1966 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1966 Season

The 1966 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1966 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1966

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	Juan Marichal	22.6	14.3	9.2	11.3	1	Juan Marichal	22.6	14.3	9.2	11.3
2	Willie Mays	26.1	16.6	8.3	10.3	2	Willie Mays	26.1	16.6	8.3	10.3
3	Sandy Koufax	22.8	16.1	7.8	10.1	3	Sandy Koufax	22.8	16.1	7.8	10.1
4	Willie Stargell	21.1	13.8	6.5	8.1	4	Frank Robinson	24.9	17.0	6.4	8.3
5	Frank Robinson	24.9	17.0	6.4	8.3	5	Willie Stargell	21.1	13.8	6.5	8.1
6	Dick Allen	23.1	16.0	6.2	8.0	6	Jim Kaat	20.9	16.0	5.9	8.0
7	Willie McCovey	19.7	12.4	5.9	7.4	7	Dick Allen	23.1	16.0	6.2	8.0
8	Jim Kaat	20.9	16.0	5.9	8.0	8	Roberto Clemente	26.6	19.2	5.6	7.7
9	Roberto Clemente	26.6	19.2	5.6	7.7	9	Willie McCovey	19.7	12.4	5.9	7.4
10	Gaylord Perry	17.4	12.6	5.6	7.3	10	Gaylord Perry	17.4	12.6	5.6	7.3

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	Juan Marichal	20.9	16.0	6.1	8.2	1	Juan Marichal	20.9	16.0	6.1	8.2
2	Frank Robinson	24.7	17.2	5.8	7.7	2	Frank Robinson	24.7	17.2	5.8	7.7
3	Harmon Killebrew	22.2	15.5	5.6	7.3	3	Sandy Koufax	21.3	17.7	5.3	7.6
4	Dick Allen	22.6	16.4	5.5	7.3	4	Harmon Killebrew	22.2	15.5	5.6	7.3
5	Sandy Koufax	21.3	17.7	5.3	7.6	5	Dick Allen	22.6	16.4	5.5	7.3
6	Willie Mays	24.5	18.2	5.1	7.1	6	Willie Mays	24.5	18.2	5.1	7.1
7	Willie McCovey	19.2	12.9	5.0	6.4	7	Ron Santo	22.9	17.2	4.8	6.6
8	Dick McAuliffe	17.5	13.2	4.8	6.2	8	Willie McCovey	19.2	12.9	5.0	6.4
9	Ron Santo	22.9	17.2	4.8	6.6	9	Hank Aaron	25.1	19.0	4.4	6.4
10	Willie Stargell	20.3	14.6	4.7	6.3	10	Willie Stargell	20.3	14.6	4.7	6.3

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1966 at the end of this article.

1966 World Series

The 1966 World Series turned out to be a passing of the torch for two dynasties. The Orioles made the first of what would end up being 4 World Series appearances in 6 seasons (and 7 playoff appearances in 14 seasons) while the Dodgers made their final World Series appearance in a run that had seen them win 11 National League pennants in 20 seasons (and 3 in 4 years).

Games 2, 3 and 4 of the 1966 World Series were complete-game shutouts by Orioles pitchers with the final two games ending with final scores of 1-0 with the only run scoring on a solo home run. The top four player performances of the 1966 World Series, as measured by pWins over replacement level, were two of the three pitchers who pitched complete-game shutouts and the two batters who hit the Game 3 and Game 4 home runs.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1966 World Series

Frank Robinson	BAL	1.1	0.3	0.9
Wally Bunker	BAL	1.1	0.3	0.8
Paul Blair	BAL	0.7	0.2	0.5
Jim Palmer	BAL	0.6	0.3	0.4
Moe Drabowsky	BAL	0.6	0.3	0.3

