BBTF's Hall of Merit Discussion :: Most Meritorious Player: 1961 Results

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Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Most Meritorious Player: 1961 Results

Here are the results of the 1961 Most Meritorious Player ballot:

RK   Player          PTS      Bal    1   2   3   4    5   6    7   8   9  10  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1    Mickey Mantle   240     16    16                                          
 2    Norm Cash       215     16         11   2   2   1                              
 3    Hank Aaron     202      16          2   9   3   1   1                           
 4    Willie Mays     199     16          3   4   6   3                              
 5    Frank Robinson  175     16              1   3   7   4   1                        
 6    Eddie Mathews   143     16                  1   2   4    3    1   4   1               
 7    Vada Pinson     101     13                  1           1     5   4   2               
 8    Jim Gentile      87     11                              5     2   2   2               
 9    Ken Boyer    ,   85     10                      1  3    1     1   3   1               
10T   Rocky Colavito   80     10                          1   3     3   1   2               
10T   Roger Maris      80     10                      1   2   1     1   2   3               
12    Elston Howard   30       4                                    3       1               
13    Al Kaline       25       3                               1    1       1               
14T   Don Drysdale     6       1                                            1
14T   Whitey Ford      6       1                                            1
14T   Warren Spahn     6       1                                            1

Ballots Cast: 16

Congratulations to Mickey Mantle, undisputed Most Meritorious Player, and thanks to all who took part.

fra paolo Posted: June 08, 2011 at 08:12 PM | 15 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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1. DL from MN Posted: June 09, 2011 at 02:09 PM (#3849156)

Maris did finish in the top 10

2. fra paolo Posted: June 09, 2011 at 04:30 PM (#3849276)

As my ballot reflected, I think Maris was more clearly ahead of Colavito than our collective ranking. Otherwise, one can't complain.

3. OCF Posted: June 09, 2011 at 05:00 PM (#3849292)

So we're tentatively giving the NL MVP to Aaron, but it's very close between Aaron and Mays. The actual NL MVP went to Robinson, with Mays 6th and Aaron 8th in the voting.

We just don't have enough votes for pitchers to say much about the Cy Young.

4. fra paolo Posted: June 09, 2011 at 05:26 PM (#3849301)

AFAICT, we're giving a big positional credit to Mays and Aaron, which is part of the break with real life. The thing that bothers me about that is that I thought uberstats already included a positional credit, so are we doubling down?

5. Chris Fluit Posted: June 09, 2011 at 05:35 PM (#3849309)

AFAICT, we're giving a big positional credit to Mays and Aaron, which is part of the break with real life. The thing that bothers me about that is that I thought uberstats already included a positional credit, so are we doubling down?

I don't see any doubling effect. I think that our votes reflect the positional credit found in the supersytems. Basebell Reference's WAR has Mays and Aaron at 9.4 and 9.2 and Robinson at 7.6. So by straight WAR, Mays and Aaron come out ahead of Robinson without a second (or duplicate) positional credit.

6. Nate the Neptunian Posted: June 09, 2011 at 06:56 PM (#3849362)

I had the top 6 in the same order as the results. So I guess my consensus score would be pretty good. Of course, with only 16 players receiving votes, I imagine everyone's score would be pretty close together.

As my ballot reflected, I think Maris was more clearly ahead of Colavito than our collective ranking.

I felt just the opposite, liking Colavito quite a bit more than Maris, though I wasn't his best friend. Maris and Pinson were my two biggest areas of disagreement with the results, having not voted for either.

7. sunnyday2 Posted: June 10, 2011 at 04:37 AM (#3849948)

I'd say Aaron as NL MVP is technically correct, but really this is a dead heat. Pleased to see the criminally underrated Mathews running ahead of Boyer. Jim Gentile is the one who seems overrated here but that may just be because this was so far and away his best year. Still, I think Maris and Pinson belong. I can't imagine selecting Gentile to build a team around rather than Maris or Pinson or Colavito.

8. John (You Can Call Me Grandma) Murphy Posted: June 10, 2011 at 07:14 PM (#3850419)

I'd say Aaron as NL MVP is technically correct, but really this is a dead heat. Pleased to see the criminally underrated Mathews running ahead of Boyer. Jim Gentile is the one who seems overrated here but that may just be because this was so far and away his best year. Still, I think Maris and Pinson belong. I can't imagine selecting Gentile to build a team around rather than Maris or Pinson or Colavito.

I agree with all of your points here, Marc.

9. Howie Menckel Posted: June 11, 2011 at 03:17 AM (#3850695)

"I can't imagine selecting Gentile to build a team around rather than Maris or Pinson or Colavito."

But that's not part of the voting, right?

Norm Siebern is already cringing at your 1962 ballot, lol...

10. John (You Can Call Me Grandma) Murphy Posted: June 11, 2011 at 10:42 AM (#3850754)

"I can't imagine selecting Gentile to build a team around rather than Maris or Pinson or Colavito."

But that's not part of the voting, right?

FWIW, I left Gentile off my ballot based on how his '61 performance stacked up to the others.

11. Alex King Posted: June 12, 2011 at 08:50 PM (#3851513)

MMP Shares for 1961:

Mickey Mantle 1.00
Norm Cash 0.90
Hank Aaron 0.84
Willie Mays 0.83
Frank Robinson 0.73
Eddie Mathews 0.60
Vada Pinson 0.42
Jim Gentile 0.36
Ken Boyer 0.35
Rocky Colavito 0.33
Roger Maris 0.33
Elston Howard 0.13
Al Kaline 0.10
Don Drysdale 0.03
Whitey Ford 0.03
Warren Spahn 0.03

I also think it would be a good idea to have an "MMP plaque room" similar to the HOM plaque room, with each year's winner and a short summary of that player's season.

12. DL from MN Posted: June 15, 2011 at 01:56 PM (#3853860)

An MMP plaque room would be terrific. If anyone wants to write up a plaque for Mickey Mantle's 1961 season they should feel free. Post it here and we'll edit/revise.

13. Alex King Posted: June 17, 2011 at 07:09 AM (#3855593)

Mickey Mantle may have lost the home-run chase to Roger Maris, but he overwhelmingly won the MMP as the voters' unanimous choice. The Commerce Comet led the league in OPS+ (206), slugging percentage (.687), and walks (126). Mantle also played excellent centerfield defense and got on base in nearly 45% of his plate appearances, all while playing half his games in offense-depressing Yankee Stadium. Mantle was consistently outstanding throughout the season, posting an OPS above 1.050 in every month, including a scorching July line of .375/.508/.854 with 14 homers. Mantle even made an impact with the little things, contributing 12 runs to his team via excellent baserunning, avoiding the double play, and forcing errors, according to Sean Smith. Mantle saved his best for when it counted, with an astonishing .907 slugging percentage and 18 homers in 144 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, and a .380/.516/.913 line in high-leverage situations. Though injuries limited Mantle to just 6 World Series at bats, his regular season contributions were so towering that they more than made up for his lack of production in the postseason.

14. DL from MN Posted: June 17, 2011 at 05:29 PM (#3855879)

Looks fine to me. Does anyone want to add anything?

15. ronw Posted: July 15, 2011 at 05:38 PM (#3878429)

1961 ballot for fun, I know it doesn't count.

1. Mickey Mantle
2. Norm Cash
3. Willie Mays
4. Hank Aaron
5. Frank Robinson
6. Ken Boyer
7. Al Kaline
8. Vada Pinson
9. Eddie Mathews
10. Roger Maris

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Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Most Meritorious Player: 1961 Results

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