The Yankees won another pennant, their fourth straight, and their eighth of the decade. They also won the World Series, their last with Casey Stengel managing. Yankee ace Bullet Bob Turley won the Cy Young Award, becoming the first American League pitcher ever to receive the honour.

         Not only did Turley win the award, he was the only AL pitcher to receive a vote. He also finished second in the MVP vote, behind Boston outfielder Jackie Jensen. Bullet Bob was a hard thrower who had no concept of the strike zone, but hits against him were scarce. Turley was the only big winner among AL pitchers; he was also a hard worker with a good ERA, and he threw six shutouts.
         Turley was a pretty good choice, but I think there was a better one. Whitey Ford didn't have a great won-loss record; he had seven fewer wins than his teammate, Turley. But surely there is no doubt about whom the best pitcher in the league was; Ford led the AL in ERA by a large margin; he also led the league in shutouts, and allowed the fewest baserunners per nine innings. Ford's low win total was probably due more to bad luck than anything else. Casey Stengel liked to save Ford to pitch in only the toughest games, which may have had an impact on his won-loss record.
         I could be wrong. Voters at the time weren't impressed by Ford's season; he did not receive a single vote in the MVP balloting. Maybe Ford just didn't pitch well enough to win. But I find this unlikely; he had great numbers, and was a big winner in many other seasons. I'm convinced that Ford was the AL's best pitcher, and deserves the award.
      After Ford and Turley, the AL's best pitcher was Chicago's wonderful left-hander, Billy Pierce. After Pierce, it's a choice between Tiger workhorse Frank Lary, and Washington reliever Dick Hyde. Hyde finished second among pitchers in the MVP vote; he pitched brilliantly, and had a 10-3 record with the league's worst team. I'll go with Hyde to round out the top four.
         Turley wasn't the only Yankee pitcher who had some control problems. Ryne Duren was the original Wild Thing, a guy who came in from the bullpen to throw smoke, and who didn't know where it was going. This was Duren's first big year; the year before he had pitched for the Kansas City Athletics, who at the time were practically a Yankee farm club. Duren exploded on the scene with two great seasons; in 1960, he lost the strike zone, and never pitched well again despite several years of trying. This was also Turley's last big season; he never again finished in double digits in wins.