1928 NL Stargell Award

National League 1928

			AVG	OBA	SLU	AB	HIT	DB	TP	HR	RUN	RBI	BB	SB	OPS
1B	J BOTTOMLEY	STL	325	402	628	576	187	42	20	31	123	136	71	10	1030
RF	P WANER	PIT	370	446	547	602	223	50	19	6	142	86	77	6	992
1B	D BISSONETTE	BRO	320	396	543	598	188	30	13	25	90	106	70	5	940
LF	C HAFEY	STL	337	386	604	520	175	46	6	27	101	111	40	8	990
1B	B TERRY	NY	326	394	518	568	185	36	11	17	100	101	64	7	912
LF	R STEPHENSON	CHI	324	407	477	512	166	36	9	8	75	68	68	8	883

CF	H WILSON	CHI	313	404	588	520	163	32	9	31	89	120	77	4	992
2B	R HORNSBY	BOS	387	498	632	486	188	42	7	21	99	94	107	5	1130

CF	L WANER	PIT	335	377	434	659	221	22	14	5	121	61	40	8	811
CF	T DOUTHIT	STL	295	384	372	648	191	35	3	3	111	43	84	11	756
2B	F FRISCH	STL	300	374	441	547	164	29	9	10	107	86	64	24	815
3B	F LINDSTROM	NY	358	383	511	646	231	39	9	14	99	107	25	15	894
3B	P TRAYNOR	PIT	337	370	462	569	192	38	12	3	91	124	28	12	832
SS	T JACKSON	NY	270	339	436	537	145	35	6	14	73	77	56	8	775
CA	G HARTNETT	CHI	302	404	523	388	117	26	9	14	61	57	65	3	928

        Bottomley was nicknamed "Sunny Jim"; photographs from the era confirm that he had one of the widest smiles in the league. He and Paul Waner (who almost never smiled) were the top players of the above group. Bottomley was in the Hall Of Fame in 1974, one of many inductions by the Veterans Committee in the early 1970's. He was a very good player for seven years, but his effectiveness declined dramatically after he turned 30. His career numbers (2,313 hits and 219 home runs) are very good but fall short of greatness.
        His numbers may also have been inflated by Sportsman's Park, which was a great place for left-handed hitters in the 1920's. Bottomley, was a terrific hitter, but was not a good choice for the Hall of Fame. He was the Cecil Cooper of his time; a very good player who fell short of greatness.
        This was one of Chick Hafey's best seasons. Hafey is a Hall Of Famer, despite a short career that lasted only 13 seasons. He was an outstanding hitter, had good power and once won a batting title. He is probably best known for his poor eyesight, and his eyeglasses that reportedly had bottle-thick lenses. Though he was a fine player, Hafey is one of the weaker members of the Hall; he never played a full season, and never approached any milestones. He was perhaps as good as, but no better than, Kirk Gibson.
        Rogers Hornsby spent a year in New York, then was dealt to the Boston Braves, his third team in three years. With Hornsby, the story was always the same: great hitting, but indifferent defense, and a real attitude problem. Though he had a great season, the Braves were a worse team than before, which is amazing because they were really bad to begin with.
        Fred Lindstrom is another guy who, like George Kelly and Travis Jackson and Ross Youngs, is in the Hall Of Fame solely because he played for the Giants in the 1920's. He was inducted on the merits of two seasons in which he had 231 hits. He never came close to 200 hits in any other season; he played in fewer games than Howard Johnson, and was moved to the outfield late in his career. Lindstrom was about as good a player as Carney Lansford. He had a great year this year, though, and his team was very good, so he deserves credit for that.