5 Biggest MVP Snubs in Baseball History
5 Biggest MVP Snubs in Baseball History
Heroes are remembered but legends never die...
Baseball is currently being SPOILED with elite talent. We have not 1, not 2 but 3 MVP caliber players in baseball right now. Shohei Ohtani is the heavy favorite to win in the National League. The exciting MVP race in the American League will come down to Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. The fact that anyone is putting up numbers like Judge and Ohtani right now is a testament to how much talent there is out there as Judge and Shohei are generational-type players.
It sure looks like 2024 will be one of those years, where multiple players deserve the MVP award. That got me thinking…who else in baseball history has been snubbed from winning an MVP award? After doing a little investigative work into this question, I have ranked my top 5 snubs in baseball history for this legendary award.
Honorable Mention - Al Simmons (1925), Rogers Hornsby (1924), Lou Gehrig (1928), Alfonso Soriano (2002), Derek Jeter (2009), David Wright (2006)
5) 2000: Pedro Martinez vs. Jason Giambi
Pedro Martinez: 29 GS, 18-6, 1.74 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 217 IP, 284 K
Jason Giambi: 152 G, .333/.476/.647, 1.123 OPS, 43 HR, 137 RBI, 2 SB
It is very, very tough to win MVP as a pitcher. The Baseball Writers' Association of America has voted for the Most Valuable Player for both leagues every year since 1931, with almost 100 years’ worth of data. That being said we have only witnessed a pitcher win the award 25x in both American and National leagues. On top of that, there have been a few pitchers (Walter Johnson, Carl Hubbell, and Hal Newhouser) who have won the award multiple times.
Pedro Martinez is arguably the best pitcher from my time watching baseball. Yes, there are a ton of guys who I can ramble about but Pedro was different. Maybe it is because I have seen him shut down the Yankees so many times?!? Moral of the story here is Giambi somehow beat out Pedro for the AL MVP in 2000. Giambi had 40+ HR in 2000, yet so did three others (Carlos Delgado, Alex Rodriguez, & Frank Thomas). Pedro owned a sub-2.00 ERA through 29 starts and averaged tossing 7.48 innings per start…that is absurd. Being able to not only keep the ERA that low but also generate 284 strikeouts in the process? SNUB
4) 1995: Greg Maddux vs. Barry Larkin
Greg Maddux: 28 GS, 19-2, 1.63 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 209.2 IP, 181 K
Barry Larkin: 131 G, .319/.394/.492, .886 OPS, 158 H, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 51 SB
Back-to-back cases where a pitcher did not receive the respect they deserved. Look I get it, starting pitchers typically only go 1 in every 5 games compared to everyday players who can see game action every day during the season. This fact is something that voters struggle with as it is hard to justify who provides more to their team. The Ace or the guy who gets it done day in, day out.
Maddux was lights out in 1995. Larkin had two other teammates (Reggie Sanders - 6th & Ron Grant - 11th) who were included in the top 11 vote-getters in the National League. Seems more to me like an All-Star team than an MVP lead team. Atlanta was the best team in the National League in 1995 and that was led by the brilliance of Maddux on the mound. Chipper Jones was Atlanta’s 2nd in MVP voting for Atlanta and he came in at 18th in voting in the National League MVP race. The strikeout numbers weren’t as sexy as we have seen from other pitchers of this caliber but who cares? Maddux was dominant across 28 starts and allowed a total of 23 walks. Another massive snub!
3) 1962: Willie Mays vs. Maury Wills
Willie Mays: 162 G, .304/.384/.615, .999 OPS, 189 H, 49 HR, 141 RBI, 18 SB
Maury Wills: 165 G, .299/.347/.373, .720 OPS, 208 H, 6 HR, 48 RBI, 104 SB
This snub was brought up on multiple lists and for good reason. On top of a ridiculous slash line, Mays led the National League with 49 bombs and 382 total bases, while also driving in 141 runs and scoring 130 runs. Wills only had Mays beat in total hits (208 v. 189) and stolen bases, where Wills was the 1st player to ever break triple-digits in the stolen base department. Yes, as cool as 104 stolen bases are, I’d take the 49 bombs while hitting .304 any day of the week. Mays stole 18 bags as well!
Willie Mays is arguably the best player in the modern era and has had his handful of MVP snubs but this one is the most egregious in my opinion. This has snub written all over it!
2) 1996: Alex Rodriguez vs. Juan Gonzalez
Alex Rodriguez: 146 G, .358/.414/.631, 1.045 OPS, 215 H, 36 HR, 123 RBI, 15 SB
Juan Gonzalez: 134 G, .314/.368/.643, 1.011 OPS, 170 H, 47 HR, 144 RBI, 2 SB
The most recent of all the snubs on this list. Now I am not one to defend A-Rod but 1996 A-Rod needs some love. The WAR statistic alone should have been enough for A-Rod to defeat Juan Gonzalez in voting but for some reason this was massively overlooked. I get Gonzalez hit 47 bombs, but A-Rod hit 36 while having a more dominant slash line.
Ken Griffey Jr. being an A-Rod teammate probably did the most damage to his candidacy for MVP even though Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez was mashing balls for the Rangers alongside Gonzalez. Come to mention it, Pudge owned a 6.1 bWAR compared to Gonzalez’ 3.8. You would figure if the teammate factor was heavily utlized while deciding the 1996 MVP that it would hurt Gonzalez more than Rodriguez as Griffey Jr. missed 22 games in 1996. Well, I can’t take back time but A-Rod should have 4x MVPs instead of 3x. Snub.
1) 1942: Ted Williams vs. Joe Gordon
Ted Williams: 150 G, .356/.499/.648, 1.147 OPS, 186 H, 36 HR, 137 RBI, 3 SB
Joe Gordon: 147 G, .322/.409/.491, .900 OPS, 173 H, 18 HR, 103 RBI, 12 SB
Ted Williams was a force to be reckoned with in 1942. Just look at the stat lines above and you will see Williams had Gordon beat in every statistic minus stolen bases. By the way, 12 SB across 146 games isn’t impressive so I do not understand how this vote ended the way it did plain and simple. I don’t get what all the hype about stolen bags was back in the day, as this is the 2nd snub on my list that occurred due to being fast on the bases.
The biggest snub in all of this was Williams was shipped off to war following the 1942 season and missed 3x straight peak years of his career to defend his country. Williams went on to win 2x more MVPs when he returned from war.