A little project I'm thinking of doing (HGM's Historical MVP/Cy Young Choices)

1919:

AL MVP: Babe Ruth
NL MVP: Rogers Hornsby
AL Cy: Walter Johnson
NL Cy: Hippo Vaughn

More easy calls. Ruth wins his record 10th HGM MVP, while Hornsby is right on his tail with 9.

1918:

AL MVP: Walter Johnson
NL MVP: Heinie Groh
AL Cy: Walter Johnson
NL Cy: Hippo Vaughn

The Big Train had a 214 ERA+ in 326 innings. No AL position player was close enough to challenge him, although Babe Ruth's unique combination of excellent hitting and decent pitching makes him a strong second. Heinie Groh narrowly edges out Edd Roush for the NL MVP. Groh played a slick third base while putting up a 143 OPS+.

1917:

AL MVP: Ty Cobb
NL MVP: Heinie Groh
AL Cy: Eddie Cicotte
NL Cy: Pete Alexander

Ty Cobb in the AL was an easy call. For the NL, it was very close between Heinie Groh and Rogers Hornsby. Groh had roughly 100 more plate appearances. Offensively, Hornsby was better, but Groh's advantage in playing time really narrowed the gap. Defensively, we're entering the years where third base defense was almost, or arguably more, important than second base, as the power game was all but nonexistent, and bunts were very popular. Groh, as mentioned in my previous post, played excellent defense at third, while Hornsby was at best an average second basemen. The gap in playing time and the relative importance and quality of their defense gives Groh the edge. The Cy Young's were both easy calls. Eddie Cicotte had a 174 ERA+ in 346 innings, while Pete Alexander put up a 153 ERA+ in 388 innings.

1916:

AL MVP: Tris Speaker
NL MVP: Pete Alexander
AL Cy: Babe Ruth
NL Cy: Pete Alexander

Tris Speaker was close but clearly ahead of Ty Cobb. In the NL, Pete Alexander racked up 389 innings at a level of a 170 ERA+, good for both the MVP and the Cy Young. Babe Ruth becomes the first player in history to win an MVP as a position player and a Cy Young, putting up a 158 ERA+ in 323 innings.

1915:

AL MVP: Ty Cobb
NL MVP: Pete Alexander
AL Cy: Walter Johnson
NL Cy: Pete Alexander

More easy calls, although Eddie Collins was right on the tail of Ty Cobb.

1914:

AL MVP: Tris Speaker
NL MVP: Sherry Magee
AL Cy: Walter Johnson
NL Cy: Bill James

Tris Speaker was an easy call in the AL. In the NL, there was a few very deserving candidates - Gavvy Cravath, George Burns, Miller Huggins, Zack Wheat. I went with Sherry Magee, who put up a 157 OPS+ while playing solid defense. 1914 was the year of Dutch Leonard's ridiculous 279 ERA+ and sub-1 ERA. However, I can't overlook the fact that Walter Johnson threw nearly 150 more innings (with a 164 ERA+). Bill James, not to be confused with the noted statistical analyst and author of 70 years later ;), had a 150 ERA+ in 332 innings.

When we both finish our awards, I'd be very interested to see how often my choices matched up w/ yours.

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

When we both finish our awards, I'd be very interested to see how often my choices matched up w/ yours.

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Considering you give playing time basically zero weight, they probably match up worse than mine do with the BBWAA. And at any rate, that's on you. Do you have your choices in an Excel spreadsheet?

1913:

AL MVP: Walter Johnson
NL MVP: Gavvy Cravath
AL Cy: Walter Johnson
NL Cy: Christy Mathewson

Johnson just had a ridiculous season. His 1.14 ERA comes out to a 259 ERA+, and he did that in a league-leading 346 innings. Joe Jackson, Tris Speaker, Eddie Collins, and Frank Baker all had very good seasons, but you just can't come close to that type of pitching performance. In the NL, Cravath smashed 19 home runs and had a 172 OPS+. Christy Mathewson threw 306 innings and had a 152 ERA+.

1912:

AL MVP: Walter Johnson
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Walter Johnson
NL Cy: Christy Mathewson

Johnson, again, was, for lack of a better word, ridiculous. 242 ERA+ in 369 innings. Honus Wagner (144 OPS+) edges out Heinie Zimmerman (169 OPS+) due to much greater defensive value. Christy Mathewson was second in the NL with a 160 ERA+ to Jeff Tesreau's 173, but beat him out by nearly 70 innings.

1911:

AL MVP: Ty Cobb
NL MVP: Frank Schulte
AL Cy: Walter Johnson
NL Cy: Christy Mathewson

Johnson was relatively mortal this year, with a 172 ERA+ in 322 innings. This allowed Ty Cobb with his 196 OPS+ and excellent baserunning and defensive value to take the HGM MVP. Frank Schulte tied Honus Wagner for the league lead in OPS+ with 156, and despite the defensive advantage Wagner has, Schulte wins it on playing time. Mathewson again topped the NL, this time with a 168 ERA+ in 307 innings.

172+ERA and 322 innings is relatively mortal? lol. And also, how far back do you plan to go? To 1901 or to 1878 or what?

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Originally Posted by RedsoxRockies

172+ERA and 322 innings is relatively mortal? lol.

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When you compare that to his 240+ ERA+'s in 350 innings in 1912 and 1913, yes, it's relatively mortal :p

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And also, how far back do you plan to go? To 1901 or to 1878 or what?

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Right now, 1901. When I get there, I'm going to take a look earlier and see if I want to go back further.

1910:

AL MVP: Nap Lajoie
NL MVP: Sherry Magee
AL Cy: Walter Johnson
NL Cy: Christy Mathewson

Nap Lajoie edges out Eddie Collins and Ty Cobb. As a second basemen, he posted a 199 OPS+, slightly lower than Cobb's 206 but in about 100 more plate appearances. Sherry Magee topped the NL in OPS+ by 20 points. In the AL, there was 3 extremely great pitchers bunched together. Ed Walsh had a 189 ERA+ in 369.2 innings. Walter Johnson had a 183 ERA+ in 370 innings. Jack Coombs had a 182 ERA+ in 353 innings. It came down to Johnson and Walsh. I gave the slight edge to Johnson for a couple reasons - more starts, more complete games, more strikeouts, more batters faced, and slightly less unearned runs. It's certainly incredibly close that it could go either way. In the NL, it was Mathewson again with a 156 ERA+ in 318.1 innings. This year marks Walter Johnson's 6th consecutive HGM Cy Young, and Mathewson's 4th consecutive.

1909:

AL MVP: Eddie Collins
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Frank Smith
NL Cy: Mordecai Brown

Ty Cobb had another fabulous season with a 194 OPS+. Eddie Collins was second in the league with a 171 while playing a stellar second base. Both had excellent, MVP-quality seasons, but I'm giving the slight edge to Collins due to defense and positional value. Honus Wagner was the clear call in the NL. The AL crop of pitchers consisted of a lot of solid guys, but Frank Smith outdid them all by a large gap in innings, and had a solid 130 ERA+, earning the award. Mordecai Brown had a 193 ERA+ compared to Christy Mathewson's 222, but had an innings advantage of over 60 while also appearing in 50 games to Christy's 37. Smith and Brown break Johnson and Mathewson's streak.