The Pittsburgh Pirates were surprising pennant winners this year, and even more surprising World Series winners. They were heavily outscored in the Series by the mighty Yankees, but won the close games, and won the whole thing on Bill Mazeroski's famous home run. Their pitching was led by Vernon "Deacon" Law and Bob "Warrior" Friend.

         Deacon Law won the Cy Young Award this year, ahead of Warren Spahn. Both he and Friend had been with the Pirates since the early 50's, and had bounced up and down from year to year. They were both warriors; Law won 162 games in his career, and managed to finish with a winning record; Friend finished with a career won/loss record of 197-230.
        The Pirates were pretty much a team without stars. They had Roberto Clemente in the outfield, but he was still young, and was just emerging as a great player. The rest of the team was made up of guys like Dick Groat and Smokey Burgess. Friend and Law fit in with this mix very well, and both had fine seasons. They were two of the hardest workers in the league, and survived by hardly walking anybody. I think Friend pitched better than Spahn, who really didn't have one of his best seasons, and I'm ranking him just behind Law.
        Ernie Broglio of St Louis also had an outstanding season. He probably pitched a little better than both Law and Friend, though he didn't pitch as often. Broglio was only 24; he had another big year in 1963, then was immortalized in 1964 when he was traded to the Cubs for Lou Brock. Broglio couldn't get anybody out for the Cubs, and his career ended quickly while Brock amassed 3000 hits.
        Behind Broglio, I'm choosing another St Louis pitcher, Lindy McDaniel, who had his best season. McDaniel was one of the first true relief pitchers in the game; he was an inconsistent pitcher, but he lasted 21 years, and his good years outnumbered the bad. McDaniel pitched in 987 games, one of the highest totals ever.