Every fan knows that baseball is a game of numbers, but it is also a game of recognition. The MVP award is meant to honor the player who defined a season. It goes to the one who carried their team and captured the attention of the sport. Yet history is full of players who put up remarkable careers and unforgettable seasons. They walked away without ever hearing their name called for that honor.
It is one of the strangest paradoxes in sports. The discussion around it has always existed among fans. A recent thread on Reddit brought it back to life in a big way. Hundreds of fans chimed in with their picks, their memories, and their frustrations. Some comments were heavy with statistics, while others were filled with real sentiments. Seasons that still feel like stolen moments were highlighted. The conversation revealed how awards sometimes fail to capture the full scope of greatness.
The case for Consistency and Dominance
The original post kicked things off with names like Eddie Murray, Tony Gwynn, Derek Jeter, Al Kaline, and Mel Ott. Each of these players had seasons that, on paper, looked like MVP years. Murray’s 1984 campaign was overshadowed by Willie Hernandez of the Tigers. Next in line, Gwynn hit .370 in 1987 but lost out to Andre Dawson. Jeter piled up 200 hits season after season. However, he never once did get the nod from the fans to lift the MVP award. Kaline, on the other hand, was always overshadowed by names like Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Carl Yastrzemski. Ott suffered the same fate and was overshadowed by other legendary players.
Fans pointed out how strange it feels when all-time greats are remembered for never winning the one award. It seems like a natural match for their careers. One commenter, u/normcash25, reminded everyone that both Ott and Kaline spent 22 years with one team. Kaline was a complete right fielder. Ott was one of the most feared hitters of his era.
Pitchers in the MVP Argument
Several fans turned the spotlight to pitchers who never got fair recognition. u/Fisk75 highlighted Dwight Gooden’s 1985 season with a jaw-dropping 13.3 WAR, only to lose to Willie McGee with Gooden winning the Cy Young award instead. Another user, u/geronim000000, brought up Pedro Martínez in 1999. He was left off one ballot entirely because Yankees writer George King thought the MVPs were not for pitchers, even though he had voted for pitchers in other years. u/examinedliving called it an injustice. They said Clemens winning the next year felt like a “make-up vote” that did not undo the damage.
The thread also saw heated arguments about whether pitchers should even be considered for MVP. u/NarmHull argued that pitchers already have the Cy Young Award and do not play daily. Therefore, they should not qualify. Others, like u/Practical-Shape7453, countered by saying that when a pitcher leads the league in WAR and single-handedly carries a team, he is by definition the most valuable player.
Legacy Beyond the Award
As the thread unfolded, one truth became clear. The MVP award does not always capture the full story of a player’s career. The names mentioned were not just stars for a season or two. They were players who shaped entire eras of baseball. Cy Young himself came up in the discussion. However, he never won an MVP, nor the award that was later named after him. That reminder showed how awards are products of their time. Sometimes greatness is spread out over too many years. Sometimes a player’s prime is simply unlucky enough to overlap with another superstar’s peak.
Though MVP is tied to a single season, but true greatness stretches across decades. A voter’s choice or the story of one rival’s breakout year can eclipse what should have been an MVP campaign. That does not erase the impact these players had. Instead, it reveals how history can miss moments of greatness while they are happening. Their influence lives on with fans who still speak their names with pride.
