1956 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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The 1956 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

Next in my continuing series of looking at individual seasons through the prism of Player won-lost records is the 1956 season.

The Best of 1956

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

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	Mickey Mantle	24.9	15.1	4.2	5.9	1	Mickey Mantle	24.9	15.1	4.2	5.9
2	Herb Score	19.4	13.3	3.6	5.0	2	Herb Score	19.4	13.3	3.6	5.0
3	Gil McDougald	18.3	12.2	3.5	4.7	3	Early Wynn	20.0	14.2	3.5	5.0
4	Early Wynn	20.0	14.2	3.5	5.0	4	Don Newcombe	19.2	13.7	3.4	4.8
5	Don Newcombe	19.2	13.7	3.4	4.8	5	Gil McDougald	18.3	12.2	3.5	4.7
6	Whitey Ford	16.9	11.2	3.3	4.6	6	Duke Snider	22.7	15.3	3.0	4.6
7	Jack Harshman	16.8	11.7	3.0	4.3	7	Whitey Ford	16.9	11.2	3.3	4.6
8	Duke Snider	22.7	15.3	3.0	4.6	8	Hank Aaron	25.2	18.4	2.6	4.4
9	Yogi Berra	18.0	12.1	3.0	4.2	9	Jack Harshman	16.8	11.7	3.0	4.3
10	Hank Aaron	25.2	18.4	2.6	4.4	10	Yogi Berra	18.0	12.1	3.0	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	Mickey Mantle	25.3	14.7	4.6	6.3	1	Mickey Mantle	25.3	14.7	4.6	6.3
2	Jack Harshman	16.5	12.0	2.8	4.1	2	Early Wynn	19.2	14.9	2.7	4.3
3	Early Wynn	19.2	14.9	2.7	4.3	3	Willie Mays	23.8	17.4	2.5	4.2
4	Duke Snider	22.2	15.8	2.6	4.1	4	Duke Snider	22.2	15.8	2.6	4.1
5	Warren Spahn	18.5	14.6	2.5	4.0	5	Jack Harshman	16.5	12.0	2.8	4.1
6	Herb Score	18.3	14.4	2.5	4.0	6	Al Kaline	24.5	18.5	2.3	4.0
7	Willie Mays	23.8	17.4	2.5	4.2	7	Warren Spahn	18.5	14.6	2.5	4.0
8	Yogi Berra	17.4	12.8	2.3	3.5	8	Herb Score	18.3	14.4	2.5	4.0
9	Tom Brewer	16.7	13.2	2.3	3.6	9	Bob Friend	21.2	18.5	1.9	3.7
10	Al Kaline	24.5	18.5	2.3	4.0	10	Tom Brewer	16.7	13.2	2.3	3.6

Best Major-League Player in 1956: Mickey Mantle

The best player in the major leagues in 1956, as measured by Player won-lost records, either in or out of context compared against either average or replacement level, was New York Yankees' centerfielder Mickey Mantle, who won a major-league Triple Crown, leading the major leagues in batting average (.353), home runs (52), RBI (130), as well as slugging percentage (.705), OPS (1.169), runs scored (132), and total bases (376). And, according to Player won-lost records, Mantle even played an above-average center field (0.529 fielding percentage, 0.6 net fielding wins).

And yet, as monstrous as Mantle's 1956 season was, he was actually better in pWOPA and pWORL the year before and the year after. Mickey Mantle's 1955 through 1957 seasons are shown in the table below.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
1955	NYA	23	147	24.6	14.1	0.636	4.5	6.1	23.8	14.8	0.616	3.7	5.3
1956	NYA	24	150	24.9	15.1	0.623	4.2	5.9	25.3	14.7	0.633	4.6	6.3
1957	NYA	25	144	24.8	12.8	0.660	5.3	6.9	24.1	13.4	0.643	4.7	6.2

The next table shows the best 3-year stretches of Player won-lost records as measured by pWins over replacement level (pWORL).