Best of 1966 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players 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 1966 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Frank Robinson	18.4	10.5	7.5	1	Frank Robinson	19.1	9.9	8.9
2	Dick Allen	17.0	10.1	6.6	2	Willie Mays	18.8	9.7	8.7
3	Harmon Killebrew	17.6	10.8	6.3	3	Dick Allen	17.2	10.0	6.8
4	Willie McCovey	15.8	9.8	5.7	4	Willie McCovey	16.3	9.3	6.7
5	Willie Mays	17.3	11.2	5.6	5	Willie Stargell	15.0	8.0	6.6
6	Al Kaline	14.6	9.3	4.9	6	Harmon Killebrew	17.6	10.8	6.5
7	Hank Aaron	16.8	11.5	4.8	7	Al Kaline	15.2	8.7	6.1
8	Ron Santo	15.4	10.4	4.6	8	Roberto Clemente	17.5	11.5	5.6
9	Willie Stargell	14.0	9.0	4.6	9	Hank Aaron	17.0	11.3	5.4
10	John 'Boog' Powell	13.8	9.3	4.2	10	Bill DeKova White	15.7	10.4	4.9

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Bert Campaneris	3.5	1.7	1.8	1	Bert Campaneris	3.6	1.6	1.9
2	Don Buford	2.6	1.6	0.9	2	Felipe Alou	2.3	1.2	1.1
3	Hank Aaron	1.7	1.0	0.6	3	Tommie Agee	2.8	1.9	0.9
4	Lou Brock	2.9	2.2	0.6	4	Brooks Robinson	1.4	0.7	0.7
5	Jose Tartabull	1.4	0.8	0.6	5	Lou Brock	2.9	2.2	0.7
6	Tommie Agee	2.6	2.1	0.5	6	Cookie Rojas	1.6	1.0	0.6
7	Felipe Alou	2.0	1.5	0.5	7	Don Buford	2.5	1.8	0.6
8	Carl Yastrzemski	1.7	1.2	0.5	8	Willie Davis	1.5	0.9	0.6
9	Sonny Jackson	2.3	1.8	0.5	9	Hank Aaron	1.7	1.1	0.6
10	Cookie Rojas	1.6	1.0	0.5	10	Luis Aparicio	2.0	1.4	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Sandy Koufax	20.0	15.3	4.6	1	Sandy Koufax	21.8	13.5	8.3
2	Juan Marichal	17.6	13.9	3.7	2	Juan Marichal	19.4	12.1	7.4
3	Gaylord Perry	15.1	11.7	3.4	3	Gaylord Perry	16.2	10.5	5.7
4	Jim Bunning	18.0	15.0	3.0	4	Jim Kaat	18.2	13.3	4.9
5	Mike Cuellar	11.9	9.2	2.7	5	Bob Gibson	17.3	12.5	4.8
6	Jim Maloney	13.6	11.1	2.5	6	Jim Bunning	18.7	14.4	4.3
7	Billy McCool	7.5	5.0	2.5	7	Jim Maloney	14.2	10.5	3.6
8	Gary Peters	11.4	9.0	2.4	8	Jim Nash	8.4	5.0	3.4
9	Phil Regan	6.7	4.4	2.3	9	Tommy John	13.3	10.0	3.3
10	Bob Gibson	16.0	13.8	2.2	10	Stu Miller	7.2	3.9	3.3

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Denny McLain	0.4	0.1	0.3	1	Juan Marichal	0.6	0.3	0.3
2	Ken T. Johnson	0.5	0.2	0.3	2	Denny McLain	0.4	0.1	0.3
3	Gary Peters	0.4	0.2	0.2	3	Chris Short	0.5	0.3	0.2
4	Jack Aker	0.3	0.1	0.2	4	Jack Aker	0.3	0.1	0.2
5	Billy McCool	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Gary Peters	0.4	0.2	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Buck Rodgers	2.3	1.6	0.7	1	Clay Dalrymple	1.4	0.9	0.6
2	Bill Freehan	1.5	1.2	0.3	2	Johnny Roseboro	1.8	1.3	0.5
3	Mike J. Ryan	1.7	1.4	0.3	3	Bill Freehan	1.5	1.1	0.4
4	Phil Roof	1.9	1.6	0.3	4	Tim McCarver	1.8	1.5	0.4
5	Randy Hundley	2.1	1.9	0.3	5	Earl Battey	1.3	1.0	0.3


