Baseball...numbers, stories and analysis: May 2020

1970, a Machine starts and a defining moment

The 1970 season started in turmoil, with a shroud of mystery over the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle Pilots franchise was in critical condition. They were hemorrhaging money, and the creditors were clamoring for their due.

Among the creditors were William Daley, who would eventually wind up with over 40% ownership of the Pilots. The problem with that was, he also owned the Cleveland Indians at the time.

Offers, plans and schemes were in place to save the franchise. Lawsuits and injunctions followed. Finally, Major League Baseball stepped in and mad the decision to accept the offer made from Milwaukee, led buy former care salesman Allan “Bud” Selig, to buy the franchise and relocate it to the Midwest. But it wasn’t as simple as that last part seemed.

Principal Pilots owner Dewey Soriano began meeting with the Milwaukee contingent as the 1969 World Series was underway. An agreement was made to sell the franchise to Selig & company, but the remainder of the ownership group balked. They were determined to find a way to keep the ball club in Seattle.

Their home stadium, Sicks Stadium, was still far below the major league standards, and while the city had voted to fund a new domed stadium, it would not be ready for play until 1971 at the earliest. Local politicians were not happy with the prospect of losing the team, but the team ownership was not happy with the loss of monies incurred.

At the star of Spring Training in Arizona, the team’s ownership filed for bankruptcy. They were faced with a situation where they did not have the money to make the payroll, which would eventually lead to the default of all the player contracts, and would legally make them all free agents if they were not paid. They were 10 days from that point.

With Spring Training coming to a close, the team’s regular season equipment was sent to Provo, Utah for staging. Approximately halfway between Seattle and Milwaukee, the trucks were just waiting for guidance on whether they would be traveling east or west with the team’s gear.

On April 1^st, the bankruptcy mediator declared the team bankrupt, clearing the way for the sale and shift to Milwaukee to be finalized, with just six days left before the start of the season.

The team was renamed as the Milwaukee Brewers, an homage to Milwaukee’s beer making reputation, as well as a tribute to the original American League team which played in 1901 before moving to St. Louis to become the Browns. (The Browns would then move to Baltimore to become the Orioles)

The original plan was for the team to change their colors and logo to be a tribute to the Braves, who had left Milwaukee in 1965 to Atlanta. But with the short time allowed for adjustments, they kept the same yellow and blue of the Pilots and had to quickly remove the Seattle designs to add the Milwaukee designs.

They were also placed in the American League West Division, where they remained until the 1972 season. They were moved to the American League East when the Washington Senators franchise was moved to Texas. Moved again to the American League Central in 1994, when a Wild Card team was added to the post season and moved yet again to the National League Central with the addition of expansion teams for the 1998 season.

They are the only team to have played in four different divisions.

Meanwhile, the City, County and State all filed lawsuits against the American League for breach of contract, a dispute that lasted for several years. So confident were they in their victory that they completed construction of the domed stadium, the Kingdome, in anticipation of hosting a team in the near future.

The American league set forth with an expansion plan which included Seattle in 1976 and brought in the first non -American team into the American League…the Toronto Blue Jays.

Pilots pitcher Jim Bouton had begun documenting his season with the expansion team for a book that he was writing. “Ball Four” was released before the start of the season and created an uproar. The critically acclaimed book detailed for the first time, the day to day goings on in and out of a major league clubhouse.

Bouton noted that his teammates knew what he was doing, that he carried a notebook with him everywhere, so they knew that their exploits and behaviors were being ‘recorded.’

The baseball establishment, however, were appalled. Owners and executive spoke out against the book. Even Commissioner Bowie Kuhn came out, blasting the book and its contents. But as happens, that just increased the demand for the title.

Bouton, who was traded from Seattle to Houston towards the end of the 1969 season, had an unremarkable 4-6 record for the Astros, with an ERA over 5.00 before a demotion to AAA.

Former Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood would sit out the entire 1970 season while his appeal made its way through the court system. Flood refused to report to the Philadelphia Phillies following a trade, claiming that it would cause a hardship on his family to uproot and move from St. Louis. He filed a grievance with the Players Union, and then an antitrust lawsuit against major league baseball.

