McDowell was 23 years old; it had taken him a few seasons to
harness his stuff, and even now he walked a lot of batters. But he
was the toughest pitcher in the league to hit, and as a strikeout artist,
he had no peer, not even Koufax. McDowell's strikeout rate (10.71
K's per 9 innings) was the highest in baseball history. His record
lasted almost 20 years, bested by Dwight Gooden in 1985. His AL
record was broken by Nolan Ryan in 1989.
McDowell was basically the Nolan Ryan of the 1960's, striking
out a prodigious amount of batters, walking a whole bunch as well,
having some inconsistent seasons, but usually winning more than he
lost. The only difference was that McDowell ran out of gas by age
30.
For the first time this decade, the Yankees didn't win the
pennant. In fact, they didn't even have a winning season! Both
Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford were getting old, and nobody was
around to replace them. Mel Stottlemyre gave it his best shot,
though. The late 60's were the darkest days the Yankees had seen in
50 years, but Stottlemyre managed three 20+ win seasons during that
period. Unfortunately, Mel had to call it quits before the Yanks
started to get really good again, but he's been a successful
pitching coach for the Yankee championship teams of the 1990's, and
is the father of Todd Stottlemyre.
The surprising victors this year were the Minnesota Twins, who
had left the city of Washington four years earlier. It was the
franchise's first pennant since 1933; they had some terrific
players and pitchers, notably Mudcat Grant and Jim Kaat. This was
Grant's best season, by far; he received considerable support in
the MVP balloting, while Kaat didn't receive a single vote. I don't
understand this, but then, I wasn't there.
Eddie Fisher of the White Sox led all AL pitchers in MVP
balloting. He had a wonderful year, but I certainly don't think he
was as good as either McDowell or Stottlemyre. You could argue that
he was better than Grant and Kaat, but those guys were workhorses,
and they won. I'll give them the edge.
