The Phillies and the Dodgers met in the playoffs, each team powered by a star third baseman. But Atlanta's star centre fielder Dale Murphy won his second consecutive MVP Award, and this time I think he deserved it.

        Murphy was a much more formidable player this year than in 1982; he had more power, a higher batting average, more runs produced, more stolen bases. He was caught stealing only four times, giving him a great success rate. The Braves won 88 games, their last good year for a long time.
        Murphy played for 18 years, most of them with the Braves. He was originally a catcher, but was moved to first base, and was then moved to centre field, where he won numerous Gold Gloves. In his prime he was a devastating player, a tremendous power hitter who could hit for average and draw walks and run the bases. He was also one of the most popular players of his generation, and won consecutive MVP's from 1982-83.
        Nolan Ryan once observed that "Joe DiMaggio couldn't have been a better player than Dale Murphy." Well, Murphy wasn't that good, but he was close. Unfortunately, Murphy had his last good season at age 31, and was ineffective afterwards. He had a big, looping swing, and when his bat slowed a bit he was done. Murphy played for 18 years and hit 398 home runs in his career.
         Though his batting average was low, Mike Schmidt had another big year in terms of walks, power and defense. It's a deadly combination. The Phillies won the pennant this year; they had an old lineup that included Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Tony Perez. Schmidt deserves a lot of credit for boosting his team to the top.
        Dickie Thon was a terrific shortstop for a short while; this was his best year, and the Astros had one of their best years, winning 85 games. Next year, Thon was hit on the face by a fastball. He came back, and played okay, but was never quite as good as before.
        Pedro Guerrero was a mediocre defensive left fielder whom manager Tommy Lasorda tried to turn into a third baseman. No matter how much Lasorda encouraged him, poor Pedro just couldn't help being a bad defensive third baseman. At second base, the Dodgers had another young player, Steve Sax, who had a mental block that prevented him from throwing the ball to first. Despite this less-then-stellar defense, the Dodgers won their division. A year later, Guerrero was moved back to the outfield, and Steve Sax cured his problem with the help of a hypnotist.
        The Montreal Expos had a disappointing year, but they had big seasons from both Tim Raines and Andre Dawson. Raines had one of the greatest years ever by a base stealer (caught just 14 times), and was second to Murphy in runs produced. Dawson had a lot more power (he led the league in total bases), and was a better defensive player. Dawson was runner-up in the vote; I'll give him a slight edge over Raines.