Player	Seasons	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
Lefty Grove	1930 - 1932	66.8	36.2	16.7	21.3
Babe Ruth	1926 - 1928	79.5	43.1	15.9	20.8
Babe Ruth	1921 - 1923	76.0	39.3	16.0	20.5
Al Simmons	1929 - 1931	74.7	40.8	14.6	19.6
Babe Ruth	1927 - 1929	74.6	40.6	14.7	19.4
Barry Bonds	2001 - 2003	74.3	40.3	14.7	19.4
Babe Ruth	1922 - 1924	73.5	39.7	14.9	19.4
Joe L. Morgan	1972 - 1974	76.6	49.9	14.2	19.3
Lefty Grove	1929 - 1931	61.8	33.8	15.3	19.3
Barry Bonds	2000 - 2002	77.1	44.0	14.2	19.2

Best Major-League Pitchers in 1956: Herb Score, Early Wynn, and Warren Spahn

The top three pitchers in the major leagues in 1956, as measured by Player won-lost records, were Herb Score and Early Wynn of the Cleveland Indians, and Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves.

A case could be made for any of the three as the best pitcher in the major leagues. Their 1956 player won-lost records are compared in the next table, in and out of context.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Herb Score	35	19.4	13.3	0.593	3.6	5.0	18.3	14.4	0.561	2.5	4.0
Warren Spahn	39	18.5	14.6	0.560	2.5	4.0	18.5	14.6	0.559	2.5	4.0
Early Wynn	38	20.0	14.2	0.586	3.5	5.0	19.2	14.9	0.563	2.7	4.3

The next table shows the career records of Score, Spahn, and Wynn, as measured by Player won-lost records. Unlike their 1956 records, this is very much a case of "one of these things is not like the others". Herb Score was hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of Gil McDougald in early 1957 and pitched his last major-league game in 1962, 1 and 3 years before Early Wynn and Warren Spahn, respectively, despite Spahn and Wynn being 12 and 13 years Score's senior.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Herb Score	150	61.8	57.0	0.520	3.9	9.0	58.3	60.5	0.491	0.4	5.4
Warren Spahn	783	353.9	293.4	0.547	40.8	68.5	344.0	303.3	0.531	30.9	58.6
Early Wynn	796	309.2	284.1	0.521	21.9	47.2	304.6	288.7	0.513	17.3	42.6

Finally, I wrote an article several weeks ago about another player who appears on the pWOPA and pWORL lists above, Gil McDougald.

1956 Postseason

The 1956 World Series was a rematch of the 1955 (and 1953 and 1952 and 1949 and 1947) World Series pitting the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees. The final result was the reverse of 1955 with the New York Yankees regaining their usual place as World Series winners for the 6th time in 10 years.

The stars of the 1956 World Series, as measured by Player won-lost records, were Yankees' catcher Yogi Berra, who batted .360/.448/.800 (OPS of 1.248) with 3 home runs and 10 RBI and pitcher Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game in Game 5.

	1956 World Series: Top Player Performances
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
Yogi Berra	NYA	1.5	0.6	0.6
Clem Labine	BRO	1.0	0.2	0.5
Don Larsen	NYA	1.0	0.3	0.5

Best of 1956 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 1956 in eWOPA by factor were as follows.

	Batting
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Mickey Mantle	17.2	9.0	3.9

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Baserunning
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Willie Mays	1.7	0.9	0.4

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Pitching
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Early Wynn	14.7	11.4	3.3
Jack Harshman	12.6	9.5	3.2
Warren Spahn	14.5	11.4	3.1
Herb Score	13.6	10.7	2.9
Bob Friend	16.8	14.0	2.8
Whitey Ford	11.7	9.0	2.7
Billy Pierce	15.6	13.0	2.6
Tom Brewer	13.7	11.1	2.6

