1931 NL Stargell Award

National League 1931

			AVG	OBA	SLU	AB	HIT	DB	TP	HR	RUN	RBI	BB	SB	OPS
2B	F FRISCH	STL	311	368	396	518	161	24	4	4	96	82	45	28	764
2B	T CUCCINELLO	CIN	315	374	431	575	181	39	11	2	67	93	54	1	805
SS	W ENGLISH	CHI	319	391	413	634	202	38	8	2	117	53	68	12	804
SS	T JACKSON	NY	310	353	420	555	172	26	10	5	65	71	36	13	773
CA	G HARTNETT	CHI	282	370	434	380	107	32	1	8	53	70	52	3	804
CF	L WANER	PIT	314	352	407	681	214	25	13	4	90	57	39	7	759

CF	W BERGER	BOS	323	380	512	617	199	44	8	19	94	84	55	13	892
RF	P WANER	PIT	322	404	453	559	180	35	10	6	88	70	73	6	857
CF/RF	M OTT	NY	292	392	545	497	145	23	8	29	104	115	80	10	937
3B	P TRAYNOR	PIT	298	354	416	615	183	37	15	2	81	103	54	6	771

RF	C KLEIN	PHI	337	398	584	594	200	34	10	31	121	121	59	7	982
1B	B TERRY	NY	349	397	529	611	213	43	20	9	121	112	47	8	926
RF	C HAFEY	STL	349	404	569	450	157	35	8	16	94	95	39	11	973
RF	K CUYLER	CHI	330	404	473	613	202	37	12	9	100	88	72	13	877
RF	Ba HERMAN	BRO	313	365	525	610	191	43	16	18	93	97	50	17	890
LF	L O'DOUL	BRO	336	396	482	512	172	32	11	7	85	75	48	5	879

        To be honest, this was not one of the best seasons of Frisch's career. He was very good, and could still run and field; but he was also 33, and his hitting was beginning to decline. He also missed over 20 games with injuries. I'm not sure if Frisch was better than Tony Cuccinello, or Woody English. Cuccinello was a defensive specialist who had his best year with the bat; English was more of an offensive threat, a star in Joe McCarthy's powerful Cubs' lineup.
        After the record-setting offensive totals of 1930, pitching made a comeback this year. The league ERA dropped by more than a run; Chuck Klein and Mel Ott were the only players with more than 20 home runs. Superficially, Klein was the better hitter. But I'm really not sure how valuable he was, since he could only hit in his home park. Klein hit .407 with 22 homers at home, .266 with 9 homers on the road. I think he had some value, but not as much as Bill Terry or Kiki Cuyler.
        This was Wally Berger's best season. Berger was just 25; the previous year, he had set a rookie record by hitting 38 home runs. Berger was a very consistent player, and was an All-Star four years in a row. He had almost the same career numbers as another centre-fielder from the era, Hack Wilson. But in 1930, Wilson hit 56 homers and drove in 191 runs; on the strength of that big season, Wilson was inducted into the Hall Of Fame. Berger never had an MVP season, but he was consistent, and over time was as good as Wilson. But today he is largely forgotten (for the record, I think Berger's career was too short to merit consideration for the Hall Of Fame, and the same is probably true about Wilson, who is already in).
        The top three teams in the league were St Louis, New York and Chicago; their best players were Frisch, Terry, English, and Cuyler. I'm choosing Terry, who was the best hitter in the league.