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Joe Pepitone	2.1	1.6	0.5	1	Joe Pepitone	2.1	1.6	0.5
2	Don Mincher	1.9	1.6	0.3	2	Ken Harrelson	2.2	1.8	0.4
3	Joe Adcock	0.9	0.7	0.2	3	Wes Parker	2.0	1.6	0.4
4	Ernie Banks	1.8	1.6	0.2	4	Bill DeKova White	2.9	2.6	0.3
5	Wes Parker	1.9	1.7	0.2	5	Gentleman Jim Hickman	0.4	0.1	0.3


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bobby Knoop	6.8	5.6	1.3	1	Bobby Knoop	7.1	5.3	1.8
2	Bill Mazeroski	7.3	6.3	1.0	2	Bill Mazeroski	7.6	6.1	1.5
3	Hal Lanier	4.5	3.8	0.7	3	Al Weis	3.1	2.2	0.9
4	Al Weis	2.9	2.3	0.6	4	Hal Lanier	4.5	3.7	0.8
5	Pedro Gonzalez	3.5	3.1	0.4	5	Pedro Gonzalez	3.6	3.0	0.6


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ken Boyer	4.5	3.9	0.5	1	Don Buford	5.0	3.8	1.2
2	Jim Ray Hart	4.3	3.8	0.5	2	Jim Ray Hart	4.6	3.5	1.1
3	John E. Kennedy	2.3	1.9	0.5	3	John E. Kennedy	2.6	1.6	1.0
4	Ron Santo	6.0	5.6	0.3	4	Jose Pagan	2.9	2.0	0.9
5	Ken McMullen	4.2	3.8	0.3	5	Ken Boyer	4.6	3.9	0.7


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jim Fregosi	7.8	6.9	0.9	1	Gene Alley	7.3	5.7	1.6
2	Gene Alley	6.9	6.0	0.8	2	Dal Maxvill	6.5	5.2	1.3
3	Maury Wills	6.9	6.2	0.7	3	Jim Fregosi	8.0	6.8	1.2
4	Dal Maxvill	6.1	5.6	0.5	4	Maury Wills	7.0	6.1	1.0
5	Roy McMillan	2.9	2.4	0.4	5	Ed Brinkman	6.8	6.0	0.9


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Carl Yastrzemski	7.8	6.3	1.5	1	Lou Brock	6.2	4.6	1.6
2	Lou Brock	5.9	4.9	1.1	2	Ken Berry	3.4	2.3	1.1
3	Ken Berry	3.2	2.4	0.8	3	Carl Yastrzemski	7.6	6.5	1.1
4	Rico Carty	5.7	5.0	0.7	4	Rico Carty	5.8	4.9	0.9
5	Tom Tresh	3.5	2.8	0.7	5	Don Landrum	1.2	0.3	0.9


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Curt Flood	6.4	5.6	0.9	1	Curt Flood	6.8	5.2	1.6
2	Matty Alou	5.0	4.4	0.6	2	Ted Uhlaender	4.3	3.0	1.3
3	Ted Uhlaender	3.9	3.4	0.5	3	Vic Davalillo	3.9	2.6	1.3
4	Jimmy Wynn	4.7	4.1	0.5	4	Paul Blair	3.2	2.2	1.1
5	Paul Blair	2.9	2.5	0.4	5	Willie Davis	6.9	5.8	1.1


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Oliva	6.0	4.2	1.7	1	Tony Oliva	6.0	4.2	1.8
2	Al Luplow	2.7	1.5	1.2	2	Roberto Clemente	7.8	6.3	1.5
3	Jim Northrup	4.9	4.1	0.8	3	Jim Northrup	5.3	3.7	1.5
4	Roberto Clemente	7.4	6.7	0.7	4	Al Luplow	2.7	1.5	1.2
5	Mike Shannon	5.0	4.3	0.7	5	Hank Aaron	6.8	6.2	0.6

