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

[HoustonGM]

1908:

AL MVP: Ed Walsh
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Ed Walsh
NL Cy: Christy Mathewson

Walsh trailed Addie Joss in ERA+ by a large margin - 163 to 205. However, Walsh made 14 more starts and 10 more relief appearances, adding up to a massive difference in innings of 140. Walsh led the American League in innings, and Joss himself placed second. A 140 inning gap over the next pitcher is a ridiculous amount of value, and without a real standout position player, that much value earns him the MVP as well as the Cy Young. Christy Mathewson was the only pitcher in the majors particularly close to Walsh in innings with 390 while putting up a 168 ERA.

[Slingshot]

Why don't you just give up HGM? We all know Metsguy's knowledge of sabermetrics and baseball history far exceeds yours.

[HoustonGM]

1907:

AL MVP: Ty Cobb
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Ed Walsh
NL Cy: Christy Mathewson

Ty Cobb had a fine season in his first full year in the bigs, earning the MVP award over Nap Lajoie and George Stone. Honus Wagner was the most dominant position player in the NL in this time period, and he gets his third consecutive HGM MVP. Ed Walsh, again, paced the AL in innings by a large margin, but not quite as large as in 1908, limiting him to just the Cy Young award this year. Christy Mathewson wins the NL award over Bob Ewing, despite trailing him by 15 innings and 26 points in ERA+, and here's why. Ewing had a 1.73 ERA to Mathewson's 2.00. Now, let's take a look at Run Average - the number of runs given up per 9 innings, not just earned runs. Ewing - 2.82, Mathewson - 2.51. Ewing gave up 40 unearned runs to Mathewson's 18. Unearned runs in this time period were much more common than they are now, and Mathewson himself had a few years where he gave up roughly 40 of them, but in this particular season, that gives Mathewson the edge.

[HoustonGM]

1906:

AL MVP: Nap Lajoie
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Al Orth
NL Cy: Mordecai Brown

George Stone had a 192 OPS+ compared to Lajoie's 169, but as with Lajoie's 1910 MVP over Ty Cobb, it comes down to Lajoie playing second base extremely well. The AL Cy was a hard choice, with no standout candidate. I decided to go with the leader in Pitching Runs Above Replacement, Al Orth, who posted a 127 ERA+ in 338.2 innings. Mordecai Brown dominated the league with a 1.04 ERA, 253 ERA+, in 277.1 innings, easily taking home the NL Cy.

[HoustonGM]

1905:

AL MVP: George Stone
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Rube Waddell
NL Cy: Christy Mathewson

Stone placed 4th in the AL with a 146 OPS+ behind Elmer Flick (166), Frank Isbell (149) and Sam Crawford (148). Isbell only played in 94 games, and Flick in 132, while Stone had more defensive value than each of them. Wagner, again, in the NL, giving him 5 consecutive and 6 overall HGM MVP's. Waddell and Mathewson were both very easy calls for the Cy Young.

[HoustonGM]

1904:

AL MVP: Nap Lajoie
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Jack Chesbro
NL Cy: Joe McGinnity

All incredibly easy calls.

[HoustonGM]

1903:

AL MVP: Nap Lajoie
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Cy Young
NL Cy: Joe McGinnity

Easy calls for the MVP. Cy Young wins his namesake award. Joe McGinnity edges out Christy Mathewson on quantity.

[TheNamelessPoet]

1884... if u do anyone but Hoss Radbourn for MVP and CY Young I will personaly drive to your house and beat u sensless

[HoustonGM]

1902:

AL MVP: Cy Young
NL MVP: Honus Wagner
AL Cy: Cy Young
NL Cy: Jack Taylor

Cy Young takes home both the MVP and the Cy with a 166 ERA+ in 384.2 innings. Wagner gets his 8th consecutive MVP award. Jack Taylor had a 202 ERA+ in 324.2 innings.

[RedsoxRockies]

1884... if u do anyone but Hoss Radbourn for MVP and CY Young I will personaly drive to your house and beat u sensless

What he did that year is just unbelievable....

[HoustonGM]

1901:

AL MVP: Cy Young
NL MVP: Jesse Burkett
AL Cy: Cy Young
NL Cy: Vic Willis

Cy Young again takes home both awards, posting a 216 ERA+ in 371.1 innings. Jesse Burkett edges out Honus Wagner in Wagner's attempt for a 9th straight MVP. Vic Willis had a 153 ERA+ in 305 innings.

I'll decide in a little while whether or not to continue going back, or to stop there.

[metsguy234]

So now we see how similar my picks were to yours... this'll take a while

[HoustonGM]

So now we see how similar my picks were to yours... this'll take a while

It would take a couple of seconds if you had your picks in an Excel file

[rogue9]

This might sound corny but if I had one wish, it would be to see the games these players played back in the 50's and prior. I think it would be something amazing to see. Ok I am drunk, but get over it, compared to a lot of people I am of drinking age.

I don't know I would wish that if I had only one wish. But I do often wish I could have seen some of these awesome players.

[metsguy234]

I don't know I would wish that if I had only one wish. But I do often wish I could have seen some of these awesome players.

I'd just wish for infinite wishes, then I could do all of that