The Pittsburgh Pirates won the pennant, and in the World Series they faced the mighty New York Yankees. They were outscored 55 to 27 — but won. The clincher was Bill Mazeroski's game-winning home run off Ralph Terry in Game Seven, which gave the Pirates their first World Series win since 1925.
     The league MVP was Pirates' shortstop Dick Groat, who won the batting title. Another Pirate, third baseman Don Hoak, was runner-up.

         When selecting the MVP, I always try to take a player from the winning team. After all, the whole point is to win. But I don't believe in being fanatical about this, either; sometimes, the best players aren't always in the postseason. Dick Groat hit for a high average — but he was a singles hitter. He had no power, drew few walks, and stole no bases.
        A player like this might be a legitimate MVP if he has great defence, leadership and durability. Groat does score a point for leadership; he won championships with both the Pirates in 1960 and the Cardinals in 1964. He was a good defensive player, but not a great one. As for durability, he missed 17 games during the year, a significant total. It's not entirely clear that he was the best shortstop in the league, never mind the best player.
        Certainly, Don Hoak was not the best third baseman in the league, not in a year in which both Eddie Mathews and Ken Boyer had monster seasons. Mathews played in a park that was very difficult to hit in, and nobody in the National League played better defence at third than Boyer.
         The problem with the Pirates is that they simply did not have one good MVP candidate. They led the league in runs scored, and it seems odd that they could do this without anybody having a huge season. Their secret was that they had good — not great — players at every position. Groat and Hoak were solid. Roberto Clemente was a great player, but not this year. Mazeroski was good. The rest of the team was made of guys like Dick Stuart, Bill Virdon, Bob Skinner and Smoky Burgess. All good, but not great.
        Groat played for 14 years, and was an All-Star five times; his best year came in 1963. Hoak was a solid player for 11 years, had limited power but once led the league in doubles. Virdon played for 12 years, was a terrible hitter but a fine defensive centre fielder, and later became a manager. Stuart hit over 200 homers in his career; Skinner was also a fine hitter, and his son Joel also played in the majors. Good players, but not MVP candidates.
        Willie Mays finished third in the MVP voting, behind Groat and Hoak; I think he was the best player in the league, and I suspect the voters knew this on a subconscious level. Frank Robinson was great, but missed a lot of games. Hank Aaron was terrific as usual. After Pittsburgh, the best teams in the league were Milwaukee and St. Louis; the best players for these teams were Aaron and Mathews (Milwaukee) and Boyer (St. Louis). I'll take these three behind Mays.