For the record, he was traded along with Byron Browne, Joe Hoerner and Tim McCarver in exchange for Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson and Cookie Rojas. The Cardinals later sent Jim Browning and Willie Montanez to the Phillies to replace Flood in the trade

Flood is looked at as a hero today, with hindsight being 20-20. He fought the establishment for what many players believed to be a basic right. In a nutshell, with the reserve clause, players were basically chattel. They belonged to the club that signed them. That was it. No recourse except for retirement, or they negotiate a release from the team. Or the team traded them.

After the trade was announced, Flood notified Commissioner Bowie Kuhn that he would not accept the trade, stating further “…After twelve years in the major leagues, I do not feel am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States and of the several States.

It is my desire to play baseball in 1970, and I am capable of playing. I have received a contract offer from the Philadelphia club, but I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decision. I, therefore, request that you make known to all Major League clubs my feelings in this matter and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season.”

Flood was offered a $90,000 contract, plus expenses, to join the Phillies club. A handsome price that would have placed him in the top fifteen percent of earners in the majors for 1970. But he refused. Owing to the cultural changes that were happening around the country and armed with a pledge from union head Marvin Miller that the union was prepared to fund the lawsuit. So, he moved to Denmark for the duration of the 1970 season.

Flood’s case would eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, where his suit would be unsuccessful. For the sake of our 1970 recap, we have Judge Irving Cooper in New York upholding the previous Supreme Court’s exemption of baseball from the prevailing anti-trust laws.

But the Flood case set in motion the ‘playing out your option’ events of the mid-seventies, and the ushering in of free agency in baseball beyond that. The Flood case has been examined and written about many times, from legal students to legal scholars, and his case is still referenced today.

Meanwhile, Detroit Tiger star pitcher Denny McLain, the last pitcher to win thirty games in a season was suspended three times during the 1970 season.

The first of his suspensions came on the heels of a Sports Illustrated cover story about McLain and his involvement with gamblers. McLain and a friend allegedly decided to start a bookmaking racket involving horse racing. The story tells of an incident where McLain had to miss action due to a foot injury allegedly caused by a ‘visit from an enforcer from a local Detroit family’.

When the story broke, Commissioner Kuhn had no choice but to investigate the allegations and suspend McLain immediately. I wrote more on this in my 1968 season recap:

http://www.baseballmike.net/2018/03/1968williamston-kid-pitching-and.html

That suspension lasted for three months.

McLain’s second suspension was for conduct, as he doused two sportswriters with ice water, each individually in two separate incidents. He was suspended by the Tigers for thirty days, but that was shortened to seven days at the behest of the commissioner.

The third, and final suspension came on the heels of the second one. Bowie Kuhn shortened the Tiger suspension until a day when Detroit was in New York, so that there could be a formal hearing. During that formal hearing, Kuhn disclosed that he had information the McLain had carried a gun on a trip to Kansas City. That, Kuhn reminded McLain and the Tigers, was a direct violation of the probation that McLain was on. Denny was suspended for the remainder of the season.

All told, McLain was paid for fifty-eight days of the one hundred seventy-eight-day regular season.

But he wasn’t done making headlines.

Prior to the start of the World Series, Washington Senators owner Bob Short announced that he had traded Eddie Brinkman, Joe Coleman, Jim Hannan and Aurelio Rodriguez to the Tigers, in exchange for McLain, Elliott Maddox, Norm McRae and Don Wert.

Short had commented that Senators manager Ted Williams didn’t approve of the deal, feeling that ‘too much talent was given up’ for McLain.

But Bob Short wasn’t done with the headlines yet…

Prior to the fourth game of the Series, Short announced that he had been in contact with John Quinn, the general manager of the Phillies, and had obtained negotiation rights to the contract of Curt Flood. Flood agreed to sign with the Washington for the 1971 season.

As part of the deal, major league baseball said that there would need to be an official trade in order to facilitate the move. So, upon signing, the official deal was Flood and a player to be named later to Washington in exchange for Greg Goosen, Gene Martin and Jeff Terpko.

The player to be named later was later revealed as…Jeff Terpko, who was essentially traded for himself.

