1943 NL Stargell Award

America entered World War II, and many of baseball's best players joined the service. This year, the Cardinals won their second straight pennant, but lost in the World Series to the Yankees. Their best player was Stan Musial, who was still just a kid, 22 years old and in his second season; Stanley dominated the league, and won his first MVP Award.

National League 1943

			AVG	OBA	SLU	AB	HIT	DB	TP	HR	RUN	RBI	BB	SB	OPS
RF	B NICHOLSON	CHI	309	386	531	608	188	30	9	29	95	128	71	4	917
1B	P CAVARETTA	CHI	291	382	421	530	154	27	9	8	93	73	75	7	802
OF	D WALKER	BRO	302	363	411	540	163	32	6	5	83	71	49	3	774
LF	E TIPTON	CIN	288	395	424	493	142	26	7	9	82	49	85	1	819
1B	E FLETCHER	PIT	283	395	395	544	154	24	5	9	91	70	95	1	810

OF	S MUSIAL	STL	357	425	562	617	220	48	20	13	108	81	62	6	988
CF	A GALAN	BRO	287	412	406	495	142	26	3	9	83	67	103	6	818
3B	B ELLIOTT	PIT	315	376	444	581	183	30	12	7	82	101	56	4	820
3B	S HACK	CHI	289	384	366	533	154	24	4	3	78	35	82	5	750

CA	W COOPER	STL	318	349	463	449	143	30	4	9	52	81	19	1	812
CA	R MUELLER	CIN	286	353	398	555	159	24	4	10	54	73	53	4	726
2B	L FREY	CIN	263	347	334	586	154	20	8	2	78	43	76	7	682
2B	L KLEIN	STL	287	342	410	627	180	28	14	7	91	62	50	9	752
2B/3B	Bi HERMAN	BRO	330	398	417	585	193	41	2	2	76	100	66	4	815
SS/3B	A VAUGHAN	BRO	305	370	413	610	186	39	6	5	112	66	60	20	783

        As you can see, this was not a big year for home runs. Musial and Bill Nicholson were the only players with slugging percentages greater than .500. They were easily the top hitters in the National League. I think Musial was clearly a little better, and he also helped St. Louis win 105 games during the season.
        After starring for many years with different teams, Arky Vaughan and Billy Herman both joined the Dodgers, and both played very well. This was Vaughan's last good season, at age 31. As you probably know, I think the world of Arky Vaughan as a player, and this was another great year for him. But during the season, there was infighting on the team between cantankerous manager Leo Durocher and some of the players. Vaughan, a quiet, respected player, was not involved. But Arky didn't like Leo very much, and challenged Durocher's handling of the situation. Though peace was eventually made, Arky decided to retire after the season.
        Vaughan didn't come back until 1947, when Durocher was fired. By then he was 35 years old, and had been out of pro ball for three full seasons. Vaughan still managed to hit .325 in a limited role, then retired a year later. Had he not decided to retire, it's possible that Vaughan could have had many more great seasons; he certainly was still among the best in the league at this time. He also lost hundreds of career hits, and possibly a chance at 3000.
        Billy Herman's career was also nearing the end. He had a great year, at age 34, but missed the next two seasons because of war service. Herman returned in 1946, and played well, but retired a year later. Herman finished with 2345 hits in his career, and would have had 300-400 more had it not been for the war.