1971 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1971 Season

The 1971 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1971 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1971

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	Joe Torre	26.2	17.1	8.2	10.4	1	Joe Torre	26.2	17.1	8.2	10.4
2	Willie Stargell	23.0	13.9	8.0	9.8	2	Fergie Jenkins	24.1	17.4	7.7	10.0
3	Fergie Jenkins	24.1	17.4	7.7	10.0	3	Willie Stargell	23.0	13.9	8.0	9.8
4	Tom Seaver	19.5	13.0	7.4	9.2	4	Tom Seaver	19.5	13.0	7.4	9.2
5	Roberto Clemente	22.1	14.3	6.8	8.6	5	Vida Blue	20.8	14.9	6.8	8.8
6	Vida Blue	20.8	14.9	6.8	8.8	6	Roberto Clemente	22.1	14.3	6.8	8.6
7	Jim Palmer	19.9	14.4	6.4	8.3	7	Jim Palmer	19.9	14.4	6.4	8.3
8	Catfish Hunter	20.6	15.5	6.0	8.0	8	Catfish Hunter	20.6	15.5	6.0	8.0
9	Reggie Jackson	23.1	15.9	6.0	7.9	9	Reggie Jackson	23.1	15.9	6.0	7.9
10	Hank Aaron	20.7	13.5	6.0	7.6	10	Hank Aaron	20.7	13.5	6.0	7.6

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	Fergie Jenkins	23.7	17.7	7.2	9.5	1	Fergie Jenkins	23.7	17.7	7.2	9.5
2	Willie Stargell	22.6	14.3	7.2	9.0	2	Willie Stargell	22.6	14.3	7.2	9.0
3	Tom Seaver	19.3	13.2	7.0	8.8	3	Tom Seaver	19.3	13.2	7.0	8.8
4	Joe Torre	25.2	18.2	6.2	8.4	4	Joe Torre	25.2	18.2	6.2	8.4
5	Hank Aaron	20.8	13.4	6.2	7.9	5	Vida Blue	20.3	15.5	6.1	8.1
6	Vida Blue	20.3	15.5	6.1	8.1	6	Hank Aaron	20.8	13.4	6.2	7.9
7	Bobby Murcer	22.1	16.7	4.7	6.6	7	Wilbur Wood	20.9	17.9	4.6	6.9
8	Wilbur Wood	20.9	17.9	4.6	6.9	8	Bobby Murcer	22.1	16.7	4.7	6.6
9	Don Sutton	16.9	13.3	4.6	6.3	9	Don Sutton	16.9	13.3	4.6	6.3
10	Reggie Jackson	22.3	16.7	4.4	6.3	10	Reggie Jackson	22.3	16.7	4.4	6.3

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1971 at the end of this article.

1971 Postseason

In the American League, the 1971 season saw the Baltimore Orioles win their third straight pennant, sweeping the Oakland A's who won what would be the first of five consecutive AL West division titles. In the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates won their second straight NL East title and defeated the San Francisco Giants for their first National League pennant since their epic 1960 World Series victory.

The resulting World Series was a scintillating seven-game series with 3 of the last 4 games being decided by one run. Alas, my beloved hometown Orioles (I was only 3 years old, but did, in fact, live in Baltimore in 1971) came up on the short end of the stick, losing Game 7 2-1.

The top postseason performers in 1971, as measured by Player won-lost records, are presented next.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1971 Postseason: Total

Roberto Clemente	PIT	2.1	1.0	1.2
Jim Palmer	BAL	1.8	1.1	1.0
Manny Sanguillen	PIT	1.4	0.8	0.7
Brooks Robinson	BAL	1.5	0.9	0.6
Nelson Briles	PIT	0.6	0.1	0.5
Richie Hebner	PIT	1.2	0.7	0.5
Steve Blass	PIT	2.1	1.9	0.5
Bob Robertson	PIT	1.5	1.1	0.4
Ellie Hendricks	BAL	0.9	0.7	0.4
Don Buford	BAL	1.3	1.0	0.4

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1971 World Series

Steve Blass	PIT	1.6	0.7	1.0
Roberto Clemente	PIT	1.3	0.7	0.6
Jim Palmer	BAL	1.1	0.6	0.6
Nelson Briles	PIT	0.6	0.1	0.5
Manny Sanguillen	PIT	0.9	0.6	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1971 Postseason: League Championship Series

