NDF 2003-04 Winter Fun - 1906 AL Award Winners

[sweaver]

For the season referenced in the subject line of this thread, who would be your pick for Best Positional Player (Include defense and position played in your determination), Best Pitcher, Best First Year Player and any other topics of discussion from this season.

Best position player I think I have to takes George Stone - then I am unsure how to sort out Harry Davis, Napolean Lajoie and Elmer Flick. Probably Flick bests the other two, but I'dcertainly entertain Lajoie.

Lajoie was second in slg, second in OBP, second in BA, second in OPS (all to Stone). Stone was a better base stealer, more walks, more HRs (minor category in those years) Better in triples, worse (by a lot in doubles) better in runs. etc.

Flick was awfully good - lots of extra base hits and at the top of the leader board elsewhere. A bit better than Davis who again led in HR and RBI.

Wee willie Keeler had a nice year too.

Sam Crawford, Topsy Hartsell and George Davis all had good years, but not on that level.

Pitcher - Al Orth or Addie Joss I would guess. Bob Rhoads was pretty good too...or Otto Hess. I think Al Orth.....number of wins, his last good year, for the Yankees, reasonable peripherals. I don't know enough about the parks Hess' raw numbers were probably better. Joss the best, but not the quantity.....

[WiredTiger]

Best Hitter: George Stone
Who? I had never heard of him before today but he had an awesome year in 1906. It wasn't a huge fluke either because he had two or three good years in addition to this one.

Lajoie is a close second and I am sure a lot of arguements will be made for him.

Best Pitcher: Addie Joss
21-9 with an ERA+ of 151. There are other contenders to this throne but I think Joss was the best by a little bit.

[sweaver]

Here come the Win Shares:
Players; George Stone (St. Louis) 38, Nap Lajoie (Cleveland) 33, Harry Davis (Philadelphia) 31, Elmer Flick (Cleveland) 30, George Davis (Chicago) 29, Terry Turner (Cleveland) 28, Fielder Jones (Chicago) 27, Frank Isbell (Chicago) 26, Topsy Hartsel (Philadelphia) and Charlie Hemphill (St. Louis) 24.

Pitchers; Al Orth (New York) 36, George Mullin (Detroit) 26, Doc White (Chicago) and Jack Chesbro (New York) 25, Otto Hess (Cleveland) 24, Addie Joss and Bob Rhoads (Cleveland) 23, Ed Walsh (Chicago) 22.

WARP3 scores: Stone 10.8, Lajoie 13.1, Davis 7.5, Flick 9.4, Davis 6.0, Turner 9.9, Jones 7.6, Isbell 3.4, Hartsel 5.2, Hemphill 7.5.

Also: Orth 7.9, Mullin 4.8, White 8.2, Chesbro 3.3, Hess 5.6, Joss 6.3, Rhoads 4.9, Walsh 6.5.

No rookie among the top players.

One of the common methods of picking a top player is to pick the best player or perceived leader on the pennant winner or biggest surprise team. By that method, we would pick George Davis, veteran shortstop and cleanup hitter for the pennant-winning White Sox, the famed "Hitless Wonders." And that wouldn't be a real bad choice. In real life, Davis probably would have won the vote, and be better remembered today.

The actual top player, IMO, was Nap Lajoie (again). George Stone was terrific (and earned my Rookie vote last year, WT) but not quite up to the Hall of Famer's standards. Stone led the league in average, on-base, slugging, OPS, and total bases, with Lajoie second in all those, while Nap led in hits with Stone second. Lajoie led in doubles, Stone was second to Flick in triples. Harry Davis led in homers, RBI, and extra-base hits.

For pitchers, Doc White led in ERA and ERA+, Al Orth led in wins and innings. I'll give the nod to Doc White, leading the Hitless Wonders.

I'll venture a vote for Jack Coombs as top rookie. He was 10-10 with a 2.50 ERA for Philadelphia.

[rcartman28]

I believe that George Davis would have likely been voted the MVP, being the shortstop for the pennant-winning White Sox, although Stone was probably the best hitter in the league that year and Lajoie was ranked highly plus being player-manager. Orth would have been the likely Cy Young winner leading the league in wins, complete games, and innings pitched, and could hit a little, too.

Not sure about Rookie of the Year.....

[sweaver]

But who would YOU vote for, RC?