Two years earlier, the Philadelphia Phillies surprised everyone by winning the pennant. They were called the "Whiz Kids", a group of young men who held great promise, both for themselves and the Phillies. It didn't materialize; Philadelphia did not win another pennant for 30 years. Many of the Whiz Kids did not perform up to expectations; but one of them, Robin Roberts, ascended to become the best pitcher in the league.

         The Dodgers won the pennant, four games ahead of their cross-town rivals, the Giants. Both teams had an outstanding rookie reliever, Joe Black with Brooklyn, and Hoyt Wilhelm with New York. Both were old rookies; Black was 28, Wilhelm was 29. Black had toiled for years in the Negro Leagues, and joined former teammate Roy Campanella with the Dodgers. Wilhelm had spent more than a decade in the minors, trying to master the knuckleball after giving up on his other pitches. They had very different careers; Black struggled in 1953, had a disastrous 1954 season, and was mostly ineffective the rest of his career. Wilhelm had a great career, pitching until age 49, and was elected to the Hall Of Fame.
        Robin Roberts was 26 years old this year; it was his third consecutive 20+ win season, and his 28 wins were a career high. He was a hard thrower, the hardest worker in baseball, and had outstanding control. He was in the middle of six consecutive 20+ win seasons, and would eventually be elected to the Hall Of Fame.
         What is forgotten about Roberts was that he blew his arm out when he was 30; at that age, Roberts had already won 179 games in his career, and 300 seemed almost inevitable. But the last half of his career was a struggle; Roberts lost 22 games in 1957, then recovered to pitch well the following year. He had a couple of more losing seasons, then a disastrous 1-10 record in 1961 that could have killed his career. Roberts came back to pitch well for Baltimore, using guts and guile, and finished his career with 286 wins.
        Roberts led all pitchers in MVP voting this year, and just missed winning the award. He was followed by Black and Wilhelm, and I agree with that order. Wilhelm was followed by Murry Dickson, a Pittsburgh pitcher who lost 21 games. While I'm sure there was a reason why Dickson received so many votes, I think I will look elsewhere. Sal Maglie was a star for the Giants, and was one of the best pitchers in the league. Bob Rush and Ken Raffensberger had almost identical careers; Rush had a career record of 127-152, Raffensberger was 119-154. Both were prone to losing, but happened to have career years this season. I think Rush had the better year, while pitching for the Cubs.