1950 Season

The 1950 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

As part of their last update, Retrosheet added two new seasons with "deduced games" to supplement their play-by-play data. These are games for which they do not have full play-by-play data, but they have been able to deduce enough about what happened from box scores and newspaper reports that they were able to reconstruct play-by-play data. Combining games with full play-by-play and deduced games, I now have full play-by-play data for all seasons dating back to 1949. This gives me two new full seasons: 1949 and 1950

This article looks at the latter of these two seasons: 1950.

The Best of 1950

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.

		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Vic Raschi	19.4	13.2	3.7	5.2	1	Vic Raschi	19.4	13.2	3.7	5.2
2	Robin Roberts	19.8	14.4	3.3	4.9	2	Bob Lemon	23.0	18.9	2.9	4.9
3	Yogi Berra	18.0	11.7	3.2	4.4	3	Robin Roberts	19.8	14.4	3.3	4.9
4	Vic Wertz	23.5	16.5	3.1	4.6	4	Vic Wertz	23.5	16.5	3.1	4.6
5	Larry Doby	21.6	14.6	3.0	4.5	5	Larry Doby	21.6	14.6	3.0	4.5
6	Bob Lemon	23.0	18.9	2.9	4.9	6	Vern Stephens	23.4	18.6	2.8	4.4
7	Al Rosen	22.6	15.6	2.9	4.4	7	Al Rosen	22.6	15.6	2.9	4.4
8	Pee Wee Reese	20.0	14.9	2.8	4.2	8	Yogi Berra	18.0	11.7	3.2	4.4
9	Eddie Stanky	21.2	15.9	2.8	4.3	9	Eddie Stanky	21.2	15.9	2.8	4.3
10	Vern Stephens	23.4	18.6	2.8	4.4	10	Phil Rizzuto	22.2	17.6	2.7	4.2

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.

		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Larry Doby	20.2	14.4	2.5	3.8	1	Ewell Blackwell	17.4	13.7	2.4	3.9
2	Eddie Stanky	20.2	15.7	2.4	3.8	2	Larry Doby	20.2	14.4	2.5	3.8
3	Ewell Blackwell	17.4	13.7	2.4	3.9	3	Eddie Stanky	20.2	15.7	2.4	3.8
4	Phil Rizzuto	21.8	18.1	2.2	3.8	4	Phil Rizzuto	21.8	18.1	2.2	3.8
5	Al Rosen	21.0	15.7	2.1	3.5	5	Robin Roberts	19.3	16.9	1.9	3.6
6	Hoot Evers	21.4	16.1	2.0	3.5	6	Warren Spahn	19.3	17.0	1.9	3.5
7	Early Wynn	15.0	12.3	1.9	3.2	7	Hoot Evers	21.4	16.1	2.0	3.5
8	Warren Spahn	19.3	17.0	1.9	3.5	8	Al Rosen	21.0	15.7	2.1	3.5
9	Don Newcombe	17.8	15.4	1.9	3.4	9	Don Newcombe	17.8	15.4	1.9	3.4
10	Robin Roberts	19.3	16.9	1.9	3.6	10	Ned Garver	17.4	15.1	1.8	3.3

Let's take a look at a few of the more interesting players in the above tables.

Top AL Pitchers: Vic Raschi vs. Fred Hutchinson

The top player in three of the four above tables was an American League starting pitcher. Vic Raschi of the New York Yankees led the major-leagues in pWins over either positional average or replacement level, while Detroit Tigers pitcher Fred Hutchinson led the major leagues in eWins over either positional average.

Vic Raschi had a traditional won-lost record of 21-8 with a 4.00 ERA over 256.2 IP. Hutchinson went 17-8, 3.96 in 231.2 IP and added a .326/.407/.400 batting line over 112 PAs.

Both Raschi and Hutchinson had interesting seasons statistically. Neither ranked particularly well in 1950 for WAR at Baseball-Reference. This is really not too surprising given their season ERA's. In terms of winning percentage, however, they finished 1st and 5th in the AL. They also ranked 2nd (Hutchinson) and 4th (Raschi) in FIP in the 1950 AL, according to Baseball-Reference. Hutchinson led the AL in BB/9 and K/BB; Raschi was 3rd in K/9 and 4th in K/BB. Player won-lost records sort of care the most about the latter statistics - FIP, K/BB - and the former statistic - winning percentage - but less so about the intermediate statistic, ERA. Raschi and Hutchinson were very good at the things most in control of the pitcher - striking batters out, avoiding walks - and their teams ultimately won a lot of games when they were pitching.

