[rockford]

(Pennants in parentheses)



GB
-- 1961Tigers .549 (5)
42 1940 Tigers .521 (2)
58 1974 Dodgers .511 (1)
72 1960 Yankees .502 (1)
88 1949 Cardinals .492
94 1906 Pirates .488 (1)
122 1909 Tigers .469
127 1970 Twins .466



The Play-In Round went pretty much as expected, with the four highest-seeded teams advancing to the next round.


The 1961 Tigers finished on top, a comfortable 42 games ahead of the 1940 Tigers. The 1974 Dodgers and 1960 Yankees will also advance.


Ty Cobb of the 1909 Tigers was far and away the Most Valuable Player in the round, winning six seasonal MVPs outright and sharing another. He finished with 877 MVP votes over 10 seasons, followed by Norm Cash (1961 Tigers) at 651 and Hank Greenberg (1940 Tigers) at 570.


Vic Willis (1906 Pirates) won four Pitcher of the Year awards on the way to claiming the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher award with 241 votes. Jim Bunning (1961 Tigers) got 230 votes, and Howie Pollett (1949 Cardinals) got 218.


Most Valuable Players (ranked by MVP votes; seasonal MVPs in parentheses):

877 Ty Cobb (1909 Tigers) (7)
651 Norm Cash (1961 Tigers) (2)
570 Hank Greenberg (1940 Tigers)
502 Stan Musial (1949 Cardinals) (1)
339 Rudy York (1940 Tigers)
299 Mickey Mantle (1960 Yankees)
270 Honus Wagner (1906 Pirates) (1)
241 Jimmy Wynn (1974 Dodgers)
240 Rocky Colavito (1961 Tigers)
142 Sam Crawford (1909 Tigers)

Most Valuable Pitchers (ranked by Pitcher of the Year votes; seasonal Pitcher of the Year awards in parentheses):


241 Vic Willis (1906 Pirates) (4)
230 Jim Bunning (1961 Tigers) (3)
218 Howie Pollett (1949 Cardinals) (2)
141 Tommy John (1974 Dodgers)
128 Ed Karger (1906 Pirates) (1)