Saturday, August 6, 2016

1952 and the overachieving underachievers...


     1952 was a seemingly nondescript season at first glance. The Yankees were in the process of winning their third straight World Series, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games. The post season awards, of which there was just one in each league (save for the Rookie of the Year) were awarded to players whose teams were sixteen and nineteen and a half games behind the pennant winners.
     The conflict in Korea had an impact, as several stars were called upon to serve our country. Most notably Ted Williams from the Red Sox, Don Newcombe from the Dodgers, Whitey Ford from the Yankees and Willie Mays from the Giants.
     1952 would be the last season for the Braves in Boston, as they would relocate to Milwaukee for the 1953 season. Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews would make his debut with Boston that year, and become the only player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.
     The Detroit Tigers would become the last American League team to finish in last place.
     The Yankees, playing without Joe DiMaggio for the first time, watched switch-hitting Mickey Mantle begin to come in to his own, as the Yankees edged out Cleveland for the pennant, winning by two games.
     Robin Roberts won 28 games for the Phillies, the highest total in the National League since Dizzy Dean won 30 in 1934. No National League pitcher has won as many since.
     Giants rookie pitcher, knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm would become the first rookie pitcher to lead his league in Earned Run Average and Winning Percentage. He also homered in his first major league at bat, only the second Hall of Famer to accomplish that feat. (Earl Averill is the other) Wilhelm pitched for twenty-one seasons, appearing in 1,070 games, and never hit another home run.



     And Wilhelm, who got a late start on his baseball career, was a twenty-nine year old in 1952, retired at forty-nine in 1972. An unsung hero for his military career, which placed him at the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded in action, and played the entirety of his career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back. At the time of his retirement, he was the only pitcher to have appeared in more than 1,000 games, first pitcher to record 200 saves, and had the second lowest career Earned Run Average, behind the great Walter Johnson who retired in 1927.
     In minor league news: Pittsburgh farm hand Ron Neccai strikes out twenty seven batters in a no-hitter while pitching for the Bristol Twins in the Appalachian League. He struck out four batters in the ninth, as his catcher made an error and allowed a better to reach first on a passed ball.
     Not to be outdone, his teammate Bill Bell pitched two consecutive no-hitters, and added a third no-hitter a few weeks later. Both pitchers made to Pittsburgh by the end of the season.

     Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in professional baseball, beginning in the Southwestern International League in Class C.


     On to the 1952 baseball season recap.

     The top 5 teams overall in pitching were:
Yankees
Phillies
Indians
Dodgers
Giants

     And the top 5 in hitting were:
Dodgers
Giants
Cardinals
Phillies
Yankees

     And that brings us to our top 5 'power rankings':
Dodgers NL Champs
Yankees World Champs
Giants 2nd place 4.5 games out
Phillies 4th place 9.5 games out
Cardinals 3rd place 8.5 games out


     You can see that the national League overall was the stronger of the two leagues, statistically speaking, and that the top two teams were rightly matched in the World Series.

     We'll look at the American League top pitchers, raw stats first:
Name
Team
W-L
ERA
Bobby Shantz
Athletics
24-7
2.48
Allie Reynolds
Yankees
20-8
2.06
Bob Lemon
Cleveland
22-11
2.50
Mike Garcia
Cleveland
22-11
2.37
Joe Dobson
White Sox
14-10
2.51
Early Wynn
Cleveland
23-12
2.90
Vic Raschi
Yankees
16-6
2.78
Billy Pierce
White Sox
15-12
2.51
Connie Marrero
Senators
11-8
2.88
Spec Shea
Senators
11-7
2.93

     Of note is that the Indians had three 20 game winners this year. Bob Feller had an injury filled season and finished w disappointing 9-13. The Indians would pull it all together in 1954, where they would have four twenty game winners in dethroning the Yankees for the American League pennant.
But I digress.

American League pitchers against their own team's averages:
Bobby Shantz



Hal Newhouser
Detroit
9-9
3.74
Allie Reynolds



Ted Gray
Detroit
12-17
4.14
Ned Garvin
Browns/Detroit
08-10
3.60
Connie Marrero



Bob Lemon



Joe Dobson



Spec Shea



Harry Byrd
Athletics
15-15
3.31
     And then the overall ranking for AL pitchers, remembering that there was no Cy Young Award at this time:
Pitcher
Post season votes
Bobby Shantz
AL MVP
Allie Reynolds
2nd in MVP
Bob Lemon
8th in MVP
Mike Garcia
9th in MVP
Joe Dobson
No votes
Connie Marrero
34th in MVP
Early Wynn
5th in MVP
Billy Pierce
29th in MVP
Spec Shea
No vote
Hal Newhouser
No votes