Raschi, in particular, also excelled at "pitching to the score". The Yankees were 9-3 in one-run games started by Raschi, with Raschi amassing a traditional record of 9-2 in those games. The ability to "pitch to the score" may or may not be a "skill", but there's no doubt that the timing of Raschi's performance in 1950 - whether by skill or by luck - contributed to real Yankee wins in 1950.

Hutchinson and Raschi ended up having fairly similar careers overall. They both got late starts, presumably due to World War II - Hutchinson's first full-time season was at age 26, Raschi's was at age 29 - put together a few very good seasons, but were out of baseball by their mid-to-late 30's, resulting in veryshort careers for pitchers of their quality. I am missing several games from the early parts of both Hutchinson's and Raschi's careers. The next table compares their career records, as measured by Player won-lost records, from 1939 onward. The Player won-lost records shown here are (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
	Fred Hutchinson						Vic Raschi
1939	13	5.2	6.0	0.467	-0.2	0.3
1940	17	4.5	4.3	0.511	0.2	0.7
1941	2	0.0	0.1	0.000	-0.0	-0.0
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946	40	13.7	11.8	0.537	1.5	2.7	2	1.0	0.8	0.564	0.2	0.2
1947	56	15.4	12.8	0.545	1.8	3.0	15	6.8	6.6	0.507	0.3	0.9
1948	76	14.8	14.8	0.499	0.5	1.9	36	14.2	12.6	0.530	1.3	2.5
1949	38	11.9	10.4	0.534	1.1	2.1	38	17.5	16.5	0.514	1.0	2.3
1950	44	15.1	12.7	0.544	1.8	3.1	33	16.9	14.6	0.535	1.7	3.2
1951	47	12.0	10.6	0.532	1.1	2.1	35	15.3	16.3	0.485	0.0	1.4
1952	17	1.8	2.1	0.462	-0.1	0.1	31	13.4	12.7	0.514	0.9	2.0
1953	4	0.5	0.3	0.604	0.1	0.1	28	10.8	9.7	0.527	0.9	1.8
1954							30	11.5	12.7	0.475	-0.2	1.0
1955							21	6.3	7.5	0.459	-0.3	0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	354	94.9	85.8	0.525	7.9	16.2	269	113.7	110.0	0.508	5.9	15.5

Robin Roberts

One of the big stories of the 1950 season was the Philadelphia Phillies and their surprise pennant, the first for the franchise in 35 years. The Phillies starting lineup featured two 23-year-olds, a 24-year-old, and a 25-year-old, and their top five starting pitchers were 21, 23, 24, 25, and 26 years old.

By far the biggest star among the Whiz Kids was 23-year-old starting pitcher Robin Roberts. Roberts would eventually be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (in 1976) on the strength on an incredible six-year peak, of which 1950 was the first season. In 1950, Roberts started 39 games (and relieved in one other, earning a save), completing 21, with a league-leading 5 shutouts. Overall, he pitched 304.1 innings with a 3.02 ERA (4th in the NL) and a traditional won-lost record of 20-11.

Player won-lost records agree that Roberts's 1950 season was outstanding as he ranks in the top 10 in all four of the above tables, ranking 2nd (1st in the NL) in pWins over either positional average or replacement level.

