1943, the Middle...
Sometimes
people ask me why I pick particular years over others. Sometimes I
pick a year by request, sometimes to prove a point, sometimes
something I read sparks my interest in a season. This season, the
1943 season, has historical and performance significance.
The
world was at war. The U.S. arriving a bit later than our European
brethren, but by 1943, we were fully involved. Where the National
Pastime was concerned, each organization in each league was affected
by the war. While only two major leaguers gave the ultimate sacrifice
for our country (Captain Elmer Gedeon and First Lieutenant Eugene
O'Neill), over five hundred minor leaguers, semi-pro players and
college athletes also gave their lives in the conflicts.
Every
major league team had a veteran player who served in the armed
services. Some were marginal players, but also quite a few stars of
the game served as well. Twelve future Hall of Famers served during
the 1943 season, which had a huge impact on the game being played at
home. Players of note include: Dom DiMaggio, Joe Dimaggio, Bob
Feller, Hank Greenberg, Tommy Henrich, Cookie Lavagetto, Bob Lemon,
Ted Lyons, Johnny Mize, Johnny Pesky, Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto,
Red Ruffing,Johnny Sain, Enos Slaughter, Warren Spahn,Birdie
Tebbetts, Cecil Travis and Ted Williams.
All of
these players spent the entirety of 1943 in the military. Some were
stationed stateside. Some were stationed on bases and played ball
during their tenure. A few were actually in combat. Ted Williams was
famously an Air Force fighter pilot. (Williams also served during the
Korean War in the same capacity)
Baseball,
allowed to keep playing by President Roosevelt, continued to be an
'entertaining diversion' to help boost the morale of the American
public during the war. To that end, scheduling accommodations were
made to make the games more accessible to workers who were furthering
the war effort. There were more night games scheduled, there was the
introduction of twi-night doubleheaders, and even some games
scheduled for mornings to accommodate late shift workers.
With
travel being restricted, 1943's Spring Training venues left the
exotic locales of Havana, Sarasota, Miami and the warmer climates,
and were replaced with places like French Lick, Muncie and Cape
Girardieu.
So, on
to the regular season at hand. As with any season, there were some
curiosities that occurred.
Casey
Stengel managed the Boston Braves for the last part of the season,
having been injured in a traffic accident involving a cab before the
season started. Casey broke his leg, and developed a staph infection,
so he missed the first six weeks of the season in the hospital. (One
sportswriter claimed that the cab driver that hit Stengel did the
most for Boston baseball that year)
Bob
Coleman managed the beginning of the season in Casey's absence.
Casey, who finished sixth with the Braves, left Boston after that
season, for the warmer (and friendlier) climes of the Pacific Coast
League. There he managed until returning to the majors with the
Yankees in 1949, to begin a historic run of success.
In May
of 1943, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League made its
debut, playing a 108 game season. Historically speaking, the AAGPBL
played its All-Star Game on July 1st, at Wrigley Field in
Chicago. It was the first ever night baseball game played at Wrigley
Field.
The
Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held at Shibe Park, in
Philadelphia. It was the first All-Star night game.
At the
conclusion of the 1943 season, Commissioner Landis declared
Philadelphia Phillies owner William Cox permanently ineligible from
baseball for associating with known gamblers, and for placing bets
involving his own team. The Carpenter family purchased the franchise,
and would remain the owners for many years, until 1981.
In an
effort to disassociate themselves from the gambling scandal, the
Phillies actually changed their name to the Philadelphia Blue Jays.
That name was dropped in 1946.
There
were no playoffs or divisions. Just eight teams in each league, and
the top two played each other in the World Series. In this case, the
Cardinals faced the Yankees in the Fall Classic, which was won by the
Yankees won in five games.
The
'Power Rankings' for the season were as follows:
- Cardinals NL Champs
- Tigers 5th place 20 games out
- Pirates 4th place 25 games out
- Dodgers 3rd place 23.5 games out
- Yankees AL Champs
In the
National League, the Cardinals had the best pitching, by far, as the
won 105 games, but the Dodgers had a better offensive season. In the
AL, the Senators had the better offensive team, while the Yankees out
slugged the rest of the league. None of the races were particularly
close.
