Tag: Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award

Dazzy Vance

April 18, 2025
Dazzy Vance, 1922 (The Sporting News Archives / public domain)

Charles Arthur “Dazzy” Vance was born on March 4, 1891 in Orient, Iowa. He was the fifth child of Sarah Elizabeth (Ritchey) and Albert Theophilus Vance, a farmer. The family moved to a farm in Pleasant Hill Township in Webster County, Nebraska, near the Kansas state line, when Vance was still very young. While there, he played semipro baseball, and it is believed he earned the nickname “Dazzy” for the dazzling fastball he demonstrated during this time. He then went on to sign with a minor league baseball team out of Red Cloud, Nebraska, a member of the Nebraska State League, in 1912.

Vance bounced around a couple more minor league teams for the next couple of seasons. In 1914, he had a stretch in which he pitched four games in six days and strained his arm as a result. “Something went wrong with my right arm,” he would say. “I no longer could throw hard, and it hurt like the dickens every time I threw.”

In the spring of 1915 his contract was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He lost his major-league debut on April 16th and was promptly dealt to the New York Yankees. After losing all of his three decisions, the Yankees sent Vance back to the minors.

Vance’s arm injury was confirmed in 1916, and the Yankees ensured that he was given medical treatment. He continued to work on his pitching in the minor leagues, bouncing between a number of teams. Vance reappeared in the major leagues only once for the Yankees, pitching two games in 1918 and earning an abysmal ERA of 15.43 in those appearances. After two more years of traveling through the minors, Vance found himself in New Orleans in 1920, pitching for the Pelicans of the Southern Association.

During his time in New Orleans, Vance played in what would turn out to be a career-changing poker game. According to the story, Vance banged his arm on the edge of the table while raking in a pot and felt an intense pain. When the arm was still hurting the next morning, Vance went to a doctor, who diagnosed an underlying injury that had not been discovered by all the medical professionals who had examined him previously. Surgery was performed, though precisely what surgery remains unknown. Nevertheless, following the operation, Dazzy was able to pitch again painlessly. In 1921 with the Pelicans, he struck out 163 batters and finished the season with a 21–11 record. The Pelicans then sold his contract to the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) in 1922, and this time, Vance was in the majors to stay.

In 1922, Vance produced an 18–12 record with a 3.70 ERA and a league-leading 134 strikeouts. On September 24, 1924, Vance became the sixth pitcher in major league history to pitch an immaculate inning, striking out all three batters on nine total pitches in the third inning of a game against the Cubs. 1924 turned out to be his best individual season, as he led the National League in wins (28), strikeouts (262) and ERA (2.16), earning himself the Triple Crown Award for pitchers and winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award. Vance beat out fellow Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby – who hit .424 that season – for the MVP award.

Vance then pitched a no-hitter on September 13, 1925, against the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 10–1. By the 1930s, however, Vance’s play began to decline, and the Dodgers traded Vance to the St. Louis Cardinals before the start of the 1933 season. He would later play for the Cincinnati Reds before returning to the Dodgers. On September 12, 1934, Vance hit his seventh and final major league home run at 43 years, 6 months, and 8 days, the second oldest pitcher to do so to this day. (The oldest is Jack Quinn in 1930, at the age of 46 years, 10 months and 26 days.)

Vance retired from baseball after the 1935 season. He led the league in ERA three times, wins twice, and established a National League record by leading the league in strikeouts in seven consecutive years (1922–1928). He finished his career with a 197–140 record, 2,045 strikeouts, and a 3.24 ERA.

Dazzy Vance was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. He died of a heart attack in 1961 in Homosassa Springs, Florida.

This day in baseball: Newhouser named MVP

November 28, 2023

On November 28, 1944, Detroit Tigers pitcher Hal Newhouser was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player, gathering four more votes than teammate Dizzy Trout. Newhouser collected 29 wins on the season, as well as a league-leading 187 strikeouts. His 2.22 ERA was bettered by Trout (2.12 ERA), though Trout “only” collected 27 wins.

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Hal Newhouser, 1946 (Los Angeles Daily News / public domain)

RIP Brooks Robinson

September 27, 2023

Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. was born May 18, 1937 in Little Rock, Arkansas. His father, Brooks Robinson, Sr., was a semi-pro second baseman who played with his son in his younger years. Brooks, Jr. went on to play third base for the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 to 1977. Nicknamed “the Human Vacuum Cleaner,” he is considered by many to have been the greatest defensive third baseman in major league history.