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1966 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe Torre	13.8	10.4	3.7	1	Johnny Roseboro	13.9	10.3	3.9
2	Johnny Romano	9.6	7.7	2.1	2	Tom Haller	14.0	10.4	3.9
3	Tom Haller	12.9	11.5	1.7	3	Joe Torre	13.5	10.7	3.1
4	Johnny Roseboro	12.7	11.6	1.4	4	Johnny Romano	9.5	7.7	2.0
5	Don Pavletich	5.8	4.6	1.3	5	Clay Dalrymple	8.9	7.5	1.6


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie McCovey	18.5	12.7	4.3	1	Willie McCovey	18.9	12.3	5.2
2	Donn Clendenon	17.6	13.4	2.6	2	Bill DeKova White	20.2	13.9	4.7
3	Bill DeKova White	19.1	15.0	2.4	3	John 'Boog' Powell	16.3	12.0	2.9
4	John 'Boog' Powell	16.0	12.3	2.2	4	Donn Clendenon	17.5	13.5	2.5
5	Felipe Alou	10.6	7.9	1.8	5	Norm Cash	18.8	14.8	2.3


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jim Lefebvre	15.5	13.8	2.5	1	Bobby Knoop	20.3	17.5	3.9
2	Joe L. Morgan	15.9	14.5	2.3	2	Joe L. Morgan	16.2	14.2	2.8
3	Bill Mazeroski	19.7	18.7	2.1	3	Jim Lefebvre	15.6	13.7	2.7
4	Bobby Knoop	19.4	18.4	2.1	4	Bill Mazeroski	19.7	18.7	2.2
5	Pete Rose Sr.	18.2	17.2	2.1	5	Davey Johnson	14.5	13.4	1.8


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ron Santo	22.2	17.0	4.4	1	Dick Allen	15.7	10.5	4.7
2	Harmon Killebrew	14.6	11.0	3.1	2	Brooks Robinson	22.2	17.2	4.1
3	Dick Allen	14.9	11.3	3.1	3	Harmon Killebrew	14.6	11.1	2.9
4	Jim Ray Hart	18.7	15.2	2.7	4	Jim Ray Hart	18.5	15.3	2.3
5	Brooks Robinson	21.2	18.2	2.0	5	Ron Santo	21.1	18.0	2.2


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jim Fregosi	22.2	20.1	3.1	1	Jim Fregosi	22.9	19.4	4.4
2	Dick McAuliffe	14.2	11.7	3.0	2	Dick McAuliffe	14.4	11.5	3.4
3	Bert Campaneris	19.7	18.4	2.2	3	Gene Alley	19.8	18.0	2.8
4	Gene Alley	19.5	18.3	2.1	4	Bert Campaneris	19.6	18.5	2.0
5	Rico Petrocelli	16.0	15.8	1.0	5	Jim Davenport	6.6	4.9	1.9


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Stargell	17.2	13.2	3.2	1	Willie Stargell	18.1	13.2	5.1
2	Carl Yastrzemski	23.8	19.6	3.0	2	Willie Horton	19.1	15.8	3.0
3	Dick Allen	7.5	5.2	2.0	3	Rico Carty	17.7	14.7	2.7
4	Lou Brock	18.2	15.3	1.9	4	Carl Yastrzemski	23.6	19.6	2.5
5	Rico Carty	17.2	14.7	1.7	5	Lou Brock	18.3	15.3	2.2


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Mays	23.3	17.7	4.2	1	Willie Mays	25.2	15.8	8.3
2	Al Kaline	13.0	9.3	3.0	2	Al Kaline	13.3	9.0	3.6
3	Tommie Agee	23.5	19.7	2.2	3	Tommie Agee	24.0	19.3	3.2
4	Mickey Mantle	12.0	9.7	1.6	4	Mack Jones	14.9	11.5	2.5
5	Mack Jones	14.3	12.1	1.3	5	Jimmy Wynn	16.0	13.1	1.9


