Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award

The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. The award has been presented by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) since 1931.

Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP)
The 2015 National League Most Valuable Player Award
SportBaseball
LeagueMajor League Baseball
Awarded forRegular season most valuable player of American League and National League
CountryUnited States, Canada
Presented byBaseball Writers' Association of America
History
First award1931
Most winsBarry Bonds (7)
Most recentShohei Ohtani (NL)
Aaron Judge (AL)

History

Since 1931, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) has bestowed a most valuable player award to a player in the National League and a player in the American League. Before 1931, two similar awards were issued: the League Award was issued during 1922–1928 in the American League and during 1924–1929 in the National League. During 1911–1914, the Chalmers Award was issued to a player in each league. Criteria and a list of winners for these two earlier awards are detailed in below sections.

MVP voting takes place before the postseason, but the results are not announced until after the World Series. The BBWAA began by polling three writers in each league city in 1938, reducing that number to two per league city in 1961. The BBWAA does not offer a clear-cut definition of what "most valuable" means, instead leaving the judgment to the individual voters.

In 1944, the award was named after Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first Commissioner of Baseball, who served from 1920 until his death on November 25, 1944. Formally named the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award, that naming appeared on a plaque given to winning players. Starting in 2020, Landis' name no longer appears on the MVP plaque, after the BBWAA received complaints from several former MVP winners about Landis' role against the integration of MLB.

First basemen, with 35 winners, have won the most MVPs among infielders, followed by second basemen (16), third basemen (15), and shortstops (15). Of the 25 pitchers who have won the award, 15 are right-handed while 10 are left-handed. Walter Johnson, Carl Hubbell, and Hal Newhouser are the only pitchers who have won multiple times, with Newhouser winning consecutively in 1944 and 1945.

Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Alex Rodriguez, Robin Yount, and Shohei Ohtani have won at different positions, while Rodriguez is the only player who has won the award with two different teams at two different positions, and Ohtani the only one to do it at two positions in the same season (twice). Rodriguez and Andre Dawson are the only players to win the award while on a last-place team, the 2003 Texas Rangers and 1987 Chicago Cubs, respectively. Barry Bonds has won the most often (seven times) and the most consecutively (four from 2001 to 2004). Jimmie Foxx was the first player to win multiple times. Ten players have won three times, and 19 have won twice. Frank Robinson and Shohei Ohtani are the only players to win the award in both the American and National Leagues, with Ohtani being the first to win in both leagues in consecutive seasons.

The award's only tie occurred in the National League in 1979, when Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell received an equal number of points. There have been 23 unanimous winners, who received all the first-place votes. The New York Yankees have the most winning players with 24, followed by the St. Louis Cardinals with 21 winners. The award has never been presented to a member of the following three teams: Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, and Tampa Bay Rays.

In recent decades, pitchers have rarely won the award. When Ohtani won the AL award in 2021, he became the first pitcher in either league to be named the MVP since Clayton Kershaw in 2014, and the first in the American League since Justin Verlander in 2011. Ohtani also became the first two-way player to win the award and in 2023, he became the first player in MLB history to win MVP by unanimous vote twice. Since the creation of the Cy Young Award in 1956, he is the only pitcher to win an MVP award without winning a Cy Young in the same year (Don Newcombe, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Willie Hernández, Roger Clemens, Dennis Eckersley, Verlander, and Kershaw all won a Cy Young award in their MVP seasons). Ohtani is also the only MVP winner to have played most of his games as a designated hitter (DH), a position that normally does not contribute on defense. In 2024, after winning his third career unanimous MVP award, Ohtani became the first MVP winner to have played exclusively as a DH in a season. To date, Ohtani is the only player to win both the MVP and the Edgar Martínez Award, an award given to the most outstanding DH in a season.

There was no award given by either league in 1930, which meant that one of the single greatest performances ever went unheralded when Hack Wilson of the Chicago Cubs set the current MLB record for RBI with 191. He also batted .356 and set the NL record with 56 HRs, a record which stood for 68 years until Mark McGwire (70) and Sammy Sosa (66) both eclipsed him.

