MVP: Cochrane
HOMERUNS: Ruth, 4
RUNS SCORED: Cobb, J. Robinson; 15 each
RBI: Musial, 17 (back-to-back RBI titles)
DOUBLES: J. Robinson; Frank Robinson, Maids, 5 each
STOLEN BASES: Eddie Collins, Reps, 5
Pitching
EARNED RUN AVERAGE (ERA), Min. 3 Games Started
1. Walter Johnson, Reps 0.72 (top 2 in ERA, back-to-back seasons)
2. Mordecai Brown, Stickpins 2.20
3. Warren Spahn, Maids 2.31
HITS/INNINGS PITCHED (H/IP), Min. 6 IP
1. Bob Gibson, Chips 0.83
2. Johnson 0.99
3. Robin Roberts, Maids 1.06 (top 3 in H/IP, back-to-back seasons)
4. Brown 1.07
5. Spahn 1.09
The Chips repeated as regular season champs and faced an unlikely opponent:
the Reps. Coming off a last place finish and with a Pythagorean projection
of 7-11, the Reps led the league in batting average (.361) and somehow managed
to overcome a pitching staff that, with the exception of Johnson, was pathetic.
Seven of the Reps' nine pitchers had ERAs of 4.16 or higher. By any account,
the Stickpins outplayed the Reps, but clutch hitting, and clutch pitching
from Johnson down the stretch, vaulted the Reps into 2nd place. The Reps clinched
a playoff berth when Johnson beat the Maids, 1-0, in those teams' regular
season finale. The final game of the season determined the Reps' opponent.
The 9-8 Stickpins took on the 10-7 Chips, but the Stickpins held the tiebreaker.
A Stickpins victory would have given them a playoff berth, and the Reps the
regular season title. And the Stickpins led, 3-1 after 6 innings. But the
Chips scored 3 late runs to win the game 4-3, take the regular season title,
and eliminate the Stickpins.
In the World Series, the Reps matched the greatest comeback in history in
Game 1, and that set the tone. The great "pitchers' duel" between the Chips'
Juan Marichal and the Reps' Johnson was anything but, as Johnson was lit up
for 6 early runs. The Reps then lit up Marichal, and the Chips bullpen, for
10 unanswered runs, and hung on to win, 10-7. The teams split the next four
games, making it 3-2 Reps.
In Game 6, Rube Waddell, a late insertion into the rotation, stepped up to
the challenge. Down the stretch, Waddell was the only Reps pitcher (other
than Johnson) that could consistently get hitters out. The enormous and loveable
lefthander with one of the best curveballs in the league went 3-0 in the Reps'
bullpen in Season 5, earning him the #3 starter spot in the rotation in the
Series. Waddell outdueled the Chips' Stan Coveleski as the Reps won the game,
and the Series, 4-2.
