The Milwaukee Braves won their second straight pennant this year. They also faced the Yankees in October for the second straight year; and for the second straight year, the Series went to a deciding seventh game. This time, however, the Braves were felled by the mighty Yanks. The league MVP Award went to Ernie Banks, the Cubs' power-hitting shortstop.

        Ernie Banks debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1953, when he was 22 years old. He played 19 years, all of them with the Cubs. In his prime he was a devastating power hitter, and he retired with 512 career homers. He was also a shortstop, the first genuine power-hitting shortstop in baseball history. Five times Banks had 40+ homers in a season; his combination of power and defense made him one of the best players in baseball. He was also admired for his infectious enthusiasm, even though he usually played for bad teams. Banks is usually considered the greatest player never to play in the post-season.
        Banks' defensive reputation has bobbed up and down over the years, but I think he was a better glove man than he is usually given credit for. After Banks turned 30, he was moved to first base, which created the impression that he had limited range in the field. The truth was, Banks was moved because of a pair of injuries, one to his knee, and the other to his eye. In his prime, Banks had good defensive statistics; two MVP Awards and a Gold Glove indicate that he was also considered a capable defensive player at the time.
        Richie Ashburn had his best season. It was Richie's second batting title, and the third time he had led the league in hits. Ashburn was a little out of place in the 1950's; while mashers like Mays, Mantle, Snider and Doby patrolled cnetre field for other teams, Richie hit only 29 home runs in his career. But he was a prototypical leadoff hitter, a consistent .300 hitter who drew walks and ran the bases very well. Richie had to wait a long time to get in the Hall Of Fame, until he was inducted by the Veteran's Committee in 1995. He was a good choice; he was a was a very good hitter, and a brilliant defensive outfielder.
        Popularly known as "Whitey", because of his blonde hair, Ashburn retired with 2,574 hits, a lifetime .308 average, 234 stolen bases and more than twice as many walks as strikeout. He was still a good player when he retired, and could have added to his totals, but decided to hang up the spikes after spending a year with the historically awful 1962 Mets. After his retirement, Ashburn returned to Philadelphia and broadcast Phillies games on the radio for 35 years, with him and partner Harry Kalas forming one of baseball's most legendary broadcast duos.
        Banks' power numbers were tremendous; he had 12 more homers than Frank Thomas, who finished second in that category. Banks and Thomas were the only players with 100+ RBI, and Banks had 129. But though he was a great player, Banks faced some tough competition from Willie Mays, who was playing in his first season in San Francisco. Willie was in his prime, and though he didn't have the kind of year hitting home runs that Banks did, he was first or second in the league in almost everything else, including batting average, slugging, total bases, runs scored, OPS and stolen bases, while playing peerless defence in centre field. Mays was again the best player in the league, and deserved the MVP Award.