THE ase a esearc JOURNAL ASEBALL LENDS ITSELF to oral journalism The Seventeenth Annual like no other sport. The game's stately pace, Historical and Statistical Review B endless complexity, and utter unpredictability of the Society for American Baseball Research make it fertile ground for storytellers. And the best of them seem to be ex~players. If SABR members were Retroactive Cy Young Awards, Lyle Spatz 2 polled about their favorite baseball book, odds are the Batting Eye Index, Cappy Gagnon 6 runaway winner would be The Glory of Their Times, Bill Sisler, Ed Brooks 10 ,Lawrence Ritter's interviews with stars from the early Buzz Arlett, Gerald Tomlinson 13 years of the century. R,otisserie Leagues and New Stats, Ron Shandler 17 In this issue we are pleased to excerpt the Frenchy Bill Mazeroski, Jim Kaplan 21 Bordagaray interview from a new oral history, Innings Latin American All.. Star Game, Edward Mandt 23 Ago: Recollections by Kansas City'Ballplayers oftheir Days in Player.. Managers, Bob Bailey 25 the Game, by Jack Etkin. Don't let the regional approach Runs Produced Plus, Bobby Fong 34 fool you: The subject is baseball-universal. Interviewing Denny McLain in 1968, Larry Amman 38 former major~league Athletics, minor~league Blues, and Bob Gibson in 1968, Peter Gordon 41 Negro~league Monarchs, Etkin discovered a range of Retooling the Batter, Gaylord Clark 45 Willie Wells, John Holway 50 baseball experience from sudden success to unfulfilled The Times Were A ..Changin',· Ron Briley 54 talent to squandered opportunity. "Dick Howser once Jet Lag and Pennant Races, Bruce Goldberg 61 said that all ballplayers felt they could have been better," Musing on Maris, Ralph Houk and Robert W. Creamer 65 says Etkin, a sportswriter for the Kansas City Star and Regular.. Season/Post.. Season, Eric Wm. Olsen 73 Times. "This theme manifested itself." 19th Century Baseball Writing, Robert C. Olson 76 Innings Ago will tug at your emotions, too. It's available Kid Gleason, Garrett J. Kelleher 79 for $11.95 from Normandy Square Publications, 1125 Schuey's Big Day, Ren Speer 82 Grand, Suite 500, Kansas City, MO 64106. Frenchy Bordagaray, Jack Etkin 83 We're also excerpting Season of Glory: The Amazing Saga of the 1961 New York Yankees (G. P. Putnam''S Sons, Editor: Jim Kaplan $18.95), an oral history/journalistic narrative by Ralph Associate Editors: Len Levin, Elizabeth McGrail Houk and Robert W. Creamer. It's part of how this edition rediscovers the 1960s, that often~neglected de~ Cover Art hy Dennis Bingham. Top row: Wandering Brave, Shocked Mil, cade between Mickey, Willie & the Duke and the co,ming waukee fan, ACLU lawyer, White Sox owner Arthur Allyn. Middle row: of free agency. Mantle, Maris, Mazeroski, McLain, Gib~ Marvin Miller, Birdie Tehhetts, Dick Allen, Felipe Alou, Bo Belinsky and Mamie Van Doren. Bottonl row: C.C. Johnson Spink, Jim Brosnan, Joe son, and social protest-all are detailed on the next Pepitone. Inside front cover and hack cover art hy Boh Carroll. eighty~eight pages. Many thanks to publications director Paul Adomites, BASEBALL RESEARCH JOURNAL (ISSN 0734,6891, ISBN associate editors Len Levin and Elizabeth McGrail, and 0,91013 7,34,X). Puhlished hy Society for American Baseball Research, Inc., Deb Wilds and company at Ag Press and Pete Palmer for P.O. Box 10033, Kansas City, MO 64111. Postage paid at Manhattan, KS. selec~ Copyright © 1988 Society for Aillerican Baseball Research, Inc. All rights his advice on statistical subjects and manuscript reserved. Reproduct'ion in whole or in part without written permission is tion. And thanks to tile members who responded to our prohibited. Printed by Ag Press, Manhattan, KS. plea by flooding us with ideas and stories. For faster processing in the future, please query first, then send Photo sources: Page 10, Ed Brooks; Pages 12 and 64, New England Sports double~spaced manuscripts with biographical notes on Museum; Page 14, Gerald Tomlinson; Page 49, Vincent T. Walsh; Page 51, John B. Holway; Page 80, Garrett J. Kelleher; Page 82,Ren Speer; Page 85, the authors. Jim Kaplan National Baseball Lihrary. ----------------------e; ~ Retroactive Cy Young Awards LYLE SPATZ In a special SABR project, a membership poll creates Cy Young awards in years when there weren't any or when awards went to only one pitcher. Here are the results. N THE MORNING of November 29, 1956 the In 1912 Johnson finished second despite a won.. lost sports section of the The New York Times, record of 32.. 12, a league.. leading earned run average of O otherwise almost completely devoted to the 1.39, and a 16 .. game winning streak. Up in Boston, Melbourne Olympics, carried a baseball story. Buried on however, Smokey Joe Wood was compiling his own page five, the story announced that the Cleveland Indi.. 16 .. game winning streak on his way to a 34.. 