	Fielding, P
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Turk Lown	0.5	0.2	0.3
Chuck Stobbs	0.6	0.4	0.3

	Fielding, C
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Yogi Berra	1.5	1.2	0.3
Bill Sarni	1.5	1.2	0.3

	Fielding, 1B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Bill DeKova White	2.6	2.2	0.4
Vic Power	1.2	0.9	0.4

	Fielding, 2B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Don Blasingame	3.9	3.4	0.5
Jim Gilliam	3.7	3.2	0.5

	Fielding, 3B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Ken Boyer	4.9	3.9	1.0

	Fielding, SS
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Pee Wee Reese	5.3	4.4	0.9

	Fielding, LF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Charlie Maxwell	7.1	6.1	1.0

	Fielding, CF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Bill Virdon	7.0	5.9	1.0

	Fielding, RF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Hank Aaron	7.5	5.8	1.7

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1956 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	15.2	11.4	1.9
Stan Lopata	12.8	9.1	1.9

	First Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Joe Adcock	14.4	10.5	1.3

	Second Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Jim Gilliam	12.6	11.4	0.9

	Third Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Eddie Mathews	20.4	16.5	1.7

	Shortstop
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Ernie Banks	19.9	17.6	1.7

	Left Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Ted Williams	17.9	12.7	1.9

	Center Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Mickey Mantle	23.9	14.4	4.1

	Right Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Al Kaline	21.5	16.5	1.8

	Starting Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Warren Spahn	14.8	11.5	1.7
Jack Harshman	12.6	9.4	1.6
Early Wynn	14.6	11.5	1.5

	Relief Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Hersh Freeman	6.0	4.4	0.8
Roy Face	7.2	5.7	0.8

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 1956 in context, in terms of pWins and pWOPA.

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Top Relief Pitchers of 1956, based on pWORL
Hersh Freeman	7.7	4.8	0.618	1.6	2.4
Ike Delock	9.6	8.9	0.520	0.5	1.6
Turk Lown	8.4	7.7	0.522	0.5	1.6
Clem Labine	8.4	7.6	0.524	0.5	1.5
George Zuverink	6.6	5.4	0.548	0.6	1.4

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.

	Pitcher Offense
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Don Newcombe	2.3	2.2	0.7

	Pinch Hitter
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Earl Torgeson	1.1	0.5	0.3
Hank Thompson	0.9	0.4	0.3
Ron Northey	1.4	1.0	0.3

	Pinch Runner
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Felix Mantilla	0.15	0.04	0.06

Noteworthy Players of 1956

Finally, let's take a look at some players who had noteworthy 1956 seasons.

Notable Debuts

Rookie-of-the-Year awards have been awarded for each league since 1949. So far, there have been two seasons where the Rookie-of-the-Year winner in each league has gone on to be elected to the National Baseball Hall-of-Fame: 1956 and 1977 (Eddie Murray and Andre Dawson), with the 2001 season probably becoming the third such season eventually.

The Rookie-of-the-Year winners in 1956, both of whom made their major-league debut this season, were Luis Aparicio and Frank Robinson. I wrote an article about Luis Aparicio last week.

