The most important season in the history of professional baseball. Under the leadership of Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers had emerged as one of the best teams in baseball, a rival for their mighty New York cousins, the Giants and the Yankees. This year, Rickey made the boldest move ever made by a baseball executive: he signed a black player, Jackie Robinson, and put him on the field, breaking baseball's colour barrier. Despite all of the pressure and humiliation that Jackie faced, he handled it better than anyone could have expected, and played brilliantly in the field.
        The Dodgers also won the pennant, but lost in the World Series to the Yankees (something they did very often). As for the MVP Award... Bob Elliott of the Braves was the winner. Ten different players received at least one first-place vote; a number of players had big seasons this year, and the voters had trouble coming to a consensus. Each of the top candidates had their own strengths and weaknesses... well, take a look at the numbers.

        Jackie Robinson was a second baseman for most of his career, and a brilliant one. In his rookie season, though, Robinson played first base; Brooklyn already had a good second baseman, Eddie Stanky, who was dealt after the season. Robinson played very well, and there is a natural tendency to consider him for the MVP Award... but if you look at the numbers, can you really justify taking Robinson ahead of Johnny Mize? Not this year, I don't think, though Robinson had some more great years ahead of him. Mize was an awesome power hitter who had one of his best seasons.

        Bob Elliott had two distinct careers. The first one was with the Pirates, when he was known as "Plaster City Bob". He was born in San Francisco, then was raised near Plaster City, California, where his father worked in a plaster factory. He was scouted by George Cutshaw and signed with the Pirates; he played in the Sally League for three years with Savannah and Knoxville, then with Toronto in 1939. He made his debut with the Pirates late in 1939; his first manager was Pie Traynor, the former great third baseman.
        Traynor, however, did not see the young Elliott as his heir at third base, and played him in centre field. A year later, Traynor had been replaced by Frankie Frisch; Elliott played a full season and had a good year, batting .292 while playing mostly in right field. In 1941, he played right field exclusively, and was selected to his first All-Star team. On May 24, he was beaned in the head by Sam Neham of the Cardinals. Elliott made a brief trip to the hospital, then was back in the lineup after missing a few games.
        In 1942, Frisch found himself short on third basemen. Arky Vaughan had been traded, while third sacker Jeep Handley was badly injured in a car accident. That spring, he tried to make Elliott into his third baseman, and the experiment proved to a success. Elliott was not agile, but he had a strong throwing arm, and played well enough at bat and in the field to make another All-Star squad. He thrived during the war years, driving in 100 runs in three straight seasons; Elliott was twice classified 4-F by the draft board because of the beaning he had taken in 1941, though he was also married with children.
        In 1945, Handley returned, and Elliott split the season between third base and right field. In 1946, Frisch still couldn't make up his mind where he wanted Elliott to play, and relations between player and manager deteriorated. Elliott also struggled with the bat, hitting .263 with only five home runs. The season was a disappointment for the Pirates, who had new ownership; Frisch resigned, while the Pirates acquired Billy Herman from the Braves to be their new player-manager. The price? Bob Elliott.
        After winning the MVP Award in 1947, Elliott remarked that, "I think it was the luckiest day of my life when I was traded to Boston from Pittsburgh. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best baseball town in the land." Many Red Sox fans would agree with the latter statement, but for a short time it was the Boston Braves who were the toast of the town. The deal rejuvenated the franchise, and was a disaster for the Pirates; Herman was fired after one season as manager.
        When he arrived in Boston, Elliott impressed his teammates with his hustle and hard work; they gave him the nickname "Mr. Team", sending "Plaster City Bob" to the dustbin. Manager Billy Southworth put Elliott at third base, and left him there. In a new city and with the balata ball also history, Elliott hit as many home runs in his first two years with Boston as he did in his previous six with the Pirates.
        The Braves had been in the dumps for a long time. But with Spahn and Sain and now Elliott, they finished in third place. In 1948, Elliott had another great season, and the Braves won the pennant. Elliott struggled badly in his first four World Series games, of which the Braves lost three. The Braves scored only three runs in those games, their one win coming on the strength of a 1-0 Sain shutout; Elliott had more errors (3) than hits (2). In Game Five, Elliott redeemed himself with two home runs and four RBI. He had three more hits in Game Six, but the Braves lost both the game and the series.
        Elliott had three more good seasons with the Braves, but didn't return to the postseason. Age and injuries took their toll, and he ended his career in 1953. He returned to the West Coast, and both played and managed in the Pacific Coast League. He managed the Kansas City Athletics in 1960, but could not revive the fortunes of that sorry franchise. He served as a coach with the expansion Angels in 1961. Elliott played for 15 seasons, was a career .289 hitter who had over 2000 hits, and also 170 career home runs.

        Elliott's MVP Award was a surprise, even in 1947; he may not have been the best player in the league, but he had a great story to tell, starting with the lopsided trade, then having both his manager and teammates give him the "Mr. Team" monicker in the spring. And, of course, he rewarded their faith with a monster season. Another third baseman, Whitey Kurowski, also had a great season, and he played for a better team — but he didn't capture the imagination of the MVP voters.
        Bruce Edwards of Brooklyn finished fourth in the voting, ahead of Kurowski, Kiner, Musial, Cooper, Marshall, Reese, Robinson... now, I'm sure that Bruce Edwards had his qualities, but it's hard to say what they were because few people remember him. If you were to vote for a Brooklyn Dodger, don't you think you would vote for Jackie Robinson, who broke the colour barrier and scored 125 runs? Or Pee Wee Reese? Edwards' was only 23 years old, and had a pretty solid sophomore season, but I don't think he was an MVP candidate. He played for ten years, but this was his only season as a regular.
        Both Mize and Kiner had huge power numbers; Mize produced a few more runs, but I think Kiner had a better year at the plate. I think that Kiner was the league's best player — but his team lost 92 games. Brooklyn won the pennant, so I'm tempted to vote for one of their players... but I don't really think that any of their stars were better than Mize or Kiner.
        St Louis finished second; their top players, Musial and Kurowski, were both good candidates. Boston was third; Elliott won the actual award. New York was next; both Mize and Walker Cooper had big years. How to sort the mess?
        To heck with it. I'm just going to take the best players; in this case, Kiner, Mize... then I don't know who. Elliott won the actual award, so I'll trust the voter's judgement. And Cooper's numbers were just too big to ignore.