The New York Giants won both the pennant and the World Series this year. It was a long time coming; the Giants had once been one of the most successful teams in baseball, but this was their first championship since 1933, a drought of 21 years. Little did fans know that this was the end of an era; the Giants moved to San Francisco a few years later, and as of 2000 are still looking for their first championship on the West Coast- a drought of 46 years.

         There were two big reasons for the Giants' victory this year. One was the emergence of Willie Mays as a great player; the other was a huge improvement in their pitching staff. Johnny Antonelli was a young left-hander who had showed some potential the previous season. This year, Antonelli was fabulous; it was the best year of his career, though he would again win 20 games two years later, and pitch well until the end of the decade. Antonelli led all pitchers in the MVP vote, and I think he deserves the Cy Young Award.
        Two other Giants who had fine seasons were Ruben Gomez, and reliever Hoyt Wilhelm. Gomez began his career with two fine seasons; after this year he began to struggle, and finished his career with a losing record. Wilhelm had his third straight brilliant season in relief for the Giants; he too began to struggle, and was quickly dealt to St. Louis, then again to Cleveland, then again to Baltimore. But like a good knuckleballer, Wilhelm survived, and was one of the best pitchers of the 1960's.
        The other outstanding pitchers in the NL were a pair of familiar faces, Robin Roberts and Warren Spahn. This was Roberts' fifth consecutive 20+ win season; with his heavy workload and slightly lower ERA, I think he rates a slight edge over Spahn; the fourth spot is a choice between teammates Gomez and Wilhelm; I will take the knuckleballer.