Newsday article "Judge's Historic Season" by Anthony Rieber:
The writer added the name of Aaron Judge to a list of New York Yankees who have been the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the American League (AL). But look at the Yankee list closely. It includes Babe Ruth 1923 and Lou Gehrig 1927.
Say what? The MVP award started in 1931. Check this article in mlb.com:
Most Valuable MVP: Ranking every winner
November 17th, 2022 by Will Leitch
Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt are the latest American League and National League Most Valuable Player Award winners ...
Today, we come to you having completed a Herculean task: We come to rank every MVP season ever. Starting in 1931 -- the first year the Baseball Writers' Association of America voted on an award for both leagues -- we're looking at all 185 MVP seasons and pitting them against each other.
_________________________
https://www.mlb.com/awards/most-valuable-player
Most Valuable Player
Since 1931, the Baseball Writers' Association of America has voted for the Most Valuable Player in each league. Ballots are submitted prior to the beginning of the postseason and are based on a weighted points system.
__________________________
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_mvp.shtml
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD
Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player (BBWAA)| Baseball Almanac
There have been three different official most valuable player awards in Major League Baseball history, since 1911; the Chalmers Award (1911-1914), the League Award (1922-1929), and the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP).
The MVP was first awarded in 1931, and its full title was the Baseball Writers Most Valuable Player Award, or the M.V.P. by the rest of us, and it is presented annually by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
It is considered by Major League Baseball as the only official Most Valuable Player Award and symbolizes the pinnacle of a player's personal achievement during any single season of play. The winners receive the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Baseball Memorial Award, named in honor of the first Commissioner of Major League Baseball.
____________________________
Major League Baseball (MLB) has a simple list for both the American and National League winners for years 1931-2022. No link to voting. No stats. But at least it is a proper list that 99% of baseball fans would recognize as legitimate.
Contrast that to what Baseball Reference has done.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/mvp.shtml
MLB Most Valuable Player MVP Award Winners
The Most Valuable Player Award is given annually to one player in each league. The award began in 1911 as the Chalmers Award, honoring the "most important and useful player to the club and to the league". This award was discontinued in 1914. From 1922 to 1928 in the American League and from 1924 to 1929 in the National League, an MVP award was given to "the baseball player who is of the greatest all-around service to his club". Prior winners were not eligible to win the MVP award again during this time. The current incarnation of the MVP award was established in 1931. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) votes on the MVP award at the conclusion of each season before the postseason starts.
____________________________
The baseball-reference.com web page makes no distinction in its list, which contains the gaps mentioned above:
1915-1921
1930
Below the Baseball Reference list is this additional list:
Multiple MVP Winners
Barry Bonds (7)
Yogi Berra (3)
Roy Campanella (3)
Joe DiMaggio (3)
Jimmie Foxx (3)
Mickey Mantle (3)
Stan Musial (3)
Albert Pujols (3)
Alex Rodriguez (3)
Mike Schmidt (3)
Mike Trout (3)
Ernie Banks (2)
Johnny Bench (2)
Miguel Cabrera (2)
Mickey Cochrane (2)
Lou Gehrig (2)
Juan Gonzalez (2)
Hank Greenberg (2)
Bryce Harper (2)
Rogers Hornsby (2)
Carl Hubbell (2)
Walter Johnson (2)
Roger Maris (2)
Willie Mays (2)
Joe Morgan (2)
Dale Murphy (2)
Hal Newhouser (2)
Cal Ripken Jr. (2)
Frank Robinson (2)
Frank Thomas (2)
Ted Williams (2)
Robin Yount (2)
_________________
Notice that Lou Gehrig and Mickey Cochrane were credited with two each. They each won the modern award we know today once; it started in 1931; Babe Ruth never won that award. Gehrig won in 1936, Cochrane in 1934.
This "League" award jumps back to the old Chalmers award: 1922 to 1914. So Baseball Reference makes no distinction among the three different awards. I had never noticed that before. I wonder when that started.
Babe Ruth got no points in 1922. Then he won in 1923 and became ineligible. That's why Gehrig was able to win in 1927.
What the heck? Why and when did Baseball Reference combine these awards? Has that been done elsewhere?
No comments:
Post a Comment