1927 NL Stargell Award

National League 1927

			AVG	OBA	SLU	AB	HIT	DB	TP	HR	RUN	RBI	BB	SB	OPS
RF	P WANER	PIT	380	437	549	623	237	42	18	9	114	131	60	6	986
LF	R STEPHENSON	CHI	344	415	491	579	199	46	9	7	101	82	65	8	906
1B	J BOTTOMLEY	STL	303	387	509	574	174	31	15	19	95	124	74	8	896
1B	B TERRY	NY	326	377	529	580	189	32	13	20	101	121	46	1	907
RF	G HARPER	NY	331	435	495	483	160	19	6	16	85	87	84	7	930
OF	C HAFEY	STL	329	401	590	346	114	26	5	18	62	63	36	12	990

2B/1B	G GRANTHAM	PIT	305	396	454	531	162	33	11	8	96	66	74	9	850
2B	R HORNSBY	NY	361	448	586	568	205	32	9	26	133	125	86	9	1035
CF	H WILSON	CHI	318	401	579	551	175	30	12	30	119	129	71	13	980

CF	L WANER	PIT	355	396	410	629	223	17	6	2	133	27	37	14	806
2B	F FRISCH	STL	337	387	472	617	208	31	11	10	112	78	43	48	858
SS	T JACKSON	NY	318	363	486	469	149	29	4	14	67	98	32	8	849
3B	P TRAYNOR	PIT	342	370	455	573	196	32	9	5	93	106	22	11	825
3B	C DRESSEN	CIN	292	376	405	548	160	36	10	2	78	55	71	7	781
CA	G HARTNETT	CHI	294	361	454	449	132	35	5	10	56	80	44	2	815

        I think that the two best outfielders were clearly Paul Waner and Hack Wilson. Waner led the league in runs produced and total bases. His brother, Lloyd Waner, was a rookie who also played for the Pirates, and had a solid season. Their respective nicknames were "Big Poison" and "Little Poison". Lloyd was Little Poison, as you can tell from his RBI count.
        Hack Wilson is a curious figure in baseball history. He would become famous a couple of years later by setting some home run and RBI records, but you can see that he had other good years as well. Describing him is difficult... if you can imagine a cross between Kirby Puckett and Foghorn Leghorn, you might get the idea. He was a centre fielder, though he looked like a born DH. There are various reports about his fielding ability; I don't know how good he was with the glove, except to say that he wasn't Devon White.
        After leading the Cardinals to the World Series the previous year, Rogers Hornsby was sent to the Giants because no one could stand him, and his defense was deteriorating. Despite these clouds on his reputation, you can't argue with results. He had a big year, and the Giants, after a disappointing year in 1926, finished two games out of first place.
        Actually, it was a swap of star second basemen. Hornsby went from the Cardinals to the Giants, who sent Frankie Frisch to the Cardinals in return. Frisch had a big year as well, and the Cardinals finished only one game out of first place. I will place Frisch right behind Hornsby.
        George Grantham was a good hitter, but not a very good second baseman. Three times he was a regular second baseman, then was moved to first base, then was moved back to second a year later, and so on. You would think his managers would have gotten the idea after one or two failures, but they can be slow learners sometimes.