1954 A broken
ankle and the most famous out…
The
1954 baseball season stands out for many reasons. The mighty New York Yankees,
who had won every American League pennant since 1949, missed out in 1954. In
fact, they were in the midst of a period of sixteen years, where the pennant
eluded them just twice. Interestingly enough, the two years that they did not
win, 1954 and 1959, manager Al Lopez won the pennant.
The Yankees
from 1949 through 1953 averaged 97 wins each season, with their 99 wins in 1953
being their highest total during that span. Between 1949 and 1958, the Yankees
only won 100 games once. Unfortunately, that was in 1954, where Al Lopez led
his Indians to a remarkable 111-win season, which left the Yankees 103 wins
finishing in 2nd place, 8 games behind the winners.
The last
Series before this in which the Yankees were not a participant, was the 1948
Series, which is the last World Series won by the Indians, over the Boston
Braves.
The Indians
faced the New York Giants in the World Series. It would be the Giants first
appearance in the Fall Classic since 1951, when Bobby Thomson’s homer in a
playoff game to defeat the Dodgers, would send them to face the Yankees that
October.
Thomson was
born in Scotland and grew up in Staten Island, NY, and was called “The Staten
Island Scot”. He played eight years for the Giants, after giving three years to
military service, had a comfortable career in New York. He was a three time
All-Star, and finished in the top 20 in the MVP vote twice.
But before the 1954 season, he was
traded to the Milwaukee Braves, along with catcher Sam Calderone in exchange
for Pitchers Johnny Antonelli and Don Liddle, infielder Bobby Klaus, catcher
Ebba St. Claire and a sum of cash.
The Milwaukee Braves had just
finished setting a new National League attendance record, having been relocated
from Boston, and they were rightfully excited to get the All-Star Thomson into
their line-up. (For the record, the Braves would set a new attendance record in
1954)
But fate would step in, in the form
of a broken ankle early in spring training making room for a young
shortstop/outfielder named Henry Aaron to earn a roster spot. Young Henry, who
would soon be called “Hammerin’ Hank” went on to have a pretty decent career in
his own right.
But getting back to the Giants, who had their own stellar youngster in their outfield by the name of Willie Mays.
Willie was a natural talent, who was perfect for New York at the time. He was rarely seen without a smile on his face. He played hard, and was very popular with the fans, especially the youngsters. He was known to play stickball with the neighborhood kids in Harlem, close to where the Polo Grounds were. He was said the be able to hit the ball ‘five or six sewers’, which in New York stickball vernacular would measure four to five city blocks.
In 1954, after missing most of 1952
and all of 1953 to military duties, Willie won the National League MVP award,
after leading the Giants to 97 wins and the NL pennant.
It is during that 1954 World Series
where Willie’s spotlight shone brightly.
In game one, played at the Polo
Grounds, Indians slugger Vic Wertz stepped to the plate. Wertz, who had been
acquired from the Orioles during the season, was playing in his first World
Series game, and was doing very well. He was 4-4 in the top of the eighth of a
2-2 game. Runners on 1st and second. Wertz connected and hit a long
drive to center-field, about four hundred-twenty feet. Unfortunately for him,
the centerfield fence at the Polo Grounds was four hundred-eighty-three feet
away. Also, even though he was playing shallow…Mays turned and bolted towards
the wall. Not looking up for the last twenty feet or so, Mays made an
over-the-shoulder catch, much to everyone’s amazement. Then he turned and fired
the ball back into second base.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bLt2xKaNH0
It is probably the most famous out
in World Series history.
The runners, Larry Doby and Al
Rosen had to scamper back to their bases, with Doby able to tag up and reach
third. By throwing behind Doby, Mays’ throw kept Rosen from advancing. Neither
of them scored. The Giants would then win the game in the bottom of the tenth,
when Dusty Rhodes hit a three-run pinch-hit homer off of Bob Lemon to give them
the 5-2 victory.
They (baseball guys and gals) still talk about “The Catch” In most reverent terms. Many, like myself, have seen it hundreds of times, and it is still remarkable. In fact, when I typed Willie Mays into the YouTube search bar, the term "Willie Mays Catch" was the first option.
To me, the throw after the catch
is even more amazing. But I read something about the catch that I have shared
before, and will do so again.