Key

Year Links to the article about the corresponding Major League Baseball season
Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a player
^ Player is still active[a]
§ Unanimous selection[b]
Player (X) Denotes winning player and number of times they had won the award at that point
* Team won the league pennant
P Pitcher (RHP indicates right-handed; LHP indicates left-handed)
C Catcher
1B First baseman
2B Second baseman
3B Third baseman
SS Shortstop
OF Outfielder
DH Designated hitter

Chalmers Award (1911–1914)

Before the 1910 season, Hugh Chalmers of Chalmers Automobile announced he would present a Chalmers Model 30 automobile to the player with the highest batting average in Major League Baseball at the end of the season. The 1910 race for best average in the American League was between the Detroit Tigers' widely disliked Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie of the Cleveland Indians. On the last day of the season, Lajoie overtook Cobb's batting average with seven bunt hits against the St. Louis Browns. American League President Ban Johnson said a recalculation showed that Cobb had won the race anyway, and Chalmers ended up awarding cars to both players.

In the following season, Chalmers created the Chalmers Award. A committee of baseball writers was to convene after the season to determine the "most important and useful player to the club and the league." Since the award was not as effective at advertising as Chalmers had hoped, it was discontinued after 1914.

Year American League winner Team Position National League winner Team Position Ref
1911 Ty Cobb§ Detroit Tigers OF Frank Schulte Chicago Cubs OF
1912 Tris Speaker Boston Red Sox OF Larry Doyle New York Giants* 2B
1913 Walter Johnson Washington Senators RHP Jake Daubert Brooklyn Superbas 1B
1914 Eddie Collins Philadelphia Athletics* 2B Johnny Evers Boston Braves* 2B

League Awards (1922–1929)

In 1922, the American League created a new award to honor "the baseball player who is of the greatest all-around service to his club." Winners, voted on by a committee of eight baseball writers chaired by James Crusinberry, received a bronze medal and a cash prize. Voters were required to select one player from each team, and player-coaches and prior award winners were ineligible. Famously, these criteria resulted in Babe Ruth winning only a single MVP award before it was dropped after 1928. The National League award, without these restrictions, lasted from 1924 to 1929. In 1929, The Sporting News began awarding The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award, albeit with the first year being for the American League only. The voting system from before also did their own balloting on an unofficial level. Lew Fonseca was voted unofficial AL MVP while Al Simmons won The Sporting News MVP. The 1930 season saw unofficial votes for both leagues alongside the Sporting News doing their own awards. Joe Cronin and Bill Terry were voted the Sporting News MVP while Cronin and Hack Wilson won the unofficial BBWAA vote. Famously, the Hall of Fame plaques for both Cronin and Terry mention them as the Most Valuable Player in 1930.

Year American League winner Team Position National League winner Team Position Ref
1922 George Sisler St. Louis Browns 1B
1923 Babe Ruth§ New York Yankees* OF
1924 Walter Johnson (2) Washington Senators* RHP Dazzy Vance Brooklyn Robins RHP
1925 Roger Peckinpaugh Washington Senators* SS Rogers Hornsby St. Louis Cardinals 2B
1926 George Burns Cleveland Indians 1B Bob O'Farrell St. Louis Cardinals* C
1927 Lou Gehrig New York Yankees* 1B Paul Waner Pittsburgh Pirates* OF
1928 Mickey Cochrane Philadelphia Athletics C Jim Bottomley St. Louis Cardinals* 1B
1929 Rogers Hornsby (2) Chicago Cubs* 2B

BBWAA Most Valuable Player (1931–present)

The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) was first awarded the modern MVP after the 1931 season, adopting the format the National League used to distribute its league award. One writer in each city with a team filled out a ten-place ballot, with ten points for the recipient of a first-place vote, nine for a second-place vote, and so on. In 1938, the BBWAA raised the number of voters to three per city and gave 14 points for a first-place vote. The only significant change since then occurred in 1961 when the number of voters was reduced to two per league city.

