Top 10 Forgotten MLB MVP Award Winners

To win the Most Valuable Player Award you have to pretty much be the best player in the sport for the entire year. In the MLB many greats have won the award since the award was created back in 1911. Ty Cobb was the very first MVP for the American League and Frank Schutle was the very first MVP for the National League. However from 1911 – 1930 the award was recognized as the “MVP Award” but more so a best player in the sport during that year Award. The Modern MVP Award went into effect in 1931 and it’s first two winners were Lefty Grove for the AL and Frank Frisch for the NL. There have been 178 MVP awards given out and not every MVP winner can be remembered. After all they all can’t be like Barry Bonds who literally has 7 MVP Awards, the most all time. For this week’s top 10 I will be ranking ten of the most forgotten MVP winners over the last 89 years. Now there might be a couple that seems recent but they aren’t talked about as much. In fact all ten of these MVP winners aren’t talked about as much at least when talking about the year they won the MVP. I will be including some stats and runner ups with the entries but I will not be including anyone who won the award multiple times as the fact that they are a multiple time MVP makes them more memorable than forgotten so I will only be including One time winners. Alright let’s get to our list and countdown the Top 10 Forgotten MLB MVP Award Winners.

Top 10 Forgotten MLB MVP Award Winners

10. Kris Bryant (2016 NL MVP) – This one is pretty recent one but without announcers saying it constantly, do you even remember Kris Bryant winning the award back in 2016? Bryant is a 5 tool 3rd Baseman as he has such a solid power bat, has good speed, has an awesome glove, gets on base and makes contact. Plus the year he won the award the Cubs won it all; not a bad year if you ask me to not only win the biggest award in MLB but also a World Series ring. Bryant a year prior won the NL Rookie of the Year, so it’s a pretty big deal that Bryant won the MVP award in just his sophomore year. In 2016, Bryant hit .292 with 39 homeruns, 102 runs batted in, 176 hits, 35 doubles, 8 stolen bases, an on base percentage of .385, a slugging percentage of .554 and 6.4 WAR. So why is this incredible sophomore year and MVP winner forgotten? Well since that year Bryant has slowly fizzled out and hasn’t been playing like a former MVP. He’s still a good ballplayer, but his stats aren’t like how they were back in 2016. Now I truly remember Bryant winning the award as I play MLB: The Show all the time, so every first at bat for Bryant the broadcasters literally always bring up Bryant winning the MVP. I think most MLB fans might remember him winning but he defiantly is a underrated MVP winner considering he has lost a bit of his edge as a top 5 3rd basemen since 2016. Regardless I wanted to add a fresher forgotten MVP face on this list before we take a deep dive into some forgotten MVP’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97V2l9Z513E

9. Miguel Tejada (2002 AL MVP) – 2002 was a pretty underappreciated season for the MLB. Barry Bonds unanimously won the NL MVP award, the Angels won the World Series against the Giants, the Yankees had another 100 wins season and 2 forgotten Rookie of the Year winners, Eric Hinske and Jason Jennings, respectfully won the award for their leagues. And oh yeah The Oakland Athletics had one of the most amazing seasons in baseball history led by Cy Young winner Barry Zito and our next entry Miguel Tejada. Tejada’s career is a pretty big head scratcher as he was a pretty decent player but he was also found himself in a lot of trouble including lying to congress about taking steroids and being suspended for 105 games for an MLB drug policy. But he still had a decent swing with the bat and in 2002 he beat out names that should have won the AL MVP award including a steroid era A-Rod and Alfonso Soriano who had a monster season where he almost hit 40 homeruns with 40 stolen bases. Other names that had pretty big MVP type of seasons that Tejada beat out were Garret Anderson, Jason Giambi, Tori Hunter, Jim Thome, Magglio Ordonez, Bernie Williams and I mean the 2002 AL MVP race is stacked but god damn Tejada got lucky. But shockingly enough not many baseball fans remember the fact that he won the MVP award back in 2002, or in general in his career. He posted some big numbers too including playing in 162 games, batting .304 with 204 hits, 34 homeruns , 131 runs batted in, .354 On Base Percentage, .508 Slugging Percentage and scoring 108 runs. Now if you ask me these are some pretty good MVP type of numbers but I mean they are also nothing big compared to A-Rod’s monster stats of 57 homeruns, 142 runs batted in while batting .300 and with an OPS of 1.015 or Alfonso Soriano’s monster season with 39 homeruns, 41 stolen bases, 209 hits and 51 doubles. In my opinion Soriano should of won the MVP award cause while Tejada’s stats in 2002 were phenomenal, his season in general didn’t seem like it was memorable with the exception that he played for the Moneyball team that would go on to win the division and be nominated for an Academy Award 10 years later. Like I said 2002 is an underappreciated season and Tejada’s MVP win is somewhat forgotten. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtUfq89Q-kI

