The Worst MVPs of All Time - American League » sportvent.com
The Worst MVPs of All Time – American League
By Matt Minucci
Real MVPs drink tequila.
Well, yesterday, we looked at the worst selections of all
time for baseball’s MVP award for the National League. Now, we’re turning to
the American League where the results get really absurd.
Remember, we’re looking at the MVP awards as they were
awarded from 1931 to present. Thus the atrocity of the 1925 award given to
Roger Peckinpaugh will not be considered – though if you’re feeling the urge,
go ahead and google Peckinpaugh and 1925. He had no business winning. None
whatsoever. A ham sandwich would have been a better choice. But I digress.
Runner up for 1925 MVP.
Without further ado, let’s delve into the worst of the best in
the American League:
1934 – Mickey Cochrane, C, Detroit Tigers
The voters in '34 had to be high.
The Tigers won their division in ’34, so I suppose you could
argue that the MVP winner should have come from Detroit. But Cochrane wasn’t even the best
player on his team. He wasn’t even the THIRD best player on his team. There were 3 players on the Tigers alone that
should have been awarded this award. But Cochrane was a favorite of the press
and the fans and apparently the voters in ’34 thought MVP meant “really cool
guy.”
This award actually should have gone to the Yankees Iron
Horse, Henry Louis Gehrig. It wouldn’t be the first or last time Gehrig was
jobbed out of the MVP. As far as the Tigers go, you could have easily given
this award to Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg or starting pitcher Schoolboy
Rowe. This was before the Cy Young was invented, so both Rowe and Yankee hurler
Lefty Gomez would have been more worthy recipients than Cochrane. Rowe was 24-8
with a 3.45 ERA while Gomez went 26-5 with a 2.33 ERA. Both were
overlooked. And just compare the batting
stats for Gehirg v. Cochrane:
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Mickey Cochrane .320 74 2 76 8 78 .840 180
Lou Gehrig .363 128 49 165 9 109 1.172 409
Are you kidding me?!? Gehrig had one of the greatest seasons
in modern history and he doesn’t even sniff the MVP. In fact, he finished
FIFTH! Clearly no one had their sh*t together in ’34. Hell, look at Gehringer
and Greenberg. Gehringer hit .356 with 11 HR and 127 RBI, while Greenberg hit
.339 with 26 HR and 139 RBI.
I wonder who Cochrane slept with to win the award.
1937 – Charlie Gehringer, 2B, Detroit Tigers
And when you win the MVP, try not to smile. They'll think you actually deserve the award if you smile.
Well, the 2nd Tiger in 4 years to win the award
and once again, the voters screwed it up. Don’t get me wrong, Gehringer won the
batting title in ’37 with a .371 average – the only batting title in his Hall
of Fame career. And it was a helluva race in ’37 between Gehrig, DiMaggio and
Hank Greenberg, who, along with Gehringer, had incredible years. I’m biased,
but I’d have given this award to Gehrig once again. However, you could easily
argue DiMaggio or Greenberg and have a strong case. The worst choice? The guy
that won – Gehringer. Once again, the winning Tiger wasn’t even the best Tiger.
If I was unbiased, I’d say you have to give this award to Greenberg. No
question.
Look at this insane numbers:
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Charlie Gehringer .371 133 14 96 11 90 .978 293
Hank Greenberg .346 137 40 183 8 102 1.104 397
Joe DiMaggio .337 151 46 167 3 64 1.085 418
Lou Gehrig .351 138 37 159 4 127 1.116 366
I mean, these totals are just utterly ridiculous. How
Gehringer won this award defies logic. Sure he hit .371, but was that really
that much higher that the others? .337,
.346 and .351 are some pretty stout batting numbers. Throw in the sheer power
and run production? Someone was asleep at the switch in ’37.
Asleep at the switch? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!
Now we enter the phase of the article that I like to
affectionately call, “Let’s See How Many Times We Can Screw Over Ted Williams!” By my count, it was five. But judge for
yourself. And remember, Williams didn’t have the stigma of PEDs or just being
named Barry Bonds. Of course, in his own right, Williams wasn’t very popular
among the press, but it just goes from the sublime to the ridiculous for some
of these seasons:
1941 – Joe DiMaggio, OF, New York Yankees
Yeah, Teddy, may the best man win the MVP. And by best man, I mean not you.