Richie Hebner	PIT	1.1	0.4	0.7
Roberto Clemente	PIT	0.9	0.3	0.6
Mike Cuellar	BAL	0.8	0.3	0.5
Brooks Robinson	BAL	0.7	0.3	0.4
Bob W. Johnson	PIT	0.7	0.3	0.4

Best of 1971 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 1971 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	Willie Stargell	15.9	8.8	6.8	1	Joe Torre	20.2	11.6	8.2
2	Hank Aaron	16.6	9.6	6.7	2	Hank Aaron	16.8	9.5	6.9
3	Joe Torre	19.2	12.6	6.1	3	Willie Stargell	15.9	8.7	6.9
4	Bobby Murcer	16.2	10.5	5.3	4	Willie Mays	13.5	7.1	6.2
5	Lee May	15.7	10.8	4.5	5	Merv Rettenmund	15.4	9.2	5.8
6	Willie Mays	12.6	8.0	4.3	6	Bobby Murcer	16.3	10.3	5.6
7	Bobby Bonds	16.5	11.9	4.2	7	Dick Dietz	14.6	9.0	5.3
8	Dick Allen	15.4	10.8	4.2	8	Norm Cash	12.5	7.1	5.0
9	Merv Rettenmund	14.4	10.2	3.9	9	Billy Williams	16.4	11.0	5.0
10	Roy White	14.8	10.7	3.6	10	Don Buford	12.3	7.1	4.9

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Bert Campaneris	2.8	1.4	1.3	1	Bert Campaneris	2.7	1.5	1.2
2	Amos Otis	2.6	1.2	1.3	2	Bud Harrelson	2.0	1.0	1.0
3	Bobby Bonds	2.1	1.1	1.0	3	Sandy Alomar Sr.	2.2	1.3	0.8
4	Lou Brock	3.2	2.2	0.8	4	Bobby Bonds	2.0	1.2	0.8
5	Joe L. Morgan	2.3	1.4	0.8	5	Lou Brock	3.1	2.3	0.8
6	Cesar Cedeno	2.1	1.3	0.8	6	Roy White	1.8	1.0	0.7
7	Tommy Harper	1.8	1.0	0.8	7	Joe L. Morgan	2.2	1.5	0.6
8	Bud Harrelson	1.9	1.1	0.7	8	Pete Rose Sr.	2.1	1.4	0.6
9	Sandy Alomar Sr.	2.1	1.4	0.6	9	Willie Davis	1.6	0.9	0.6
10	Willie Davis	1.6	1.0	0.6	10	Dave Cash	1.7	1.0	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Vida Blue	18.5	13.6	4.9	1	Tom Seaver	17.4	10.7	6.7
2	Tom Seaver	16.5	11.6	4.9	2	Vida Blue	19.4	12.7	6.6
3	Fergie Jenkins	19.6	15.3	4.3	3	Fergie Jenkins	20.5	14.4	6.1
4	Wilbur Wood	19.5	15.4	4.1	4	Wilbur Wood	20.4	14.5	5.9
5	Don Sutton	14.7	11.1	3.6	5	Jim Palmer	17.5	12.2	5.4
6	Dave A. Roberts	15.4	12.3	3.1	6	Joe Coleman Jr.	17.6	12.7	4.9
7	Clyde Wright	15.5	12.6	2.9	7	Catfish Hunter	17.6	13.2	4.3
8	Bert Blyleven	16.5	13.6	2.8	8	Pat Dobson	15.7	11.4	4.3
9	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	14.8	12.2	2.6	9	Don Sutton	15.0	10.8	4.2
10	Don Wilson	15.1	12.5	2.6	10	Al Downing	15.1	11.1	4.0

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ray Sadecki	0.5	0.1	0.4	1	Jim Palmer	0.7	0.2	0.4
2	Mike G. Marshall	0.5	0.2	0.3	2	Mike G. Marshall	0.6	0.2	0.4
3	Catfish Hunter	0.5	0.2	0.3	3	Catfish Hunter	0.6	0.2	0.4
4	Wilbur Wood	0.7	0.5	0.3	4	Bill Parsons	0.7	0.3	0.3
5	Bill Parsons	0.6	0.4	0.3	5	Mike Kekich	0.4	0.1	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ellie Rodriguez	1.6	1.0	0.6	1	Manny Sanguillen	1.8	1.1	0.7
2	Johnny Edwards	1.5	1.0	0.5	2	Ellie Rodriguez	1.6	1.0	0.7
3	John Bateman	1.9	1.5	0.4	3	Jerry May	1.1	0.6	0.5
4	Johnny Bench	1.6	1.2	0.4	4	Ellie Hendricks	1.3	0.9	0.4
5	Ken Rudolph	0.4	0.1	0.3	5	Thurman Munson	1.4	1.1	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	George C. Scott	2.6	2.0	0.6	1	Gail Hopkins	1.5	1.1	0.4
2	Hank Aaron	1.4	0.9	0.4	2	Hank Aaron	1.3	1.0	0.4
3	Don Mincher	2.1	1.7	0.4	3	Ron Fairly	2.4	2.1	0.4
4	Nate Colbert	2.8	2.5	0.3	4	Tony Muser	0.4	0.1	0.3
5	Bob Robertson	2.4	2.1	0.3	5	Roberto Pena	0.8	0.6	0.3


