This was a historic year for the National League. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the pennant with ease, combining a great offense with very good pitching. This in itself was not remarkable; the "bums" had won the pennant before, but never the World Series. But this year was different; after losing the first two games to the mighty Yankees, Brooklyn came back to win three in a row. In the seventh game, the Dodgers defeated their rivals and won their first championship.
        It was the only one they would win in Brooklyn. Three years later, the franchise moved to Los Angeles, where they remain to this day.

         The best pitcher in the league was Phillies' ace Robin Roberts. This was Roberts' sixth consecutive 20+ win season, and the fourth straight year that he led the NL in wins. Roberts had always given up a lot of home runs, but he had great control, and rarely gave up a homer with a man on base. This year, Roberts gave up 41 homers, the first time a pitcher had ever given up 40 in a season. Next season, he gave up 46, a record that would last until 1987. Unfortunately for Roberts, he began to lose something off of his fastball; he gave up more homers and more baserunners, and never again had a big winning season after this one.
        Brooklyn's best pitcher was big Don Newcombe. Newk began his career in 1949 with three outstanding seasons; he was then drafted into the army to serve in the Korean War, and missed more than two full seasons. This was Newcombe's first full year back, and it was one of his best. Newcombe also was an outstanding hitter; this year, he banged out 42 hits and posted a .359 batting average.
        If there was anything newsworthy about Warren Spahn's season, it was that he did not win 20 games. It was the last time in the 1950's that Spahn would miss that standard. He was still one of the best pitchers in the league; only Roberts and Newcombe won more games, and Spahn finished among the league leaders in ERA and winning percentage.
        Bob Friend was 24 years old, and had begun his career with four losing seasons. 1954 was particularily bad, and would have ended the careers of many pitchers. But Friend pitched for the Pirates, who at this time were a horrible, horrible team with a horrible offense and even worse pitching. With no one else to pitch, the Pirates gave the kid another chance; Friend won the ERA title, and wound up winning almost 200 games in his career.
        I will rate Friend slightly ahead of Joe Nuxhall of the Reds. Nuxhall is best known for his debut in 1944, when he was the tender age of 16. He recorded two outs, and did not pitch in the majors again until 1952. This was Nuxhall's best season; he was an inconsistent pitcher, but had more good years than bad, and won 135 games in his career.