Monte Irvin, who was in left-field
that day, and had played with Wille for a while, claims that he new Willie was
going to make that catch all along. According to Irvin, when Willie was going
to make a catch, he would tap the pocket of his glove twice, and the catch was
made without fail. If you watch the video closely, you can see Willie tap it
twice as he’s running, and then makes the great catch, hat falling off as
usual. Then he turns and makes that throw, which unfortunately, is lost to
time.
But here we are, some seventy years
later, and we measure Willie Mays’ greatness with hard numbers…660HR, 1909 RBI,
.301 AVG, 24 All-Star games, 12 Gold Gloves…and one film clip of an incredible
catch.
Both pennants were won pretty
easily. I mentioned the Indians finishing eight games ahead of the Yankees. The
Giants, and their 97 victories, finished five games ahead of their crosstown
rival Dodgers. The Indians won 111 games, which bettered the infamous 1927
Murderer’s Row Yankees, who many consider the greatest team ever.
Off the field, but still baseball
related, retired Yankee great Joe DiMaggio married screen star Marilyn Monroe,
in one of the most famous marriages of the decade. They divorced after less
than a year of marriage, but there was no doubt that Joe truly loved Marilyn.
It has been reported that he paid for roses to be delivered to her grave every
week until his death.
I have a good source that was a colleague of DiMaggio, and they told ma the Joe was a jovial fellow, meeting fans and posing for photos on nights out. But as soon as someone mentioned Marilyn, his demeanor would change, and he would shut down, and become sullen. His nights out would end shortly afterwards.
But on to baseball. Let’s look at
how the top performing teams fared, first in offense:
|
American
League |
|
|
Cardinals |
Yankees |
|
Dodgers |
Indians |
|
Redlegs |
White Sox |
(The
Cincinnati club was called the Redlegs from 1953-1958)
And in pitching, we have:
|
Giants |
Indians |
|
Braves |
Yankees |
|
Dodgers |
White Sox |
And our final ‘Power Number’ or top
overall rankings were:
|
Indians |
American League Champion |
|
White Sox |
3rd in AL |
|
Giants |
Worlds Serie Champion |
|
Braves |
3rd in NL |
|
Dodgers |
2nd in NL |
Items of note from the 1954
baseball season…
Chicago Cubs manager Phil Cavaretta, in a
frank discussion with owner Phillip Wrigley, admitted the team was not very
good, and would not finish any higher than fifth place. Wrigley fired him, and
replaced him with Stan Hack, who had a better outlook. The team finished in
seventh place.
Phil Cavaretta
Stan Hack
Players were no longer allowed to leave
their gloves on the field between innings, something that had been going on
since the teens.
The St. Louis Browns
franchise moved to Baltimore for the 1954 season. Because of that move, and the complicated
territorial rights of the National Baseball Association, the previously named
Baltimore Orioles franchise was transferred to Richmond, Virginia, and were
renamed the Virginians.
Also on the move were
the Chicago Cubs affiliate Newark Bears moved to Havana Cuba to become the
Sugar Kings.
The St. Louis Cardinals had been sold
to the Anheuser-Busch Company, in a deal that included Sportsman’s Park, which
was renamed Busch Stadium. Browns owner Bill Veeck, whose teams struggled with
attendance issues, decided to sell and move the team.
Willie Mays homered in 1st
official at bat in five straight games, first time that has ever been done.
Joe Adcock of the
Milwaukee Braves hit four home runs in a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers,
just the third National Leaguer to accomplish this in the modern era.
Indians second baseman Bobby Avila led the American League in batting, and had the second lowest career batting average of a league leader, .281. Now he is fourth.
Teammate Billy Glynn exploded for three homers in a game, but finished the season with five altogether, which was the lowest amount until Dan Johnson of the White Sox hit all three of his season’s homer in the same game.
Cardinals’ legend Stan Musial had a day to remember, when he hit five homers over the course of a doubleheader against the Giants. It has only been done one more time, by slugger Nate Colbert of the San Diego Padres in 1972, against the Braves. Colbert broke Musial’s record with 21 total bases in the twin-bill.
A statistical oddity is the fact that young Nate was at that doubleheader in St. Louis to watch Musial accomplish his feat.
