On Twitter, Bill James asked
"The worst MVP selection in the history of baseball is ________________________ in the (AL/NL) in the year ______."
I found all the 10+ WAR seasons without an MVP and all MVP seasons with less than 5 WAR and found differences between the WAR of the winner and the highest WAR. The biggest difference was 1996 when Juan Gonzalez had 3.8 WAR and AROD had 10.4, for a difference of 6.6. If you anyone thinks I missed some, let me know.
The tables below shows all the differences of 5 or more that I found
Name |
Year |
WAR |
WAR Leader |
Diff |
WAR Leader |
Juan Gonzalez |
1996 |
3.8 |
10.4 |
6.6 |
AROD |
Willie Stargell |
1979 |
2.5 |
8.3 |
5.8 |
Winfield |
Dennis Eckersley |
1992 |
2.9 |
8.7 |
5.8 |
Clemens |
Mickey Cochrane |
1934 |
4.5 |
10.2 |
5.7 |
Gehrig |
Steve Garvey |
1974 |
4.4 |
9.7 |
5.3 |
Schmidt |
Willie Hernandez |
1984 |
4.8 |
10 |
5.2 |
Ripken |
Don Baylor |
1979 |
3.7 |
8.9 |
5.2 |
Lynn |
Yogi Berra |
1955 |
4.5 |
9.5 |
5 |
Mantle |
Player |
Year |
WAR |
MVP WAR |
DIFF |
MVP |
Fergie Jenkins |
1971 |
11.8 |
5.9 |
5.9 |
Torre |
Lou Gehrig |
1934 |
10.2 |
4.5 |
5.7 |
Cochrane |
Cal Ripken Jr. |
1984 |
10 |
4.8 |
5.2 |
W. Hernandez |
Dwight Gooden |
1985 |
13.3 |
8.2 |
5.1 |
McGee |
Tom Seaver |
1971 |
10.9 |
5.9 |
5 |
Torre |
Mantle 1958 (8.7) is the biggest gap (3.8) I found for a guy on a first place team and a guy who was not, Jensen (4.9) unless you do Mays (10.5)-Wills(6) in 1962 and don't count that there was a first place tie that forced a playoff.
1st place votes in 1958
Jensen 9
Turley 7
Colavito 4
Cerv 3
Fox 1
Mantle 0
Only guy on 1st place Yanks to get votes is pitcher Turley. Jensen led league with 122 RBIs. Mantle had 97 and was 5th overall in vote points. Yanks won pennant by 10 games over White Sox.
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