8. Jeff Kent (2000 NL MVP) – Jeff Kent is one of the most underrated 2nd basemen in baseball history yet he is known as one of the best power hitting 2nd basemen ever. Either way this slugging machine never made it into the Hall of Fame and he also beat out 7 time MVP winner Barry Bond in 2000 for the NL MVP. Now I will also be pretty honest with you but looking at the stats between the two, Jeff Kent deserved the award even though Bonds had a better slugging year, but the rest of Kent’s numbers were incredible and just slightly better. Kent batted .334 with 33 homeruns, 125 runs batted in, 196 hits, .424 On Base Percentage, .596 Slugging Percentage and a OPS of 1.021. Now if you ask me Todd Helton should of won the award as he put on a tear into the baseball that year with a .372 batting average, 42 homeruns, 127 runs batted in, an OPS of 1.162 and he lead the league in WAR with 8.9. Regardless I feel like had Helton won the award in 2000 it would had been remembered a bit more because while Jeff Kent had a pretty incredible year, it somehow is forgotten that he even won the award, let alone won it in a year where his own teammate Barry Bonds was right behind him in the MVP race. Now if you play MLBtheShow or a big MLB trivia wiz then yeah you are going to know and remember Jeff Kent’s 2000 NL MVP season, but for the rest of the baseball fans that slightly don’t remember who won the award back in 2000 then yeah it was Jeff Kent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoo0By0oFRg

7. Willie McGee (1985 NL MVP) – I’m not going to lie I never knew who McGee was until a few years ago and even then I never knew he was a former MVP winner. Willie McGee is a very underrated played as he was such a talented outfielder and a pretty good player. His 1985 season is probably his best season in his career as yes he won the NL MVP but his stats were eye opening. McGee led the NL with Batting Average (.353), hits (216) and triples (18). He also had a .384 On Base Percentage, an OPS at .887 and he had 56 stolen bases. Not a bad season for the MVP winner if I may say but why is McGee’s win so forgetful. I honestly don’t even know because while doing research on this topic not many people mentioned him in any way but I also never knew myself that he won the award. Names like Dave Parker and Dwight Gooden obtained MVP votes but yet McGee had a better season stats wise than both men. Also he played for a St. Louis Cardinals team that won 101 games and made it all the way to the World Series. So I’m kind of confused to how this MVP winner is forgotten or never really brought up to players who won the MVP in the past because stats wise he had a very great and should be memorable year so you would think his MVP win would be mentioned more.

6. Phil Rizzuto (1950 AL MVP) – For me a Yankee fan to not know about that a Yankee legend won the MVP award is pretty shocking and sad, but then again I never expected Rizzuto to be a MVP type of player. Rizzuto’s 1950 season is at best one of the more forgotten great seasons for any player as while the guy had some decent numbers, you can ask any Yankee fan which Yankee has won the MVP award and I bet the last name to pop up in their head would be Rizzuto. Rizzuto posted a .324 batting average, an On Base Percentage of .418 and a .857 OPS. Did he deserve the award? Honestly, yes. While he beat out Billy Goodman and a true Yankee legend Yogi Berra for the award, Rizzuto had some pretty great numbers that on paper made him the best player that year, or did it. Rizzuto might have had a pretty great season but he didn’t lead the league in any stat category other than Plate Appearances. Not only that but he wasn’t even the best player on the team stats wise, that one goes to Berra. I’m more shocked that Rizzuto won the award and that alone places his case on this list.