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Frank Robinson	21.2	14.6	5.2	1	Frank Robinson	21.4	14.4	5.7
2	Hank Aaron	24.6	19.0	3.8	2	Roberto Clemente	26.4	19.1	5.5
3	Tony Oliva	20.2	15.8	2.8	3	Hank Aaron	25.3	18.4	5.2
4	Roberto Clemente	25.1	20.5	2.6	4	Tony Oliva	20.5	15.4	3.5
5	Ron Fairly	9.8	7.7	1.3	5	Ron Fairly	10.5	7.0	2.8


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Sandy Koufax	20.2	15.7	4.5	1	Sandy Koufax	22.1	13.8	8.3
2	Juan Marichal	18.0	14.2	3.8	2	Juan Marichal	19.9	12.4	7.5
3	Gaylord Perry	15.3	12.1	3.2	3	Gaylord Perry	16.5	10.9	5.5
4	Jim Bunning	18.2	15.2	2.9	4	Jim Kaat	18.6	13.7	4.9
5	Gary Peters	11.7	8.9	2.8	5	Bob Gibson	17.7	12.8	4.9
6	Jim Maloney	13.8	11.3	2.4	6	Jim Bunning	18.7	14.6	4.0
7	Bob Gibson	16.4	14.1	2.2	7	Jim Maloney	14.4	10.7	3.7
8	Sonny Siebert	14.6	12.4	2.2	8	Sonny Siebert	15.1	11.8	3.3
9	Mike Cuellar	10.6	8.4	2.2	9	Jim Nash	8.3	5.0	3.3
10	Gary Bell	15.5	13.4	2.0	10	Don Sutton	13.4	10.3	3.1


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Billy McCool	7.9	5.2	2.7	1	Stu Miller	7.4	3.9	3.5
2	Phil Regan	7.0	4.6	2.4	2	Billy McCool	8.3	4.8	3.5
3	Jack Aker	8.0	5.8	2.2	3	Ron Kline	6.3	3.7	2.7
4	Stu Miller	6.6	4.7	2.0	4	Jack Aker	8.2	5.6	2.6
5	Bob Locker	5.8	4.0	1.8	5	Phil Regan	7.1	4.5	2.6
6	Al Worthington	5.2	3.7	1.5	6	Eddie Fisher	5.9	4.2	1.8
7	Lindy McDaniel	5.6	4.2	1.4	7	Larry Sherry	5.7	4.1	1.6
8	Clay Carroll	6.3	5.1	1.2	8	Bob Locker	5.6	4.2	1.4
9	Moe Drabowsky	4.4	3.2	1.1	9	Lindy McDaniel	5.5	4.3	1.3
10	Bob Humphreys	4.9	3.9	1.0	10	Claude Raymond	6.5	5.3	1.3

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


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Earl Wilson	2.7	1.9	1.6	1	Earl Wilson	2.7	1.9	1.7
2	Tony Cloninger	2.0	1.9	0.9	2	Juan Marichal	2.5	1.9	1.5
3	Ray Sadecki	1.2	0.7	0.8	3	Ray Sadecki	1.4	0.5	1.1


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ron Swoboda	1.5	0.6	1.0	1	Don Lock	1.5	0.3	1.2
2	Rich Rollins	1.5	0.7	0.9	2	Smoky Burgess	2.9	1.9	1.2
3	Don Lock	1.4	0.5	0.9	3	Ron Swoboda	1.6	0.5	1.2


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Gary Peters	0.3	0.0	0.3	1	Gary Peters	0.3	0.0	0.3
2	Shaun Fitzmaurice	0.1	0.0	0.1	2	Shaun Fitzmaurice	0.1	0.0	0.1
3	Bert Campaneris	0.2	0.1	0.1	3	Hiraldo 'Chico' Ruiz	0.1	0.1	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1966

American League MVP

The Baltimore Orioles acquired Frank Robinson from the Cincinnati Reds on December 9, 1965, for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun, and Dick Simpson. All Robinson did was win a Triple Crown and lead the Orioles franchise to its first World Series win ever.

