Growing up, the Most Valuable Player Award is what you always dreamed of winning. In any sport it’s the most prestigious trophy to earn as an individual. Whether you’re in the batter’s box or at the free throw line, hearing chants of “MVP, MVP, MVP”, doesn’t get much better than that does it. MVP Award winners are immortalized in a way without needing a Hall of Fame induction or access to the fountain of youth.
But is an MVP always the best player for that season?
The Definition Of MVP
Before going into any statistics, let’s remind ourselves what MVP means. Nowhere in the initials does it say, “best player” or “most outstanding” etc… it’s simply “most valuable”. More specifically, most valuable to their team’s success. There are of course several cases in which the best player in the league in a given season was indeed most valuable to their team as well. But there are a handful of cases where the best player in the league statistically, was not handed the MVP award.
Here’s a theoretical example:
You have a cleanup hitter amongst the league leaders in nearly every statistical category, and the team is a contender.
You also have a great hitter that’s leading the league in nearly all offensive categories, yet their team is out of playoff contention.
Who’s the MVP?
If a Triple Crown winner is on a last place team, is that necessarily the most valuable? Of course, not to play down their talent, he would be certainly his teams MVP, but how much value is in a losing team to begin with? Should an MVP award always go to a player on a team with a winning record? Should the “best player” award go to that Triple Crown last place hitter, regardless of team success? These are just the first questions that come to mind.
Now, there is a “best player” award. The Hank Aaron award, given to the league’s most outstanding hitter, introduced in 1999. It centers around the accumulation of stats (Hits, Home Runs, and RBIs) to sort out the award’s candidates. A very modern award in comparison to most others, but perhaps should be put on a similar pedestal as the MVP award.
The Example Of An MVP
A perfect example of a player that was undoubtedly the most valuable to their team and deserved the MVP award, without needing to crush every statistical category, Buster Posey. The All-Star catcher became the foundation of a dynasty without crushing 40 homers, or driving in a video game-like RBI numbers, and you would find few a voter that thought he didn’t deserve the 2012 MVP (.336 AVG and a Batting Title as well)
Now, to play devil’s advocate, Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun that year had more runs, hits, homers and RBIs, with a nice .319 AVG…. Who was truly most valuable?
Milwaukee missed the playoffs that year, while Posey’s Giants won the NL West with 94 games. If we’re to go off of “most valuable to their team’s success” as it should, the voters got it right.
On the other hand, Andre Dawson won the NL MVP in 1987 on a last place Cubs team, and Cal Ripken Jr. won the AL MVP in 1991 on a last place Orioles squad that lost 95 games. Was there truly no one more valuable to their team’s success (or lack thereof) than Dawson and Ripken in those seasons?
A Statistical Look
In the same division as Dawson’s last place Cubs, Jack Clark finished 3rd place in the 1987 NL MVP race playing for the division winning (and eventual World Series winning) St. Louis Cardinals. their stat comparison is as follows:
| Category | Dawson | Clark |
| Hits | 178 | 120 |
| Runs | 90 | 93 |
| HRs | 49 | 35 |
| RBIs | 137 | 106 |
| AVG. | .287 | .286 |
| OPS. | .896 | .1.055 |
| Walks | 32 | 136 |
Jack Clark did play 22 fewer games than Dawson as well. The staggering contrast in walks is what catches the eye here. Dawson’s power as well is impressive. If we’re to look at this from a most valuable standpoint however, was Dawson really more valuable to the Cubs last place success, than Jack Clark was to the eventual World Series champions Cardinals?
The MVP Verdict
The conclusion here, is the MVP award should almost always be a “winning teams” individual award. The Hank Aaron award and the Silver Slugger awards are more appropriately given without regards to team success, but the MVP award should hold team success as a major factor in award presentation. There must be value in the team to begin with, in order to truly be most valuable. The baseball community often forgets that this is the case. Not just the fans but the voters themselves. In the baseball world, the label of MVP is an eternal etching into the game’s history, and it’s important that we get it right.