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tommy Helms	6.0	4.6	1.4	1	Dick Green	5.7	4.1	1.6
2	Doug Griffin	4.9	4.2	0.7	2	Tommy Helms	6.1	4.5	1.6
3	Dick Green	5.1	4.6	0.5	3	Felix Millan	5.8	4.9	0.8
4	Sandy Alomar Sr.	5.8	5.3	0.5	4	Doug Griffin	5.0	4.2	0.8
5	Ron Theobald	3.8	3.3	0.4	5	Cookie Rojas	4.3	3.6	0.6


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Graig Nettles	5.9	4.6	1.4	1	Graig Nettles	6.0	4.5	1.6
2	Ken McMullen	5.4	4.5	0.9	2	Brooks Robinson	5.2	3.9	1.3
3	Steve Garvey	2.6	2.0	0.6	3	Steve Garvey	2.8	1.7	1.1
4	Aurelio Rodriguez	5.6	5.0	0.6	4	Ken McMullen	5.5	4.4	1.1
5	Brooks Robinson	4.8	4.3	0.6	5	Aurelio Rodriguez	5.8	4.9	0.9


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bud Harrelson	5.6	4.5	1.1	1	Dal Maxvill	5.9	4.1	1.7
2	Dal Maxvill	5.5	4.5	1.0	2	Bud Harrelson	5.9	4.2	1.7
3	Ed Brinkman	7.3	6.5	0.8	3	Mark Belanger	6.4	5.1	1.3
4	Maury Wills	6.5	5.9	0.6	4	Bert Campaneris	5.8	4.5	1.3
5	Bobby Wine	5.0	4.6	0.5	5	Maury Wills	6.6	5.7	0.9


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Carl Yastrzemski	8.5	7.6	0.9	1	Joe Rudi	5.8	3.8	2.0
2	Joe Rudi	5.2	4.5	0.7	2	Willie Stargell	6.4	4.4	2.0
3	Ted Uhlaender	3.0	2.4	0.7	3	Carl Yastrzemski	8.8	7.2	1.6
4	Roy White	6.6	6.0	0.6	4	Bob Bailey	2.4	1.5	0.9
5	Willie Horton	5.4	4.8	0.6	5	Walt Williams	1.8	1.1	0.7


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mickey Rivers	2.8	1.6	1.3	1	Amos Otis	7.1	5.5	1.6
2	Buddy Bradford	1.9	1.0	0.9	2	Paul Blair	5.0	3.7	1.3
3	Jose Cardenal	2.6	1.9	0.7	3	Rick Monday	4.1	3.0	1.1
4	George Foster	4.3	3.6	0.6	4	Tommie Agee	3.1	2.1	1.0
5	Billy Conigliaro	3.1	2.5	0.6	5	Al Oliver	5.5	4.6	1.0


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Roberto Clemente	6.7	5.2	1.5	1	Roberto Clemente	7.4	4.4	3.0
2	Roger Repoz	3.1	1.8	1.3	2	Reggie Jackson	6.8	4.9	1.9
3	Reggie Jackson	6.3	5.4	1.0	3	Joe Keough	4.4	3.0	1.4
4	Reggie Smith	3.3	2.6	0.8	4	Reggie Smith	3.4	2.5	1.0
5	Del Unser	2.1	1.4	0.7	5	Pete Rose Sr.	7.5	6.6	0.9

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1971 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	Dick Dietz	14.6	12.0	2.8	1	Dick Dietz	15.3	11.3	4.2
2	Bill Freehan	13.9	12.1	2.0	2	Manny Sanguillen	14.5	11.0	3.7
3	Johnny Bench	15.2	13.6	1.8	3	Ted Simmons	13.7	11.5	2.4
4	Earl C. Williams	7.7	6.5	1.2	4	Ellie Hendricks	9.3	7.3	2.1
5	Ray Fosse	12.6	11.6	1.2	5	Bill Freehan	13.9	12.1	2.0