The Brooklyn Dodgers signed Roberto Clemente to a contract. This was still ten or so years before the baseball player draft, so teams had scouts all over the country, as well as over the borders, to find talent. Clemente was discovered in Puerto Rico, and the Dodgers beat the Yankees, Giants and Braves for his services, which would be short lived.
Any player signed to a contract of $4,000 or more, was thought of as a “Bonus Baby”, and the rules stipulated that these players were to me a part of the 25-man roster for two seasons, od they would be eligible to be drafted. Clemente signed for $10,000.
The Dodgers decided
to ‘hide’ him in Montreal where they assigned him to the Royals. There is a
story that has not been able to be substantiated that says the Dodgers
instructed their manager to use Clemente sparingly, but the Royals manager Max
Macon has denied it.
He did appear in 87 games for the
Royals in 1954, with just 1 outfield assist in limited playing time. His
batting average was an unremarkable .257.
The shy
nineteen-year-old, who struggled with a language barrier, was greatly helped by
bi-lingual teammates Tommy Lasorda and Joe Black.
Interestingly, it
was Joe Black that the Pirates were interested in, and former Dodger manager
Clyde Sukeforth saw Clemente and saw the raw talent he possessed. Sukeforth was
the initial go-between between Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, as they
planned to break the color-line. He was Jackie’s first manager in the major
leagues, managing him for the first two games of the 1947 season before turning
the reigns over to Burt Shotton.
Clemente was drafted
by the Pirates after the 1954 season, and went on to play eighteen seasons for
Pittsburgh, becoming a legend along the way.
Speaking of Bonus
Babies, U.S. Senator Herman Welker of Idaho, had a conversation with Clark
Griffith who owned the Washington team, about a young ballplayer that was
batting over .800 for a semi-pro team. Griffith was intrigued and sent his
chief scout, former big leaguer Ossie Bulge, to check him out.
Bluege watched the
young man, who used to play ball at the Walter Johnson Memorial Field, and
agreed that the raw talent was there, and outbid the Boston Red Sox for his
services.
Harmon Killebrew
would go on to have a Hall of Fame career as a pretty potent slugger, finishing
with 573 home runs, which placed him in fourth place on the all-time list at
the time. He was a multiple All-Star, multiple home run champion and 1696
American League Most Valuable Player.
He also holds the record for the most career homeruns by someone from Idaho.
On August 18th White Sox pitcher Jack Harshaw battled Tigers pitcher Al Aber to pitcher’s duel, with Aber losing it 1-0 in 16 innings. Both pitchers earned complete games. The White Sox won after Minnie Minoso hit a triple to drive in Nellie Fox.
Al Aber, who took the loss, had a rare 1 for 7 day at the plate as
the starting pitcher.
Speaking of Nellie Fox, both he and Harvey Keunn of the Tigers had
200 hits or more, but less than forty extra-base-hits. It is the only time that
had been done by two players in the same season.
Cincinnati first-baseman Ted Kluszewski became (are you ready or
this one?) just the second player with ten letters in their last name to hit 40
homers in a season. He finished with 49 homers, but struck out just 35 times.
Detroit Tigers Bonus Baby (from 1953) Al Kaline became just the second teenager to hit a Grand Slam home run. The first was Eddie Onslow of those same Tigers in 1912. Harmon Killebrew would become the third later in the season.
Washington slugger Roy Sievers set the record for the lowest batting average (.232) to drive in 100 runs in a season. That has since been beaten by Tony Armas in 1983, and Carlos Pena in 2009.
Ted Williams earned more walks than hits, 136-133. It was the eighth
time in American League history that a qualifying batter has done that. Max
Bishop accomplished it 5 times. Roy Cullenbine and Eddie Joost also
accomplished it.
Yankees catcher Yogi Berra won his first of two consecutive Most Valuable Player Awards. He is still the only catcher to have done this.
Teammate Bob Grim remains the last AL rookie to win twenty-games in a season.
And the Yankees established a new record by using 262 pinch-hitters over the course of the season. The pinch-hitters finished with a .292 overall average.