Needless to say, Frank Robinson was a unanimous choice as American League MVP. Player won-lost records agree: Frank Robinson is the highest-ranked American League player in each of the first four tables of this article.

Frank Robinson's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Frank Robinson Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1956	CIN	20	152	23.5	18.1	3.8	6.0	22.8	18.8	2.4	4.5
1957	CIN	21	150	20.7	18.3	0.4	2.3	21.3	17.7	1.7	3.7
1958	CIN	22	148	20.8	18.9	0.0	1.9	21.3	18.3	1.4	3.2
1959	CIN	23	146	17.9	15.2	1.5	3.1	18.8	14.2	3.5	5.0
1960	CIN	24	139	18.5	14.2	2.8	4.5	19.0	13.6	4.1	5.8
1961	CIN	25	153	24.7	16.8	6.2	8.5	24.1	17.4	5.1	7.4
1962	CIN	26	162	26.5	17.4	7.3	9.5	25.6	18.3	5.4	7.6
1963	CIN	27	140	21.9	16.3	4.0	5.8	21.4	16.8	3.0	4.8
1964	CIN	28	156	26.4	17.7	7.0	9.2	25.7	18.5	5.4	7.6
1965	CIN	29	156	23.3	18.1	3.5	5.6	23.3	18.1	3.6	5.7
1966	BAL	30	155	24.9	17.0	6.4	8.3	24.7	17.2	5.8	7.7
1967	BAL	31	129	20.6	15.3	3.8	5.6	20.9	15.1	4.4	6.2
1968	BAL	32	130	16.7	14.6	0.8	2.4	17.0	14.3	1.4	3.0
1969	BAL	33	148	24.6	15.7	7.0	9.1	23.5	16.9	4.6	6.7
1970	BAL	34	131	18.3	13.4	4.0	5.6	18.1	13.6	3.5	5.2
1971	BAL	35	133	19.5	15.6	2.6	4.4	19.0	16.1	1.8	3.5
1972	LAN	36	103	14.3	12.3	1.3	2.6	14.5	12.1	1.7	3.0
1973	CAL	37	147	15.8	11.9	3.8	5.5	15.7	12.0	3.6	5.3
1974	CAL	38	144	12.7	10.9	1.6	3.0	13.4	10.2	2.9	4.4
1975	CLE	39	49	4.1	2.6	1.4	1.8	3.9	2.7	1.2	1.6
1976	CLE	40	36	2.5	2.2	0.4	0.7	2.5	2.2	0.4	0.7
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,807	398.0	302.5	69.5	105.4	396.5	304.0	66.7	102.6
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			35	4.9	3.2		1.8	4.5	3.6		1.1
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,842	402.9	305.7		107.2	401.0	307.6		103.6

National League MVP

The National League MVP in 1966 was Roberto Clemente. Roberto Clemente had an excellent 1966 season. But based on Player won-lost records, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax would have probably placed 1-2-3 on my hypothetical 1966 NL MVP ballot (probably in that order).

The career records of Juan Marichal and Roberto Clemente, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared below. The final row throws out the below-average seasons at the beginning of Clemente's career and the end of Marichal's career and compares their common primes from 1960 - 1971.