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Hank Aaron	11.4	6.6	3.8	1	Norm Cash	14.7	9.3	4.2
2	Lee May	18.6	13.7	3.1	2	Hank Aaron	11.4	6.5	4.0
3	Norm Cash	13.9	10.1	2.4	3	Lee May	18.6	13.6	3.2
4	Bob Robertson	14.4	10.8	2.2	4	Willie McCovey	12.0	8.0	3.0
5	Nate Colbert	18.8	14.9	1.8	5	Mike Andrews	4.0	1.8	1.9


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe L. Morgan	21.9	18.6	3.7	1	Davey Johnson	20.2	15.5	5.1
2	Davey Johnson	19.1	16.6	2.9	2	Joe L. Morgan	21.9	18.6	3.7
3	Ron Hunt	16.3	13.8	2.9	3	Cookie Rojas	15.2	12.4	3.2
4	Cookie Rojas	14.3	13.3	1.4	4	Dick Green	15.5	13.5	2.3
5	Dave Cash	12.6	11.4	1.4	5	Dick McAuliffe	15.1	13.4	2.0


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe Torre	25.0	18.3	5.8	1	Joe Torre	26.2	17.1	8.2
2	Sal Bando	20.0	16.1	3.1	2	Sal Bando	20.8	15.3	4.7
3	Graig Nettles	20.8	16.9	3.0	3	Tony Perez	21.1	16.6	3.6
4	Bill Melton	20.7	17.1	2.7	4	Brooks Robinson	20.6	16.1	3.6
5	Dick Allen	10.0	7.8	1.8	5	Paul Schaal	20.5	17.9	1.8


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Leo Cardenas	19.2	18.1	2.8	1	Bert Campaneris	19.6	15.9	5.2
2	Bert Campaneris	18.1	17.4	2.4	2	Bud Harrelson	18.5	16.8	3.3
3	Bud Harrelson	17.8	17.4	2.1	3	Mark Belanger	16.8	15.1	3.1
4	Mark Belanger	16.3	15.6	2.1	4	Maury Wills	20.2	19.3	2.6
5	Freddie Patek	19.8	19.6	1.9	5	Leo Cardenas	18.9	18.4	2.2


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Stargell	22.0	14.6	6.2	1	Willie Stargell	22.9	14.6	7.9
2	Roy White	23.0	17.7	3.8	2	Don Buford	18.1	13.7	4.4
3	Billy Williams	21.8	17.6	2.7	3	Roy White	23.1	17.7	4.0
4	Don Buford	17.2	13.7	2.4	4	Carl Yastrzemski	23.0	19.1	3.8
5	Willie Horton	14.6	11.9	1.8	5	Billy Williams	22.3	17.6	3.8


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bobby Murcer	21.8	16.7	4.2	1	Bobby Murcer	21.9	16.5	4.5
2	Willie Mays	11.8	8.4	2.9	2	Willie Mays	12.5	7.7	4.4
3	Amos Otis	22.6	19.0	2.5	3	Amos Otis	23.3	18.2	4.0
4	Tommie Agee	12.2	10.3	1.2	4	Rick Monday	14.4	10.5	3.2
5	Jim Northrup	8.4	6.9	1.2	5	Jim Northrup	9.3	5.9	3.1


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Reggie Jackson	21.9	16.5	4.2	1	Roberto Clemente	21.3	14.0	6.3
2	Roberto Clemente	19.9	15.4	3.5	2	Reggie Jackson	22.9	15.6	6.2
3	Bobby Bonds	18.8	14.8	2.9	3	Merv Rettenmund	10.5	6.3	3.7
4	Merv Rettenmund	10.1	6.7	2.8	4	Frank Robinson	15.0	10.6	3.6
5	Rusty Staub	24.6	20.4	2.7	5	Al Kaline	15.7	11.4	3.5


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tom Seaver	16.6	11.6	5.0	1	Tom Seaver	17.8	10.4	7.4
2	Vida Blue	18.7	13.8	4.9	2	Vida Blue	19.6	12.8	6.7
3	Wilbur Wood	20.1	15.7	4.3	3	Fergie Jenkins	21.1	15.0	6.1
4	Fergie Jenkins	20.0	16.0	3.9	4	Wilbur Wood	20.9	14.9	5.9
5	Don Sutton	15.1	11.7	3.4	5	Jim Palmer	18.2	12.4	5.8
6	Clyde Wright	16.0	12.9	3.1	6	Joe Coleman Jr.	18.0	13.1	4.8
7	Dave A. Roberts	15.4	12.3	3.0	7	Catfish Hunter	18.1	13.4	4.7
8	Bert Blyleven	16.9	14.0	2.9	8	Pat Dobson	16.0	11.7	4.3
9	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	15.6	12.7	2.8	9	Al Downing	15.4	11.2	4.2
10	Jim Palmer	16.6	14.0	2.6	10	Andy Messersmith	18.2	14.0	4.1