A new stadium opened in Cincinnati, Riverfront Stadium. The Reds were designated as the host team for the 1970 All-Star Game, giving them an opportunity to show off their new home. One of the earliest multi-purpose stadiums, Riverfront would become the home of the Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL.

The field, which featured an artificial surface, served the Reds for thirty-two and a half seasons. The first game was against the Atlanta Braves, and Hank Aaron hit the first home run in the stadium’s history.

But that All-Star game is still talked about. Not so much for the pomp and circumstance, but for a career defining event that occurred at the end.

Gil Hodges of the Mets faced off against Earl Weaver of the Orioles. Tom Seaver started for the National League against Jim Palmer of the Orioles. This was the first year that automated computerized ballots were used, and Hank Aaron won the Commissioner’s Award as the highest vote getter.

Seaver pitched well, striking out four in three innings, with one hit and no runs before being removed for a pinch-hitter, future teammate Rusty Staub of the Expos. Palmer matched Seaver, except for striking out just three. But one hit in a scoreless stint. He was replaced by Sam McDowell of the Indians.

The AL broke the silence with an RBI single by Carl Yastrzemski in the top of the sixth, and then scored in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by catcher Ray Fosse of the Indians.

The NL finally scored in the bottom of the seventh, with Bud Harrelson scoring on a double-play grounder by Willie McCovey.

2-1 American League at this point.

The AL scored two more runs in the top of the eight, with Brooks Robinson’s triple scoring Yastrzemski and Tony Horton. 4-1 American league.

In the bottom of the ninth, the National League responded with three runs to tie the game. Giants catcher Dick Dietz homered off Catfish Hunter of the A’s. Later, Fritz Peterson of the Yankees gave up a single to Willie McCovey, scoring Harrelson and moving Joe Morgan of the hometown Reds to third. Yankee pitcher Mel Stottlemyre replaced Peterson as Roberto Clemente of the Pirates batted for Bob Gibson of the Cardinals. Clemente lined out to Amos Otis in center, scoring Morgan with the tying run.

In the bottom of the twelfth, with the score tied at four, Reds outfielder, and Cincinnati native Pete Rose hit a two-out single off Clyde Wright of the Angels. Billy Grabarkewitz of the Dodgers followed with a single, moving Rose to second. Jim Hickman of the Cubs then singled to center, with Rose running all out. Rose rounded third and onto the plate, where catcher Ray Fosse waited for the throw from Otis.

Rose collided with Fosse with such force that, according to The Sporting News, both players remained bruised for a week. For Fosse, initial x-rays were inconclusive, but later x-rays showed that he had suffered a fracture and a separation of the shoulder, which did not heal correctly, and continued to cause him pain.

He did finish the season well enough to be awarded a Gold Glove for his work behind the plate.

As for Rose, a hometown kid trying to win the All-Star game in front of his home crowd, this play has been held up as an example of his aggressive play. Fifty years later, and when people talk about Pete Rose, and they do talk about him, they still talk about this one play.

The Reds, and the beginning of the “Big Red Machine” represented the National League in the World Series, defeating Pittsburgh in three tight contests. The biggest margin of victory was two runs in Game Two, 3-1. The met the Orioles in the Fall Classic.

Baltimore was in the midst of a very impressive run, having won 109 games in 1969, then won 108 in 1970, and 101 in 1972. They became the third team to accomplish that feat, following the Philadelphia A’s (1929-31) and the St. Louis Cardinal (1942-44)

The Orioles made short work of the Reds, winning in five games, in what many have called the “Brooks Robinson Series’”.

The Oriole’s legendary third baseman put on an epic demonstration of fielding prowess at the hot corner, garnering rave reviews for his glove work, and earning the Series MVP Award.

Let’s see how the teams got there. Statistically, the top teams in each league in hitting were:

American League	National League
Orioles	Giants
Red Sox	Cubs
Twins	Reds

And then the pitching leaders were:

Orioles	Reds
Twins	Pirates
Yankees	Mets

And our top five power ranked teams were:

Orioles	World Series Champions
Twins	AL West Champions
Reds	National League Champions
Yankees	2^nd in AL East
Dodgers	2^nd in NL West

Around the league:

Hank Aaron of the Braves got his 3000^th hit off of Wayne Simpson of the Reds. With that hit, Hank became the founding member of the 300 hit/500 home run club.

