1956 AL Stargell Award

The previous season, the Yankees were beaten in the World Series by their rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. This year, they came back with a vengeance, easily winning the pennant, then beating the Dodgers in seven games to win the championship. It was a hard-fought series that featured Don Larsen's perfect game, and 12 home runs by the Yankees, including three each from Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra.
During the regular season, Mantle won the Triple Crown. He was the unanimous choice for MVP.

American League 1956

			AVG	OBA	SLU	AB	HIT	DB	TP	HR	RUN	RBI	BB	SB	OPS
LF	T WILLIAMS	BOS	345	479	605	400	138	28	2	24	71	82	102	0	1084
LF	M MINOSO	CHI	316	425	525	545	172	29	11	21	106	88	86	12	950
LF	C MAXWELL	DET	326	414	534	500	163	14	3	28	96	87	79	1	948
1B	V WERTZ	CLE	264	364	509	481	127	22	0	32	65	106	75	0	874
LF	B NIEMAN	CHI-BAL	320	436	495	428	137	21	6	14	63	68	90	1	931
RF	J JENSEN	BOS	315	405	497	578	182	23	11	20	80	97	89	11	901

CF	M MANTLE	NY	353	464	705	533	188	22	5	52	132	130	112	10	1169
CF	L DOBY	CHI	268	392	466	504	135	22	3	24	89	102	102	0	858
3B	R BOONE	DET	308	403	518	481	148	14	6	25	77	81	77	0	920
RF	A KALINE	DET	314	383	530	617	194	32	10	27	96	128	70	7	913

CA	Y BERRA	NY	298	378	534	521	155	29	2	30	93	105	65	3	911
SS	H KUENN	DET	332	387	470	591	196	32	7	12	96	88	55	9	857
SS/2B	G MCDOUGALD	NY	311	405	443	438	136	13	3	13	79	56	68	3	723
2B	N FOX	CHI	296	347	376	649	196	27	8	6	109	52	44	8	723

         Mantle, Yogi Berra and Al Kaline were the top three vote getters. I can't argue with that order. Harvey Kuenn finished fourth in the voting; he had a terrific year at the plate, but he wasn't a good defensive player. Minnie Minoso was his usual excellent self; I'll take him ahead of Kuenn, and Ted Williams, who was great with the bat but missed a lot of games with recurring injuries.
        Al Kaline joined the Tigers in 1953, at age 18, and played all of his 22 years in Detroit. He had his best season in 1955, at age 20, and followed up with another great season this year. Kaline remained a great player for many years, though he was never again quite the same player he had been in his early 20's. He played in fifteen All-Star games, won seven Gold Gloves, and led the Tigers to the World Series in 1968.
        As I've mentioned, Kaline played a long time, and was a regular almost every year. He is among the all-time leaders in career games played. He cracked out 3007 hits in his career, including 399 home runs. The Tigers have had some great right-fielders, including Sam Crawford and Harry Heilmann, but Kaline was probably the best. Among the great outfielders of his era, Kaline was not as good as Mantle or Mays or Aaron, but was in the next class down, comparable to Clemente and Yastrzemski and Reggie Jackson.
        Vic Wertz had one of his better seasons. Wertz was a power hitter who is most famous for a long drive that he hit in the Polo Grounds in the 1954 World Series. The ball was caught by Willie Mays, the most famous catch in baseball history. Wertz was a good hitter; he played for 17 years, and hit 266 homers in his career. He was an All-Star four times, and drove in 100+ runs on five occasions.
        Mantle, incidently, had twenty more home runs than Wertz, who was second in that category. Only Babe Ruth has led the league in home runs by a wider margin.