Season	Games	eWins	eLoss	Win Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	eWins	eLoss	Win Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
	Juan Marichal						Roberto Clemente
1955							124	13.7	16.3	0.456	-3.8	-2.2
1956							147	19.1	19.0	0.502	-1.1	0.9
1957							111	12.3	15.3	0.445	-3.9	-2.5
1958							140	19.5	15.6	0.554	2.6	4.2
1959							105	13.8	14.0	0.497	-1.5	-0.2
1960	11	5.1	3.4	0.601	2.1	2.5	144	22.4	16.1	0.581	5.1	7.1
1961	30	12.7	11.7	0.519	1.5	3.0	146	21.9	18.4	0.544	1.4	3.7
1962	38	17.9	15.4	0.537	3.3	5.3	144	21.7	17.2	0.558	2.7	4.7
1963	42	22.6	16.0	0.585	7.4	9.8	152	21.4	19.4	0.525	-0.1	1.8
1964	33	18.4	12.8	0.589	6.6	8.6	155	21.9	18.8	0.538	1.3	3.3
1965	39	22.0	15.2	0.591	8.0	10.2	152	22.3	18.3	0.550	2.5	4.6
1966	37	22.6	14.3	0.613	9.2	11.3	154	26.6	19.2	0.582	5.6	7.7
1967	26	12.6	12.2	0.508	1.1	2.6	147	25.9	17.9	0.592	6.5	8.7
1968	38	20.0	16.4	0.550	4.8	6.6	132	19.7	17.3	0.532	1.1	3.0
1969	38	20.9	14.6	0.588	7.5	9.6	138	21.1	16.1	0.568	3.4	5.3
1970	34	12.7	13.2	0.491	0.4	1.8	108	16.4	12.2	0.573	3.4	4.9
1971	37	16.6	13.9	0.545	3.8	5.5	132	22.1	14.3	0.607	6.8	8.6
1972	25	9.5	12.5	0.432	-2.3	-1.0	102	15.2	9.9	0.607	4.8	6.0
1973	34	13.4	13.0	0.508	1.1	2.6
1974	11	3.5	2.4	0.592	1.1	1.5
1975	2	0.3	0.9	0.226	-0.6	-0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	475	230.8	188.0	0.551	54.9	79.5	2,433	357.0	295.1	0.547	36.9	69.7
1960 - 1971	403	204.1	159.2	0.562	55.7	77.0	1,704	263.4	205.1	0.562	39.9	63.4

Out with the Old, In with the New: Los Angeles Edition

The 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League pennant largely on the strength of their pitching. Their four-man starting rotation included three Hall-of-Fame players. The 1966 season was the final season for one of the three, Sandy Koufax, and the first season for another, Don Sutton.

Sutton and Koufax made for an interesting comparison. Sutton pitched almost twice as many seasons (23 to 12) with almost twice as many wins (324 to 165) and more than twice as many innings (5,282 to 2,324). And Don Sutton had some fine seasons. But he was never SANDY KOUFAX.

Experience	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Don Sutton						Sandy Koufax
1	38	14.2	12.0	0.541	2.9	4.4	12	2.5	2.4	0.511	0.2	0.5
2	43	13.1	14.4	0.476	-0.6	1.0	16	3.4	4.4	0.436	-0.9	-0.4
3	36	11.9	12.1	0.497	0.5	1.8	34	5.2	5.8	0.476	-0.3	0.4
4	41	17.7	18.6	0.488	0.2	2.4	40	10.2	12.0	0.459	-1.4	-0.0
5	40	15.6	17.4	0.473	-1.0	0.8	35	9.6	9.4	0.504	0.5	1.6
6	39	17.2	13.1	0.568	4.8	6.5	37	10.5	12.5	0.457	-1.5	-0.1
7	33	17.9	13.5	0.569	5.1	7.0	42	17.4	15.8	0.523	2.3	4.3
8	33	19.9	14.3	0.582	6.6	8.4	28	11.8	9.2	0.562	3.3	4.6
9	40	17.5	15.3	0.534	3.1	4.8	40	22.5	13.3	0.630	10.2	12.4
10	35	16.1	14.8	0.522	2.5	4.2	29	15.7	11.2	0.583	5.3	7.1
11	35	17.5	14.7	0.543	3.7	5.4	43	25.0	14.5	0.633	11.7	14.1
12	33	14.6	13.2	0.525	2.2	3.9	41	22.8	16.1	0.587	7.8	10.1
13	34	13.5	14.1	0.489	0.3	1.8
14	33	12.3	14.0	0.466	-0.8	0.6
15	32	13.0	10.7	0.549	3.2	4.5
16	23	9.5	8.1	0.542	2.2	3.3
17	34	15.2	14.0	0.520	2.1	3.7
18	31	11.0	11.6	0.486	-0.4	0.9
19	33	11.5	11.6	0.498	0.0	1.4
20	34	12.6	11.1	0.533	1.7	3.2
21	34	11.8	11.2	0.514	0.7	2.2
22	35	10.1	11.3	0.472	-1.0	0.3
23	16	4.9	6.3	0.437	-1.1	-0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	785	318.6	297.3	0.517	36.8	72.3	397	156.7	126.6	0.553	37.0	54.8

Whose career would you rather have? Honestly, I'm not sure how I'd answer the question and I don't think there's a wrong answer.