Braves pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm became the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games.

Braves outfielder Rico Carty had a 31-game consecutive hitting streak, the longest in the majors, on his way to winning the National League batting title. Despite his hitting prowess, Carty was left off of the new electronic All-Star ballot

Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, joined the ranks by hitting his 500^th career home run off of Pat Jarvis of the Braves. In one of those weird baseball coincidences, second base umpire Frank Secory was also an umpire in the game where Banks hit his first home run.

Cubs outfielder Billy Williams ended his National League record consecutive games played streak at 1,117.

Detroit Tiger infielder Cesar Gutierrez became the first ‘modern’ player to achieve seven consecutive hits in a game, a twelve inning contest. The only other player to have accomplished this was Wilbert Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles, then of the National League, in 1892.

St. Louis Cardinals utility outfielder Vic Davalillo set a new National League record with 24 pinch-hits on the season.

Philadelphia Phillies ace, and future United States Senator Jim Bunning became the first pitcher to record 100 wins in each league.

On April 18^th, New York Mets pitcher Nolan Ryan sets a new team record gave up a first inning hit, then set a new team record for strikeouts by fanning 15 Phillies in a 7-0 shutout. His record would last for four days.

On April 22^nd, teammate Tom Seaver struck out 19 San Diego Padres while pitching a 2-hitter. Seaver also established a major league record that still stands, by striking out ten consecutive batters. Even more amazing is that the ten were the last ten batters he faced during the complete game.

One Padre batter hit a foul pop up, which was caught by Jerry Grote, combined with Seaver’s nineteen strikeouts, gave Grote a record twenty put-outs in the game.

Mets outfielder Tommie Agee became the first player to win a Gold Glove Award in both leagues. Winning one in 1970 to go with one he won in 1966 as a member of the White Sox.

California Angels outfielder Alex Johnson won the American League batting title by percentage points over Carl Yastrzemski of Boston. In the tightest race since 1949, Johnson finished at .3289 to Yaz’s .3286. On the last day of the season, Johnson went two for three before being pulled from the game upon clinching the title.

Angels southpaw Clyde Wright was a star pitcher at Carson-Newman College, in Jefferson City, Tennessee (my wife’s alma mater, by the way). He helped pitch the Eagles to the NAIA World Series championship in 1965 and was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in a pre-game ceremony before one of his starts against Oakland.

So inspired was he, that he then went on to ho-hit the A’s that afternoon, in the first no-hitter in Anaheim Stadium history.

Pittsburgh Pirates hurler Dock Ellis pitched one of the most legendary games in baseball history, although no one knew it at the time. He walked 8 San Diego Padres while pitching a no-hitter. Ellis would later claim that he pitched the entire game while under the influence of LSD.

Pirates slugger Willie Stargell hit two home runs and three doubles during a 20-10 drubbing of the Braves. Stargell became the third player with five extra base hits in a game. The other previous were Lou Boudreau in 1946, and Joe Adcock in 1954.

During the 1970 season, Pirates legend Roberto Clemente relayed an event that occurred to him during the previous year. While in San Diego in May, he went to get some food, and was returning to his hotel room at 1 AM with some fried chicken. He was approached by four armed men, who forced him into their car and drove to an isolated mountain road. They stole Clemente’s wallet, his money and his All-Star Game ring.

Two of the perpetrators spoke Spanish, so Clemente explained to them that he was a ballplayer and told them that he played for the hometown Padres in case they didn’t recognize him. The abductors then allegedly deliberated amongst themselves, and returned his money, his ring, and even the fried chicken. They also returned him back to the hotel.

As word broke of this story, many people had doubts, but a San Diego law enforcement professional believed the story, based on the geographic description provided by Clemente.

San Francisco Giants legend Willie Mays got his 3000^th hit off of Mike Wegner of the Expos. He was the second to reach that milestone in 1970, and the tenth overall.

