Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award

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The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is a Major League Baseball (MLB) award given each year to one outstanding player in the American and National Leagues. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The winner receives the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award. The award is named in honor of the first MLB commissioner. Landis served from 1920 to 1944.^[1] MVP voting takes place before the postseason. The results are not announced until after the World Series. The BBWAA began asking three writers in each league city in 1938. They made that number two per league city in 1961.^[2]

First basemen, with 34 winners, have won the most MVPs among infielders. This is followed by second basemen (16), third basemen (15), and shortstops (15). Of the twenty-four pitchers who have won the award, fifteen are right-handed while nine are left-handed. Walter Johnson, Carl Hubbell, and Hal Newhouser are the only pitchers to win more than once. Newhouser won his in back-to-back seasons, 1944 and 1945.^[3]Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Alex Rodriguez, and Robin Yount have won at different positions.^[3] Rodriguez is the only player to win the award with two different teams at two different positions.^[4] Barry Bonds has won the most often (seven times). He has also won it the most times in a row (2001–2004).^[5] Jimmie Foxx was the first player to win more than once.^[6] Nine players have won three times and 19 have won twice.^[7]

The award's only tie occurred in the National League in 1979 when Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell received the same amount of points.^[3][8] There have been 17 unanimous winners, meaning they received all the first-place votes.^[2] The New York Yankees have the most winning players with 22. The St. Louis Cardinals have the second most with 17 winners. Five teams have not had a winner. The most recent winners are Shohei Ohtani in the American League and Ronald Acuña Jr. in the National League.^[9]

1. ↑ Gillette, Gary; Palmer, Pete (2007). The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia (Fourth ed.). New York City, New York: Sterling Publishing Co. p. 1763. ISBN 978-1-4027-4771-7.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Gillette & Palmer, pp. 1764–1765
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "Major League Baseball's Most Valuable Player Award Winners". Baseball Digest. 59 (12). Evanston, Illinois: Century Publishing Co.: 86–89 December 2000. ISSN 0005-609X. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
4. ↑ "Alex Rodriguez Statistics". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
5. ↑ "Barry Bonds Statistics". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
6. ↑ "Jimmie Foxx Statistics". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
7. ↑ "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
8. ↑ "Baseball Awards Voting for 1979". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
9. ↑ "Baseball Awards Voting for 2023". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2024.