5. Zolio Versalles (1965 AL MVP) – I’m not going to lie, but I never heard of this man in my life. I’m pretty sure most of you reading this list don’t know this man either but to the few baseball fans that know this man then you probably knew about his MVP win back in 1965. Either way who is Zolio Versalles? Versalles was a Cuban born shortstop who was well known for playing with the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins. 1965 was a pretty clutch year for Versalles as he led the Major League in runs (126), plate appearances (728), at bats (666), and doubles (45), while also leading the American League in triples (12). Honestly that’s pretty good numbers for a guy who is forgotten in the history of the AL MVP. Now while Versalles might have won the AL MVP back in 1965, I don’t think he deserved it. Tony Oliva, his teammate in the Twins, had a way better season despite not leading the league in certain key categories. However his on base percentage was so much better than Versalles. Versalles had a .319 On Base Percentage, while Oliva had a .378. Nothing huge but still much better. Honestly the 1965 season isn’t all that remembered in general so either way who ever won the AL MVP award in 1965 probably would had been forgotten. NL MVP was Willie Mays and he had a terrific year, I knew that and yet I couldn’t even tell you who won it in the AL until like 5 minutes ago.

4. Spud Chandler (1943 AL MVP) – As a New York Yankee fan this one is honestly a big surprise. There have been many Yankee MVP winners from Babe Ruth to Alex Rodriguez and while we already covered a forgotten Yankee MVP winner of Phil Rizzuto, this name might be a more forgotten name considering I never even heard or think anyone this generation heard of the name “Spud Chandler”. Spud Chandler was the starting pitcher for the Yankees for 10 years and in 1943 he had his best season in his career. In this MVP winning season Chandler had a 20-4 Win/Loss record with a 1.64 ERA and 20 Complete games including 5 Shutouts and a WHIP just below 1 (0.992). Now while Chandler’s season is pretty impressive, I mean let’s face it the man lead the league in multiple pitching categories including Wins, Complete Games and ERA, but he also would help lead the Yankees to another World Series Championship. Automatically a starting pitcher to have a season like this should be somewhat remembered, especially knowing the Cy Young Award wasn’t around at this time. Imagine if it was as he would have won the award hands down. But to have a season like this and win the MVP award as a pitcher and still be forgotten, now that one is pretty shocking. Just to name a few starting pitchers who also took the crown that would also win the Cy Young because let’s face it I believe if the award was around then Chandler would had been a more memorable MVP winner but names like Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Roger Clemens, Dennis Eckersley and Bob Gibson were able to become more memorable MVP Winners. But there is one name to be forgotten that had won the MVP/Cy Young Award in the same year as well.

3. Willie Hernandez (1984 AL MVP) – This Puerto Rican born Pitcher is probably the one forgotten Cy Young/MVP case that comes to mind with my argument from the last entry. Hernandez pitched for 13 years and in his 8th year in his career he took home a couple of impressive awards. Now while he didn’t have a season quite like Spud Chandler’s as he was a relief pitcher, he still had a very impressive season. Hernandez had a 9-3 Win/Loss Record with a 1.92 ERA with 112 Strikeouts and 32 Saves, all within 80 games pitched. Now while he did have an impressive season, it is worth noting that there were a couple of surprising snubs for AL MVP that many people think should have won it. Don Mattingly placed 5th and he put on a spectacular season leading the AL with a .343 Batting Average and knocking in 23 homeruns and 110 runs batted in. Or how about the 3rd pace winner Dan Quisenberry, who also placed 2nd in Cy Young with 44 Saves (led the league). It’s also worth noting that Willie Hernandez help lead the Tigers into a World Series Championship. To do all of this and still not get be a forgotten MVP winner, yeah it’s pretty shocking if you ask me.