Baltimore Orioles legend Frank Robinson hit grand slam home runs in consecutive innings in a game on June 26^th. The Orioles had the same runners on base both times: Dave McNally, Don Buford and Paul Blair.

And speaking of Dave McNally and grand slam home runs, McNally hit a slam in the sixth inning of Game Three. He is the first (and only) pitcher to hit a World Series grand slam.

Much maligned New York Yankee second baseman Horace Clarke broke up Tigers pitcher Joe Niekro’s no hit bid with a single in the ninth inning of a game on July 2^nd. It was the third time Clarke played the spoiler in no-hit bids, in less than a month. He broke up Jim Rooker of the Royals try on June 4^th, and Sonny Seibert of the Red Sox try on June 19^th.

Boston Red Sox star Carl Yastrzemski became the first first-baseman to record 20 home runs/ 20 stolen bases and hit .320 in a season.

Cincinnati reds lefty Jim Merritt became the second National League pitcher to win twenty games while posting an ERA over 4.00 (2010, 4.08). Only Ray Kremer of the 1930 Pirates had done it previously)

Oakland A’s youngster Vida Blue pitches a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins, becoming the youngest pitcher to pitch a no-no. The Twins had been no-hit by the A’s twice in the past three seasons, falling victim to Jim “Catfish” Hunter’s perfect game in 1968.

There were four no-hitters pitched in 1970, and each of them were in a different ballpark in California. Only the Giants’ Candlestick Park didn’t host a no-no.

In Summer College League news, names that stood out were future Baltimore Oriole Rich Dauer finishing second in hitting for the San Bernardino team of the California Collegiate League, and Gil Hodges Jr. led the Atlantic College League in hitting, playing for Staten Island.

And names and highlights of note throughout minor league baseball:

Chris Chambliss led the American Association in hitting for the Wichita Aeros, while Ross Grimsley of the Indianapolis Indians led in ERA.

The Evansville Triplets held a ‘bat boy’ contest, which was won by a set of triplets: Danny, Don and Doug Huff.

Don Zimmer was named manager of the Salt Lake City Bees. Prior to the season, he said, “I know I will do a few things out on the field that you guys wouldn’t agree with…” He was correct, as the Bees finished fifty-two and a half games out of first place.

Bobby Valentine of the Spokane Indians, who was managed by Tommy Lasorda, won the Pacific Coast League batting title.

The Rochester Red Wings of the International League held a ‘Guaranteed Win Night”, where if the team lost, patrons would receive a free ticket to any other game that season. They defeated the Buffalo Bisons (who soon became the Winnipeg Whips) 24-7.

Ralph Garr of the Richmond Braves led the International League in batting. He would lead the National League in batting in 1974.

In the Texas League, the Shreveport Braves were granted a game postponement, as eight men on their roster were assigned military duty over the same weekend.

Mickey Rivers of the El Paso Sun Kings led the Texas League in hitting.

In the Eastern League, slugger Greg Luzinski of the Reading Phillies led the league in batting and runs batted in. He missed the triple crown by one heme run, losing that title to Richie Zisk of the Waterbury Pirates.

Ken Forsch of the Columbus Astros led the Southern League in wins.

In the Florida State League, Miami Marlins southpaw Eddie Williams was the first left-handed starter for the team since 1968.

Tampa Tarpons shortstop Joel Youngblood was on top of the world following a five-for-five performance. He was brought back down the next night by a grounder that took a bad hop, hitting him in the mouth. He chipped a tooth and received six stitches in his lip.

In the Carolina League, Rennie Stennett of the Salem Rebels led the league in batting. Cliff Johnson of the Raleigh-Durham Triangles led in home runs, and Lynn McGlothen of the Winston-Salem Red Sox led in wins and strikeouts.

In the Midwest league, Cecil Cooper of the Danville Warriors led in hitting, while Doug Bird of the Waterloo Royals led in ERA.

And in the Appalachian League, Otto Velez of the Johnson City Yankees led in batting.

The 1970 draft had some interesting names, leading with the 1^st overall pick by the Sand Diego Padres. They drafted Mike Ivie, a high school player out of Atlanta. While he never became that star that he was projected to be, he was the first ever to hit two pinch-hit grand slam homers in the same season.