The Ted Williams screw job begins with a BANG. The ‘bang’
being the .406 batting average Williams compiled. He would be the last person
to hit over .400 in a season. No one’s done it since. And he didn’t win the MVP. Wasn’t even close.
This was also the season Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 straight games, so it’s not
like the Clipper was an undeserving choice, but his overall numbers just don’t
match up to Teddy Ballgame.
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Joe DiMaggio .357 122 30 125 4 76 1.083 348
Ted Williams .406 135 37 120 2 147 1.287 335
A hundred and forty seven walks?!? Also, I’m not one to
advocate giving a guy an MVP based soley on batting average, but the dude hit
.406! Plus he had the other numbers to back
it up – HR, Runs, RBIs. What a joke. And I’m a Yankee fan.
1942 – Joe Gordon, 2B, New York Yankees
I'll win it this year, I'm going into the War. As a pilot. I could die. Horribly.
The Ted Williams screw job part two (of five) might be the
worst of all. In fact, this might be one of the worst MVP decisions in baseball
history. At least in ’41, DiMaggio was a beast. Gordon was a great second
baseman, but not like, y’know, boss. And Williams numbers in ’43 were even
better than his ’42 numbers – except for the whole hitting over .400 thing.
The stigma Williams suffered for the Red Sox not being able
to beat the Yankees extended to the MVP awards in pretty much every single
season. Just look at these numbers – it’s just silly.
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Joe Gordon .322 88 18 103 12 79 .900 264
Ted Williams .356 141 36 137 3 145 1.147 338
Clearly, the voters in ’42 lacked knowledge of two
fundamental ideas: Math and Logic.
1947 – Joe DiMaggio, OF, New York Yankees
If I don't win the MVP this year...freeze my head so I can win it in 250 years.
Oops. Did I say the part 2 of the Ted Williams screw job was
the worst all time. I was wrong. 1947 has to take the cake as Teddy Ballgame
won the god damned triple crown.
That’s right. The Triple freakin’ Crown. That’s leading your
respective league in home runs, batting average and runs batted in. This doesn’t
happen often. In fact, the last time it happened in the National League was in
1937 thanks to Ducky Medwick. Heh. Ducky.
Ducky. heh.
Anyway, in the American League, Carl Yastremski won that
honor in the 60’s, but no one’s really come close since. So Ted Williams wins
the triple crown in 1947 and doesn’t win the MVP? Alright, I’m calling
shenanigans on the American League in ’47. Let’s look at the numbers:
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Joe DiMaggio .314 97 20 97 3 64 .913 279
Ted Williams .343 125 32 114 0 162 1.133 335
Yeah, ok. That makes sense. Clearly there’s something fishy
going on here. This becomes even more apparent when you factor in that both
Williams and DiMaggio garnered 60% of the vote and DiMaggio won the award by
just ONE vote. ONE point.
Shenanigans.
So, Williams hits .400, wins the triple crown and has a
season where he hits 36 HR and 137 RBI and yet has ZERO MVPs to show for it. And
we’re still not done.
1948 – Lou Boudreau, SS, Cleveland Indians
You can see it in Williams eyes: "I have no chance."
Part three of the Ted Williams screw job has the interesting
twist of having him lose to a non-Yankee, as this time it’s Indians SS Lou
Boudreau who captures the award. But don’t worry, Williams still finished third
– behind DiMaggio once again. In all fairness, DiMaggio did have some of the
best numbers of his own illustrious career in ’48 and he could have easily won
the award as well. But hey, the Indians won the division, so I guess that’s all
the voters needed to know. Here are the sad, sad numbers:
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Lou Boudreau .355 116 18 106 3 98 .987 274
Joe DiMaggio .320 110 39 155 1 67 .994 355
Ted Williams .369 124 25 127 4 126 1.112 313
How Williams wasn’t a basket case by this point is beyond
me. He must’ve been seeing the back of DiMaggio’s jersey in his sleep.
1950 – Phil Rizzuto, SS, New York Yankees
I'm your huckleberry.
