MLB Most Valuable Player award

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In the game of baseball, both amateur and professional, it is tradition to annually recognize the one player in the league who has contributed the most to the success of the player's team.

In the United States, the awarding of the Most Valuable Player Award (or MVP) in Major League Baseball has changed hands several times but since the 1930s has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America. A tally example of the 1999 American League Most Valuable Player Award can be found [here] that uses the Borda count voting method.

Chalmers Award (1911-1914)

The Chalmers Automobile Company awarded an automobile in 1910 to the batting champion in each league. This led to a controversy in the American League; Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie entered the final day of the season neck-and-neck. St. Louis, playing Lajoie's Cleveland team, played their infield back, allowing Lajoie to beat out seven bunt singles in a doubleheader and win the title. In the ensuing debacle, Chalmers awarded automobiles to both players. (The question of who really won the batting title is still debated.)

For 1911, the Chalmers Company decided that batting average was too narrow a focus for an award. The Chalmers Award was the first attempt to recognize a player for overall contributions to his team's success—hence the designation Most Valuable rather than "player of the year", a distinction which remains today.

Year	National League	American League
1911	Wildfire Schulte, Chicago Cubs, OF	Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers, OF
1912	Larry Doyle, New York Giants, 2B	Tris Speaker, Boston Red Sox, OF
1913	Jake Daubert, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1B	Walter Johnson, Washington Senators, P
1914	Johnny Evers, Boston Braves, 2B	Eddie Collins, Philadelphia Athletics, 2B

League Awards (1922-1929)

In the 1920s the leagues awarded MVP titles, but limited the ballot options to one player per team, which led to there being no National League MVP in 1922 or 1923. The American League allowed players to win the award only once, leading to unusual results like Babe Ruth's 1927 (one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time) not being eligible for the award.

Year	National League	American League
1922	No winner	George Sisler, St. Louis Browns, 1B
1923	No winner	Babe Ruth, New York Yankees, OF
1924	Dazzy Vance, Brooklyn Dodgers, P	Walter Johnson, Washington Senators, P
1925	Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Cardinals, 2B	Roger Peckinpaugh, Washington Senators, SS
1926	Bob O'Farrell, St. Louis Cardinals, C	George Burns, Cleveland Indians, 1B
1927	Paul Waner, Pittsburgh Pirates, OF	Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees, 1B
1928	Jim Bottomley, St. Louis Cardinals, 1B	Mickey Cochrane, Philadelphia Athletics, C
1929	Rogers Hornsby, Chicago Cubs, 2B	No winner

BBWAA Awards (1931-present)

In 1931, the Baseball Writers Association of America began awarding the Most Valuable Player trophy.

In 1956 the Cy Young Award was first given to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball (the current practice of honoring the best pitcher in each league did not begin until 1967). After that, the belief arose that the Most Valuable Player ought to be a position player, based on two factors, one being that pitchers had their own award, and the other being that pitchers could not be considered as valuable as position players since they do not play every day. On occasion, though, pitchers still win the award, and the current rules for the MVP specifically state that pitchers are to be considered. Since 1971, however, only four pitchers have won the award, the last being Dennis Eckersley in 1992.

