The Minnesota Twins won the pennant, ending a string of five in a row by the Yankees. It would take the Yankees to win their next pennant, ending their lengthy domination of the American League. The Yankees won only two more World Series in the following 30-year span (1963-1993), before reasserting their dominance in the late 1990's.
        It was the Twins' first pennant in Minnesota, and the franchise's first since the Washington Senators won in 1933, a drought of over 30 years. The league MVP was Twins' shortstop Zoilo Versalles, who ranks among the unlikeliest winners ever, but was not a bad selection.

        Versalles' batting average wasn't great, and his on-base percentage was actually poor. But he had a lot of other positives. He led the league in doubles, triples and runs scored, and also in total bases, a rare accomplishment for a shortstop. He was caught stealing only five times, making him the best over-all base stealer in the league. He was durable, missing only two games. He won a Gold Glove. His team won the pennant.
        "Zorro" was only 25 years old; he joined the team when he was 19, and was an All-Star in 1963. He was a fine player for the Twins from 1963-65, but the rest of his career was a disappointment. Versalles played only 12 years, and retired with a lifetime .242 batting average.
         This was Tony Conigliaro's second season, at age 20. He became the youngest player ever to lead the league in home runs. Conigliaro set a lot of records in a career that lasted only eight seasons. As a rookie in 1964, Conigliaro hit 24 home runs, a record for a teenager. He later became the youngest player ever to hit 100 career home runs. In 1967, however, Conligliaro almost died when he was hit in the face by a pitch.
        The injury ended Tony's rise to stardom. He missed the rest of the season, and impaired vision forced him to miss all of 1968 as well. He finally came back in 1969, and played well. In 1970, Tony set a career high with 36 home runs; his brother Billy hit 18 homers that year, and another record was set for most home runs in a season by two brothers. Conigliaro's career ended shortly after; he retired with 166 career home runs.
         Tony Oliva was the Twins' top hitter, and was runner-up in the MVP vote behind his teammate, Versalles. I think that Oliva was the best hitter in the league; the only question is whether Oliva should rank ahead or behind Versalles. The writers at the time were confident that Versalles had enough positives to deserve the award, and maybe I should respect that. But if I had a choice, I would rather have Oliva on my team. He was as complete a hitter as there was in the league at this time, and he was also a fine defensive player. In my mind, Oliva deserved the award.
         Brooks Robinson finished third in the vote, which I agree with. Behind him should be either Carl Yastrzemski or Rocky Colavito. Yaz was a better hitter, but he also missed 30 games with injury, and didn't produce many runs. So I'll take Colavito, who had his last big season.