HOLY COW! I have no idea how Phil Rizzuto won this award.
Don’t get me wrong, he had great numbers. He mashed out 200 hits, scored 125
runs, batted .324. So, clearly, some strong numbers – but he didn’t lead the
league in any of those categories. Or any others for that matter. I mean, he
was only the third best Yankee that year, as both Joe DiMaggio (.301-32-122)
and Yogi Berra (.322-28-124) had better seasons. Hell, George Kell hit .340 for
the Tigers and Bob Lemon won 23 games, while Vic Raschi won 21.
If they really wanted to make a statement, the voters
could have easily given the award to Larry Doby and had the first
African-American MVP. Doby hit .326 with 25 HR and 102 RBIs. But no, it went to
Rizzuto. And it wasn’t even close! Phil won with 85% of the vote and 284
points. Second place finisher Billy Goodman trailed him by 104 points with 180.
Holy cow, there's no way Rizzuto should have won this award.
My pick? Rookie of the Year Red Sox first baseman Walt
Dropo.
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Phil Rizzuto .324 125 7 66 12 92 .857 271
Walt Dropo .322 101 34 144 0 45 .961 326
I guess the AL
voters Droppo’ed the ball on this one huh? Ahh, I kill me.
1951 – Yogi Berra, C, New
York Yankees
Williams lack of MVP awards is just a...well...bad joke.
So we come to the final part – Part V – of Screwing Ted Williams
out of the MVP. This final installment isn’t as dramatic as some of the others,
although, since the great DiMaggio had retired in 1950 voters had to find
another Yankee to vote in over Teddy Ballgame. Meet Yogi Berra! Berra had a very good season in ’51 but it
wasn’t great. Funny thing is, the Splendid Splinter didn’t have a phenomenal season
in ’51 either, just a great one. So, the voters felt ok with dropping him to THIRTEENTH.
Just unreal. And Berra’s – or any of the other 11 players above him – didn’t
even have numbers close to Williams.
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Yogi Berra .294 92 27 88 5 44 .842 269
Ted Williams .318 109 30 126 1 144 1.019 295
Incidentally, you see how Williams had 144 walks that year.
Berra had 161 HITS. It’s not even close. Pity we can’t retroactively re-award
these awards.
1959 – Nellie Fox, 2B, Chicago
White Sox
He took the damned MVP with him to his grave.
Nellie Fox was a great second baseman. A solid hitter and
great defensively. The Sox won the division in ’59 and I suppose the MVP had to
come from them. But Fox didn’t even have the best season on the White Sox –
that would have been Early Wynn with 22 victories. But to me, the MVP in ’59
had to be Al Kaline. In fact, Kaline was snubbed numerous times but 1959 was
particularly egregious because of how much better his stats were than Fox’s.
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Nellie Fox .306 84 2 70 5 71 .769 243
Al Kaline .327 86 27 94 10 72 .940 271
Kaline probably should have won another MVP in 1963, when it
went to Elston Howard, but Howard had a fairly solid season in 1963. Nothing
like the ridiculously skewed numbers as here in 1959. Poor Kaline.
Things were fairly normal in voting from this point until the
absolute sham that was the 1970 season. Certainly you can argue Mickey Mantle
over Roger Maris in 1961, Elston Howard over Harmon Killebrew and Al Kaline in
1963 and Zolio Versalles over Tony Oliva in 1965. But while these are arguments
that can be made, the races and the stats are relatively close.
That was not the case in 1970.
1970 – Boog Powell, 1B, Baltimore Orioles
Yes, that's Boog Powell. Yes those are fish.
What’s amazing in 1970 is simply that Carl Yastrzemski finished
FOURTH in MVP voting this year, rather than first, like he should have. Yaz won
the batting title, finished in the top 5 in homers and RBIs. But the Orioles won
their division, so, I guess, you had to give to the best Oriole. But I simply
disagree. There were a handful of players that had a better year than Powell –
like Tony Oliva (.325-23-107), Harmon Killebrew (.271-41-113) and Frank Howard
(.283-44-126). But no one had a better overall year than Yaz.