So,
let's look at the pitching first. The overall ranking in the American
League was:
- Spud Chandler Yankees 20- 4 1.64
- Tiny Bonham Yankees 15- 8 2.27
- Al Smith Indians 17- 7 2.55
- Dizzy Trout Tigers 20-12 2.48 6 saves
- Tommy Bridges Tigers 12- 7 2.39
- Butch Wensloff Yankees 13-11 2.54
- Virgil Trucks Tigers 16-10 2.84
- Orval Grove White Sox 15- 9 2.75
- Johnny Murphy Yankees 12- 4 2.51 8 saves
- Mickey Haefner Senators 11- 5 2.29 6 saves
And
then their performance against their own teams, here are the
rankings:
- Jesse Flores Athletics 12-14 3.11
- Spud Chandler above
- Roger Wolff Athletics 10-15 3.54 6 saves
- Al Smith above
- Oscar Judd Red Sox 11- 6 2.90
- Dizzy Trout above
- Orval Grove above
- Tiny Bonham above
- Virgil Trucks above
- Bob Muncrief Browns 13-12 2.81 8 saves
Then
figuring the factors to get a total number, those rankings are as
follows:
- Spud Chandler AL MVP
- Al Smith 15th in MVP
- Jesse Flores 27th in MVP
- Tiny Bonham no votes
- Dizzy Trout 11th in MVP
- Tommy Bridges no votes
- Oscar Judd no votes
- Virgil Trucks no votes
- Orval Grove no votes
- Tex Hughson Red Sox 12-15 2.64 2 saves
And
over in the National League, we have this as overall rankings:
- Mort Cooper Cardinals 21- 8 2.30 3 saves
- Joe Beggs Reds 7- 6 2.34 6 saves
- Rip Sewell Pirates 21- 9 2.54 3 saves
- Max Lanier Cardinals 15- 7 1.90 3 saves
- Elmer Riddle Reds 21-11 2.63 3 saves
- Whit Wyatt Dodgers 14- 5 2.49
- Dick Barrett Phillies/Cubs 10-13 2.90
- Hiram Bithorn Cubs 18-12 2.60 2 saves
- Schoolboy Rowe Phillies 14- 8 2.94
- Harry Brecheen Cardinals 9- 6 2.26 4 saves
And
against their teams:
- Dick Barrett above
- Schoolboy Rowe above
- Whit Wyatt above
- Joe Beggs above
- Rip Sewell above
- Ace Adams Giants 11- 7 2.82 9 saves
- Hiram Bithorn above
- Elmer Riddle above
- Jim Tobin Braves 14-14 2.66
- Nate Andrews Braves 14-20 2.57
Bringing
us to a total number ranking of :
- Joe Beggs no votes
- Whit Wyatt 15th in MVP
- Dick Barrett no votes
- Rip Sewell 6th in MVP
- Elmer Riddle 7th in MVP
- Mort Cooper 5th in MVP
- Hiram Bithorn 32nd in MVP
- Max Lanier no votes
- Jim Tobin 24th in MVP
- Nate Andrews no votes
Looking
now at the offensive side, AL first:
- Rudy York Tigers 34 118 .271
- Charlie Keller Yankees 31 86 .271
- George Case Senators 1 52 .294 61SB
- Vern Stephens Browns 22 91 .289
- Nick Etten Yankees 14 107.271
- Dick Wakefield Tigers 7 89 .319
- Jeff Heath Indians 18 79 .274
- Mickey Vernon Senators 7 70 .268
- Bob Johnson Senators 7 63 .265
- Stan Spence Senators 12 68 .267
Against
their team:
- Rudy York above
- Vern Stephens above
- Bobby Estalella Athletics 11 63 .269
- Charlie Keller above
- Jeff Heath above
- Dick Wakefield above
- Luke Appling White Sox 3 80 .328 27SB
- Chet Laabs Browns 17 85 .250
- Bobby Doerr Red Sox 16 75 .270
- Jim Tabor Red Sox 13 85 .242
So that
gives us a total ranking of:
- Rudy York 3rd in MVP
- Charlie Keller 13th in MVP
- Vern Stephens 9th in MVP
- Dick Wakefield 6th in MVP
- Jeff Heath no votes
- Nick Etten 7th in MVP
- Luke Appling 2nd in MVP
- Chet Laabs 23rd in MVP
- Bobby Estalella no votes
- Pinky Higgins Tigers 10 84 .277 21st in MVP
Over in
the NL, the overall numbers were:
- Bill Nicholson Cubs 29 128 .309
- Stan Musial Cardinals 13 81 .357
- Walker Cooper Cardinals 9 81 .318
- Billy Herman Dodgers 2 100 .330
- Arky Vaughan Dodgers 5 66 .305 20 SB
- Bob Elliott Pirates 7 101 .315
- Phil Cavaretta Cubs 8 73 .291
- Dixie Walker Dodgers 5 71 .302
- Augie Galan Dodgers 9 67 .287
- Elbie Fletcher Pirates 9 70 .283
Against
their teams, the rankings are:
- Bill Nicholson above
- Stan Musial above
- Chuck Workman Braves 10 67 .249 12 SB
- Phil Cavaretta above
- Tommy Holmes Braves 5 41 .270
- Walker Cooper above
- Bob Elliott above
- Ron Northey Phillies 16 68 .278
- Mel Ott Giants 18 47 .234
- Danny Murtaugh Phillies 1 35 .273
Compiling
the numbers, crunching them, the National League total ranking is:
- Bill Nicholson 3rd in MVP
- Stan Musial NL MVP
- Walker Cooper 2nd in MVP
- Phil Cavaretta 28th in MVP
- Bob Elliott 8th in MVP
- Billy Herman 4th in MVP
- Arky Vaughan 15th in MVP
- Dixie Walker 24th in MVP
- Elbie Fletcher 21st in MVP
- Eric Tipton Reds 9 49 .288 no votes
Since
this season pre-dates the Cy Young Award presentation, I will follow
the more contemporary route and award a player of the year, and a
pitcher of the year.
In the
American League, the same player would have won both, and that was
Spurgeon “Spud” Chandler of the Yankees.
In the
National League, where Stan Musial won the Most Valuable Player
Award, I would have voted for Bill Nichlson of the Cubs as the player
of the year,
and Joe
Beggs of the Reds as my pitcher of the year.
So,
there you have it.
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