Season 9
FINAL
Manny Leaves Bonds In Dust
Barry Bonds and his big bat were outshined and left behind in season 9 as the dependable Braves lead by Bobby Cox took the pennant with 105 wins. The Braves big three all won over 20 games with John Smoltz leading the charge with 24 wins. Mark Wholers saved 38 games and had an ERA of 0.97 as teams had little success scoring against any Braves arms. Javy Lopez drove in over 100 runs and Atlanta hit the most long balls in the league with 226. A well balanced team from top to bottom that plays fundamental defense and a confident poise, there is few better season long teams then a Braves team of this era.
The 1943 St. Louis Cardinals had the best offense in the season and scored the most runs as they manged a .280 team average. The Cardinals overcame a season ending injury to young Stan Musial while Whitey Kurowski and Danny Liwhiler carried the load well and both drove in over 110 runs. Max Lanier on the mound was the ace the team needed with a sparkling 2.44 ERA and 21 wins. This Cardinal team and Cardinal era are just about as good as it gets, and the quality of baseball is off the charts.
The 1995 Cincinnati Reds took a different approach to winning games and it wasnt from the generation they come from. The Reds ran their way to 3rd place with Barry Larkin stealing 121 bases and and hitting .322 from the top of the order. The team stole 331 bases and had boppers like Ron Gant and Reggie Sanders to get the big hits. The Reds were 21-8 in August to make a solid run as David Wells won 18 games and Xavier Hernandez came out of nowhere to save 37. Pete Schourek had a fine season to bolster the club even more with a 2.44 ERA in 39 starts. The Reds also made the least amount of errors in the league.
Manny Ramirez makes sure everyone remembers what he does. In this season the slugger has the best chance to be MVP after hitting 48 home runs and driving in 132 runs, both to lead the league including anyone by the name of Bonds. The Indians were in a fight for 4th for most of the season but a fine last two months of the season saw them through. Charles Nagy won 20 games and Bartolo Colon was right behind him with 18; Colon especially was key down the stretch. The Indians lead the league in strikeouts but didnt have a particularly strong pen. Jim Thome and David Justice had subpar years, both hitting under .250 with less then 30 home runs.
The champion 2006 Cardinals will be stunned to not be moving on a Tony Larussa had alot ro deal with this season. The pitching arms for this team just were not up to par and allowed the most long balls and the most long faces. Chris Carpenter was really the only dependable arm winning 20 games but Jeff Suppan lost 21 and Mark Mulder never got on his game. Albert Pujols did his thing with 35 home runs and Jim Edmonds was not far begind with 29, but Yadier Molina hit .229 and a real lack of speed and a leadoff man failed to generate big innings. St. Louis really fell out of it in September winning only 11 games and watching the Indians surge past them.
It was a good season for Barry Bonds who hit 42 home runs and drove in 106 runs, but it wasnt a super human season that the 2003 Giants needed. Bonds heard the boos all season long but he should have been booing his teamates who had a league low .241 league average. Jason Schmidt had a really good season leading with a 2.25 ERA and 22 winsas the Giants arms were pretty good. The Giants had a losing record everymonth and could not put a winning streak together much less win the big games against the top teams, they only beat the Braves four times all season. The depth just wasnt there for Dusty Baker.
Lack of pitching was the reason and the bog red flag for the 1927 Pirates who lost 103 games. A starters ERA of 5.78 and a real lack of any dependable arm left this team depleted and sore by the end of the season. Lee Meadows allowed 34 home runs in his 41 starts and lost 23 games. The Waner brothers at the top of the lineup were fun to watch and Paul hit .349 while Pie Traynor drove in 96 runs. The team was dead last in home runs with their leader being Earl Smith with 11. Pittsburgh in the end just wasnt confident or strong enough for the long stretch of 162.
Wartime teams often struggle when they play the full rosters of other eras, such was the case for the 1945 Tigers who one could forget quickly were once champions. The Tigers lost 107 games, scored the fewest runs in the league, and played the worst defense. By any standard the season was a disaster and a string of injuries to starting pitching like Tommy Bridges and Virgil Trucks set the dooming stage, Hank Greenberg did bang out 35 home runs in the cleanup spot while Eddie Mayo filled in well as a leadoff man, but not a single bat was over .300 for this club. The team won 15 games after August 1st and only 6 in all of September.
