The Athletics dominated the league, and won their first pennant since 1914. After dismantling his championship team from the early 1910's, owner/manager Connie Mack had spent 15 years slowly rebuilding his club, and his efforts resulted in back-to-back World Series in 1929-30.
        Mack quickly ran short of money, and was again forced to sell off his team of stars that included Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, and Al Simmons. But when they were together, they were a great team.

        The best sluggers this year were Babe Ruth, Simmons and Foxx. The latter two were teammates, and are difficult to choose between. Foxx got on base more than Simmons, and may have been a better all around hitter, but Simmons led the AL in runs produced and total bases, and probably had more defensive value. I'll take Simmons ahead of Foxx, but I'm picking Ruth as the best player in the league. At age 34 he was still the scariest power hitter in baseball.
        The American League MVP Award had been disbanded the previous year; this year, the BBWAA had an unofficial poll, and selected Lew Fonseca as the MVP, for reasons not readily apparent. The Sporting News tried their own poll, and selected Simmons. I think I'll stick with Ruth.
        Dale Alexander was a big, big man. He was a rookie this year, at age 26, and had a whopper of a season. He followed it up with a decent year in 1930, then hurt his leg. Alexander was given a new treatment that involved heating the leg; something went wrong, he was scalded, and the leg almost had to be amputated. Needless to say, a promising career was cut short.
        The best infielders were Mickey Cochrane, Charlie Gehringer, and Tony Lazzeri. Cochrane was an outstanding defensive catcher for the Athletics, and was regarded as the team leader. He had one of his best years at the plate, and was easily the best catcher in the league. While he may not have had the big run production numbers of his teammates, Simmons and Foxx, I think a good case can be made that Cochrane was the Athletics' best player.
        Mickey Cochrane was the century's first great catcher, and a good case can still be made that he was the greatest. Catchers who could hit and play defense and who were durable were an extreme rarity in baseball, and Cochrane was the first to fit that mold since Buck Ewing starred in the 1880's. Cochrane played for 13 years, and was a career .320 hitter. He hit doubles and the occasional home run, and drew four walks for every strikeout. He was a scrappy player with big ears, and was the leader of championship teams in both Philadelphia and Detroit.
        Other outstanding catchers in the league were Gabby Hartnett and Bill Dickey; they would also become great players, though not quite as good as Cochrane. Compared to greats such as Berra, Campanella and Bench, Cochrane was a match on both offense on defense. All he lacked was a long career; in 1937, Cochrane was struck in the head by a pitch and almost died. He survived, but never played again. In his prime, though, he was as good as it gets behind the plate; he was also the favourite player of Mutt Mantle, who named his son after Cochrane.
        Lazzeri had his best year, while Gehringer had his first of several great ones. Gehringer had a reputation for being a defensive wizard, and led the league in four offensive categories, so I'll give him a slight edge.