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Boog Powell .297 82 35 114 1 104 .962 289
Carl Yastrzemski .329 125 40 102 23 128 1.044 335
My God. Yaz went 20-20, hit over 40 bombs, had over 100
runs, walks and RBIs. His OPS was over 1.000. It just ridiculous. The 70’s were
a rough time to be a Red Sox fan.
It's hard out there for a Saux fan.
There was another relative dry spell for horrendous MVP
winners – 25 years worth to be exact. Though, certain arguments can be made,
like 1976 (Munson over Brett), 1979 (Baylor over Lynn),
and the strike year in ’81 (Fingers over Henderson).
Dennis Eckersley winning it in 1992. But these aren’t really egregious. Not
until 1995 anyway.
1995 – Mo Vaughn, 1B, Boston
Red Sox
Mo Vaughn, before he got fat.
So this time the shoe is on the other hand! A Red Sock wins
the award but doesn’t really deserve it. Though Vaughn had a great year in ’95,
it’s not even remotely close to the year Albert “Don’t Call Me Joey!” Belle.
But of course, Belle was the AL
equivalent of Barry Bonds in hated by the press, so Belle got snubbed. Belle
was also probably snubbed in ’97 when he lost the award to Juan Gonzalez, but
at least that year was quite debatable. 1995 was a travesty.
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Mo Vaughn .300 98 39 126 11 68 .963 316
Albert Belle .317 121 50 126 5 73 1.091 377
I mean, it’s not even remotely close. Belle kills Vaughn in
every category. But Belle was a joke and Vaughn was a big fat cuddly teddy
bear. So, there ya go.
I'm not sure if it's Mo Vaughn or the entire country of Chad.
2001 – Ichiro Suzuki, OF, Seattle Mariners
Yeah, that's how cool Ichiro was in 2001.
So, in addition to winning a bogus Rookie of the Year award,
Ichiro-mania also swept up the AL MVP award. Now, don’t get me wrong, Ichiro
had a year for the ages in ’91. He led the league in batting with a .350
average, led the league in hits with 242 and led the league in steals with 56. He
won a gold glove and silver slugger. But at the same time, he did not have a
better year than Jason Giambi. Look at the numbers:
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Ichiro Suzuki .350 127 8 69 56 30 .838 316
Jason Giambi .342 109 38 120 2 129 1.137 343
These numbers are quite stark, especially when you consider
the Giambino hit just .008 points less than Ichiro. He blasted 30 more bombs,
had 51 more rbi’s and vastly more walks, OPS and total bases. So, basically,
you’re giving the award to Ichiro based on his 56 steals and 242 hits. That’s just not right.
I guess there are other things to life than winning an MVP award.
Incidentally, just throwing this out there, but an argument
can also be made that Alex Rodriguez should have been the AL MVP this year. Of
course, he was faced with the stigma of his 125 million dollar contract and he
played for the woeful, pitcher-less Texas Rangers, but A-Rod did have 52 HR, 135
RBI, 18 SB, a .318 BA and 201 hits. Not a bad year.
2002 – Miguel Tejada, SS, Oakland Athletics
What's a steroid?
Speaking of the stigma of A-Rod’s contract, there’s no way
A-Rod should have lost the 2002 award. But it wasn’t even close. He got blown
away by Tejada. The A’s won their division and the Rangers were terrible, but
it certainly wasn’t A-Rod’s fault. It’s not like he could pitch.
Player BA R HR RBI SB BB OPS TB
Miguel Tejada .308 108 34 131 7 38 .861 336
Alex Rodriguez .300 125 57 142 9 87 1.015 389
There was simply no way A-Rod was going to win the MVP award
this year. The writers murdered him because of the contract Tom Hicks gave him.
Tejada played for the division winner and that was that. A-Rod could’ve hit
.300 with 57 homers and they wouldn’t have given him the MVP….oh wait….
MVP...hookers...MVP...hookers...
That pretty much concludes the travesty of MVP award for the
American League, though personally I thought Derek Jeter deserved the award in
2006 over Justin Morneau. It’s tough to dispute Morneau’s numbers tho - .321-34-130. Jeter hit .343-14-97 with 34 steals, and 214
hits. Of course, it’s a pretty close call either way.