Out with the Old, In with the New: National Edition

One other player besides Sutton debuted in 1966 and went on to be elected to the Hall of Fame: Nolan Ryan. And one other player besides Koufax played his final season in 1966 and was subsequently elected to the Hall of Fame: Robin Roberts.

Roberts was never quite as good as Koufax (and his career was a bit longer) and Ryan was probably a bit better than Sutton (and his career was a bit longer). But the Roberts - Ryan comparison is still a broadly similar peak vs. career comparison.

Experience	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Robin Roberts						Nolan Ryan
1	21	9.5	9.8	0.493	-0.0	1.2	2	0.1	0.5	0.186	-0.4	-0.3
2	43	14.0	13.5	0.509	0.9	2.7
3	40	19.5	14.6	0.573	5.5	7.7	21	7.7	9.9	0.437	-1.8	-0.9
4	44	20.7	17.0	0.549	4.2	6.5	25	5.1	4.9	0.509	0.5	1.2
5	39	20.6	13.4	0.607	8.1	10.3	27	8.6	11.2	0.434	-2.1	-0.9
6	44	24.5	18.0	0.577	7.5	10.0	30	11.6	14.8	0.439	-2.7	-1.1
7	45	20.5	17.6	0.537	4.1	6.6	39	21.1	20.1	0.512	1.9	4.4
8	51	21.7	17.8	0.550	4.7	6.9	41	22.8	15.7	0.591	7.0	9.4
9	43	18.8	19.3	0.494	0.4	2.9	42	21.8	18.4	0.541	3.3	5.7
10	39	14.1	20.2	0.411	-5.3	-3.3	28	12.6	12.1	0.509	0.5	2.0
11	36	18.0	15.0	0.545	4.1	5.8	39	20.2	17.9	0.530	2.3	4.6
12	35	17.6	17.5	0.501	0.8	2.7	37	19.8	16.6	0.544	3.4	5.9
13	35	13.8	15.0	0.480	-0.2	1.5	31	15.3	13.3	0.534	1.9	3.6
14	26	5.0	8.1	0.381	-2.8	-2.0	34	16.1	13.6	0.542	2.6	4.4
15	27	10.3	8.8	0.538	2.0	3.2	35	14.7	13.9	0.515	1.6	3.2
16	35	14.5	15.9	0.477	-0.6	1.3	21	10.7	7.7	0.581	3.7	4.8
17	31	13.4	11.4	0.540	2.6	4.3	35	16.2	15.8	0.506	1.6	3.3
18	30	11.0	10.9	0.502	0.8	2.1	29	13.2	11.5	0.535	2.6	4.0
19	24	6.7	7.3	0.477	-0.4	0.5	30	11.7	13.0	0.474	-0.5	0.9
20							35	13.5	13.9	0.492	0.5	2.1
21							30	12.5	11.8	0.513	1.4	2.8
22							34	13.3	13.8	0.490	0.7	2.2
23							33	13.8	15.2	0.475	-0.5	1.2
24							32	16.1	11.6	0.581	4.9	6.7
25							30	12.3	10.1	0.548	2.3	3.7
26							27	10.7	8.0	0.574	2.9	4.1
27							27	9.6	9.4	0.505	0.3	1.5
28							13	3.8	4.8	0.441	-1.0	-0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	688	294.3	271.1	0.521	36.4	70.9	807	354.6	329.6	0.518	36.9	77.9

Amazingly, these pitchers end up within one career pWOPA (pWins over positional average) of each other.

Article last updated: November 3, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1966 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

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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