BBTF's Hall of Merit Discussion :: Most Meritorious Player: 1962 Result

Hall of Merit
— A Look at Baseball's All-Time Best

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Most Meritorious Player: 1962 Result

Congratulations to Willie Mays, by unanimous vote the Most Meritorious Player in 1962. During the tally, Tommy Davis’ scored highly early on, but later voters swung fourth place to Mickey Mantle, in what was the most exciting element in this year’s race. While there was substantial consensus about the first seven places, votes began to scatter quite widely for places 8, 9 and 10.

Pts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Willie Mays 255 17 Frank Robinson 234 14 2 1 Hank Aaron 215 2 10 2 3 Mickey Mantle 203 1 3 10 1 1 1 Tommy Davis 151 1 3 5 4 1 Bob Purkey 134 1 1 4 4 1 3 1 Maury Wills 118 1 1 3 5 1 2 Brooks Robinson 64 1 1 3 1 2 Hank Aguirre 57 1 3 1 2 Camilo Pascual 52 2 1 1 2 Don Drysdale 51 2 1 2 1 Bob Gibson 50 1 1 3 1 Eddie Matthews 41 1 3 2 Norm Siebern 39 1 3 1 Turk Farrell 38 2 1 1 Johnny Callison 32 2 3 Jim Kaat 15 1 1 John Romano 15 1 1 Orlando Cepeda 8 1 Harmon Killebrew 7 1 Rocky Colavito 6 1
Ballots Cast: 17

Mr Dashwood Posted: July 19, 2011 at 12:40 AM | 22 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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1. Mr Dashwood Posted: July 19, 2011 at 03:24 AM (#3881044)

Apologies to anyone who saw one of many earlier versions of this table. It is just about readable in Internet Explorer 8 and Google Chrome. Unfortunately, I started working on it in Opera, and it still doesn't really work there. If anything — having been better, it has now got worse.

2. Alex King Posted: July 19, 2011 at 08:02 AM (#3881109)

fra/1: Did you try to copy and replace the table from the 1961 results? That table looked great. By the way, thanks for all the organizing/posting--based on your guys' experience, it doesn't sound like being an administrator at BBTF is a particularly user-friendly experience.

MMP Shares for 1962

Willie Mays 1.00
Frank Robinson 0.92
Hank Aaron 0.84
Mickey Mantle 0.80
Tommy Davis 0.59
Bob Purkey 0.53
Maury Wills 0.46
Brooks Robinson 0.25
Hank Aguirre 0.22
Camilo Pascual 0.20
Don Drysdale 0.20
Bob Gibson 0.20
Eddie Matthews 0.16
Norm Siebern 0.15
Turk Farrell 0.15
Johnny Callison 0.13
Jim Kaat 0.06
John Romano 0.06
Orlando Cepeda 0.03
Harmon Killebrew 0.03
Rocky Colavito 0.02

Cumulative leaders:
Mays 1.83
Mantle 1.80
Aaron 1.68
F. Robinson 1.65
Cash 0.90
Matthews 0.76

3. DL from MN Posted: July 19, 2011 at 02:06 PM (#3881188)

Feel free to create a plaque for Willie Mays.

4. DL from MN Posted: July 19, 2011 at 02:18 PM (#3881204)

Extending out the deadline helped capture 1 more voter. I'd love to see 20-25 voters, perhaps a contested race in 1963 will help that.

5. Mr Dashwood Posted: July 19, 2011 at 02:28 PM (#3881216)

fra/1: Did you try to copy and replace the table from the 1961 results?

Alex, no. After my 1961 experience, I tried to find a way that would be less time-consuming in transferring the results from a spreadsheet to a BTF page. It didn't work, sadly.

I'd love to see 20-25 voters

Me too, but I'll be surprised if we see that during the summer.

6. Infinite Yost (Voxter)

Posted: July 19, 2011 at 02:28 PM (#3881217)

I wasn't able to vote this time because I've been moving across the country. I should be able to discuss and cast a vote next time.

EDIT: I also agree that Mays' runaway victory & the time of year probably contributed to weaker turnout. Also, the project may build momentum as time progresses -- I can't be the only one who was intimidated by the HoM but found this more manageable upon learning about it.