Robinson was an 18-time All-Star and also won sixteen Gold Glove Awards. He won two World Series with the Orioles, being named World Series MVP in 1970. Robinson also earned American League MVP honors in 1964 when he led the AL in RBIs for the season. In 1972, he was presented with the Roberto Clemente Award, and he was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1977, with his number 5 being retired a year later.

Brooks Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 with 91.98% of the vote in his first appearance on the ballot.

He passed away yesterday, September 26, 2023 at the age of 86. Rest in peace.

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Brooks Robinson in 1963 (public domain)

This day in baseball: Jackie Jensen named MVP

November 20, 2022

On November 20, 1958, outfielder Jackie Jensen of the Boston Red Sox was named American League Most Valuable Player. Jensen managed to beat out Bob Turley, Rocky Colavito, and Bob Cerv for the award, finishing the season with a .286 batting average, a league-leading 122 RBIs, and also earning 99 walks, 35 home runs, 31 doubles, 293 total bases, and a .396 on-base percentage.

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Jackie Jensen, 1953 (public domain)

This day in baseball: DiMaggio named AL MVP

November 11, 2022

On November 11, 1941, the American League Most Valuable Player Award went to Joe DiMaggio, who hit 30 home runs, 125 RBIs, and collected 348 total bases. DiMaggio also led the Yankees to a 101-53 season that culminated with their ninth World Series title. In the midst of all of this, the Yankee Clipper also had a Major League-record 56-game hitting streak along the way.

DiMaggio edged out Ted Williams in the voting for the award. Williams remains the last player to finish a season with a .400 average, doing so when he hit .406 in 1941. Williams’s season won him the American League batting title by a whopping 47 points that year, however, his efforts fell short in the league’s MVP voting.

RIP Maury Wills

September 21, 2022
Maury Wills
Maury Wills, 1960 (University of Southern California Libraries / California Historical Society / Release under the CC BY Attribution license — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

Maurice Morning Wills was born October 2, 1932 in Washington, D.C. He began playing semi-professional baseball at the age of 14 and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950, upon graduating from high school. He made his major league debut with the Dodgers, now in Los Angeles, in 1959 and spent most of his career with L.A. He was a member of the Dodgers team that won the World Series in 1959, 1963, and 1965.

Wills was named the National League MVP in 1962, stealing a record 104 bases to break the previous modern era mark of 96 set by Ty Cobb. He was named to seven All-Star teams and was the first MLB All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in 1962. Wills also won Gold Gloves at shortstop in 1961 and 1962. Over the course of his fourteen-year career, Wills batted .281 with 20 home runs, 458 runs batted in, 2,134 hits, 1,067 runs, 177 doubles, 71 triples, 586 stolen bases, and 552 bases on balls in 1,942 games.

Wills was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, serving as a representative of the Dodgers Legend Bureau, from 2009 until his death. Maury Wills died on September 19, 2022, at the age of 89.

Mike Schmidt’s Hall of Fame induction speech

June 14, 2022

Mike Schmidt played 18 seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies, and in that time, Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time National League MVP. Over the course of his career, Schmidt hit 548 home runs, including 40 or more home runs in three separate seasons and 30 or more home runs in ten other seasons. He also won ten Gold Glove Awards and was named The Sporting News Player of the Decade for the 1980s.

Mike Schmidt was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995. In his induction speech below, I particularly like Schmidt’s discussions on positive encouragement for kids and on the need for baseball to reconnect with its fans.

Phil Rizzuto’s Hall of Fame induction speech

May 25, 2022

Philip Francis Rizzuto was born September 25, 1917, and he spent his entire 13-year major league career (1941-1956) with the New York Yankees. During that time, the Yankees won an astonishing 10 American League pennants and seven World Championships.

From 1943 to 1945, Rizzuto spent some time away from MLB for a stint in the military, serving in the United States Navy during World War II. During those two years, he played on a Navy baseball team, alongside Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese.

In 1950, Rizzuto was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player. He was known as a terrific defensive player, with 1,217 career double plays and a .968 career fielding average.

After his playing career, Rizzuto enjoyed a 40-year career as a radio and television sports announcer for the Yankees. He was particularly known for his trademark expression, “Holy cow!”

Phil Rizzuto was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994. He died in his sleep on August 13, 2007.

Rizzuto’s induction speech is a hoot. Enjoy!

“Vida Blue,” Albert Jones

September 2, 2021

Vida Blue was a left-handed pitcher who is primarily known as a vital member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships from 1972 to 1974. Blue won the American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award in 1971, and he was the first pitcher ever to  start the All-Star Game for both the American League (1971) and the National League (1978).

This tribute by Albert Jones was released in 1971.