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ken Sanders	9.6	7.5	2.1	1	Ken Sanders	10.6	6.5	4.1
2	Jim Brewer	6.2	4.3	1.9	2	Cecil Upshaw	7.7	4.6	3.1
3	Bob L. Miller	5.3	3.8	1.5	3	Tug McGraw	5.9	3.3	2.7
4	Tug McGraw	5.3	3.9	1.4	4	Jim Brewer	6.4	4.0	2.4
5	Rollie Fingers	4.5	3.2	1.3	5	Lloyd Allen	6.2	4.0	2.2
6	Lloyd Allen	5.7	4.5	1.2	6	Rollie Fingers	4.8	3.0	1.8
7	Joe Grzenda	3.1	2.1	1.0	7	Bart Johnson	5.2	3.4	1.8
8	Dave LaRoche	4.2	3.2	1.0	8	Clay Carroll	6.8	5.0	1.8
9	Paul Lindblad	5.5	4.5	1.0	9	Joe Grzenda	3.4	1.8	1.6
10	Joe Hoerner	4.1	3.2	0.9	10	Moe Drabowsky	3.4	2.0	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
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Fergie Jenkins	2.7	2.7	1.3	1	Sonny Siebert	3.0	1.7	2.1
2	Sonny Siebert	2.5	2.2	1.3	2	Fergie Jenkins	3.0	2.4	1.7
3	Catfish Hunter	2.4	2.2	1.2	3	Rick Wise	2.4	1.8	1.4


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	H. Tommy Davis	2.5	1.3	1.3	1	H. Tommy Davis	2.7	1.2	1.6
2	Dick Dietz	1.0	0.3	0.8	2	Dick Dietz	1.2	0.1	1.1
3	Gates Brown	1.4	0.8	0.7	3	Andy Kosco	1.7	1.0	0.8


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Blue Moon Odom	0.2	0.0	0.2	1	Blue Moon Odom	0.2	0.0	0.2
2	H. Pat Kelly	0.2	0.0	0.1	2	H. Pat Kelly	0.1	0.0	0.1
3	Bobby Valentine	0.1	-0.0	0.1	3	Don Sutton	0.1	0.0	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1971

Based on Player won-lost records, particularly pWin over either positional average or replacement level, the BBWAA did a very good job in choosing major award winners. The top two players in both pWOPA and pWORL won the National League MVP and Cy Young awards, while the top American League player on all four of the above tables won both the MVP and Cy Young awards in the American League.

I take a somewhat closer look at these three players, plus one more, next.

Joe Torre

The best player in the major leagues in 1971, as measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level, was St. Louis Cardinals' third baseman, Joe Torre.

Joe Torre is in the Hall of Fame, but basically as a manager. He is, however, in Baseball Think Factory's Hall of Merit based purely on his playing career. I wrote an article about Joe Torre that I'm publishing concurrent with this one.

Joe Torre'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
Joe Torre Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1960	MLN	19	2	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1961	MLN	20	113	10.0	9.9	0.3	1.4	10.1	9.8	0.5	1.6
1962	MLN	21	80	5.9	6.5	-0.5	0.2	6.3	6.1	0.4	1.0
1963	MLN	22	142	15.4	13.8	1.3	2.7	15.9	13.4	2.3	3.7
1964	MLN	23	154	18.2	14.9	3.0	4.6	18.2	14.9	3.1	4.7
1965	MLN	24	148	16.6	13.4	3.4	4.9	16.4	13.6	3.1	4.6
1966	ATL	25	148	18.1	14.1	3.9	5.4	18.1	14.1	4.0	5.5
1967	ATL	26	135	14.8	13.3	2.0	3.4	15.4	12.7	3.1	4.5
1968	ATL	27	115	13.5	11.6	2.0	3.3	13.5	11.6	1.9	3.2
1969	SLN	28	159	18.6	14.4	2.4	4.1	17.9	15.0	1.0	2.8
1970	SLN	29	161	18.5	17.3	0.8	2.7	19.7	16.1	3.3	5.1
1971	SLN	30	161	26.2	17.1	8.2	10.4	25.2	18.2	6.2	8.4
1972	SLN	31	149	17.9	16.4	0.9	2.6	17.8	16.5	0.6	2.3
1973	SLN	32	141	15.4	13.3	0.8	2.2	15.6	13.1	1.2	2.7
1974	SLN	33	147	15.4	13.3	0.9	2.2	15.2	13.5	0.5	1.8
1975	NYN	34	114	10.8	10.6	-0.2	0.8	10.5	10.9	-0.9	0.1
1976	NYN	35	114	8.2	8.0	-0.5	0.3	8.7	7.5	0.5	1.4
1977	NYN	36	26	1.0	2.0	-1.1	-0.9	1.2	1.8	-0.6	-0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,209	244.6	209.9	27.7	50.3	245.7	208.8	30.3	52.8
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			0	0.0	0.0		0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,209	244.6	209.9		50.3	245.7	208.8		52.8