Two future Hall of Famers were drafted as well, both inducted for their bullpen work. Rich Gossage was drafted in the ninth round, one hundred ninety-eighth overall, by the White Sox. And Bruce Sutter was drafted in the twenty-first round, four hundred ninety fourth, by the Washington Senators but did not sign.

Also drafted were:

Player	Team	Round	Number
Darrell Porter	Brewers	1^st	4^th
Bucky Dent	White Sox	1^st	6^th
Terry Forster	White Sox	2^nd	30^th
Butch Metzger (co Rookie of the Year 1976)	Giants	2^nd	41^st
Fred Lynn (did not sign)	Yankees	3^rd	60^th
Rick Reuschel	Cubs	3^rd	67^th
Phil Garner (did not sign)	Expos	8^th	171^st
Ray Knight	Reds	10^th	231^st
Dave Parker	Pirates	14^th	324^th
Jerry Remy (did not sign)	Senators	19^th	445^th
John Denny (Cy Young Winner 1983)	Cardinals	29^th	667^th

But, to the 1970 major league review, starting with the American league pitchers, who held an 8.9% advantage over the National league pitchers, our initial list is:

Pitcher	Team	W-L	ERA	Svs
Jim Perry	Twins	24-12	3.04	0
Clyde Wright	Angels	22-12	2.83	0
Lindy McDaniel	Yankees	9-5	2.01	29
Jim Palmer	Orioles	20-10	2.71	0
Dave McNally	Orioles	24-9	3.22	0
Fritz Peterson	Yankees	20-11	2.90	0
Sam McDowell	Indians	20-12	2.92	0
Steve Hargan	Indians	11-3	2.90	0
Ray Culp	Red Sox	17-14	3.04	0
Ken Sanders	Brewers	5-2	1.75	13

And then, comparing them to their team’s average performances, we get this list:

Ken Sanders	Above
Wilbur Wood	White Sox	9-13	2.81	21
Tommy John	White Sox	12-17	3.27	0
Sam McDowell	Above
Ted Abernathy	Royals (only)	9-3	2.59	12
Steve Hargan	Above
Marty Pattin	Brewers	14-12	3.39	0
Dick Bosman	Senators	16-12	3.00	0
Ray Culp	Above
Clyde Wright	Above

Analyzing, combining and crunching the numbers brings us to this top ten AL pitchers for 1970, along with their post season vote results:

Clyde Wright	6^th in Cy Young, 21^st in MVP (tied)
Ken Sanders	No votes
Sam McDowell	3^rd in Cy Young, 16^th in MVP (tied)
Steve Hargan	No votes
Jim Perry	AL Cy Young Winner, 9^th in MVP
Lindy McDaniel	21^st in MVP (tied)
Ray Culp	No votes
Jim Palmer	5^th in Cy Young, 25^th in MVP
Ted Abernathy	No votes
Fritz Peterson	No votes

Ted Abernathy began the season with the Cubs, where he appeared in eleven games. He was trades to the Cardinals, again appearing in eleven games. Then, he was traded to Kansas City. The above performance is solely based on his thirty-six appearances with the Royals.

Over in the National league, we get this initial list:

Bob Gibson	Cardinals	23-7	3.12	0
Tom Seaver	Mets	18-12	2.82	0
Wayne Simpson	Reds	14-3	3.02	0
Milt Pappas	Braves/Cubs	12-10	3.34	0
Gaylord Perry	Giants	23-13	3.20	0
Ferguson Jenkins	Cubs	22-16	3.39	0
Gary Nolan	Reds	18-7	3.27	0
Wayne Granger	Reds	6-5	2.66	35
Jerry Koosman	Mets	12-7	3.14	0
Dock Ellis	Pirates	13-10	3.21	0

And as compared to their team’s performance, we get:

Bob Gibson	Above
Gaylord Perry	Above
Milt Pappas	Above
Ferguson Jenkins	Above
Pat Jarvis	Braves	16-16	3.61	0
Carl Morton	Expos	18-11	3.60	0
Joe Hoerner	Phillies	9-5	2.65	9
Tom Seaver	Above
Dennis Coombs	Padres	10-14	3.30	0
Ken Holtzman	Cubs	17-11	3.38	0