Year American League winner Team Position National League winner Team Position Ref
1931 Lefty Grove Philadelphia Athletics* LHP Frankie Frisch St. Louis Cardinals* 2B
1932 Jimmie Foxx Philadelphia Athletics 1B Chuck Klein Philadelphia Phillies OF
1933 Jimmie Foxx (2) Philadelphia Athletics 1B Carl Hubbell New York Giants* LHP
1934 Mickey Cochrane (2) Detroit Tigers* C Dizzy Dean St. Louis Cardinals* RHP
1935 Hank Greenberg†§ Detroit Tigers* 1B Gabby Hartnett Chicago Cubs* C
1936 Lou Gehrig (2) New York Yankees* 1B Carl Hubbell†§ (2) New York Giants* LHP
1937 Charlie Gehringer Detroit Tigers 2B Joe Medwick St. Louis Cardinals OF
1938 Jimmie Foxx (3) Boston Red Sox 1B Ernie Lombardi Cincinnati Reds C
1939 Joe DiMaggio New York Yankees* OF Bucky Walters Cincinnati Reds* RHP
1940 Hank Greenberg (2) Detroit Tigers* OF Frank McCormick Cincinnati Reds* 1B
1941 Joe DiMaggio (2) New York Yankees* OF Dolph Camilli Brooklyn Dodgers* 1B
1942 Joe Gordon New York Yankees* 2B Mort Cooper St. Louis Cardinals* RHP
1943 Spud Chandler New York Yankees* RHP Stan Musial St. Louis Cardinals* OF
1944 Hal Newhouser Detroit Tigers LHP Marty Marion St. Louis Cardinals* SS
1945 Hal Newhouser (2) Detroit Tigers* LHP Phil Cavarretta Chicago Cubs* 1B
1946 Ted Williams Boston Red Sox* OF Stan Musial (2) St. Louis Cardinals* 1B
1947 Joe DiMaggio (3) New York Yankees* OF Bob Elliott Boston Braves 3B
1948 Lou Boudreau Cleveland Indians* SS Stan Musial (3) St. Louis Cardinals OF
1949 Ted Williams (2) Boston Red Sox OF Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers* 2B
1950 Phil Rizzuto New York Yankees* SS Jim Konstanty Philadelphia Phillies* RHP
1951 Yogi Berra New York Yankees* C Roy Campanella Brooklyn Dodgers C
1952 Bobby Shantz Philadelphia Athletics LHP Hank Sauer Chicago Cubs OF
1953 Al Rosen§ Cleveland Indians 3B Roy Campanella (2) Brooklyn Dodgers* C
1954 Yogi Berra (2) New York Yankees C Willie Mays New York Giants* OF
1955 Yogi Berra (3) New York Yankees* C Roy Campanella (3) Brooklyn Dodgers* C
1956 Mickey Mantle†§ New York Yankees* OF Don Newcombe Brooklyn Dodgers* RHP
1957 Mickey Mantle (2) New York Yankees* OF Hank Aaron Milwaukee Braves* OF
1958 Jackie Jensen Boston Red Sox OF Ernie Banks Chicago Cubs SS
1959 Nellie Fox Chicago White Sox* 2B Ernie Banks (2) Chicago Cubs SS
1960 Roger Maris New York Yankees* OF Dick Groat Pittsburgh Pirates* SS
1961 Roger Maris (2) New York Yankees* OF Frank Robinson Cincinnati Reds* OF
1962 Mickey Mantle (3) New York Yankees* OF Maury Wills Los Angeles Dodgers SS
1963 Elston Howard New York Yankees* C Sandy Koufax Los Angeles Dodgers* LHP
1964 Brooks Robinson Baltimore Orioles 3B Ken Boyer St. Louis Cardinals* 3B
1965 Zoilo Versalles Minnesota Twins* SS Willie Mays (2) San Francisco Giants OF
1966 Frank Robinson†§ (2) Baltimore Orioles* OF Roberto Clemente Pittsburgh Pirates OF
1967 Carl Yastrzemski Boston Red Sox* OF Orlando Cepeda†§ St. Louis Cardinals* 1B
1968 Denny McLain§ Detroit Tigers* RHP Bob Gibson St. Louis Cardinals* RHP
1969 Harmon Killebrew Minnesota Twins 3B Willie McCovey San Francisco Giants 1B
1970 Boog Powell Baltimore Orioles* 1B Johnny Bench Cincinnati Reds* C
1971 Vida Blue Oakland Athletics LHP Joe Torre[c] St. Louis Cardinals 3B
1972 Dick Allen Chicago White Sox 1B Johnny Bench (2) Cincinnati Reds* C
1973 Reggie Jackson†§ Oakland Athletics* OF Pete Rose Cincinnati Reds OF
1974 Jeff Burroughs Texas Rangers OF Steve Garvey Los Angeles Dodgers* 1B