Fergie Jenkins

The best player in the major leagues in 1971, as measured by eWins over either positional average or replacement level, was Chicago Cubs' starting pitcher, Fergie Jenkins. Award voters recognized Jenkins as the best pitcher in the National League, although they did not also award him the MVP award (he finished 7th).

Jenkins's 1971 season was outstanding, but he arguably had an even better season three years later. Jenkins's 1971 and 1974 seasons rank among the best seasons by a pitcher since MLB expansion in 1961, at least as measured by pWins over replacement level (pWORL). The next table shows every season since 1961 in which a pitcher has earned at least 10.0 pWORL.

	Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
			Pitcher Seasons of 10 or more pWORL, since 1961 ranked by pWORL
1	Sandy Koufax	1965	25.0	14.5	11.7	14.1
2	Steve Carlton	1972	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4
3	Dwight Gooden	1985	21.1	11.0	11.1	13.0
4	Sandy Koufax	1963	22.5	13.3	10.2	12.4
5	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	2002	19.0	10.5	9.6	11.5
6	Greg Maddux	1995	16.5	7.4	10.0	11.4
7	Pedro J. Martinez	1999	16.3	6.5	9.9	11.4
8	Juan Marichal	1966	22.6	14.3	9.2	11.3
9	Dean Chance	1964	19.7	11.7	8.9	11.1
10	Pedro J. Martinez	2000	16.4	7.1	9.5	11.0
11	Roger Clemens	1997	18.6	9.7	9.0	10.9
12	Bob Gibson	1970	21.5	13.6	9.0	10.8
13	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	1995	16.4	7.4	9.1	10.7
14	Fergie Jenkins	1974	22.7	14.4	8.4	10.6
15	Ron Guidry	1978	18.5	9.6	8.8	10.5
16	Denny McLain	1969	22.7	15.5	8.0	10.3
17	Juan Marichal	1965	22.0	15.2	8.0	10.2
18	Bob Gibson	1968	21.7	14.3	8.3	10.2
19	Jim Palmer	1975	20.2	12.1	8.2	10.2
20	Denny McLain	1968	22.9	15.7	8.2	10.1
21	Curt Schilling	2001	19.2	12.4	8.1	10.1
22	Sandy Koufax	1966	22.8	16.1	7.8	10.1
23	Fergie Jenkins	1971	24.1	17.4	7.7	10.0

Fergie Jenkins'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
Fergie Jenkins Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1965	PHI	22	7	0.7	0.8	-0.1	0.0	0.8	0.8	-0.0	0.1
1966	CHN	23	61	9.4	10.2	-0.3	1.2	9.7	9.8	0.5	1.9
1967	CHN	24	39	20.2	17.5	3.8	6.0	19.5	18.2	2.6	4.7
1968	CHN	25	40	21.0	17.8	4.3	6.3	20.6	18.2	3.5	5.5
1969	CHN	26	43	22.0	17.4	5.7	8.0	21.1	18.3	3.9	6.3
1970	CHN	27	40	21.6	16.9	6.0	8.0	22.0	16.5	6.9	9.0
1971	CHN	28	39	24.1	17.4	7.7	10.0	23.7	17.7	7.2	9.5
1972	CHN	29	36	18.6	16.2	3.3	5.4	18.0	16.7	2.3	4.4
1973	CHN	30	38	15.8	18.4	-1.7	0.2	16.5	17.7	-0.3	1.6
1974	TEX	31	41	22.7	14.4	8.4	10.6	21.4	15.7	5.7	7.9
1975	TEX	32	37	16.4	14.9	1.6	3.5	15.9	15.4	0.6	2.5
1976	BOS	33	30	11.1	11.4	-0.2	1.1	11.5	11.0	0.6	1.9
1977	BOS	34	28	10.2	10.2	0.1	1.5	10.4	10.0	0.5	1.8
1978	TEX	35	34	14.7	10.3	4.3	5.9	14.0	11.0	2.9	4.4
1979	TEX	36	37	14.8	14.1	0.7	2.5	14.4	14.6	-0.1	1.7
1980	TEX	37	29	12.3	11.8	0.6	2.0	12.5	11.7	1.0	2.4
1981	TEX	38	19	6.5	7.1	-0.6	0.3	6.1	7.5	-1.4	-0.4
1982	CHN	39	34	13.9	14.5	0.5	2.0	13.1	15.3	-1.1	0.4
1983	CHN	40	33	8.9	11.1	-1.5	-0.4	9.6	10.4	-0.1	1.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			665	285.0	252.3	42.7	74.3	280.8	256.5	35.3	66.9
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			0	0.0	0.0		0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			665	285.0	252.3		74.3	280.8	256.5		66.9