     Switching over to the National League, our top raw numbers are:
Robin Roberts
Phillies
28-7
2.59
Warren Hacker
Cubs
15-9
2.58
Bob Rush
Cubs
17-13
2.70
Curt Simmons
Phillies
14-8
2.82
Sal Maglie
Giants
18-8
2.92
Carl Erskine
Brooklyn
14-6
2.70
Ken Raffensberger
Cincinnati
17-13
2.81
Karl Drews
Phillies
14-15
2.72
Gerry Staley
Cardinals
17-14
3.27
Billy Loes
Brooklyn
13-8
2.69
     And against their teams:
Murry Dickson
Pittsburgh
14-21
3.57
Howie Pollett
Pittsburgh
7-16
4.12
Robin Roberts



Warren Hacker



Bob Rush



Bob Friend
Pittsburgh
7-17
4.18
Ken Raffensberger



Max Surkont
Braves
12-13
3.77
Sal Maglie



Paul Minner
Cubs
14-9
3.74

     At first glance, the fact that three Pittsburgh pitcher make this list may seem odd. The Pirates, who were by far the worst team in the majors, had atrocious pitching. Their offense, surprisingly, was not much better either. Ralph Kiner did tie for the league lead in homers, hitting 37, but only driving in 87 runs. The Pirates won just 41 games that season.

     So, that makes our overall NL pitching rankings as follows:
Robin Roberts
2nd in MVP
Murry Dickson
13th in MVP
Warren Hacker
23rd in MVP
Bob Rush
No votes
Ken Raffensberger
23rd in MVP
Sal Maglie
23rd in MVP
Curt Simmons
No votes
Carl Erskine
No votes
Karl Drews
No votes
Gerry Staley
No votes


     So we'll look at the offense next.

     The top AL raw offensive stats are:
Name
Team
HR
RBI
AVG
Yogi Berra
Yankees
30
98
.273
Larry Doby
Cleveland
32
104
.276
Al Rosen
Cleveland
28
105
.302
Mickey Mantle
Yankees
23
87
.311
Eddie Robinson
White Sox
22
104
.296
Luke Easter
Cleveland
31
97
.263
Vic Wertz
Tigers/Browns
23
70
.277
Hank Bauer
Yankees
17
74
.293
Ferris Fain
Athletics
2
59
.327
Eddie Joost
Athletics
20
75
.244

     And against their team:
Eddie Robinson




Yogi Berra




Walt Dropo
Red Sox/Detroit
29
97
.276
Jackie Jensen
Yankees/Senators
10
82
.280
Minnie Minoso
White Sox
13
61
.281
Larry Doby




Mickey Mantle




Bob Nieman
Browns
18
74
.289
Al Rosen




Jim Dyck
Browns
15
64
.269
     So our overall top hitting performers in the AL were:
Yogi Berra
4th in MVP
Larry Doby
12th in MVP
Al Rosen
10th in MVP
Vic Wertz
No votes
Eddie Robinson
11th in MVP
Mickey Mantle
3rd in MVP
Jackie Jensen
17th in MVP
Minnie Minoso
No votes
Walt Dropo
26th in MVP
Bob Nieman
No votes

     Over in the National League, top raw offensive stats are:
Roy Campanella
Brooklyn
22
97
.269
Stan Musial
Cardinals
21
91
.336
Hank Sauer
Cubs
37
121
.270
Enos Slaughter
Cardinals
11
101
.300
Del Ennis
Phillies
20
107
.289
Jackie Robinson
Brooklyn
19
75
.308
Bobby Thompson
Giants
24
108
.270
Duke Snider
Brooklyn
21
92
.303
Gil Hodges
Brooklyn
32
102
.254
Smoky Burgess
Phillies
6
56
.296


     And against their team's average:
Ralph Kiner
Pittsburgh
37
87
.244
Hank Sauer




Joe Garagiola
Pittsburgh
8
54
.273
Richie Ashburn
Phillies
1
42
.282
Ted Kluszewski
Cincinnati
16
86
.320
Stan Musial




Sid Gordon
Braves
25
75
.289
Del Ennis




Roy Campanella




Enos Slaughter





     Which brings us this list of top hitters in the NL:
Hank Sauer
1st in MVP
Ralph Kiner
23rd in MVP
Stan Musial
5th in MVP
Roy Campanella
10th in MVP
Del Ennis
14th in MVP
Enos Slaughter
6th in MVP
Ted Kluszewski
17th in MVP
Bobby Thompson
16th in MVP
Smoky Burgess
No votes
Jackie Robinson
7th in MVP

 
     The post season awards voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), for the Most Valuable Player in each league, matches my numbers, so the voters were dead on.

     Bobby Shantz became the third member of the Philadelphia Athletics to be voted MVP. 

     While Hank Sauer became the third Cub to win.


     If there was a post-season pitching award, of course Shantz would be the recipient of that, and his counterpart would have been Robin Roberts of the Phillies.





     Thanks for reading...


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