Babe Ruth and MVP Awards
A discussion a couple days ago prompted the statement that we can not compare Bonds' MVP awards to Ruth, because modern MVP voting did not exist until 1931. This is true. What if modern voting did exist however? I decided to come up with an MVP for each season from 1915-35, the years Ruth was active. My intention is not to demonstrate how many MVPs Ruth should have won, or deserved. Rather it is to predict voting patterns.
With that in mind, a couple notes. One, voters would likely look for a player on a contending team. In an eight-team league, first division (top four) would get the job done. Second, remember that certain statistics such as On Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage did not exist. RBIs did not become an official stat until 1920. THE most important statistic of the time was batting average.
1915: Ty Cobb
Cobb won the batting crown by a 37 point margin and stole 96 bases, 45 more than the nearest competitor. His performance kept the Tigers in contention, falling just 2.5 back of the pennant winning Red Sox.
1916: Joe Jackson
Tris Speaker was the dominant offensive player of the season, but would voters go for a player on a sixth place team? Odds are the voting would come down to Cobb and "Shoeless Joe" Jackson. The White Sox finished just two back as Jackson hit .341, a 33 point increase over his previous season. Voters love a step-up performance, so my gut tells me Jackson would take this award.
1917: Eddie Cicotte
The White Sox won the American League by a sizable margin. Cicotte won 28 games and lost 12. His 28 wins were 10 over his previous career high. In addition, Cicotte led the league in earned run average.
1918: Walter Johnson
Here is a tough one. Ruth went 13-7, led the league in slugging and OPS. The problem is that neither hitting statistic existed at that time. Ty Cobb was again the dominant offensive force, but would voters again take a player on a seventh place team? Walter Johnson takes the award for winning the pitching triple crown on a team that finished just four games out.
1919: Ty Cobb
The Tigers went 80-60, and yet another Cobb batting title would prompt the voters. Ruth led the league in OBP, slugging and OPS. The problem is that the Red Sox finished fifth. When the trade occured the following winter, writers were not jumping all over themselves to declare the Sox traded the best player in the league. At the time, observers considered hitting for home runs a foolish endeavour that prized the individual over the team.
1920: Babe Ruth
Three team race between the Indians, White Sox and Yankees. There are three possibilities here. One is Ruth and his 54 home runs. A second is Tris Speaker and his .388 batting average for the pennant winners. A third is Eddie Collins with his .372 batting average and being one of the "clean" Sox. I think 54 home runs is too much to ignore at this point.
1921: Babe Ruth
59 home runs along with a .378 batting average, third in the league.
1922: George Sisler
The St. Louis Browns finished a mere game behind the Yankees. While Ruth fell back to 35 home runs, Sisler hit .420. Voters at the time would have loved batting average. They have never voted for a guy having a down season, no matter how good that down season still is.
1923: Babe Ruth
No contest. The Yankees finished 16 games up, Ruth hit .393.
1924: Walter Johnson
Johnson won the actual MVP award in this season with another pitching triple crown. The Senators won their first pennant this season as well.
1925: Roger Peckinpaugh
With Ruth on the mend the race becomes wide open. Stan Coveleski finished 20-5, and led the league in ERA as the Senators won their second consecutive pennant. Peckinpaugh won the damned thing though.
1926: Babe Ruth
Bounceback season as Ruth hits .372 and leads the league in RBIs by a healthy margin.
1927: Lou Gehrig
The RBI crown gives Gehrig the award here as the voters likely would like to switch up the award here and there.
1928: Lou Gehrig
Again Gehrig would have the batting edge here. Ruth and Gehrig tied for RBIs, but I think Gehrig would have more team credibility that the voters might go for.
1929: Al Simmons
Simmons barely missed a batting crown and led the league in RBIs for the league champion.
1930: Al Simmons
A batting crown, second in RBIs. A note that I would not underestimate the voters giving Mickey Cochrane one of these awards.
1931: Lefty Grove
1932: Jimmie Foxx
1933: Jimmie Foxx
1934: Mickey Cochrane
1935: Gabby Hartnett (NL)
Four for Ruth, best I can manage. You can argue for him getting six or seven. That said, let's see what Win Shares has to say about the best players in each season.
1915: Ty Cobb
1916: Tris Speaker
1917: Ty Cobb
1918: Babe Ruth
1919: Babe Ruth
1920: Babe Ruth
1921: Babe Ruth
1922: Red Faber
1923: Babe Ruth
1924: Babe Ruth
1925: Al Simmons
1926: Babe Ruth
1927: Babe Ruth
1928: Babe Ruth
1929: Al Simmons/Jimmie Foxx
1930: Lou Gehrig
1931: Lefty Grove
1932: Jimmie Foxx
1933: Jimmie Foxx
1934: Lou Gehrig
1935: Arky Vaughan (NL)
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