Vida Blue

The 1971 American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner was a 21-year-old phenom in his first full season. Vida Blue started 39 games, completing 24 of them. He led the American League in shutouts (8) and ERA (1.82) while striking out 301 batters in 312 innings pitched, amassing a traditional won-lost record of 24-8. As shown above, Blue's 1971 season was one of the top 10 pitching seasons of the 1970s.

Vida Blue never had another season as good as his 1971 season, although that is probably at least a bit unfair: most pitchers don't even have one season as good as Vida Blue's 1971 season. In fact, Vida Blue had several other very good seasons and overall put together a very good career.

Vida Blue'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
Vida Blue Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1969	OAK	19	12	1.7	2.8	-1.0	-0.7	1.5	3.0	-1.4	-1.0
1970	OAK	20	6	3.0	1.1	2.0	2.2	2.7	1.4	1.5	1.7
1971	OAK	21	39	20.8	14.9	6.8	8.8	20.3	15.5	6.1	8.1
1972	OAK	22	27	9.4	9.9	-0.1	1.1	9.7	9.6	0.6	1.8
1973	OAK	23	38	16.1	13.8	2.3	4.2	14.8	15.1	-0.3	1.6
1974	OAK	24	40	15.0	14.8	0.1	1.9	15.5	14.3	1.2	3.0
1975	OAK	25	39	16.9	13.5	3.4	5.2	15.9	14.5	1.5	3.4
1976	OAK	26	37	17.7	12.5	5.3	7.1	17.0	13.2	3.8	5.6
1977	OAK	27	38	16.3	16.3	0.1	2.3	16.6	16.0	0.7	2.9
1978	SFN	28	35	15.9	13.0	3.6	5.2	15.7	13.3	3.4	5.0
1979	SFN	29	37	13.0	16.5	-2.7	-1.0	12.8	16.7	-3.0	-1.3
1980	SFN	30	31	14.9	12.1	3.7	5.2	14.2	12.7	2.5	4.0
1981	SFN	31	18	7.9	7.4	1.0	2.0	7.8	7.6	0.6	1.6
1982	KCA	32	31	12.1	11.2	1.2	2.6	11.5	11.9	-0.1	1.3
1983	KCA	33	19	3.1	5.0	-1.9	-1.4	3.5	4.6	-1.1	-0.6
1985	SFN	35	33	6.6	8.9	-1.9	-1.0	6.1	9.3	-2.8	-1.8
1986	SFN	36	28	9.4	10.9	-0.9	0.3	9.0	11.3	-1.6	-0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			508	199.8	184.7	21.1	44.0	194.6	189.9	11.9	34.8
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			17	4.3	4.6		0.4	4.5	4.5		0.7
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			525	204.1	189.3		44.4	199.1	194.3		35.5

Willie Stargell

Willie Stargell shared an NL MVP award for leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to the best regular-season record in the National League in a season which culminated with the Pirates winning a 7-game World Series over the Baltimore Orioles. As the above tables suggest, this could have been a reasonable result: Willie Stargell did National League position players in eWins over positional average (eWOPA) and replacement level (eWORL) in 1971. Except that Willie Stargell didn't share the 1971 NL MVP; he shared the 1979 NL MVP award.

