BBTF's Hall of Merit Discussion :: Most Meritorious Player: 1948 Discussion

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Friday, September 28, 2018

Most Meritorious Player: 1948 Discussion

The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Braves in the World Series. The Negro American League folded.

Vote for 10.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Stan Musial		46.2		11.1
Lou Boudreau		34.5		10.4
Ted Williams		38.7		8.5
Johnny Mize		29.6		6.6
Ralph Kiner		29.5		6.1
Bob Elliott		27.4		6.5
Joe DiMaggio		34.1		6.9
Ken Keltner		25.0		6.1
Andy Pafko		22.3		6.0
Jackie Robinson		25.3		5.4
Bobby Doerr		26.2		5.2
Tommy Henrich		29.0		5.4
Jeff Heath		20.4		4.8
Joe Gordon		24.2		6.6
Ed Joost		26.2		4.9
Pee Wee Reese		23.2		4.9
Sid Gordon		25.4		5.7
Jerry Priddy		20.6		4.4
Richie Ashburn		22.6		4.6
Enos Slaughter		26.1		5.4
Vern Stephens		25.0		4.5
Gene Hermanski		19.2		4.2
Dale Mitchell		20.4		3.0
Alvin Dark		20.7		4.3
Dom DiMaggio		25.9		3.8
Larry Doby		18.3		4.6
Yogi Berra		18.2		2.4
Eddie Stanky		14.1		3.7
Hank Majeski		25.0		3.0
Whitey Lockman		22.6		4.6
Stan Rojeck		22.1		4.0

Duke Snider				

Monte Irvin		
Luke Easter
Minnie Minoso
Sam Jethroe


Pitcher			SH WS		BBR WAR
Harry Brecheen		27.1		8.6
Hal Newhouser		28.0		6.6
Johnny Sain		27.3		8.5
Bob Lemon		25.5		6.5
Dutch Leonard		19.7		5.9
Ray Scarborough		18.4		5.5
Gene Bearden		21.2		5.1
Johnny Schmitz		22.7		5.0
Johnny Van Der Meer	19.6		5.3
Ned Garver		16.8		5.3
Preacher Roe		16.6		4.5
Carl Scheib		19.2		4.2
Mel Parnell		19.5		3.0
Cliff Fannin		14.3		4.0
Joe Dobson		20.1		3.8
Rex Barney		18.4		4.1
Walt Masterson		12.3		3.3
Murry Dickson		14.0		4.2
Ralph Branca		15.1		3.8
Virgil Trucks		17.7		3.4
Robin Roberts		11.3		3.4 (+96 innings in minors)
Dizzy Trout		15.1		3.2
Larry Jansen		17.5		3.4
Warren Spahn		14.2		3.4
Dick Fowler		17.1		3.6
Bob Feller		16.5		1.1

Ted Wilks		16.3		4.8

Max Manning

DL from MN Posted: September 28, 2018 at 01:12 PM | 9 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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1. DL from MN Posted: September 28, 2018 at 01:25 PM (#5754487)

1948 Prelim

1) Stan Musial - best bat by a lot
2) Lou Boudreau - closer than you might think. Terrific bat for a SS.
3) Harry Brecheen - best pitcher
4) Ted Williams - second best bat
5) Hal Newhouser
6) Johnny Mize
7) Johnny Sain
8) Ralph Kiner
9) Bob Elliott
10) Joe DiMaggio

11-15) Ken Keltner, Bob Lemon, Andy Pafko, Dutch Leonard, Ray Scarborough
16-20) Jackie Robinson, Bobby Doerr, Gene Bearden, Tommy Henrich, Jeff Heath

2. DL from MN Posted: September 28, 2018 at 01:31 PM (#5754495)

I have Easter as Mize with less bat and glove and Minoso as Andy Pafko with a little less glove. Minoso will probably make my top 20.

3. DL from MN Posted: September 28, 2018 at 01:42 PM (#5754506)

Sam Jethroe looked good in AAA but was clearly overshadowed by his teammate Duke Snider. Snider hit .327/.403/.644 in over 300 PA before making his debut.

4. John (You Can Call Me Grandma) Murphy Posted: September 29, 2018 at 02:11 PM (#5755128)

Prelim:

1) Stan Musial
2) Ted Williams
3) Lou Boudreau
4) Joe DiMaggio
5) Harry Brecheen
6) Johnny Mize
7) Luke Easter
8) Johnny Sain
9) Bob Lemon
10) Hal Newhouser

5. caiman Posted: October 01, 2018 at 05:06 PM (#5756901)

Here's my RPA top players by runs produced above the median:

1. Ted Williams 70.07 runs
2. Stan Musial 68.37 runs
3. Lou Boudreau 50.82 runs
4. Johnny Mize 45.83 runs
5. Joe DiMaggio 45.41 runs
6. Ken Keltner 37.75 runs
7. Bob Elliott 36.79 runs
8. Harry Brecheen 35.86 runs
9. Tommy Henrich 34.03 runs
10. Ralph Kiner 32.49 runs
11. Jeff Heath 29.98 runs
12. Joe Gordon 29.56 runs
13. Andy Pafko 28.81 runs
14. Bobby Doerr 27.30 runs
15. Bob Lemon 27.18 runs
16. Sid Gordon 26.75 runs
17. Pat Mullin 26.61 runs

6. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: October 08, 2018 at 05:17 PM (#5762651)

Boudreau did it all, including in the pennant playoff where he went 4-for-4 with 2 home runs. He also had 98 walks and only 9 strikeouts for the entire season, plus a 3.0 dWAR. One of the greatest all around seasons in the history of baseball. He's an clear choice in spite of Musial having his best season. And while MVP awards don't always reflect true value (see 1941, etc.), winning 22 of 24 first place votes was a pretty good indicator of how his season was valued at the time.

