And so this outrageous season has finally come to an end. So engrossing has it been I just realised I'd forgotten to post at the end of August, so I've plenty to catch you up on.
For a while there it looks as if we're going to see two spectacular collapses as the Sox and Giants hit the wall. But both right the ship - the Sox by winning 11 straight - and eventually get home by a relatively comfortable margin. The Browns make some unwanted history, with their 110 losses tying the 1906 Beaneaters for the most ever.
OK, let's start - naturally - with the Bucs.
Despite not getting the prize, they can be extremely proud of how they kept at it all year and really made the Jints work hard for their pennant.
After that horror start, the pitching came roaring back to finish with a 3.69 ERA, second best in the div, and Brown, Foster and Streeter each winning 20 games. The bats were strong all year. Grantham has been a fantastic pickup for them, while Pie Traynor, the Waner boys and Rube Bressler all had great seasons. They have an abundance of riches but Honus will need to spend plenty of time over the offseason figuring out how to get the most out of them.
As far as individual performances go, this season was one out of the box.
Lou Gehrig's season has been nothing short of gargantuan, and an injury to Johnny Mostil of the White Sox leaves him shy of enough PA, handing Lou the AL Triple Crown. I'll let the screenshot tell you all you need to know, but no doubt he'll be taking home his 4th straight Wagner-Lajoie Medal.
I've been keeping you apprised of Chuck Klein's superlative rookie year, and he ends up with 54 HR as well as 141 RBI, losing out on the BA to Jim Bottomley's 369 by 15 points. Jacking up those LTMs has had the desired effect, homer-wise, with a record 1582 leaving the park. Klein's teammate Chick Hafey belts 46, with Ruth on 39 and Turkey Stearnes 38. Cleveland's Max Bishop also sets a new all-time mark with 146 bases on balls.
Those records will probably fall one day. The same can't be said for Satchel Paige's unbelievable 469 strikeouts. He also ties Dazzy Vance's 33 wins season record from 1923 and is runner-up in ERA. It's fair to say there was no sophomore slump for Satch.
The offseason will be the judge as to whether or not Ty Cobb will stick around to add to his 4125 hits and Walter Johnson keep on going with his quest for 500 wins, with him needing just 10 more.
Here are the top 20 hitters and pitchers by WAR for the season:
And here are the last few pages from the league newsletter and final traditional leaderboards for the year.
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