Robin Roberts's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Robin Roberts Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1948	PHI	21	21	9.7	9.8	0.497	0.3	1.1	9.5	9.3	0.504	0.4	1.2
1949	PHI	22	43	14.1	13.5	0.511	0.7	1.8	14.3	14.0	0.506	0.5	1.7
1950	PHI	23	40	19.8	14.4	0.579	3.3	4.9	19.3	16.9	0.534	1.9	3.6
1951	PHI	24	44	20.9	16.8	0.555	2.6	4.3	20.2	16.0	0.558	2.6	4.2
1952	PHI	25	39	20.7	13.5	0.606	4.4	5.9	20.4	17.0	0.546	2.5	4.2
1953	PHI	26	44	24.8	18.0	0.580	4.3	6.1	24.4	17.5	0.582	4.3	6.1
1954	PHI	27	45	20.7	17.5	0.541	2.4	4.2	21.5	18.1	0.542	2.5	4.4
1955	PHI	28	51	21.8	17.7	0.552	2.8	4.3	20.7	18.7	0.525	1.7	3.2
1956	PHI	29	43	19.0	19.1	0.499	0.7	2.4	19.2	20.6	0.482	0.0	1.9
1957	PHI	30	39	14.2	20.1	0.414	-2.3	-0.8	14.9	16.9	0.469	-0.3	1.0
1958	PHI	31	36	18.1	15.0	0.547	2.4	3.6	17.7	16.2	0.522	1.6	2.9
1959	PHI	32	35	17.8	17.4	0.505	0.8	2.3	16.3	16.4	0.499	0.5	1.9
1960	PHI	33	35	14.0	14.9	0.484	0.2	1.4	14.8	15.0	0.495	0.5	1.8
1961	PHI	34	26	5.1	8.1	0.385	-1.3	-0.7	6.6	8.8	0.431	-0.8	-0.1
1962	BAL	35	27	10.3	8.8	0.539	1.2	2.0	11.9	10.6	0.529	1.1	2.1
1963	BAL	36	35	14.6	15.9	0.480	0.1	1.5	15.8	16.1	0.495	0.6	2.1
1964	BAL	37	31	13.6	11.2	0.547	1.7	3.0	12.2	12.5	0.492	0.4	1.6
+– 1965		38	30	11.0	10.8	0.505	0.6	1.6	11.9	10.6	0.530	1.2	2.2
	BAL		20	6.4	7.6	0.459	-0.3	0.4	7.0	7.7	0.475	-0.1	0.6
	HOU		10	4.6	3.2	0.587	0.9	1.2	4.9	2.9	0.632	1.3	1.6
+– 1966		39	24	6.8	7.2	0.483	-0.0	0.6	6.6	8.5	0.437	-0.7	-0.1
	CHN		11	2.6	2.6	0.497	0.0	0.3	2.9	3.8	0.433	-0.4	-0.1
	HOU		13	4.2	4.6	0.475	-0.1	0.3	3.7	4.7	0.440	-0.4	-0.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			688	297.0	269.8	0.524	24.8	49.5	298.2	279.8	0.516	20.6	45.9
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			2	0.4	0.7	0.406		-0.0	0.9	0.8	0.541		0.2
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			690	297.5	270.4	0.524		49.5	299.1	280.6	0.516		46.0

Larry Doby

When Player won-lost records are controlled for context and teammate ability, the best position player in the American League, as measured by (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over either positional average or replacement level was Cleveland Indians centerfielder Larry Doby.

Larry Doby made his major-league debut in 1947, becoming the first African-American player in American League history on July 5, 1947. The next season, Doby batted .301 splitting time between center and right field and helped the Cleveland Indians win their last World Championship (to date).

The 1950 season saw Doby take a big step forward from solid starter to star. He set career highs in batting average (.326), on-base percentage (.442), and slugging percentage (.545), leading the AL in OBP and OPS (.986). He also set a career high in runs scored (110) and drove in over 100 runs for the first time in his career (he would do so three more times). In addition to his hitting exploits, Doby was an above average baserunner and defensive centerfielder in 1950 as well.

I feel like Larry Doby is often under-rated - if not forgotten - as a baseball player. He wasn't elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame until 1998 and I think most people assume he only made it then because of his position as the first black player in AL history. Yet, as measured by Player won-lost records, Larry Doby's career was Hall-worthy even without giving him pioneering extra credit (which he absolutely deserves).

