1902 Award Winners
David Peralta nets himself his second MVP prize in a row. After putting up with the antics of the last place Boston Americans last season, this time round the Americans performed more like a team that boasts the talents of the MVP. Adding the talents of RF Aaron Rowand and 1B Ray Grimes helped the team rise in the standings as well as dominance of starting pitcher Charles Bender (more on him later).
Peralta's .369 batting average led the American League as well as his .934 OPS that translated out to (again), an American League leading wRC+ of 175. That pop in the bat and plus defense in left field saw Peralta cruise to the MVP title. Can he make it a three-peat in 1903? Can he get the Americans over the hump to take the AL pennant?
It's hard to deny the MVP candidacy of Arky Vaughan, not when he leads the National League in hits and RBIs while provide top notch defense at the Shortstop position. Vaughan's main competition came from his own teammate, CF George Davis -- who led the NL in home runs and stolen bases -- and Chicago Orphan CF Richie Ashburn who tied Vaughan for hits.
One particular highlight of Vaughan came in a September 5 game against the Reds. The Reds stormed out to a 5-0 lead but the Beaneaters found their way back and it was Arky Vaughan who twice broke the tie to get his team the lead. Once with a double in the 6th and again with a single in the 8th that ultimately provided the winning run.
Vaughan is only 23 and he's surrounded by other young talent on the Beaneaters including 21 year old CF George Davis, 21 year old LF Sam Crawford, and 24 year old 3B Jose Ramirez. We should be seeing a lot of good things out of this Beaneater side in the years to come.
Part of the rise of the Boston Americans this season from last in 1901 to contenders this season was the complete dominance of Charles Bender. The only grey cloud in the resume for Bender was the end of the season, over his last five starts he went 0-5 and ballooned his ERA from 1.64 to 2.21. That 2.21 still led the American League but what was shaping up to be a unanimous award saw him lose a handful of first place votes to Chicago White Sox Ace Buttons Briggs.
Despite the shaky finish, Bender led the American League in wins (23), ERA (2.21), Innings Pitched (317.0), WHIP (1.15), FIP- (84) and shutouts (5). In addition to his regular starts, he was often called upon to contribute reliever innings which resulted him appearing in an American League leading 48 games.
Bob Gibson found himself traded from the Philadelphia Athletics to the Philadelphia Phillies over the offseason. The Athletics might have been disappointed with Gibson's performance in 1901 but a glance at the peripherals indicated that Gibson was a great pitcher in 1901, alas an unlucky one.
In the new digs, it all came together. Gibson improved his FIP from 3.07 to 2.74 and with it his ERA came tumbling down from 3.49 to 2.64. He'd gone from middling to elite. A 15-20 record in 1901 turned itself around to 22-10. It was certainly too late to count the 34 year old.
Gibson was a near unanimous selection but for one vote for Chicago Orphan Frank Hankinson.
AMERICAN LEAGUE SILVER SLUGGER AWARD
P Al Maul (St. Louis Browns)
C Jim O'Rourke (Baltimore Orioles)
1B Wes Parker (Baltimore Orioles) *
2B Buddy Meyer (Cleveland Blues) *
3B Pete Rose (Baltimore Orioles) *
SS George Wright (St. Louis Browns)
LF David Peralta (Boston Americans) *
CF Jacoby Ellsbury (Washington Senators)
RF Miguel Cabrera (St. Louis Browns) *
NATIONAL LEAGUE SILVER SLUGGER AWARD
P Dave Foutz (Chicago Orphans)
C Dale Murphy (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1B Jeff Bagwell (Brooklyn Superbas)
2B Hardy Richardson (Chicago Orphans)
3B Whitey Kurowski (New York Giants) *
SS Arky Vaughan (Boston Beaneaters) *
LF Charlie Keller (Philadelphia Philles)
CF Richie Ashburn (Chicago Orphans)
RF Carl Everett (New York Giants)
AMERICAN LEAGUE GOLDEN GLOVE AWARD
P Bob Ewing (Washington Senators)
C Bill Killefer (Boston Americans)
1B Wes Parker (Baltimore Orioles)
2B Paul DeJong (St. Louis Browns) *
3B Willie Kamm (St. Louis Browns) *
SS Ollie Beard (Chicago White Sox)
LF Mike Lum (Washington Senators)
CF Pop Corkhill (Philadelphia Athletics) *
RF Aaron Rowand (Boston Americans)
NATIONAL LEAGUE GOLDEN GLOVE AWARD
P Garrett Stephenson (New York Giants)
C Rick Dempsey (Cincinnati Reds)
1B Gregg Jefferies (Philadelphia Phillies)
2B Dale Sveum (St. Louis Cardinals)
3B Pinky May (Boston Beaneaters) *
SS Arky Vaughan (Boston Beaneaters)
LF Lenny Dykstra (Brooklyn Superbas)
CF George Davis (Boston Beaneaters) *
RF Jimmy Ryan (Brooklyn Superbas)
AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM MVPS
Baltimore Orioles 1B Wes Parker
Boston Americans LF David Peralta *
Chicago White Sox SP Buttons Briggs
Cleveland Bronchos LF Kirk Gibson
Detroit Tigers RF Jim Whitney
St. Louis Browns 2B Paul DeJong
Philadelphia Athletics LF Fred Lynn
Washington Senators CF Jacoby Ellsbury
NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM MVPS
Boston Beaneaters SS Arky Vaughan *
Brooklyn Superbas CF Harry Bay
Chicago Orphans CF Richie Ashburn
Cincinnati Reds 2B Jose Altuve
New York Giants RF Carl Everett
Philadelphia Phillies SP Bob Gibson
Pittsburgh Pirates SP Jim Devlin
St. Louis Cardinals SP Ed Halicki