One of the beauties of today’s advanced baseball stats is it gives nerds like me a chance to go back in time and argue about how badly baseball writers mangled MVP and Cy Young votes in years past. I’ve always been in favor of making ballots public, if for no other reason than to shame homerism for undeserving candidates. Whether that’s ever been a thing or not, who knows. There is a perception that East Coast writers have long favored New York players, and to a lesser extent, players from Boston. Understand, I’m not dissecting last year’s MVP vote. Had I been given a vote I would have voted for Aaron Judge over Bobby Witt Jr. even though the homer in me wanted Bobby to win.
Bobby led the league in hits, batting average and games played, Judge led the league in thirteen different categories. The man had a year for the ages, which is a shame for Bobby, because he did too.
There were intangibles that favored Witt. He played shortstop which is an infinitely more difficult position than center field and if you take Witt off the 2024 Royals, they probably finish with a losing record. You take Judge off the Yankees, and they probably still make the playoffs. No argument from me though, Aaron Judge was the right call.
Here are some of the most blatant misses on MVP votes. If you have others, leave them in the comments.
One vote that has always stuck in my craw was the 1941 vote which was awarded to Joe DiMaggio. I’ll be the first to say that Joe D had a phenomenal season. He hit in a major league record 56 consecutive games, a record which will probably never be broken. He led the league with 125 RBI and 348 total bases. It was a great season.
The award should have gone to Ted Williams. The Splinter led the league in runs scored, home runs, walks, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage. Oh, and his .406 batting average also led baseball. DiMaggio was fantastic, but Williams was from another planet. This vote was a popularity contest. Joe D was respected by the media, and adored by the New York press corps. Williams had a well-documented antagonistic relationship with the media, and it cost him the MVP.
In 1925, Washington shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh, at the age of 34, was in decline, but still a capable enough player to lead the Senators to the World Series. Peckinpaugh had been a very solid player since his debut in 1910 and had even picked up MVP votes in three other seasons. Now nearing the end of an excellent 17-year career, the voters awarded Peckinpaugh the baseball equivalent of a career achievement award. He won with a slash of .294/.367/.379 with just 4 home runs and 64 RBI in just 126 games of action. The award should have gone to either the Philadelphia Athletics’ Al Simmons (a league-leading 253 hits and a slash of .387/.419/.599) or Detroit’s superb Harry Heilman, whose .393 batting average and 134 RBI led the league.
In 1944, the voters somehow deemed St. Louis shortstop Marty Marion the most valuable player. It’s votes like this one that make me wonder if the writers were on the take. Marion hit just .267 with a very pedestrian 6 home runs and 63 RBI. He wasn’t even the best player on his own team. The award should have gone to his teammate Stan Musial. The Man led the league in hits, doubles, on-base percentage and slugging percentage while hitting a cool .347 with 94 RBI and 90 walks. Musial somehow finished fourth in the MVP vote behind the Cubs’ Bill Nicholson (who had a fine season himself) and Brooklyn’s Dixie Walker.
In more modern times, and one that I remember quite well, the Rangers’ Jeff Burroughs took home the 1974 MVP. In the early ’70s, Burroughs was a bona fide slugger who had a terrific six-year peak. In 1974, his 118 RBI led the league, and he also belted 25 dingers while hitting .301. Voters have always loved the long ball and RBIs. The award probably should have gone to Cleveland’s Gaylord Perry, who went 21 and 13 with a 2.51 ERA over 322 innings of work. Burrough’s teammate, Fergie Jenkins also had a strong argument, going 25-12 with a 2.82 ERA over 328 innings. Burroughs was a fine hitter, but in 1974, there were probably 15 players just in the American League who were better. The announcement was a head scratcher then and when looked at under modern analysis, it still is.
Another recent vote that drew consternation was the 2006 vote going to Minnesota’s Justin Morneau. Before he was laid low by concussions, Morneau was a terrific player. I always thought he was a better hitter than his more celebrated teammate, Joe Mauer. Morneau didn’t lead the league in any statistical categories in 2006, but still had an excellent season. He hit .321 with 34 home runs and 130 RBI, definitely shiny numbers. Problem was, he wasn’t even the best player on his own team that summer. Both Mauer (a league-leading .347) and Johan Santana (19-6 with a 2.77 ERA) were better than Morneau. Santana did win the Cy Young that summer, but he also should have won the MVP. With the passage of almost 20 years, people forget how dominant Santana was during his prime.
In 1960, Pittsburgh shortstop Dick Groat took home the MVP. I’m not quite sure how. He did lead the league with a .325 average, but he only played 138 games with a paltry two home runs and 50 RBI. In what was one of the largest screw jobs ever, Willie Mays finished third in the vote. Willie played in 153 games and was his usual fantastic self, leading the league with 190 hits while hitting a robust .319 with 20 home runs, 103 RBI, and 107 runs scored and playing a stellar centerfield. By today’s measurements, it was a 9.50 WAR season. Groat, who was a fine player, was probably the tenth-best player in the league that season. Mays, Henry Aaron (11th in the MVP vote!!), Ernie Banks, Eddie Matthews, Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson all had far better statistical seasons than Groat. The Pirates did win the 1960 World Series on the Mazeroski home run, but damn. The voters should have explained their rationale with this vote.
The most egregious miss must be the 1934 vote in which the writers selected Detroit’s Mickey Cochrane as the winner. Cochrane, a Hall of Famer, was nearing the end of a terrific 13-year career and he was solid in 1934, hitting .320 with 75 RBI, but had little power (two home runs). In 1934, Cochrane might have been the twentieth-best player in the American League. Maybe. His own teammate, Charlie Gehringer was much better, leading the league in games played, runs scored, and hits while hitting .356.
Somehow the voters overlooked the Yankees’ Lou Gehrig. Old Biscuit Pants was the best player in baseball that summer, and it wasn’t even particularly close. Gehrig tied Gehringer for the lead in games played, while also leading the league in home runs (49), RBI (166), batting average (.366), on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He was just four hits shy of Gehringer’s total. It was a ten-WAR season, yet somehow the voters threw him into the fifth position. So much for the East Coast bias.
There have been other misfires: Detroit relief pitcher Willie Hernandez, take your pick, Eddie Murray, Alan Trammell, or Don Mattingly in 1984. In 1950, pitcher Jim Konstanty was selected over Stan Musial. What was it about Musial? He was popular with the media and as genial as any player ever. Maybe the writers just took his metronome excellence for granted?
The Royals have been on the wrong side of this argument a few times. George Brett should have won the award in 1976 over Thurman Munson. George had another strong argument for the 1979 season. Fred Lynn also must feel slighted about 1979, as he was every bit as good as Brett. That year the voters went with Don Baylor, who had a fine season, .296 with 36 home runs and 139 RBI. Chicks and MVP voters dig the long ball. Even Darrell Porter was arguably better than Baylor that summer. Double Barrel Darrell had one of the best offensive seasons ever by a catcher in 1979, hitting .291 with 101 runs scored, 112 RBI and a league-leading 121 walks. Porter somehow finished 9th in the vote.
Willie Wilson had an MVP-type season in 1980. Unfortunately for him, Brett had the best year of his storied career, stiffing Willie, while winning his only MVP award (and the only one in Royals history).
Could Bobby become the Royals’ next winner? If he can put up another 9 WAR season, yes. It gives an old dog like me something to look forward to.