Several months ago, I was involved in a discussion about the most valuable players in the World Series. I made a passing comment wondering about the best players on the losing teams. Someone who contributed a great deal, but it wasn’t his fault that his team lost. Someone suggested it should be called “The Bobby Richardson Award”, for the only player who won the World Series MVP despite being on the losing team.

Well, I finally got around to doing the research and writing it up.

You’ll note that I allow for a “No Award” – sometimes, there just isn’t a player who performs well enough above the level of his teammates to justify it (or the team just stinks overall, and no one deserves it).

Also, keep in mind that these are subjective. If I did this again in a few years, more than a few of these are likely to change. And I’m starting it in 1955, when the World Series MVP award began. You can do it for all the previous World Series if you want.

1955: Brooklyn Dodgers 4, New York Yankees 3

Whitey Ford won Games 1 and 6.

1956: New York Yankees 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 3

Gil Hodges led the Dodgers in hitting with a .304 average and eight runs batted in. I note that even when you leave out Larsen’s perfect game, the Dodgers still only hit .223 for the series.

1957: Milwaukee Braves 4, New York Yankees 3

Hank Bauer (.258 average, 6 RBIs) drove in key runs in Games 4 and 6. Whitey Ford (1-1, 1.13 ERA) would have had two wins if his teammates scored some runs for him. Ford’s got enough honors; I’m going with Bauer.

1958: New York Yankees 4, Milwaukee Brewers 3

Warren Spahn (2-1, 2.20 ERA, 28.2 innings pitched) had his only loss in Game 6, when he pitched into the 10^th inning.

1959: Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Chicago White Sox 2

Ted Kluszewski hit .391, with three home runs and 10 RBIs.

1960: Pittsburgh Pirates 4, New York Yankees 3

This is the one that inspired this project. Bobby Richardson hit .367 with 12 RBIs for the Yankees. Is there a player on the Pirates who should have gotten the MVP award? In addition to that famous home run, Bill Mazeroski hit .320 with a total of 5 RBIs. Vern Law won Games 1 and 4. Roy Face earned saves in Games 1, 4, and 5. I’ll go with Face, but there’s really no wrong choice among the three.

1961: New York Yankees 4, Cincinnati Reds 1

A tough one. Reds pitcher Joey Jay got their only win with a 4-hit complete game, but he didn’t make it out of the first inning in Game 5. Shortstop Eddie Kasko drove in a game tying run in Game 3, and hit .316 overall. I’ll go with Kasko.

1962: New York Yankees 4, San Francisco Giants 3

A very well-pitched series. The Yankees hit .199 as a team; the Giants weren’t much better at .226. I’m giving the award to Billy Pierce, who went all the way in Game 6, giving up only two runs on three hits. He also pitched well in Game 3 (two earned runs on three hits), but took the loss due to getting no run support.

1963: Los Angeles Dodgers 4, New York Yankees 0

The Yankees were completely overmatched, managing to score only four runs in the entire series. Tom Tresh drove in two of them with a home run in Game 2. Probably more luck than skill, so I’m going with No Award.

1964: St. Louis Cardinals 4, New York Yankees 3

Mickey Mantle hit .333 with three home runs and 8 RBIs, but I’m giving the honor to Jim Bouton who collected two wins (coming within two outs of their both being complete games) while giving up only three runs.

1965: Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Minnesota Twins 3

Jim “Mudcat” Grant went 2-1; his two wins (Game 1 and Game 6) were complete games. He also hit a home run in Game 6.

1966: Baltimore Orioles 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

This one definitely calls for a “No Award”. After the third inning of Game 1, the Dodgers were held scoreless. They batted .142 as a team. Even when your pitching staff has a combined ERA of 2.65 and holds the opposition to a .200 batting average, there’s not much you can do when you have no offense.

1967: St Louis Cardinals 4. Boston Red Sox 3

Jim Lonborg had complete game wins in Games 2 and 5, but he ran out of gas in Game 7 where he gave up six earned runs in as many innings. So the honor goes to Carl Yastrzemski, who continued his MVP year by hitting .400 with three home runs.

1968: Detroit Tigers 4, St Louis Cardinals 3

Bob Gibson hurled three complete games with a 1.67 ERA. If you want, you can give it to Lou Brock who hit .464 with two home runs and seven(!) stolen bases.

1969: New York Mets 4, Baltimore Orioles 1

Mike Cuellar went all the way for the win in Game 1, and pitched seven innings of one-run ball in Game 4.

1970: Baltimore Orioles 4, Cincinnati Reds 1

Lee May hit .389 with two home runs and eight RBIs.

1971: Pittsburgh Pirates 4, Baltimore Orioles 3

Jim Palmer got the win in Game 2, and held the Pirates to two runs over nine innings in Game 6.

1972: Oakland A’s 4, Cincinnati Reds 3

Jack Billingham got the win in Game 3, a save in Game 5, and pitched 13.2 innings in total without giving up an earned run.

1973: Oakland A’s 4, New York Mets 3

Tug McGraw got the win in Game 2 and a save in Game 5, while pitching 13.2 innings in five games to a 2.63 ERA.

1974: Oakland A’s 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 1

Don Sutton won Game 2, and held the A’s to two runs (for a No Decision) in Game 5.

1975: Cincinnati Reds 4, Boston Red Sox 3

If Boston had won Game 7, you could make a very strong case for Carlton Fisk (2 HR and 4 RBIs); but Dwight Evans (.292 with 5 RBIs and a key defensive play) has a great case, too.

1976 Cincinnati Reds 4, New York Yankees 0

Thurman Munson hit .529

To be continued….