1950 NL Mathewson Award

The Philadelphia Phillies are arguably the most phutile organization in baseball history, requiring over 80 years to win their first World Series. In 1950, however, it looked like the Phillies had gotten their act together. After spending several decades in last place, they had a young, exciting team that won the pennant. The "Whiz Kids", they were called.
The league MVP was Phillies reliever Jim Konstanty, my pick as the unlikeliest MVP winner ever. On a team filled with kids, Konstanty was a journeyman pitcher, 33 years old. He had one of the first great seasons by a reliever, and was a fine Cy Young choice.

1950 National League Pitchers

		WN	LS	GP	GS	CG	SH	SV	IP	HIT	BB	SO	ERA
R ROBERTS	PHI	20	11	40	39	21	5	1	304	282	77	146	302
E BLACKWELL	CIN	17	15	40	32	18	1	4	261	203	112	188	297
L JANSEN	NY	19	13	40	35	21	5	3	275	238	55	161	301
S MAGLIE	NY	18	4	47	16	12	5	1	206	169	86	96	271
P ROE	BRO	19	11	36	32	16	2	1	251	245	66	125	330
W SPAHN	BOS	21	17	41	39	25	1	1	293	248	111	191	316
J SAIN	BOS	20	13	37	37	25	3	0	278	294	70	96	395
C SIMMONS	PHI	17	8	31	27	11	2	1	215	178	88	146	339
V BICKFORD	BOS	19	14	40	39	27	2	0	312	293	122	126	346
J KONSTANTY	PHI	16	7	74	0	0	0	22	152	108	50	56	266

         Both Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons pitched for the Phillies as well; both were very young (23 and 21 respectively), and would combine to win almost 500 games in their careers. Despite this dynamic combo, however, the Phillies would not return to the playoffs for 27 years. Many of the good young players never improved like they should have, and the pitchers could not carry the team.
        It also didn't help that Simmons had to spend a year in the Korean War. Simmons pitched for 20 years, not counting his lost 1951 season. When he came back in 1952 he led the league in shutouts, and remained a solid pitcher for the remainder of the decade. Simmons missed almost the entire 1959 season, and his future was in doubt; a trade to St. Louis got him back on the right track, however. Simmons had some more good years with the Cardinals, and won 18 games in 1964, when the Cards won the World Series. Simmons won 193 games in his career.
        I suppose that Roberts is an equally good, if not better, choice for the Cy Young. He pitched twice as many innings as his teammate Konstanty, with a similar ERA. I'm never sure how to compare a starter and a reliever in their value, but Konstanty's credentials seem solid. He pitched in more than half of his team's games, had a bunch of wins, and led the league in saves.
        Voters of the time felt that Konstanty was the best pitcher in the league, and I won't argue with them. Konstanty had a poor year the next season. He pitched a few more years, and had one more good season for the Yankees in 1955. His career ended a year later.