Phillie pitcher Robin Roberts had a rare season where he led the
national League in wins (23) for a losing team (75-79)
Dodger rookie pitcher Karl Spooner is the last National League rookie to pitch a shutout in his first two major league starts. Tom Phoebus of the 1966 Orioles is the last in the AL.
The Giants outfield helped out pitcher Ruben Gomez by starting three double plays in what would turn out to be a 1-0 victory over the Braves. Willie Mays started one, and Don Mueller started the other two.
In the minor leagues…
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, there were
just five teams remaining. The bases had been moved to be eighty-five feet
apart now, and the fences had been shortened. As a result, the league combined
to hit 408 homers, which was three times as many as were hit in 1953.
Joanne Weaver of the Fort Wayne Daisies led the league in batting for the third consecutive season. She finished with a .429 average and also set the single season record by slugging 29 homers, and she stole 79 bases for good measure. But her Daisies lost the league Championship to the Kalamazoo Lassies.
In the Eastern League, Roberto Vargas of the Reading Indians,
pitched a one-hitter to earn a 1-0 victory over Paul Penson of the Schenectady
Blue Jays, A Phillies affiliate. Penson pitched a two-hitter in taking the
disappointing loss.
In the Pacific Coast League, Allen Gettel of the Oakland Oaks
faced Bob Hall of the Hollywood Stars in a twenty-one-inning marathon. The Oaks
earned a 5-1 victory but both pitchers went all the way.
In the South Atlantic League, Detroit native Joe Carolan purchased
a ticket to a game in Columbus, and was able to talk his way into a quick
tryout. He had some prior minor league experience. He passed the tryout, and
signed a contract with the Cardinals an hour before the game, and then hit a
grand-slam home run in his first at-bat against the Macon Peaches (Cubs
affiliate).
That great start didn’t translate into stardom, as he finished the
season with a .231 average.
In the Alabama Florida League, Robert Berry of the Graceville
Oilers hit 17 triples, but oddly enough, only 11 doubles on his way to a .311
season for his fourth-place team, who would eventually win their league
championship.
In the California League, Ray Perry of the Bakersfield Indians
(Dodger’s affiliate) led the league in homers. It was his seventh consecutive
home run title, across three leagues. 1953-54 California League, 1952 Cotton
States League and 1948-51 Far West League.
Also in the California League, Bob Rivich of the Stockton Ports
(Cub’s affiliate) drove in all 11 runs in a game against Bakersfield, a game
won by the Ports 11-3. Rivich broke the record originally set by “Wimpy” Quinn
of Bakersfield in 1949.
Oh, Rivich only played five innings of his game.
In the Mississippi Ohio Valley league, Luis Herrera of the Decatur
Commodores struck out nineteen batters in a game against the Mattoon Phillies.
In the Georgia Florida League, Johnny Scroggs of the Waycross
Bears pitched a no-hitter against the Thomasville Dodgers, winning 3-0. It was
Scroggs first professional start.
In the Appalachian League, the Welch Miners (A’s affiliate) turned
a triple play in two consecutive innings in a game against the Johnson City
Cardinals.
For the Asheville Tourists, the Dodgers affiliate of the Tri-State
League, groundskeeper Bud Shaney was pressed into action, and pitched 5 innings
against the Knoxville Smokies, earing the 223rd win of his long
minor league career.
Shaney began his career in 1922 for the Independence Producers of the Southwestern League. He would pitch in one more game, in 1955 before retiring for good.
In the Piedmont League, the Hagerstown Packets, a Washington
affiliate, made nine consecutive hits to start the game, scoring eight runs
against the Lancaster Red Roses, a Phillies affiliate. Hagerstown would hold on
to win the game 11-10 in ten innings.
And in the Western League, future Hall of Famer Earl Weaver would
hit .283 for the Denver Bears, a Pirates affiliate, scoring 124 runs in the
process.
Albany Cardinals pitcher Bill Knox led the minor leagues with a 1.80 ERA for the Cards affiliate in the Georgia Florida League.
The Arizona-Texas League was an offensive juggernaut, with each of
the eight teams accumulating a batting average over .290.
Ricardo Garza of the Mexicali Eagles, a Cardinals affiliate in the
Arizona-Texas League walked 160 times.