The career records of Luis Aparicio and Frank Robinson, as measured by Player won-lost records, are presented in the next table.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Luis Aparicio						Frank Robinson
1956	152	17.7	17.3	0.506	0.7	2.1	152	23.5	18.4	0.561	1.6	3.3
1957	143	18.3	16.8	0.521	1.1	2.5	150	20.4	18.1	0.530	0.1	1.7
1958	145	18.3	16.9	0.520	1.3	2.6	148	20.6	19.1	0.519	-0.2	1.4
1959	152	20.3	19.2	0.515	0.9	2.4	146	17.7	15.2	0.538	0.6	1.9
1960	153	21.4	19.1	0.529	1.5	3.1	139	18.2	14.3	0.559	1.1	2.4
1961	156	19.4	19.4	0.499	0.5	2.2	153	24.4	17.1	0.589	2.7	4.6
1962	153	17.9	19.1	0.484	-0.2	1.2	162	26.3	17.5	0.600	3.2	4.9
1963	146	19.5	20.1	0.492	0.2	1.7	140	21.5	16.4	0.568	1.7	3.1
1964	146	21.3	17.5	0.550	2.0	3.5	156	26.2	17.9	0.595	3.1	4.9
1965	144	18.3	16.8	0.521	1.2	2.6	156	23.2	18.1	0.561	1.6	3.2
1966	151	20.3	19.3	0.512	1.0	2.5	155	24.7	17.0	0.593	2.8	4.5
1967	134	15.3	18.0	0.459	-0.7	0.8	129	20.4	15.5	0.568	1.6	3.1
1968	157	20.7	20.9	0.499	0.9	2.6	130	16.6	14.9	0.527	0.2	1.5
1969	156	20.6	21.6	0.488	0.1	1.9	148	24.5	15.4	0.614	3.4	5.1
1970	146	18.4	18.8	0.496	0.5	2.1	131	18.0	13.6	0.569	1.6	3.0
1971	125	14.7	15.9	0.480	0.1	1.3	133	19.5	15.5	0.557	1.2	2.6
1972	110	13.9	13.0	0.517	1.0	2.1	103	14.1	12.4	0.531	0.4	1.5
1973	132	16.0	16.9	0.487	0.8	2.1	147	15.7	11.9	0.569	1.8	3.5
1974							144	12.7	10.9	0.539	0.8	2.2
1975							49	4.1	2.6	0.609	0.7	1.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,601	332.5	326.5	0.504	12.6	39.2	2,771	392.3	301.8	0.565	30.2	59.4

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1956 was the final season for two Hall-of-Famers: Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson. Retrosheet has released complete play-by-play data for all of Jackie Robinson's career. For Bob Feller, however, I have only calculated Player won-lost records for 569 of the 570 games which Feller played in his career with most of his missing games coming during his prime (1939-41, 45-47).

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Bob Feller						Jackie Robinson
1936	13	4.4	2.9	0.603	0.8	1.2
1937	26	10.0	9.9	0.504	0.3	1.2
1938	39	19.7	16.6	0.543	2.0	3.5
1939	39	20.4	15.2	0.573	3.1	4.8
1940	43	25.0	16.6	0.602	4.9	6.7
1941	44	23.9	17.4	0.579	3.9	5.7
1942
1943
1944
1945	9	4.7	4.5	0.511	0.2	0.7
1946	48	27.3	20.0	0.577	4.3	6.6
1947	42	20.6	17.1	0.547	2.3	3.9	151	18.5	16.1	0.535	0.3	1.7
1948	44	18.9	18.3	0.509	0.7	2.4	147	21.6	15.6	0.581	3.1	4.6
1949	36	12.5	14.2	0.468	-0.5	0.6	156	25.4	16.6	0.604	4.4	6.1
1950	35	16.2	14.0	0.537	1.5	2.9	144	19.9	15.6	0.561	2.3	3.7
1951	33	17.3	13.2	0.567	2.4	3.7	153	25.7	15.2	0.628	5.3	6.9
1952	30	10.5	12.9	0.449	-0.9	0.2	149	23.0	14.8	0.609	4.3	5.8
1953	25	10.4	9.6	0.520	0.7	1.5	136	21.6	14.1	0.604	3.1	4.6
1954	19	10.1	7.5	0.573	1.6	2.4	124	14.6	12.2	0.545	0.8	1.9
1955	25	3.5	4.6	0.432	-0.5	-0.1	105	11.6	9.2	0.558	1.0	1.8
1956	19	1.5	3.2	0.323	-0.8	-0.5	117	14.1	10.7	0.568	1.6	2.6
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	569	257.0	217.6	0.542	26.1	47.2	1,382	195.9	140.1	0.583	26.1	39.7

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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