The Philadelphia Phillies won their first pennant since 1915. Jim Konstanty, a bespeckled relief pitcher, was named the league MVP. He is the unlikeliest winner in the history of the award. And it wasn't a bad vote; though he wasn't much of a pitcher in any other year, Konstanty had a truly remarkable season for the "Whiz Kids".
        We are not considering pitchers, however, so let's look at the top players. After Konstanty, the top vote getters were Stan Musial, Eddie Stanky and Del Ennis.

        Musial was clearly the best hitter in the National League. Ennis got support because of his RBI total, and because he played for the Phillies. It would be difficult to argue, though, that Ennis had a better year than Ralph Kiner, or even Andy Pafko or Duke Snider.
        Del Ennis played for 14 years, most of them with the Phillies. He had a great rookie season with the Phillies in 1946, when he was 21 years old; this year was best of his career, and it was also the best Phillies team he ever played on. He was a classic RBI guy; while there were lots of things that Ennis didn't do (he had no speed, didn't score a lot of runs, grounded into over 200 double plays), he was a career .284 hitter who could usually be counted on for 25 homers and 100 RBI per year. Seven times Ennis drove in over 100 runs in a season. He was never considered one of the best players of the era, and was an All-Star only three times. But he was durable and consistent; Ennis finished his career with over 2000 hits and more than 1200 RBI.
        Andy Pafko also had his best season. "Handy Andy" played for 17 years, and had his best ones with the Cubs. He became a regular in 1944 at age 23, after being declared 4-F because of high blood pressure. His rookie year was decent; his sophomore season (in which he hit .298 with 110 RBI) was outstanding, leading the Cubbies to the pennant, their last of the 20th century.
        The next two years were disappointing. In separate incidents, Pafko broke his ankle and his right arm in 1946. The next season was a little better, but he still missed time with a kidney infection. In 1948, Pafko regrouped, and hit .312 with 26 home runs. He slumped a bit in 1949, then muscled up and hit 36 home runs this season.
        One of the subplots of the fabled 1951 pennant race between the Giants and Dodgers was the blockbuster, eight-man deal that sent Pafko to the Dodgers in mid-June. The critics were out in full force; not only had the Cubs handed the pennant to the Dodgers, it didn't appear they had gotten much in return (indeed, the best player they got back was Eddie Miksis). The Giants and Leo Durocher were incensed.
        Of course, as it turned out, the Giants won the pennant anyways. The vaunted outfield trio of Snider, Furillo and Pafko didn't produce as expected (though they did win the pennant in 1952). Pafko was sold to the Braves in 1953; his best days were done, but he played his last seven years in Milwaukee, even playing a useful role with the 1957-58 Braves that won two pennants. Pafko was a career .285 hitter who hit 213 home runs.

        Said Branch Rickey of Eddie Stanky: "He cannot hit, he cannot throw and he cannot outrun his grandmother... but if there is a way to beat a team, you may depend on Stanky finding it." It was a statement that was repeated many time by players, managers and reporters, in various altered forms but always with the same meaning.
        Eddie Stanky was a little guy who played for 11 seasons, was a .268 hitter who hit only 29 home runs in his career. Yet, he was one of the most controversial players of his era. What Stanky lacked in raw talent, he made up for with his aggressive, scrappy play — his nicknames, "Muggsy" and "The Brat", were well earned. A runner who slid too hard into second base could expect to be met with Stanky's fist, and when on the basepaths, he was known to kick the ball out of the fielder's hands.
        But most famously, Stanky was known for his ability to draw walks. In 1945, Stanky hit .258 with one homer, but also drew 148 walks and scored 128 runs. Six times he drew over 100 walks in a season, twice topping 140; his lifetime on-base percentage was .410. Defensively, he was a good second baseman who was tenacious around the bag, would hang in and turn the double play.
        The opposition hated him, but he was widely praised for his smarts on the field. He had a reputation as a winner, winning a pennant with the Dodgers in 1947, the Braves in '48 and the Giants in '51. The Dodgers traded him so that Jackie Robinson could play second, in what proved to be a lopsided deal. After Stanky and double-play partner Alvin Dark rebelled against Braves manager Billy Southworth, Boston was forced to trade both of them to New York in another lopsided deal.
        If there was a complaint against Stanky, it was that he was too smart on the field, so much so that he stepped on the toes of his own managers. In 1952 he became player-manager for the Cardinals, fulfilling a lifelong dream. He managed for parts of six seasons, and won more games than he lost, but never led a team to the pennant.
        This was Stanky's best season; he hit 21 home runs in his two years with the Giants, 3/4 of his career total. Though Stanky had a fine year, I think his former teammate, Robinson, was clearly better, both with the bat and with the glove. Robinson's Dodgers finished second, three games ahead of the third-place Giants.
        Strangely, Stanky finished third in the MVP vote, Robinson fifteenth. Robinson won the award the year before (1949); I think by this time he was the league's best player, rivalled only by Musial. And I think he deserved another MVP.