2. Ken Caminiti (1996 NL MVP) – Ken Caminiti was your basic average player. Nothing big to talk about the guy other than his one huge season in 1996 was his biggest season in his career. Plus while he might of won the award he also kind of got help with his performance from the use of steroids. But regardless he is on this list because not many people remember the fact that he won the MVP award. Just to make some people more surprised these were his stats, .326 Batting Average, 40 Homeruns, 130 Runs Batted In, .408 On Base Percentage and a .621 Slugging Percentage. What’s even more shocking is he was a unanimous winner getting 100% first place votes. Now while names like Mike Piazza, Andres Galarraga and Ellis Burks had pretty spectacular seasons, the voting committee selected Caminiti as the eventual winner. Now that’s not saying he didn’t deserve it as his stats back it up, even though he cheated and used steroids, but still the stats back it up. While Caminiti might have had a pretty basic career, his 1996 season became his greatest achievement, making the All-Star team, winning both the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove and taking home the MVP Award and yet people remember the 1996 season more for Jeter winning the Rookie of the Year and John Smoltz historical Cy Young season. Oh and the 1996 Yankees upsetting the 96 Braves in the World Series. Ken Caminiti’s MVP season though, just a memory left behind that not many people remember. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUMkOKY8Q04

1. Mort Cooper (1942 NL MVP) – The year was 1942, Yankee legend Joe Gordon just beats out Red Sox legend Ted Williams for the AL MVP, the St Louis. Cardinals defeat the Yankees in the World Series and St. Louis Starting Pitcher Mort Cooper takes home the NL MVP award. Now if you are like me the name Mort Cooper doesn’t ring a bell and after looking at his stats I’m confused to why. Mort Cooper was a very decent pitcher, especially during his breakout years with the Cardinals. In the 1942 season however he began his 3 year stretch where he pretty much would win 20 plus games and be an unstoppable force on the pitching mound. In 1942 however he had his most impressive season, going 22-7 with a 1.78 ERA, 22 Complete Games, 10 Shutouts, 152 Strikeouts, 0.987 WHIP and oh yeah he won the NL MVP Award. Hands down he would have also made a case for winning the Cy Young Award if it was around at that time but the fact that this MVP season is forgotten and not really talked about for Starting Pitchers who won the MVP is pretty shocking. He pitched amazingly all year round and led the NL in Wins and ERA but also led the entire MLB in Shutouts and he took the Cardinals to the World Series. Now given the fact that this MVP win happened in 1942 and well many people don’t remember these winners back then unless they are Hall of Famers. Mort Cooper sadly is one of those names that got stuck in the rabbit hole of forgotten MVP winners and he can take the mantle too as the most forgotten MVP winner.

Honorable Mentions:

Justin Mourneu (2006 AL MVP) – Justin Mourneu is a very underappreciated 1st Basemen but to beat out three Hall of Fame names for the MVP (Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas) in one season alone, yeah it still shocks me how this MVP season is forgotten. Plus not to mention he barely beat Jeter with votes as Mourneu had 320, Jeter ad 306.

Kevin Mitchell (1989 NL MVP) – Mitchell destroyed the baseball in 1989 as he launched 47 homeruns and he even led the entire Major League in homeruns. Now while the season was pretty decent, Kevin Mitchell isn’t remembered as much in general, unless you’re a true Giants fan.

Jim Kostanty (1950 NL MVP) – I was considering putting this name on my list because I don’t even know who this man is but somehow he won the NL MVP award. In the same year Phil Rizzuto won the AL MVP, Phillies Relief Pitcher Kostanty won the big prize and his numbers were pretty good. 16-7 record, 2.66 ERA, 22 saves in 156 innings pitched. Nothing fancy but pretty good but still not a memorable MVP.