Larry Doby's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Larry Doby Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1947	CLE	23	27	0.6	1.0	0.365	-0.2	-0.1	0.6	1.0	0.376	-0.2	-0.1
1948	CLE	24	120	16.4	14.0	0.539	0.6	1.9	15.7	13.3	0.541	0.6	1.8
1949	CLE	25	147	22.0	17.6	0.556	1.7	3.3	21.1	17.0	0.554	1.5	3.1
1950	CLE	26	142	21.6	14.6	0.597	3.0	4.5	20.2	14.4	0.584	2.5	3.8
1951	CLE	27	134	19.1	15.2	0.557	1.6	3.0	19.1	14.2	0.574	2.1	3.4
1952	CLE	28	140	21.7	15.1	0.590	2.9	4.4	21.3	15.1	0.585	2.8	4.2
1953	CLE	29	149	21.6	15.9	0.577	2.3	3.9	19.9	15.0	0.570	1.9	3.4
1954	CLE	30	153	26.9	15.3	0.638	4.9	6.6	21.2	16.3	0.564	1.6	3.1
1955	CLE	31	131	17.7	14.6	0.549	0.9	2.3	17.8	14.6	0.549	1.0	2.3
1956	CHA	32	140	18.8	16.7	0.529	0.5	1.9	19.3	17.2	0.528	0.4	1.9
1957	CHA	33	119	16.1	14.1	0.533	0.5	1.7	14.3	12.4	0.534	0.5	1.6
1958	CLE	34	88	9.3	8.2	0.530	0.2	0.9	8.5	7.7	0.526	0.2	0.8
+– 1959		35	39	2.7	3.9	0.413	-0.7	-0.4	3.1	4.8	0.393	-1.0	-0.7
	CHA		21	1.5	1.9	0.442	-0.3	-0.1	1.6	3.0	0.348	-0.8	-0.6
	DET		18	1.2	1.9	0.380	-0.4	-0.3	1.5	1.8	0.457	-0.2	-0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,529	214.4	166.0	0.564	18.3	33.8	202.1	163.1	0.553	13.9	28.7
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			10	1.2	1.3	0.468		-0.0	1.1	1.2	0.497		0.0
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,539	215.6	167.3	0.564		33.7	203.3	164.3	0.553		28.7

The 1950 World Series

On the surface, the 1950 World Series looked like a rout. The New York Yankees won their second of five consecutive World Series in a sweep against a Philadelphia Phillies team making its only World Series appearance between 1915 and 1980. But looking more closely, the first three games were all one-run games and the Yankees out-scored the Phillies by a total of only 6 runs across the four games.

The stars of the 1950 World Series for the Yankees were their starting pitchers. Vic Raschi and Whitey Ford pitched a combined 17.2 innings without allowing an earned run (Ford allowed 2 unearned runs) and each earned a traditional pitching win, and Allie Reynolds added 10.1 IP at a 0.87 ERA with a win and a save.

Player won-lost records agree. The top performances of the 1950 World Series as measured by Player won-lost records are shown next.

	1950 World Series
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
Vic Raschi	NYA	1.0	0.1	0.5
Whitey Ford	NYA	1.0	0.3	0.4
Allie Reynolds	NYA	0.9	0.3	0.4
Jerry Coleman	NYA	0.7	0.3	0.3
Joe DiMaggio	NYA	0.7	0.3	0.2
Ed Lopat	NYA	0.5	0.2	0.2
Gene Woodling	NYA	0.6	0.3	0.2
Jim Konstanty	PHI	0.9	0.8	0.2
Bobby 'Doc' Brown	NYA	0.5	0.4	0.1
Tom Ferrick	NYA	0.2	0.1	0.1
Phil Rizzuto	NYA	0.5	0.4	0.1
Yogi Berra	NYA	0.4	0.3	0.1

Best of 1950 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over Positional Average in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1950 in eWOPA by factor were as follows.