5 record and ans had selected Kerby Farrell as their new manager. In the Cy Young Award. In 1916, Johnson again finished the notes that followed, it was revealed that the Baseball second to a young Red Sox ace, Babe Ruth. Writers Association of America had named Brooklyn's Grove won six consecutive awards between 1928 and Don Newcombe the Major League Pitcher of the Year. It 1933 after finishing fourth in 1927. Following an injury.. was the first year for the citation, officially called the Cy plagued year in 1934, his first with the Red Sox, he Young Award in honor of the legendary pitcher. bounced back to finish second in 1935 and 1936 and At that time pitchers from both leagues competed fourth in 1937, 1938, and 1939. The most consecutive against one another, with only one award given. This awards won in the National League were four, by Math.. practice continued through 1966. For the 1967 season an ewson in 1907.. 1910 and Sandy Koufax in 1963 .. 1966 award was given to the best pitcher in each league. (thre~ from the BBWAA, one from SABR). Those who Despite suggestions that the honor be split further, be.. won three years in a row include Cy Young himself tween starters and relievers, that is still the way it's done. (1901 .. 1903), Walter Johnson (1913 .. 1915), Pete Alex.. Since the award's inception, the prestige it bestows and ander (1915 .. 1917), Bob Feller (1939.. 1941), and Hal the interest it generates have come to approach that ofthe N ewhouser (1944.. 1946). Most Valuable Player awards. In recognition ofthis inter.. The relationship between Feller and Newhouser is an est SABR conducted a survey to determine pre.. 1967 intriguing one. Feller was baseball's premier pitcher ­ winners of the Cy Young Award. Retroactive winners the winner of three straight Cy Young Awards - when were selected in the National League for the years World War II interrupted his career. The four years that 1900.. 1955, 1958, 1959, and 1961; and in the American he lost could well have yielded up to 100 wins in addition League for 1901 .. 1957, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, and to his lifetime total of 266. Four more years could con.. 1966. The selections for the years 1956.. 66 were for a Cy ceivably have resulted in four more Cy Young Awards Young Award winner in the league not represented by the (1942.. 1945), giving him seven straight. BBWAA winner. The voting was done on the BBWAA's In 1944 and 1945 Newhouser took Feller's place as 5.. 3.. 1 point basis for first, second, and third places. The baseball's dominant pitcher. He went 29.. 9 in 1944 and winners are presented in the accompanying table. 25 .. 9 in 1945. His earned run average was 2.22 in 1944 It should come as no surprise that the pitchers with the and a league.. best 1.84 in the pennant.. winning 1945 most awards are those generally regarded as the game's season. He not only won the Cy Young Award those two alltime best. Christy Mathewson with seven and Pete years but the American League's Most Valuable Player Alexander and Warren Spahn (including one. from the Award. Still, there were those who downgraded New.. BBWAA) with six each had the most in the NL, while houser's accomplishments because they had come against Lefty Grove and Walter Johnson each had six to lead the "wartime" players. The critics awaited 1946 to see if he AL. Mathewson had two seconds and a third to go with his seven wins, and Johnson had five second.. place fin .. Lyle Spatz is a regional economist for the u.S. Department of ishes with his six \vins. Commerce. THE BASEBALL RESEARCH JOURNAL could continue to be as successful pitching against Di~ many other years, however, the "best pitcher" was far Maggio, Williams, and the other returning veterans. from obvious. The five closest races were: Al Orth over Feller too had something to prove: that he could come Addie Joss (AL 1902), Christy Mathewson over Mor~ back from his long Naval service and regain his pre~war decai Brown (NL 1909), Larry Benton over DazzyVance form. Both men succeded. Newhouser led the league in (NL 1928), Tex Hughson over Ernie Bonham (AL 1942), wins for a third straight year (26~9) and again in ERA and Hank Wyse over Charley (Red) Barrett (NL 1945). (1.94). Feller tied Newhouser for most wins with 26 Barrett, who started the '45 season with Boston, had a (losing 15) and had an_ERA of2.18. In an extremely close record of 2~3 when he was traded to the Cardinals. He vote Newhouser edged Feller to win his third straight Cy went 21~9 to finish with a league~leading 23 wins.