The runs leaders in that league were Garza with 169, Earl Smith of
the Phoenix Reds 183, and Kenneth Toothman of Phoenix with a minor-league
leading 193 runs scored.
Joe Bauman of the Roswell Rockets of the Longhorn league had a
season for the ages. He batted an even .400 with 72 homers, 188 runs scored and
an unrivaled 224 Runs Batted In.
Neal Cobb of the Crestview Braves in the Alabama Florida League
led pro baseball with a .432 average, while his teammate Fred Williams finished
at .403.
Lenardo Rodriguez of the Cananea Mineros of the Arizona Texas
League led that loop with a .430 average. William Dossen of the Texas
City-Thibodeaux Pilots of the Evangeline league hit .410 and Donald Stokes of
the Plainview Ponies of the West Texas/New Mexico League hit .405 to round out
the top minor league hitters.
Jaspers Spears of the Asheville Tourists of the Tri State League
hit 24 triples, followed by Nelson Daehn of the Temple Eagles of the Big State
League (23) Bobby Smith of the Fresno Cardinals in the California League (22),
John Creighton of the Lancaster Red Roses the A’s affiliate of the Piedmont
League (21), Eduardo Cruz of the Juarez Indios in the Arizona Texas League and
James Henderson of the Carlsbad Potashers on the Longhorn League (20 each).
Runs Batted in leaders, after Bauman were Earl Smith of the
Phoenix Stars (195) and Claudio Solano of the Cananea Mineros (188) both of the
Arizona-Texas League, Dean Stafford (171) of the Galveston White Caps of the
Big State League and Bob Lennon (161) of the Nashville Volunteers, a Giants
affiliate of the Southern Association.
And behind Bauman in the home run race were Frank Gaviano (56) of
the Fargo-Moorhead Twins, a Cleveland affiliate of the Northern League, and Bob
Lennon of (64) Nashville.
Floyd Faust, of the Brunswick Pirates led the Georgia-Florida
League with 76 stolen bases. But the minor league champion was Dave Mann of the
York White Roses, an Orioles affiliate of the Piedmont league stole 88 bases.
He set a new Piedmont League record, bettering Warren Butts who stole 87 in
1916, Despite his thefts, Mann only managed to score 99 runs.
Bob Thorpe, of the Stockton Ports in the California League won 28
games. Whammy Douglas of the Brunswick Pirates in the Georgia-Florida League
won 27, and Pete Treece of the Rock Hill Chiefs, a Washington affiliate of the
Tri-State league won 26 games to lead the minors in wins.
Kenneth Hommell of the Ogden Reds in the Pioneer League struck out
277 batters, which would lead pro ball in most seasons, but Herb Score of the
Indianapolis Indians of the American Association struck out 330 batters, and
that was 122 strikeouts more than the league runner-up Sam Jones, his teammate,
who finished with 208.
Anyway, back to the major leagues, where we will look at the National
League hitters, who performed 6.6% better than the American League batters. Our
initial top ten performers were:
|
Batter |
Team |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
RCG |
|
Duke Snider |
Dodgers |
40 |
130 |
.341 |
1.41 |
|
Stan Musial |
Cardinals |
35 |
126 |
.330 |
1.38 |
|
Ted Kluszewski |
Cincinnati |
49 |
141 |
.326 |
1.32 |
|
Willie Mays |
Giants |
41 |
110 |
.345 |
1.25 |
|
Gil Hodges |
Dodgers |
40 |
130 |
.304 |
1.26 |
|
Eddie Mathews |
Braves |
40 |
106 |
.290 |
1.15 |
|
Hank Sauer |
Cubs |
41 |
103 |
.288 |
1.13 |
|
Gus Bell |
Cincinnati |
17 |
101 |
.299 |
1.23 |
|
Pee Wee Reese |
Dodgers |
10 |
69 |
.309 |
1.11 |
|
Red Schoendienst |
Cardinals |
5 |
79 |
.315 |
1.16 |
Then comparing performances to their team’s totals, we get this
top ten list:
|
Stan Musial |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Ted Kluszewski |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Eddie Mathews |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Willie Mays |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Duke Snider |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Frank Thomas |
