American League Best Batter Award Hank Greenberg Boston Red Sox 1940 Season Statistics AB AVG OBP HR RBI RUNS BB 570 .319 .417 30 111 128 84 Left fielder Hank Greenberg had a great 1940 season, leading the Red Sox to the American League pennant and eventually the World Series championship. Boston had high hopes for Greenberg as they selected him with the third overall pick in the initial draft, only behind Philadelphia's Joe Dimaggio and the Yankee's Bob Feller. Greenberg did not dissapoint early as he had a great start to the season, hitting .346 with four home runs in April and following that up with a .337 average and eight home runs in May. In addition to winning the Best Batter Award, Greenberg was named Player of the Week for the American League three times and American League Batter of the Month in July. Greenberg ended the season third in the American League in batting, first in home runs and second in RBI. Greenberg also led the league in runs, was fifth in doubles, and sixth in walks.

	Natinal League Best Batter Award Johnny Mize New York Giants 1940 Season Statistics AB AVG SLG HR RBI RUNS BB 596 .322 .663 48 140 153 100 First baseman Johnny Mize was selected with the fifth overall pick in the HRBL initial draft, only behind Dimaggio, Feller, Greenberg, and Williams. Mize did not dissapoint Giants fans as he started off red hot with a .324 average and 10 home runs in April. Mize not only started off the season hot, he didn't cool off quickly. In June, he had a monster hitting month where he batted .398 with 12 home runs and 34 RBI in only 98 at bats. By season's end Mize was named National League Batter of the Month for both April and June and was also named National League Player of the Week twice. Mize found himself near the top of the league in almost every hitting category, finishing first in homeruns, first in RBI, first in runs scored, fourth in walks, fifth in batting, and seventh in doubles. Mize helped the Giants lead the HRBL with a .289 batting average but due to a lack of help from the pitching staff, the Giants only managed a third place finish in the National League, ten games behind Pittsburgh.

	American League Best Pitcher Award Bucky Walters Detroit Tigers 1940 Season Statistics G IP W L ERA K SHO 39 346.0 25 11 2.08 136 5 The 31 year old Bucky Walters dominated the American League with an amazing ERA of only 2.08. Walters was taken by Detroit with the 18th overall pick in the initial draft. Bucky started out he season strong with an ERA less than 1.80 in April, May, and June. Walter's best outing of the year was on August 11th against the Champion Red Sox where he limited the league's best offense to only one hit and threw a complete game shutout on only 98 pitches. Detroit's offense was only better than the Senators in the HRBL, and if not for the lack of run support Walters may very well have won 30 games. As is Walters still led the league in wins, in addition he finished first in ERA, first in complete games, tied for first in shutouts, and ninth in strikeouts. Walters helped lead the Detroit staff to an HRBL best ERA of 2.96 which carried the offense to second place in the American League, only five games behind Boston.

	National League Best Pitcher Award Dick Errickson Philadelphia Phillies 1940 Season Statistics G IP W L ERA K SHO 39 308.1 26 10 3.91 49 4 Phillies pitcher Dick Errickson was a surprise standout in the 1940 season. He wasn't selected until the eigth round of the HRBL initial draft and little was expected of the 26 year old hurler. During April he lived up to his low expectations with a 5.72 ERA, however he did manage to go 5-2 due to some good run support. Even with the slow start, his best outing of the year did come during April when he threw a one hit shutout against the Braves on April 23rd. He turned it around immediately and went 5-0 in May with an astounding 2.06 ERA. Errickson continued to have a strong season, including being named Player of the Week in the National League twice. Even with Errickson's breakout year, his selection as Best Pitcher was somewhat of a surprise. Errickson finished the season eigth in ERA, eigth in complete games and way down the list with only 49 strikeouts. The biggest factors going for Errickson was he led the league in both wins and complete games. Errickson was unable to come to terms with Philadelphia on a contract extension so the Best Pitcher will be one of the best free agent pitchers in the National League.

	American League Rookie of the Year Enos Slaughter Chicago White Sox 1940 Season Statistics AB AVG OBP HR RBI RUNS SB 552 .339 .433 9 99 85 24 The young kid out of Roxboro, North Carolina was taken with the seventh overall pick in the HRBL initial draft by the Chicago White Sox. Called "Country" by his team, left fielder Enos Slaughter got off to a slow start in the 1940 season. Slaughter began the year with a .265 average and 12 strike outs in April. Rumors in Chicago began to swirl that Slaughter didn't have the stuff to be a big lead hitter and that the White Sox had wasted their first pick. White Sox fans didn't have long to wait, however, as in May Slaughter hit .356 with 18 RBI and then was announced American League Batter of the Month in June, one of two times he would win the award during the season. In addition to Slaughter's two Batter of the Month awards, he was named Player of the Week once and won the batting title over Boston center fielder Taffy Wright by eight points. Slaughter led the league in triples, was fourth in RBI, and was seventh in the league in walks. The young kid from North Carolina turned out to be a steal by the White Sox with the seventh pick and should contend for the Best Batter Award in years to come.

	National League Rookie of the Year Ted Williams Brooklyn Dodgers 1940 Season Statistics AB AVG OBP HR RBI RUNS BB 602 .341 .449 23 124 125 102 Ted Williams was regarded as one of the best young players in the country when he came out of high school in San Diego, California. On the strength of these scouting reports he was taken by the Brooklyn Dodgers with the fourth overall pick in the initial HRBL draft. Williams didn't disapoint as he started out the season with a bang, hitting .351 with 4 home runs and 23 RBI in April. Williams also had an outstanding May, punctuated by being the first person to hit for the cycle in HRBL history on May 30, and one of only three people who accomplished the feat in 1940. Williams continued his great hitting throughout the season and was named Batter of the Month in August. Williams finished the season second in batting to only Giants hitter Rip Radcliff. Williams also led the league in doubles, was second in triples, fourth in RBI, fourth in runs, third in walks, and eleventh in home runs. Williams led one of the best offenses in the league and helped lead Brooklyn to a 83-71 season, eleven games back of league leading Pittsburgh.The young hitter from San Diego is expected to have a long career ahead of him including several Best Batter awards.