	Batting
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Stan Musial	15.5	9.7	2.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Baserunning
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Willie Jones	1.4	0.8	0.2
Red Schoendienst	1.1	0.6	0.2
Johnny Pesky	1.2	0.8	0.2
Ted Williams	0.7	0.3	0.2
Sam Jethroe	1.7	1.3	0.2
Billy Goodman	1.0	0.6	0.2
Pee Wee Reese	1.4	1.0	0.2
Yogi Berra	1.1	0.7	0.2
Eddie Yost	1.6	1.2	0.2
Dom DiMaggio	1.3	0.9	0.2
Phil Masi	0.9	0.6	0.2
George Kell	1.2	0.9	0.2
Bob Elliott	1.0	0.7	0.2
Sam Mele	0.8	0.5	0.2
Jim Russell	0.6	0.3	0.2
Ray Coleman	0.7	0.4	0.1
Roy Hartsfield	1.0	0.7	0.1
Buddy Kerr	0.9	0.6	0.1
Irv Noren	1.0	0.7	0.1
Chico Carrasquel	1.2	0.8	0.1
Johnny Lipon	1.2	0.9	0.1
Joe Collins	0.6	0.3	0.1
Carl Furillo	1.3	1.0	0.1
Ralph Kiner	1.1	0.8	0.1
Bobby Avila	0.6	0.3	0.1
Ted Kluszewski	0.9	0.6	0.1
Marty Marion	0.7	0.5	0.1
Alvin Dark	1.2	1.0	0.1
Hal Jeffcoat	0.5	0.3	0.1
Bobby Adams	0.8	0.5	0.1
Phil Cavarretta	0.5	0.3	0.1
Gil Coan	0.9	0.7	0.1
Early Wynn	0.3	0.1	0.1
Walker Cooper	0.7	0.5	0.1
Joe Gordon	0.5	0.3	0.1
Willard Marshall	0.4	0.2	0.1
Sherm Lollar	0.8	0.6	0.1
Lloyd Merriman	0.8	0.6	0.1
Johnny Hopp	0.9	0.7	0.1
Marv Rickert	0.5	0.3	0.1
Bob Ramazzotti	0.4	0.2	0.1
Larry Doby	1.1	0.9	0.1
Dick Sisler	0.9	0.7	0.1
Monte Irvin	0.6	0.4	0.1
Owen Friend	0.5	0.4	0.1
Eddie Waitkus	1.2	1.0	0.1
Pete Reiser	0.2	0.1	0.1
Tom Upton	0.7	0.6	0.1
Gene Woodling	1.0	0.8	0.1
Dick Whitman	0.4	0.2	0.1
Doyle Lade	0.2	0.0	0.1
Randy Jackson	0.2	0.1	0.1
Al Evans	0.3	0.2	0.1
Johnny Ostrowski	0.3	0.2	0.1
Sibby Sisti	0.3	0.2	0.1
Erv Palica	0.2	0.1	0.1
Birdie Tebbetts	0.4	0.3	0.1
Granny Hamner	1.1	0.9	0.1
Danny O'Connell	0.8	0.6	0.1
Bobby 'Doc' Brown	0.4	0.3	0.1
Ray Murray	0.3	0.1	0.1
Jerry Coleman	0.9	0.8	0.1
Gil Hodges	1.1	0.9	0.1
Billy Johnson	0.5	0.4	0.1
Luke Appling	0.2	0.1	0.1
Rube Walker	0.3	0.2	0.1
Sam Dente	0.8	0.6	0.1

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Pitching
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Ewell Blackwell	14.4	10.8	3.6
Robin Roberts	16.1	13.4	2.7

	Fielding, P
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Eddie Erautt	0.5	0.0	0.4

	Fielding, C
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Wes Westrum	1.5	1.1	0.4

	Fielding, 1B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Johnny Mize	0.8	0.6	0.2
Eddie Robinson	2.6	2.3	0.2
Preston Ward	1.2	1.0	0.2

	Fielding, 2B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Connie Ryan	5.1	4.7	0.4

	Fielding, 3B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Al Rosen	4.5	3.5	1.0

	Fielding, SS
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Phil Rizzuto	6.4	5.5	0.9

	Fielding, LF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Hoot Evers	6.6	5.2	1.4

	Fielding, CF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Duke Snider	5.9	4.8	1.1

	Fielding, RF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Carl Furillo	6.3	4.6	1.7
Bob Kennedy	6.4	4.7	1.7

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1950 Major-League leaders in eWOPA by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position, and include no contextual adjustments (expected or actual).

	Catcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Yogi Berra	16.4	13.1	1.7

	First Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Earl Torgeson	19.1	15.2	1.1

	Second Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Eddie Stanky	20.1	15.8	2.3

	Third Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Al Rosen	20.9	15.9	1.9

	Shortstop
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Phil Rizzuto	21.6	18.4	2.0

	Left Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Hoot Evers	20.9	16.3	1.7

	Center Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Larry Doby	19.9	14.6	2.2

	Right Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Del Ennis	20.7	16.9	1.5

	Starting Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Ewell Blackwell	14.1	10.8	1.8

	Relief Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Jim Konstanty	8.1	6.1	0.8

Relief pitching was much less prominent in 1950 than it is today. Nevertheless, Jim Konstanty won the 1950 NL MVP Award on the strength of 74 games and 152 innings pitched, all in relief.

For relief pitchers, context-neutral records may not be the best measure of how good they are, as context can matter a great deal, depending on how a pitcher is used. Here are the top relief pitchers of 1950 in context, as measured by pWins over replacement level (pWORL).

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Top Relief Pitchers of 1950, based on pWORL
Jim Konstanty	9.9	6.2	0.612	1.7	2.8
Al Brazle	11.2	10.0	0.529	0.8	2.0
Mickey Harris	6.8	5.4	0.557	0.6	1.5
Sam Zoldak	4.3	3.1	0.579	0.6	1.1
Jesse Flores	3.3	2.5	0.571	0.4	0.8

Jim Konstanty was excellent in 1950 and his performance did tower over that of other relief pitchers (his pWOPA was more than double that of any other relief pitcher). But compared to the best starting pitchers and position players of 1950, I think that Konstanty's MVP award was probably a mistake. Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitter, and pinch runner.

	Pitcher Offense
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Bob Lemon	2.5	2.1	0.8

	Pinch Hitter
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Charlie Keller	1.1	0.6	0.3

	Pinch Runner
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Bobby Avila	0.1	0.0	0.04
Joe Collins	0.2	0.1	0.03

Notable Debuts

The 1950 season saw the major-league debut of one player who went on to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Whitey Ford. The final table of this article presents the career record of Whitey Ford, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Whitey Ford Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1950	NYA	21	20	7.2	4.7	0.603	1.4	2.0	6.7	5.5	0.550	0.8	1.4
1953	NYA	24	33	12.5	11.0	0.532	1.2	2.3	12.6	13.1	0.489	0.2	1.4
1954	NYA	25	34	14.8	11.3	0.567	2.2	3.5	12.8	11.5	0.526	1.1	2.3
1955	NYA	26	39	17.3	13.6	0.559	2.4	3.6	15.3	14.4	0.515	1.0	2.1
1956	NYA	27	31	16.9	11.2	0.602	3.4	4.7	14.7	11.3	0.565	2.2	3.4
1957	NYA	28	24	8.8	6.8	0.564	1.3	2.0	7.8	7.6	0.508	0.4	1.1
1958	NYA	29	30	14.3	10.9	0.566	2.3	3.3	14.4	11.0	0.568	2.3	3.3
1959	NYA	30	35	14.1	12.4	0.533	1.4	2.5	13.7	12.8	0.518	1.0	2.1
1960	NYA	31	33	13.9	11.6	0.544	1.7	2.8	12.0	10.7	0.528	1.1	2.1
1961	NYA	32	39	19.3	12.7	0.602	4.0	5.3	18.2	17.1	0.515	1.3	2.8
1962	NYA	33	38	16.5	11.7	0.584	3.1	4.3	16.4	14.5	0.531	1.7	3.0
1963	NYA	34	38	16.9	13.5	0.556	2.5	3.9	17.1	15.1	0.531	1.8	3.3
1964	NYA	35	39	17.3	11.1	0.609	3.8	5.2	16.3	12.2	0.572	2.7	4.2
1965	NYA	36	38	14.8	14.9	0.498	0.7	2.0	15.4	15.3	0.502	0.8	2.2
1966	NYA	37	22	3.3	4.4	0.430	-0.5	-0.1	4.2	5.2	0.446	-0.4	0.1
1967	NYA	38	7	2.6	2.4	0.524	0.2	0.4	3.0	2.7	0.527	0.3	0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			500	210.6	164.4	0.562	31.1	47.6	200.5	180.0	0.527	18.4	35.1
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			22	9.8	8.6	0.533		1.8	9.5	8.1	0.540		1.8
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			522	220.4	173.0	0.562		49.4	210.0	188.0	0.527		37.0

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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