7. DL from MN Posted: July 19, 2011 at 02:58 PM (#3881252)

People who participated in creating the rules but haven't voted in an election yet:

Piehole of David Wells
Jose Seabiscuit
Nolan Giesbrecht
Yardape
'zop
DanG
Baldrick
Best Dressed Chicken
Bob Dernier Cri
RossWolf
Mark Donelson

8. John (You Can Call Me Grandma) Murphy Posted: July 19, 2011 at 04:06 PM (#3881341)

I can't be the only one who was intimidated by the HoM but found this more manageable upon learning about it.

I find the MMP much easier myself.

9. DL from MN Posted: July 19, 2011 at 04:41 PM (#3881367)

MMP is pretty uncomplicated in this time period. When we need MLEs it will get more difficult.

10. DL from MN Posted: July 19, 2011 at 06:11 PM (#3881453)

I was more surprised that Frank Robinson didn't get a #1 vote than I was that he lost a few #2 votes.

11. Infinite Yost (Voxter)

Posted: July 19, 2011 at 06:33 PM (#3881469)

When we need MLEs it will get more difficult.

Unless I don't know what MLEs are -- a possibility -- I'm not sure how they're ever going to be relevant in this kind of discussion.

12. OCF Posted: July 19, 2011 at 06:53 PM (#3881482)

The MLEs become significant once we get to years in which Josh Gibson or Oscar Charleston or Smokey Joe Williams or Pop Lloyd become plausible candidates.

13. DL from MN Posted: July 19, 2011 at 06:57 PM (#3881484)

Exactly, which is why we ignored that part of history to begin with. They'll also be useful when we need to evaluate the Player's League and the Federal League. There may be seasons where we need them for Lefty Grove or Gavy Cravath.

14. DL from MN Posted: July 19, 2011 at 08:36 PM (#3881568)

Tidbits for a Willie Mays plaque:

Led the league in HR 49
Led the league in total bases 382
Played 162 of 165 games
First in WAR in every system
Led league in defensive WAR (BBREF)

Game winning HR in game 162 to force the tiebreaker series
.454/.571/.1000 in the 3 game tiebreaker series with a stolen base and an outfield assist

15. sunnyday2 Posted: July 19, 2011 at 11:04 PM (#3881697)

Speaking for me--and I suspect I am more to the contrary than in the mainstream--but speaking for me, I find this time period to be boring. I fully understand why we are starting here and it is probably a good thing. But this project is going to be REALLY fun when the Negro Leagues come onstream which I'm guessing is going to be about, oh, 2017? Never mind. I'll be dead by then ;-) Even the 19C is going to be fairly easy. No adjustments to 162 games, no big problems (just small problems) with league adjustments.

I'm not sure anybody is going to have to create any new MLEs btw. We will just have to go back into the archive and pull all the MLEs outta there. Mostly they're already done.

e.g. Who's this?

Age Year Team G PA Hits TB BB SB BA OBP SA OPS+
19 1916* IND 123 492 127 152 32 20 0.277 0.325 0.330 101
20 1917 IND 143 601 159 191 39 23 0.283 0.330 0.341 106
21 1918 IND 117 491 146 180 34 15 0.319 0.366 0.393 131
22 1919* Det 128 538 161 207 43 20 0.326 0.380 0.420 140
23 1920 IND 153 643 182 266 45 23 0.305 0.355 0.445 128
24 1921 StL 141 592 215 332 61 51 0.405 0.467 0.625 187
25 1922 IND 137 575 199 347 50 23 0.378 0.432 0.660 178
26 1923 IND 154 647 206 325 79 33 0.363 0.441 0.573 166
27 1924 Har 151 634 214 391 76 40 0.383 0.457 0.700 206
28 1925 Har 142 596 200 351 102 26 0.405 0.506 0.709 207
29 1926 Har 153 643 169 297 110 54 0.318 0.434 0.557 165
30 1927 Har 148 622 179 303 96 20 0.340 0.442 0.577 171
31 1928 Hil 150 630 169 272 94 17 0.315 0.417 0.507 140
32 1929 Hil 132 554 153 229 70 9 0.316 0.402 0.472 116
33 1930 Hil 131 550 147 255 69 11 0.306 0.393 0.529 120
34 1931 Hil 150 630 173 257 57 7 0.303 0.366 0.448 118
35 1932 Pgh 135 540 144 240 57 26 0.299 0.373 0.497 131
36 1933 Pgh 117 468 123 183 33 8 0.283 0.334 0.422 115
37 1934 Pgh 150 600 167 275 55 5 0.307 0.371 0.506 132
38 1935 Pgh 141 493 122 194 47 20 0.273 0.342 0.435 107
39 1936 Pgh 64 205 49 86 26 0 0.277 0.369 0.480 127
40 1937 Pgh 28 70 10 16 4 0 0.155 0.200 0.246 20
career 2888 11814 3418 5349 1280 450 0.324 0.398 0.508 144