Pirates |
23 |
94 |
.298 |
0.99 |
|
Hank Sauer |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Gil Hodges |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Joe Adcock |
Brewers |
23 |
87 |
.308 |
1.03 |
|
Gus Bell |
Above |
|
|
|
|
So, our overall top ranked National League hitters were:
|
6th
in MVP vote |
|
|
Duke
Snider |
4th
in MVP vote |
|
Ted
Kluszewski |
2nd
in MVP vote |
|
Willie
Mays |
National
League MVP |
|
Eddie
Mathews |
19th
in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Gil
Hodges |
10th
in MVP vote |
|
Hank
Sauer |
26th
in MVP vote |
|
Gus
Bell |
No
votes |
|
Frant
Thomas |
13th
in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Red
Schoendienst |
13th
in MVP vote (tied) |
For the American League, our initial top performers were:
|
Ted Williams |
Red Sox |
29 |
89 |
.345 |
1.31 |
|
Minnie Minoso |
White Sox |
19 |
116 |
.320 |
1.41 |
|
Yogi Berra |
Yankees |
22 |
125 |
.307 |
1.26 |
|
Mickey Mantle |
Yankees |
27 |
102 |
.300 |
1.40 |
|
Larry Doby |
Indians |
32 |
126 |
.272 |
1.21 |
|
Jackie Jensen |
Red Sox |
25 |
117 |
.276 |
1.21 |
|
Al Rosen |
Indians |
24 |
102 |
.300 |
1.12 |
|
Bobby Avila |
Indians |
15 |
67 |
.341 |
1.15 |
|
Mickey Vernon |
Washington |
20 |
97 |
.290 |
1.11 |
|
Al Smith |
Indians |
11 |
50 |
.281 |
1.07 |
And against their team’s performances, we get this list:
|
Ted Williams |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Minnie Minoso |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Cal Abrams |
Orioles |
6 |
27 |
.293 |
0.75 |
|
Gus Zernial |
A’s |
14 |
62 |
.250 |
0.93 |
|
Mickey Vernon |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Ray Boone |
Tigers |
20 |
85 |
.295 |
0.95 |
|
Jackie Jensen |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Yogi Berra |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Mickey Mantle |
Above |
|
|
|
|
|
Rot Sievers |
Washington |
24 |
102 |
.232 |
1.06 |
And their overall
combined top ten list is:
|
Ted Williams |
7th in MVP vote |
|
Minnie Minoso |
4th in MVP vote |
|
Yogi Berra |
American League MVP |
|
Mickey Mantle |
15th in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Jackie Jensen |
14th in MVP vote |
|
Larry Doby |
2nd in MVP vote |
|
Al Rosen |
15th in MVP vote
(tied) |
|
Bobby Avila |
3rd in MVP vote |
|
Mickey Vernon |
9th in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Roy Sievers |
26th in MVP vote
(tied) |
Now for the pitching, looking at the
National League first, our initial top performers were:
|
Pitcher |
Team |
W-L |
ERA |
SV |
|
Johnny Antonelli |
Giants |
21-7 |
2.30 |
2 |
|
Robin Roberts |
Phillies |
23-15 |
2.97 |
4 |
|
Warren Spahn |
Braves |
21-12 |
3.14 |
2 |
|
Gene Conley |
Braves |
14-9 |
2.96 |
0 |
|
Curt Simmons |
Phillies |
14-15 |
2.81 |
1 |
|
Hoyt Wilhelm |
Giants |
12-4 |
2.10 |
7 |
|
Lew Burdette |
Braves |
15-14 |
2.76 |
0 |
|
Marv Grissom |
Giants |
10-7 |
2.35 |
17 |
|
Dave Jolly |
Braves |
11-6 |
2.43 |
10 |
|
Ruben Gomez |
Giants |
17-9 |
2.88 |
0 |
Then compared to their team’s
numbers, we get this list:
|
Dick Littlefield |
Pirates |
10-11 |
3.60 |
0 |
|
Robin Roberts |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Harvey Haddix |
Cardinals |
18-13 |
3.57 |
4 |
|
Frank Smith |
Cincinnati |
5-8 |
2.67 |
20 |
|
Howie Pollett |
Cubs |
8-10 |
3.58 |
0 |
|
Bob Rush |
Cubs |
13-15 |
3.77 |
0 |
|
Brooks Lawrence |
Cardinals |
15-6 |
3.74 |
1 |
|
Curt Simmons |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Jim Davis |
Cubs |
11-7 |
3.52 |
4 |
|
Paul Minner |
Cubs |
11-11 |
3.96 |
1 |
It should be noted that Dick
Littlefield came over from Baltimore in a trade for Cal Abrams on May 25th.