And while it may not enter strictly into a merit discussion, as the Indians' manager Boudreau also made the decision to bring back Gene Bearden in that playoff game on only one day's rest, and Bearden rewarded him by pitching a complete game 5 hitter with a 70 Game Score. Not every manager would've had the nerve to do that, especially for a game in Fenway Park when Bearden was a LHP.

7. DL from MN Posted: October 10, 2018 at 01:52 PM (#5764102)

World Series Stats (now with WPA!)

Player Name G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SB CS E WPA
Gene Bearden 2 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 .750 1.250 0 0 0 0.06
Lou Boudreau 6 22 1 6 4 0 0 3 1 1 .273 .333 .455 .788 0 0 0 0.09
Larry Doby 6 22 1 7 1 0 1 2 2 4 .318 .375 .500 .875 0 0 1 0.15
Joe Gordon 6 22 3 4 0 0 1 2 1 2 .182 .217 .318 .536 1 0 1 -0.01
Ken Keltner 6 21 3 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 .095 .174 .095 .269 0 0 1 -0.22
Bob Lemon 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 -0.16
Dale Mitchell 6 23 4 4 1 0 1 1 2 0 .174 .240 .348 .588 0 0 0 -0.15

Al Dark 6 24 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 .167 .167 .208 .375 0 0 3 -0.46
Bob Elliott 6 21 4 7 0 0 2 5 2 2 .333 .391 .619 1.010 0 0 3 0.10
Johnny Sain 2 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 -0.18
Eddie Stanky 6 14 0 4 1 0 0 1 7 0 .286 .524 .357 .881 0 0 0 0.03
Jeff Heath broke his leg in the final week of the regular season

Pitcher Name G GS ERA W L SV CG IP H R ER BB SO WHIP WPA
Gene Bearden 2 1 0.00 1 0 1 1 10.2 6 0 0 1 4 0.656 0.85
Bob Lemon 2 2 1.65 2 0 0 1 16.1 16 4 3 7 6 1.408 0.59

Johnny Sain 2 2 1.06 1 1 0 2 17.0 9 2 2 0 9 0.529 0.81

8. Qufini Posted: October 25, 2018 at 03:18 PM (#5775260)

1948 Prelim Ballot

1. Stan Musial, RF/CF, St. Louis Cardinals: huge year with 200 OPS+, 192 RC and +5 fielding while spending 40% of his games in CF
2. Lou Boudreau, SS, Cleveland Indians: best player in the AL this year thanks to 165 OPS+ and +20 fielding
3. Ted Williams, LF, Boston Red Sox: so accustomed to Teddy Ballgame dominating baseball that a third place vote seems like a disappointment
4. Joe DiMaggio, CF, New York Yankees: 3rd in AL OPS+ with 163, 2nd in RC with 138
5. Johnny Sain, P, Boston Braves: 149 ERA+ in MLB leading 314 IP
6. Harry Brecheen, P, St. Louis Cardinals: "The Cat" led the NL with 182 ERA+
7. Ken Keltner, 3B, Cleveland Indians: 146 OPS+ and +12 fielding at the hot corner
8. Bob Lemon, P, Cleveland Indians: best pitcher in the AL with 144 ERA+ in 293 IP
9. Joe Gordon, 2B, Cleveland Indians: is this one of the best infields of all-time? Gordon put up a 135 OPS+ and +16 fielding to join Boudreau and Keltner on the ballot
10. Gene Bearden, P, Cleveland Indians: beats out Johnny Mize for the last ballot spot on the strength of AL-leading 168 ERA+ and a pretty impressive .256/.295/.356 slash line for a 75 OPS+

11. Johnny Mize, 1B, New York Giants
12. Hal Newhouser, P, Detroit Tigers
13. Tommy Henrich, RF, New York Yankees
14. Andy Pafko, 3B, Chicago Cubs
15. Bob Elliott, 3B, Boston Braves
16. Sid Gordon, 3B/LF, New York Giants
17. Dutch Leonard, P, Philadelphia Phillies
18. Bobby Doerr, 2B, Boston Red Sox
19. Johnny Schmitz, P, Chicago Cubs
20. Ralph Kiner, LF, Pittsburgh Pirates

9. Qufini Posted: October 26, 2018 at 03:19 PM (#5775936)

I have 19-year old Jim Gilliam as the best player in what's left of the Negro Leagues (OPS+ of 123, +4 fielding in 57 games. That's not enough to get onto the ballot but could squeeze into the bottom half of my top 20.

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Most Meritorious Player: 1948 Discussion

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