16. OCF Posted: July 19, 2011 at 11:16 PM (#3881705)

Is that Oscar Charleston? Looks like a very good candidate for 1925 MMP (with Ruth out of the way).

17. Alex King Posted: July 20, 2011 at 07:58 AM (#3881969)

I'm not sure anybody is going to have to create any new MLEs btw. We will just have to go back into the archive and pull all the MLEs outta there. Mostly they're already done.

While we've covered all of the long-career players with significant chances at the HOM, we haven't covered the shorter-career players with one or two MMP caliber seasons--the Norm Cashes, Johnny Callisons, Tommy Davises, or Bob Purkeys, if you will. For example, Pythias Russ, who has been mentioned here but has no MLEs.

I actually agree with you, sunnyday; I think that the Negro League years are probably going to be more fun (but also probably a lot more work). The data we have for the Negro Leagues is still fairly incomplete; maybe when we get to those years it will be better.

18. John (You Can Call Me Grandma) Murphy Posted: July 20, 2011 at 04:59 PM (#3882173)

Speaking for me--and I suspect I am more to the contrary than in the mainstream--but speaking for me, I find this time period to be boring.

I thought it was going to be (relatively) boring myself, Marc. That's why I wanted to start from the NA and progress all the way to the present. Having said that, I'm really enjoying the MMP.

19. DL from MN Posted: July 20, 2011 at 07:37 PM (#3882349)

I'm enjoying seeing the seasons from players like Bob Purkey. Up until last week I couldn't have identified that Bob Purkey was a major league ballplayer.

20. sunnyday2 Posted: July 20, 2011 at 08:59 PM (#3882400)

As I've said elsewhere, these were my early years of MLB. So some of you will understand what I mean when I say I remember 1961 and 1962 more clearly than I remember 2009 and 2010.

21. OCF Posted: July 20, 2011 at 09:34 PM (#3882414)

So some of you will understand what I mean when I say I remember 1961 and 1962 more clearly than I remember 2009 and 2010.

For me, make that 1967 and 1968. Anyone want to talk about Dick Hughes and why it matters when Dal Maxvill hits ~.250 in the year of the pitcher?

22. Alex King Posted: July 21, 2011 at 07:46 AM (#3882606)

1962 MMP plaque:

Throughout his career, Willie Mays was a model of consistent excellence in all phases of the game, a characteristic on display in Mays’s 1962 MMP season. Mays led the league in home runs (49) and total bases (382), and though he was only fourth in OPS+ (165), none of the three players above Mays featured his defensive value or speed. By all accounts, Mays’ defense was among the best in the majors. Mays raked in September and October, with a .337/.437/.673 line, including a game-winning home run in game 162 to force a tiebreaking series with the Dodgers. In that series, Mays hit .454/.571/1.000 with a stolen base and an outfield assist. Mays also hit an astonishing .438/.500/.865 in high-leverage situations, with 11 homers in just 112 plate appearances. Though Mays did not shine in the World Series, hitting just .250/.276/.321 with no homers and 1 RBI, his regular season contributions outpaced those of his competitors enough to justify his MMP selection.

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Most Meritorious Player: 1962 Result

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