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Top ten NL MVP for 1958:

1. Walter Johnson, 24, CHC, RHSP
2. Tris Speaker, 19, SFG, CF
3. Tom Seaver, 27, LAD, RHSP
4. Greg Swindell, 22, PIT, LHSP
5. Red Porter, 18, SFG, RF
6. Otto Schomberg, 23, PIT, RF/1B
7. Cesar Cedeno, 26, CIN, CF
8. Tom Downey, 26, SFG, SS
9. Jose Quintana, 27, STL, LHSP
10. George Meakim, 23, STL, RHSP

Top five NL CYA for 1958:

1. Walter Johnson, 24, CHC, RHSP
2. Tom Seaver, 27, LAD, RHSP
3. Jose Quintana, 27, STL, LHSP
4. Greg Swindell, 22, PIT, LHSP
5. George Meakim, 23, STL, RHSP

Top three NL Mariano Rivera Award for 1958:

1. Chief Yellow Horse, 24, LAD, RHRP
2. Tom Candiotti, 24, CIN, RHRP
3. Steve Cishek, 27, ML1, RHRP

Top three NL Jackie Robinson Award for 1958:

1. Red Porter, 18, SFG, RF
2. George Meakim, 23, STL, RHSP
3. Wally Post, 19, ML1, CF

Before going any further, yes Wally Post finished 3rd in ROY balloting two years in a row. He barely got any AB in 1957 (48), but the field was so poor that I took him rather than some schmoe because I prefer excellence to qualified AB. To each his/her own.

Interestingly enough, the AL hit .264/.325/.387/.712 with 4.38 R/G and a league ERA of 3.89, while the NL hit .252/.314/.370/.684 with 3.99 R/G and a league ERA of 3.49. Despite this, the NL had more great individual offensive performers including the greatest of them all, 19 year old CF Tris Speaker of the San Francisco Giants. Red Porter is actually a guy who only ever played in the PCL IRL, and came in via the Spritze database, and tore up the league with a .297/.346/.632/.978 (175 OPS+, 176 wRC+) slash line, and led the league with 37 HR and 115 RBI in just 478 PA and 110 GS. We'll see how he goes from here because looking at his RL Neutralized numbers, the only way he should be dominating is with his power stroke. Everything else is kind of meh, including a .195 career batting average, so we'll see if he becomes another Joe Charbonneau, Eric Hinske, Bob Hamelin type or if this is really where he belongs.

Once again, Walter Johnson was dominant and won the pitching triple crown. Since sputtering to a 10-19, 4.27 ERA, 3.45 FIP campaign in his 18 year old rookie season of 1952, he has gone 112-38 (.747 WPct) with a 2.32 ERA, allowing 6.69 H/9, 0.53 HR/9, 2.01 BB/9, 8.86 K/9, and a 0.97 WHIP in 1,488.1 IP over the course of six seasons. The only reason he doesn't win every Cy Young/MVP is because Negro League LHSP Bill Foster has just about matched him pitch for pitch. Together, they have combined to win 6 of the last 7 Cy Young Awards and MVP Awards in the National League. In 1955, STL CF Oscar Charleston snagged the one MVP Award that's been available to mere mortals who've played the last seven seasons in the NL, while CIN RHSP Mark Gubicza snagged the only available Cy Young Award. This has made life difficult for a cat like Tom Seaver, who while he has cracked five all-star teams has been unable to crack the Cy Young/MVP crown.

Very interesting matchup in the NLCS in 1958. Bill Foster's Braves (87-75) took on Walter Johnson's Cubs (87-75), and the result was a thrilling seven game NLCS, at least until Game 7, when the Braves spanked the Cubs 16-4, with 5 runs in the seventh and 6 in the eighth to ice what had been a relatively competitive game. I gave the Braves the home field advantage because the last tie breaker when breaking a tie without using a play-in game is a team's record over the final 81 games. The Braves went 43-38, while the Cubs were 41-40. Ugh. Parity.

The Braves took Game 1 5-4 on a two out walk off single by C Pete Hotaling to score SS Jose Hernandez off starter and loser Early Wynn (who looks like he's going to have to buy a ticket if he wants to get into the HoF - he is still just 35, but it's not looking great right now). Game 2 was also taken by the Braves 3-2 on a walkoff fielder's choice by Wally Post in the bottom of the 11th inning. The series was headed to Chicago with the Cubs down two, but they had their ace on the mound for Game 3. Johnson stymied the Braves on 3 hits over the first eight innings with 2 BB and 11 K in a 4-0 game for the Cubs. Johnson struck out Game 1 hero Hotaling to begin the ninth, but yielded a double to 1B Danny Heep. He then struck out Game 2 hero CF Wally Post, but yielded a 2-run homer to RF Charlie Blackmon, and was removed for CL Rheal Cormier. Cormier gave up a single to 2B Roy Hartsfield to bring the tying run to the plate, but was able to coax a fielder's choice ground ball out of PH Ray Webster to end it.

Game 4 was a repeat of Game 1 SPs Ken Brett (for the Braves) and Early Wynn (for the Cubs). It was a wild and wooly, back and forth affair. The Braves went up 5-1 after 1 and a half innings on a grand slam by P Ken Brett, and a solo blast from 1B Danny Heep. The Cubs roared back with one in the second, one in the third and three in the fourth on a solo blast by SS Kid Elberfeld, and a two-run dinger from C Tom Haller. They held that lead all the way to the ninth inning, when 1B Danny Heep broke their hearts with a 3-run HR off CL Rheal Cormier.

So, a 3-1 series lead for the Braves with ace Bill Foster on the mound against the Cubs' Mark Portugal. Series over right? Not so fast. LF Tom Burns gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two out 2-run shot. SS Jose Hernandez answered that with a one out 2-run shot of his own in the second inning. CF Milt Cuyler singled home 3B Charlie Kuhns with two out in the third to give the lead back to the Cubs, and then RF Felix Jose hammered a two out 3-run shot off Foster in the sixth, to chase him from the game and open up a 6-2 lead. An eighth inning RBI single from 2B Roy Hartsfield and an RBI ground out from LF Dave Martinez pulled the Braves up to a 6-4 deficit, but that was as close as they would get.

Game Six returned Walter Johnson to the mound against lefty Randy Wolf. His own RBI double in the fourth was all he would need, as he throttled the Braves on two hits with six strikeouts in a complete game shutout. Tom Haller added a solo HR for insurance in the eighth, and off to Game 7 they went, where the Braves won big and ugly.

The World Series was relatively uneventful when the Braves got great starting pitching, which they did in four of the five games. Bill Foster and Randy Wolf combined to win Games 1, 2, 4, and 5 by scores of 4-1, 2-1, 2-1, and 3-0. The Yanks were throttled in those games, and had a big Game 3 against Ken Brett (winning 8-1), but if you score most of your runs in one game in a seven game series, chances are you're not going to win it, and that turned out to be the case. The Braves had gone 4-0 against the Yanks two best starting pitchers - Bill Donovan and Juan Pizarro by absolutely shutting down a Yankee team that was very good at shutting down the opposition during the regular season, but struggled to score runs of its own. That definitely rang true in this World Series.

Bill Foster has his first ring. We'll see if Walter Johnson can get one. The Cubs had better hope they can close the deal in the upcoming 1959 season because Johnson is a free agent following that, and he's gonna break the bank.