Willie Stargell'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
Willie Stargell Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1962	PIT	22	10	0.6	1.0	-0.5	-0.4	0.7	0.9	-0.2	-0.1
1963	PIT	23	108	9.3	10.1	-1.6	-0.7	9.7	9.7	-0.7	0.3
1964	PIT	24	117	12.5	12.3	-0.8	0.4	13.0	11.8	0.1	1.4
1965	PIT	25	144	19.0	16.1	1.5	3.3	19.1	16.0	1.8	3.6
1966	PIT	26	140	21.1	13.8	6.5	8.1	20.3	14.6	4.7	6.3
1967	PIT	27	133	16.8	15.0	0.2	1.8	17.1	14.7	1.1	2.6
1968	PIT	28	127	16.6	15.9	-1.1	0.6	17.5	15.0	1.0	2.7
1969	PIT	29	145	19.1	15.7	2.3	4.1	19.7	15.1	3.6	5.4
1970	PIT	30	136	18.6	15.7	1.2	3.0	18.8	15.5	1.7	3.5
1971	PIT	31	141	23.0	13.9	8.0	9.8	22.6	14.3	7.2	9.0
1972	PIT	32	138	20.3	13.0	5.5	7.1	18.9	14.5	2.6	4.3
1973	PIT	33	148	25.5	17.3	6.7	8.8	25.7	17.2	7.0	9.1
1974	PIT	34	140	21.9	15.5	5.2	6.9	21.4	15.9	4.3	6.0
1975	PIT	35	124	15.7	10.9	3.5	4.8	15.3	11.2	2.7	4.0
1976	PIT	36	117	11.3	10.2	0.1	1.1	11.7	9.8	0.9	2.0
1977	PIT	37	63	5.7	4.0	1.4	1.9	5.6	4.1	1.1	1.6
1978	PIT	38	120	13.9	9.7	3.4	4.5	13.5	10.0	2.7	3.8
1979	PIT	39	126	14.4	10.3	3.2	4.4	14.1	10.6	2.7	3.9
1980	PIT	40	67	6.4	5.3	0.6	1.2	6.7	4.9	1.4	1.9
1981	PIT	41	38	1.6	1.7	-0.1	0.1	1.6	1.7	-0.1	0.1
1982	PIT	42	74	2.4	2.6	-0.1	0.2	2.5	2.5	0.2	0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,356	295.7	230.0	45.1	71.0	295.7	230.1	46.0	72.0
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			36	4.4	3.8		0.6	4.5	3.6		0.9
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,392	300.1	233.8		71.7	300.2	233.7		72.9

Fond Farewells

Finally, 1971 was the final season for two players who have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Ernie Banks and Jim Bunning. Their careers, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the final table of the article.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Ernie Banks					Jim Bunning
1953	10	1.1	1.3	-0.1	0.0
1954	154	19.2	20.4	-0.3	2.0
1955	154	22.7	18.7	4.7	6.9	15	3.1	5.6	-2.4	-1.8
1956	139	18.3	17.4	1.8	3.7	15	3.3	2.3	1.2	1.6
1957	156	22.0	18.3	4.1	6.2	45	17.9	14.1	4.6	6.5
1958	154	24.8	19.1	6.7	8.8	36	14.6	14.7	0.6	2.3
1959	155	25.5	19.0	7.1	9.2	40	16.0	16.4	0.4	2.2
1960	156	22.9	21.2	2.4	4.7	38	15.0	13.6	2.3	4.0
1961	138	17.4	16.0	1.9	3.7	38	18.4	14.4	4.7	6.7
1962	154	17.4	17.2	-1.6	0.1	43	18.1	14.3	4.6	6.6
1963	129	12.6	12.2	-0.7	0.5	40	14.9	16.2	-0.3	1.7
1964	156	17.2	17.2	-1.5	0.2	41	18.0	13.6	5.3	7.4
1965	163	18.6	17.2	-0.5	1.3	39	19.3	14.2	6.1	8.2
1966	141	12.2	13.1	-2.4	-1.2	43	20.0	16.8	4.2	6.3
1967	151	17.3	14.7	0.8	2.3	40	19.2	15.1	5.1	7.0
1968	150	17.0	14.9	0.2	1.8	27	8.2	12.0	-3.3	-2.3
1969	155	17.9	14.0	1.9	3.6	34	12.6	12.8	0.4	2.0
1970	72	5.0	5.7	-1.4	-0.9	35	11.8	13.1	-0.6	0.8
1971	38	1.3	2.1	-1.0	-0.8	31	7.4	9.1	-1.4	-0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,525	310.5	279.6	22.1	52.1	600	237.7	218.2	31.4	58.7

Article last updated: June 1, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1971 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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