Baseball...numbers, stories and analysis

Murderer's Row, or was it? The 1927 season...

            The Bronx Bombers, playing in 'The House That Ruth Built'. One of the most legendary teams in baseball history. Led by Babe Ruth and his then record setting sixty home runs. Babe hit more home runs that year than any other team did.

            George Herman Ruth was THE GUY. His exploits on and off the field were legendary. He transcended the game, and was entrenched in the culture of America like no other before or since. There have been so many pieces written about The Babe, and his saving the game of baseball, bringing a new approach to offensive, hypnotizing the fans with his prodigious home runs.

            Baseball was out of the 'deadball era' for five years or so at this time, so the offensive numbers had been ramping up markedly across the league, but the Yankees abused that privilege. The league's overall average  MIKE number was 1.6376, but the Yanks were at 2.0036.

            The legendary Yankee lineup featured future Hall of Famers Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Earle Combs, and Waite Hoyt. They won 110 games, winning the pennant by 19 games over the Philadelphia Athletics.

            According to 'baseball-reference.com', which cites Bill Deane's Award Voting, there was a league MVP Award just called "The League Award" given during this era. But there are some issues that arose. Firstly, a player could only win one MVP award during his career, so Babe Ruth having won the award in 1923, was ineligible for the award. Secondly player managers were also ineligible. That award was given yearly from 1922-1928 in the American League, and 1924-1929 in the National League.  

            In 1931, both leagues began awarding the Most valuable Player Award, as voted on the Base Ball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

            So, let's look at the deserving performances in 1927, remembering that the Bambino and his historic season was ineligible for Post Season awards.

Basic stats:                                          HR      RBI     AVG   OBP    SLG

Babe Ruth                                           60        165      .356     .486     .772

Lou Gehrig                                          47        173      .373     .474     .765

Bob Meusel                                         8          103      .337     .393     .510

Harry Heilmann                                  14        120      .398     .475     .616

Bob Fothergill                                     9          114      .359     .413     .516

Mickey Cochrane                                12        80        .338     .409     .495

Ty Cobb                                              5          93        .357     .440     .482

Al Simmons                                        15        108      .392     .436     .645

Ken Williams                                      17        74        .322     .403     .525

Goose Goslin                                      13        120      .334     .392     .516                

            (By the way, Ty Cobb's numbers are impressive for a 40 year old playing in that era and includes his 22 stolen bases)

            In looking at the basic baseball stats, Ruth and Gehrig have the most impressive numbers, and my Raw number reflects that...

           

player	Mike#
Lou Gehrig	3.0296
Babe Ruth	3.0106
Al Simmons	2.7958
Harry Heilmann	2.6101
Ty Cobb	2.3781
Bob Fathergill	2.3314
Mickey Cochrane	2.3174
Goose Goslin	2.3022
Earle Combs	2.2185
Bob Meusel	2.1857

            Four of the top ten played for the Yankees that year, and eight are enshrined in Cooperstown.

            Then comparing them to the league, the ranking stays the same...

player	Mike#	vs LGUE
Lou Gehrig	3.0296	1.8500
Babe Ruth	3.0106	1.8384
Al Simmons	2.7958	1.7073
Harry Heilmann	2.6101	1.5938
Ty Cobb	2.3781	1.4522
Bob Fathergill	2.3314	1.4237
Mickey Cochrane	2.3174	1.4151
Goose Goslin	2.3022	1.4058
Earle Combs	2.2185	1.3547
Bob Meusel	2.1857	1.3347

            But, there's always a catch. Comparing how the players did against their own team's average. Now, remember the Yankees had the obscenely high team number, and four players on the top ten list. So who was the best in the league, the biggest asset to their team in 1927?

            Hall of Famer Al Simmons.

           

player	Mike#		vs TEAM
Al Simmons	2.7958		1.5497
Lou Gehrig	3.0296		1.5121
Babe Ruth	3.0106		1.5026
Harry Heilmann	2.6101		1.4517
Goose Goslin	2.3022		1.3830
Ira Flagstead	1.7798		1.3405
Ty Cobb	2.3781		1.3181
Joe Sewell	1.9644		1.3150
George Burns	1.9560		1.3093
Alex Metzler	1.9183		1.3039

            Simmons, was twenty-five year old, four year major league veteran who played a majority of his career with Philadelphia. Often overshadowed by the exploits of Ruth and Gehrig, he had a pretty substantial career, finishing with a lifetime .334 batting average. And the 1927 season is proof of that overshadowing.

            While the Bronx Bombers got all the headlines, Simmons was a greater asset to his team than Ruth or Gehrig.




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