Bringing our final top ten NL pitching performers to this list, with post season votes:

Bob Gibson	NL Cy Young Winner, 4^th in MVP
Gaylord Perry	2^nd in Cy Young, 14^th in MVP
Milt Pappas	No votes
Tom Seaver	7^th in Cy Young, 29^th in MVP
Ferguson Jenkins	3^rd in Cy Young, 21^st in MVP (tied)
Wayne Simpson	4^th in Rookie of the Year
Joe Hoerner	No votes
Pat Jarvis	No votes
Gary Nolan	6^th in Cy Young
Ken Holtzman	No votes

To the offensive players, again starting in the American League, our initial top ten performers are:

Player	Team	HR	RBI	AVG	RCG
Carl Yastrzemski	Red Sox	40	102	.329	1.16
Frank Howard	Senators	44	126	.283	1.07
Harmon Killebrew	Twins	41	113	.271	1.07
Tony Oliva	Twins	23	107	.325	1.15
Boog Powell	Orioles	35	114	.297	1.05
Frank Robinson	Orioles	25	78	.306	1.07
Roy White	Yankees	2	94	.296	1.12
Tony Conigliaro	Red Sox	36	116	.266	1.16
Willie Horton	Tigers	17	69	.305	1.09
Reggie Smith	Red Sox	22	74	.303	1.10

And compared to their team’s average, we get this list:

Frank Howard	Above
Tommy Harper	Brewers	31	82	.296	1.01
Ray Fosse	Indians	18	61	.307	0.88
Willie Horton	Above
Roy White	Above
Carl Yastrzemski	Above
Alex Johnson	Angels	14	86	.329	1.01
Bill Melton	White Sox	33	96	.263	0.97
Ed Herrmann	White Sox	19	52	.283	0.78
Jim Fregosi	Angels	22	82	.278	0.98

These results bring us to this final list of top AL batters:

Carl Yastrzemski	4^th in MVP
Frank Howard	5^th in MVP
Harmon Killebrew	3^rd in MVP
Tony Oliva	2^nd in MVP
Roy White	15^th in MVP
Tommy Harper	6^th in MVP
Willie Horton	No votes
Boog Powell	AL MVP winner
Ray Fosse	23^rd in MVP
Frank Robinson	10^th in MVP

The National League batters fared 8.9% better than their American League counterparts, which almost perfectly matches the AL pitching advantage over the NL hurlers. There is a percentage point advantage that goes overall to the AL as the stronger statistical league.

The initial National League list is:

Johnny Bench	Reds	45	148	.293	1.27
Billy Williams	Cubs	42	129	.322	1.39
Willie McCovey	Giants	39	126	.289	1.22
Dick Dietz	Giants	22	107	.300	1.13
Jim Hickman	Cubs	32	115	.315	1.24
Tony Perez	Reds	40	129	.317	1.24
Dick Allen	Cardinals	34	101	.279	1.27
Rico Carty	Braves	25	101	.366	1.18
Hank Aaron	Braves	38	118	.298	1.22
Bobby Bonds	Giants	26	78	.302	1.18

And as against their teams, we get:

Johnny Bench	Above
Rico Carty	Above
Hank Aaron	Above
Clarence Gaston	Padres	29	93	.318	1.07
Don Money	Phillies	14	66	.285	0.98
Billy Williams	Above
Tony Taylor	Phillies	9	55	.301	0.97
Tony Perez	Above
Bob Bailey	Expos	25	84	.287	1.02
Dick Allen	above

This will bring us to this final top ten NL batters:

Johnny Bench	NL MVP winner
Billy Williams	2^nd in MVP
Willie McCovey	9^th in MVP
Tony Perez	3^rd in MVP
Rico Carty	10^th in MVP
Dick Dietz	No votes
Dick Allen	No votes
Hank Aaron	17^th in MVP
Jim Hickman	8^th in MVP
Bob Bailey	No votes

So, by my numbers, it appears the American League voters were far from where I was on the post season votes, while the National League voters and I were dead on for the winners.

My top five for each league:

American League