While Babe Ruth was changing the way baseball was played in the American League, things went on as usual in the Senior Circuit. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the pennant, while Cardinals second baseman Roger Hornsby asserted himself as the NL's dominant player.

         Hornsby is often regarded as the greatest right-handed hitter ever, and he makes a pretty good argument. He was clearly the top hitter in the NL this year, and by a good margin. While Ruth was bringing the home run into the AL, Hornsby was watching with interest. Though he hit only 9 home runs this year, Hornsby would raise that total to 42 within two years.
        Shortstops Dave Bancroft and Rabbit Maranville were considered the top defensive infielders in the league, and Bancroft was pretty good with the bat, too. Milt Stock also had his best year with the bat; Stock was an ordinary player for most of his career, but lasted long enough to amass over 1800 career hits.
        Ross Youngs was a very good player, and this year led the Giants to a second-place finish. He was similar to Paul Molitor as a hitter. He played just ten years, then was diagnosed with Bright's Disease and died in 1927 at the age of 30. He was elected to the Hall Of Fame, despite the brevity of his career.
         His induction was perhaps misguided. His death was a tragedy, no doubt, and Youngs may have become a great player had he lived. But many players have had brilliant careers ended by injury; the same can be said of Youngs, though his injury was a particularly severe one. This very season, in the American League, Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch. Chapman was probably a better player than Youngs, but has not been inducted.
        Zack Wheat was the Dodgers' top hitter, and helped them win the pennant, so I'll take him after Youngs.