Year	National League	American League
1931	Frankie Frisch, St. Louis Cardinals, 2B	Lefty Grove, Philadelphia Athletics, P
1932	Chuck Klein, Philadelphia Phillies, OF	Jimmie Foxx, Philadelphia Athletics, 1B
1933	Carl Hubbell, New York Giants, P	Jimmie Foxx, Philadelphia Athletics, 1B
1934	Dizzy Dean, St. Louis Cardinals, P	Mickey Cochrane, Detroit Tigers, C
1935	Gabby Hartnett, Chicago Cubs, C	Hank Greenberg†, Detroit Tigers, 1B
1936	Carl Hubbell, New York Giants, P	Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees, 1B
1937	Joe Medwick, St. Louis Cardinals, OF	Charlie Gehringer, Detroit Tigers, 2B
1938	Ernie Lombardi, Cincinnati Reds, C	Jimmie Foxx, Boston Red Sox, 1B
1939	Bucky Walters, Cincinnati Reds, P	Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees, OF
1940	Frank McCormick, Cincinnati Reds, 1B	Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers, OF
1941	Dolph Camilli, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1B	Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees, OF
1942	Mort Cooper, St. Louis Cardinals, P	Joe Gordon, New York Yankees, 2B
1943	Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals, OF	Spud Chandler, New York Yankees, P
1944	Marty Marion, St. Louis Cardinals, SS	Hal Newhouser, Detroit Tigers, P
1945	Phil Cavarretta, Chicago Cubs, 1B	Hal Newhouser, Detroit Tigers, P
1946	Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals, 1B	Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox, OF
1947	Bob Elliott, Boston Braves, 3B	Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees, OF
1948	Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals, OF	Lou Boudreau, Cleveland Indians, SS
1949	Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers, 2B	Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox, OF
1950	Jim Konstanty, Philadelphia Phillies, P	Phil Rizzuto, New York Yankees, SS
1951	Roy Campanella, Brooklyn Dodgers, C	Yogi Berra, New York Yankees, C
1952	Hank Sauer, Chicago Cubs, OF	Bobby Shantz, Philadelphia Athletics, P
1953	Roy Campanella, Brooklyn Dodgers, C	Al Rosen†, Cleveland Indians, 3B
1954	Willie Mays, New York Giants, OF	Yogi Berra, New York Yankees, C
1955	Roy Campanella, Brooklyn Dodgers, C	Yogi Berra, New York Yankees, C
1956	Don Newcombe, Brooklyn Dodgers, P	Mickey Mantle†, New York Yankees, OF
1957	Hank Aaron, Milwaukee Braves, OF	Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, OF
1958	Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs, SS	Jackie Jensen, Boston Red Sox, OF
1959	Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs, SS	Nellie Fox, Chicago White Sox, 2B
1960	Dick Groat, Pittsburgh Pirates, SS	Roger Maris, New York Yankees, OF
1961	Frank Robinson, Cincinnati Reds, OF	Roger Maris, New York Yankees, OF
1962	Maury Wills, Los Angeles Dodgers, SS	Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, OF
1963	Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers, P	Elston Howard, New York Yankees, C
1964	Ken Boyer, St. Louis Cardinals, 3B	Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, 3B
1965	Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants, OF	Zoilo Versalles, Minnesota Twins, SS
1966	Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirates, OF	Frank Robinson†, Baltimore Orioles, OF
1967	Orlando Cepeda†, St. Louis Cardinals, 1B	Carl Yastrzemski, Boston Red Sox, OF
1968	Bob Gibson, St. Louis Cardinals, P	Denny McLain†, Detroit Tigers, P
1969	Willie McCovey, San Francisco Giants, 1B	Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins, 3B
1970	Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds, C	Boog Powell, Baltimore Orioles, 1B
1971	Joe Torre, St. Louis Cardinals, 3B	Vida Blue, Oakland Athletics, P
1972	Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds, C	Dick Allen, Chicago White Sox, 1B
1973	Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds, OF	Reggie Jackson†, Oakland Athletics, OF
1974	Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1B	Jeff Burroughs, Texas Rangers, OF
1975	Joe Morgan, Cincinnati Reds, 2B	Fred Lynn, Boston Red Sox, OF
1976	Joe Morgan, Cincinnati Reds, 2B	Thurman Munson, New York Yankees, C
1977	George Foster, Cincinnati Reds, OF	Rod Carew, Minnesota Twins, 1B
1978	Dave Parker, Pittsburgh Pirates, OF	Jim Rice, Boston Red Sox, OF
1979	Keith Hernandez, St. Louis Cardinals, 1B Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1B	Don Baylor, California Angels, DH
1980	Mike Schmidt†, Philadelphia Phillies, 3B	George Brett, Kansas City Royals, 3B
1981	Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies, 3B	Rollie Fingers, Milwaukee Brewers, P
1982	Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves, OF	Robin Yount, Milwaukee Brewers, SS
1983	Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves, OF	Cal Ripken, Jr., Baltimore Orioles, SS
1984	Ryne Sandberg, Chicago Cubs, 2B	Willie Hernandez, Detroit Tigers, P
1985	Willie McGee, St. Louis Cardinals, OF	Don Mattingly, New York Yankees, 1B
1986	Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies, 3B	Roger Clemens, Boston Red Sox, P
1987	Andre Dawson, Chicago Cubs, OF	George Bell, Toronto Blue Jays, OF
1988	Kirk Gibson, Los Angeles Dodgers, OF	Jose Canseco†, Oakland Athletics, OF
1989	Kevin Mitchell, San Francisco Giants, OF	Robin Yount, Milwaukee Brewers, OF
1990	Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh Pirates, OF	Rickey Henderson, Oakland Athletics, OF
1991	Terry Pendleton, Atlanta Braves, 3B	Cal Ripken, Jr., Baltimore Orioles, SS
1992	Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh Pirates, OF	Dennis Eckersley, Oakland Athletics, P
1993	Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants, OF	Frank Thomas†, Chicago White Sox, 1B
1994	Jeff Bagwell†, Houston Astros, 1B	Frank Thomas, Chicago White Sox, 1B
1995	Barry Larkin, Cincinnati Reds, SS	Mo Vaughn, Boston Red Sox, 1B
1996	Ken Caminiti†, San Diego Padres, 3B	Juan González, Texas Rangers, OF
1997	Larry Walker, Colorado Rockies, OF	Ken Griffey, Jr.†, Seattle Mariners, OF
1998	Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs, OF	Juan González, Texas Rangers, OF
1999	Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves, 3B	Iván Rodríguez, Texas Rangers, C
2000	Jeff Kent, San Francisco Giants, 2B	Jason Giambi, Oakland Athletics, 1B
2001	Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants, OF	Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners, OF
2002	Barry Bonds†, San Francisco Giants, OF	Miguel Tejada, Oakland Athletics, SS
2003	Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants, OF	Alex Rodriguez, Texas Rangers, SS
2004	Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants, OF	Vladimir Guerrero, Anaheim Angels, OF
2005	Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals, 1B	Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees, 3B

†Denotes unanimous decision.

Awards by Team

Team	Awards
New York Yankees	21
St. Louis Cardinals	18
New York/San Francisco Giants	13
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers	12
Philadelphia/Oakland Athletics	12
Cincinnati Reds	11
Boston Red Sox	10
Detroit Tigers	9
Chicago Cubs	9
Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves	9
Pittsburgh Pirates	7
Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins	6
St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles	6
Texas Rangers	5
Cleveland Indians	3
Chicago White Sox	3
Milwaukee Brewers	3
California/Anaheim Angels	2
Seattle Mariners	2
Kansas City Royals	1
Toronto Blue Jays	1
Houston Astros	1
San Diego Padres	1
Colorado Rockies	1

See also

• The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award

 

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