These stats are for his time with the Pirates only.
So, our overall top National League
pitchers were:
|
Johnny Antonelli |
3rd in MVP vote |
|
Robin Roberts |
7th in MVP vote |
|
Warren Spahn |
11th in MVP vote |
|
Dick Littlefield |
No votes |
|
Curt Simmons |
No votes |
|
Gene Conley |
23rd in MVP vote,3rd
in Rookie of the Year |
|
Frank Smith |
No votes |
|
Harvey Haddix |
No votes |
|
Lew Burdette |
No votes |
|
Hoyt Wilhelm |
1th in MVP vote |
At this point, there was no Cy Young
Award for pitchers. Also remember that Johnny Antonelli joined the Giants for
the 1954 season, after a trade with the Milwaukee Braves.
For the American League, where the
pitchers held a7.4% statistical advantage over the hitters, and a 7.1%
advantage over the National League pitchers, we get this initial list:
|
Bob Lemon |
Indians |
23-7 |
2.72 |
0 |
|
Early Wynn |
Indians |
23-11 |
2.73 |
3 |
|
Bob Feller |
Indians |
13-3 |
3.09 |
0 |
|
Steve Gromek |
Tigers |
18-16 |
2.74 |
1 |
|
Mike Garcia |
Indians |
19-18 |
2.64 |
6 |
|
Virgil Trucks |
White Sox |
19-12 |
2.79 |
3 |
|
Sandy Consuegra |
White Sox |
16-3 |
2.69 |
4 |
|
Whitey Ford |
Yankees |
16-8 |
2.82 |
1 |
|
Bob Grim |
Yankees |
20-6 |
3.26 |
1 |
|
Bob Keegan |
White Sox |
16-9 |
3.09 |
2 |
It is easy to see how the Indians
fared well in league play, with 4 of the top five pitchers on this list,
accounting for 78 wins. An article on CBSsports.com ranks the 1954
Indians rotation as the #5 rotation of all time. Garcia led the league in Earned
Run Average, while Lemon and Wynn finished third and fourth.
So looking now at the top pitchers
against their team’s performances, we get this list:
|
Moe Burtschy |
A’s |
5-4 |
3.80 |
4 |
|
Arnie Portocarrero |
A’s |
9-18 |
4.06 |
0 |
|
Duane Pillette |
Orioles |
10-14 |
3.12 |
0 |
|
Steve Gromek |
Above |
|
|
|
|
Ned Garver |
Tigers |
14-11 |
2.91 |
1 |
|
Johnny Schmitz |
Washington |
11-8 |
2.91 |
1 |
|
Joe Coleman |
Orioles |
13-17 |
3.50 |
0 |
|
Frank Sullivan |
Red Sox |
15-12 |
3.14 |
1 |
|
Bob Turley |
Orioles |
14-15 |
3.46 |
0 |
|
Dean Stone |
Washington |
12-10 |
3.22 |
0 |
So that brings our top American League
pitchers to:
|
Bob Lemon |
5th in MVP vote |
|
Early Wynn |
6th in MVP vote |
|
Bob Feller |
No votes |
|
Ned Garver |
No votes |
|
Virgil Trucks |
12th in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Steve Gromek |
26th in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Mike Garcia |
19th in MVP vote (tied) |
|
Sandy Conseugra |
No votes |
|
Duane Pillette |
No votes |
|
Johnny Schmitz |
No votes |
That makes our final rankings as such.
National League:
|
Johnny Antonelli  National League Player of the Year |
|
Stan Musial  National League Offensive Player of the Year |
|
Duke Snider |
|
Robin Roberts |
|
Ted Kluszewski |
And in the American League, we have:
|
Ted Williams  American League Player of the Year |
|
Minnie Minoso |
|
Bob Lemon  American League Pitcher of the Year |
|
Early Wynn |
|
Bob Feller |
