to the wire, too.

Top manager: Dick Williams for bringing the Bosox to their first pennant in 23 years.

1966 National League

The Dodgers won their third pennant in four years, then got swept in the World Series in a classic upset. Sandy Koufax retired after the season, and the Dodgers took eight years to win another pennant. The 1966 race was another good one, with San Francisco just a game and a half back, and Pittsburgh only three games out. Philadelphia was a solid 4th, Atlanta was 5th in its new home, and St. Louis 6th. Below .500 were the fading Reds, expansion Astros, excited Mets (first finish out of the cellar) and the Cubs in last with 103 losses in spite of a talented team.

Roberto Clemente won the MVP even though he did not win the batting title. He was 2nd in RBI with 119 and the Pirates were in the race to the final week. Matty Alou won the batting title at .342, followed by brother Felipe at .327. Felipe led in runs with 122, hits with 218, and total bases. Johnny Callison had 40 doubles, Tim McCarver 13 triples. Hank Aaron led in HR and RBI with 44 and 127. Ron Santo led in on-base, Dick Allen led in slugging and OPS, and was second in homers with 40. Lou Brock led in steals with 74.

Sandy Koufax won another Triple Crown, leading in wins with 27, ERA with a 1.73 mark, and strikeouts with 317, his best season ever and also his last. Juan Marichal was second in wins with 25, Bob Gibson and Jim Perry had 21 each. Mike Cuellar was second in ERA at 2.22, with Marichal right behind at 2.23. Jim Bunning had 252 strikeouts. Phil Regan led in saves with 21.

Win Shares leaders, players; Willie Mays (San Francisco) 37, Dick Allen (Philadelphia) 35, Willie McCovey (San Francisco) 34, Ron Santo (Chicago) 30, Joe Torre (Atlanta) and Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh) 29, Felipe Alou (Atlanta) 28, Hank Aaron (Atlanta) and Jim Ray Hart (San Francisco) 27, Pete Rose (Cincinnati), Jim Lefebvre (Los Angeles) and Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh) 25, Bill White (Philadelphia) 24, Donn Clendenon (Pittsburgh) 23, Gene Alley (Pittsburgh) and Tom Haller (San Francisco) 22.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Sandy Koufax (Los Angeles) 35, Juan Marichal (San Francisco) 33, Jim Bunning (Philadelphia) 30, Bob Gibson (St. Louis) 26, Phil Regan (Los Angeles) 23, Jim Maloney (Cincinnati) and Gaylord Perry (San Francisco) 21, Mike Cuellar (Houston), Larry Jackson (Chicago/Philadelphia) and Al Jackson (St. Louis) 19.

WARP3 scores: Mays 12.3, Allen 10.9, McCovey 9.2, Santo 13.4, Torre 11.3 (career year), Clemente 10.9, F. Alou 10.5, Aaron 10.1, Hart 8.5, Rose 7.5, Lefebvre 9.3 (career year), Stargell 8.0, White 7.2 (last good year), Clendenon 7.4, Alley 8.8 (career year), Haller 5.3. Pitchers, Koufax 11.9 (then retired), Marichal 12.0, Bunning 10.9, Gibson 8.9, Regan 7.6 (career year), Maloney 8.9, Perry 7.5, Cuellar 7.4, L. Jackson 5.0, A. Jackson 6.4 (best year).

Actual award voting:
MVP (top 20): M | 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 Roberto Clemente PIT 8 218 280 0.78 | 638 202 29 .317 .896 7|
2 Sandy Koufax LAD 9 208 280 0.74 | 118 9 0 .076 .215 0| 27-9 323 1.73 0.985 317
3 Willie Mays SFG 0 111 280 0.40 | 552 159 37 .288 .924 5|
4 Dick Allen PHI 1 107 280 0.38 | 524 166 40 .317 1.027 10|
5 Felipe Alou ATL 2 83 280 0.30 | 666 218 31 .327 .894 5|
6 Juan Marichal SFG 0 74 280 0.26 | 112 28 1 .250 .585 0| 25-6 307 2.23 0.859 222
7 Phil Regan LAD 0 66 280 0.24 | 21 3 0 .143 .393 0| 14-1 117 1.62 0.934 88 21
8 Hank Aaron ATL 0 57 280 0.20 | 603 168 44 .279 .895 21|
9 Matty Alou PIT 0 36 280 0.13 | 535 183 2 .342 .793 23|
10 Pete Rose CIN 0 31 280 0.11 | 654 205 16 .313 .811 4|
11 Gene Alley PIT 0 24 280 0.09 | 579 173 7 .299 .752 8|
12 Ron Santo CHC 0 23 280 0.08 | 561 175 30 .312 .950 4|
13 Orlando Cepeda TOT 0 22 280 0.08 | +501 151 20 .301 .834 9|
13 Johnny Roseboro LAD 0 22 280 0.08 | 445 123 9 .276 .740 3|
15 Willie Stargell PIT 0 19 280 0.07 | 485 153 33 .315 .962 2|
16 Joe Torre ATL 0 18 280 0.06 | 546 172 36 .315 .943 0|
17 Willie McCovey SFG 0 12 280 0.04 | 502 148 36 .295 .977 2|
18 Jim Lefebvre LAD 0 8 280 0.03 | 544 149 24 .274 .793 1|
18 Gaylord Perry SFG 0 8 280 0.03 | 86 16 0 .186 .393 0| 21-8 256 2.99 1.103 201
20 Curt Flood STL 0 7 280 0.02 | 626 167 10 .267 .663 14|

A virtual dead heat in the voting between Clemente and Koufax. This would have been a good year for Koufax to win it, but Clemente pulled out a points victory.

Cy Young: Koufax was a unanimous choice, again.

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 Tommy Helms CIN 12 12 20 0.60 | 542 154 9 .284 .695 3|
2 Sonny Jackson HOU 3 3 20 0.15 | 596 174 3 .292 .674 49|
3 Tito Fuentes SFG 2 2 20 0.10 | 541 141 9 .261 .637 6|
4 Randy Hundley CHC 1 1 20 0.05 | 526 124 19 .236 .682 1|
4 Larry Jaster STL 1 1 20 0.05 | 45 8 1 .178 .453 0| 11-5 152 3.26 1.114 92
4 Cleon Jones NYM 1 1 20 0.05 | 495 136 8 .275 .689 16|

Top player: At the end of the day, it's Mays again. You could vote for Ron Santo, who may have had a better year, but the Cubs lost 103 games. Maybe that shouldn't matter, but it does.
#1 Willie Mays, #2 Ron Santo, #3 Roberto Clemente, #4 Dick Allen, #5 Joe Torre, #6 Hank Aaron.

Top pitcher: Sandy Koufax. Again, Marichal has an argument, but the Triple Crown is hard to argue with, even if it was park-aided.
#1 Sandy Koufax, #2 Juan Marichal, #3 Jim Bunning, #4 Bob Gibson, #5 Jim Maloney.

Top rookie: Sonny Jackson's numbers were about the same as the others, but when you add in the park effects for the Astrodome he comes out way ahead. He was still below average, and never had another year nearly as good.

Top manager: Walt Alston won another close pennant race over better-looking talent.