Another doozy of an AL East race, with the BoSox and Yanks unable to be separated after 162. A 1-0 walkoff win for the Bombers gives them the division and relegates the Sox to WC2. They are knocked out immediately by the M’s while the Yanks are swept in the DCS by the Tigers, who go on to win their third title.
Awards
MVP- AL: Ray Brown (Tigers) [1]
- NL: Miguel Cabrera (Nationals) [1]
CYA- AL: Jose Fernandez (Mariners) [9] unanimous
- NL: Chris Carpenter (Braves) [1] unanimous
RoY- AL: Anthony Pint (Orioles) unanimous
- NL: Curt Flood (Padres)
Reliever- AL: Vibert Clark (Royals) [1] unanimous
- NL: Greg McMichael (Braves) [1]
Feats of Note- 4-HR Game: Anthony Pint
- Cycle: George Burns (and no, I neither know nor care which one…)
- No-Hitter: Frank Sullivan
- 50+ HR: Matt Olson (51)
- Triple Crown: Miguel Cabrera (NL hitting)
Milestones- 2000 RBI: Brandon Lowe, Harmon Killebrew
- 250 W: Larry Jackson
- 3500 K: Shane Bieber
- 3000 K: Jose Fernandez
Top 20s by WAR
Clearly, the end is nigh for thirtysomething Jose Fernandez as he slumps to a 12 pWAR season with just 258 strikeouts and can only muster up his 9th CYA without winning the MVP as well.
That AL MVP is won by Ray Brown, who puts in a superb two-way performance with 8.3 pWAR and 3.6 bWAR.
A nice touch sees Chris Carpenter win his first CYA at age 36.
After all the brouhaha about Rube Dessau's stats, he suffers a career-ending injury. My karma ran over my dogma.
Anthony Pint doesn't let his admirers at BNN down, winning the AL RoY unanimously with a 7+ bWAR campaign that includes a 4-homer game (130 GSc).