1975 Fred Lynn Boston Red Sox* OF Joe Morgan Cincinnati Reds* 2B
1976 Thurman Munson New York Yankees* C Joe Morgan (2) Cincinnati Reds* 2B
1977 Rod Carew Minnesota Twins 1B George Foster Cincinnati Reds OF
1978 Jim Rice Boston Red Sox OF Dave Parker Pittsburgh Pirates OF
1979 Don Baylor California Angels LF/DH Keith Hernandez[d] St. Louis Cardinals 1B
Willie Stargell[d] Pittsburgh Pirates* 1B
1980 George Brett Kansas City Royals* 3B Mike Schmidt†§ Philadelphia Phillies* 3B
1981 Rollie Fingers Milwaukee Brewers RHP Mike Schmidt (2) Philadelphia Phillies 3B
1982 Robin Yount Milwaukee Brewers* SS Dale Murphy Atlanta Braves OF
1983 Cal Ripken Jr. Baltimore Orioles* SS Dale Murphy (2) Atlanta Braves OF
1984 Willie Hernández Detroit Tigers* LHP Ryne Sandberg Chicago Cubs 2B
1985 Don Mattingly New York Yankees 1B Willie McGee St. Louis Cardinals* OF
1986 Roger Clemens Boston Red Sox* RHP Mike Schmidt (3) Philadelphia Phillies 3B
1987 George Bell Toronto Blue Jays OF Andre Dawson Chicago Cubs OF
1988 Jose Canseco§ Oakland Athletics* OF Kirk Gibson Los Angeles Dodgers* OF
1989 Robin Yount (2) Milwaukee Brewers OF Kevin Mitchell San Francisco Giants* OF
1990 Rickey Henderson Oakland Athletics* OF Barry Bonds Pittsburgh Pirates OF
1991 Cal Ripken Jr. (2) Baltimore Orioles SS Terry Pendleton Atlanta Braves* 3B
1992 Dennis Eckersley Oakland Athletics RHP Barry Bonds (2) Pittsburgh Pirates OF
1993 Frank Thomas†§ Chicago White Sox 1B Barry Bonds (3) San Francisco Giants OF
1994 Frank Thomas (2) Chicago White Sox 1B Jeff Bagwell†§ Houston Astros 1B
1995 Mo Vaughn Boston Red Sox 1B Barry Larkin Cincinnati Reds SS
1996 Juan González Texas Rangers OF Ken Caminiti§ San Diego Padres 3B
1997 Ken Griffey Jr.†§ Seattle Mariners OF Larry Walker Colorado Rockies OF
1998 Juan González (2) Texas Rangers OF Sammy Sosa Chicago Cubs OF
1999 Iván Rodríguez Texas Rangers C Chipper Jones Atlanta Braves* 3B
2000 Jason Giambi Oakland Athletics 1B Jeff Kent San Francisco Giants 2B
2001 Ichiro Suzuki Seattle Mariners OF Barry Bonds (4) San Francisco Giants OF
2002 Miguel Tejada Oakland Athletics SS Barry Bonds§ (5) San Francisco Giants* OF
2003 Alex Rodriguez Texas Rangers SS Barry Bonds (6) San Francisco Giants OF
2004 Vladimir Guerrero Anaheim Angels OF Barry Bonds (7) San Francisco Giants OF
2005 Alex Rodriguez (2) New York Yankees 3B Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals 1B
2006 Justin Morneau Minnesota Twins 1B Ryan Howard Philadelphia Phillies 1B
2007 Alex Rodriguez (3) New York Yankees 3B Jimmy Rollins Philadelphia Phillies SS
2008 Dustin Pedroia Boston Red Sox 2B Albert Pujols (2) St. Louis Cardinals 1B
2009 Joe Mauer Minnesota Twins C Albert Pujols§ (3) St. Louis Cardinals 1B
2010 Josh Hamilton Texas Rangers* OF Joey Votto Cincinnati Reds 1B
2011 Justin Verlander^ Detroit Tigers RHP Ryan Braun Milwaukee Brewers OF
2012 Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers* 3B Buster Posey San Francisco Giants* C
2013 Miguel Cabrera (2) Detroit Tigers 3B Andrew McCutchen^ Pittsburgh Pirates OF
2014 Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels OF Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers LHP
2015 Josh Donaldson Toronto Blue Jays 3B Bryce Harper Washington Nationals OF
2016 Mike Trout^ (2) Los Angeles Angels OF Kris Bryant^ Chicago Cubs* 3B/OF
2017 Jose Altuve^ Houston Astros* 2B Giancarlo Stanton^ Miami Marlins OF
2018 Mookie Betts^ Boston Red Sox* OF Christian Yelich^ Milwaukee Brewers OF
2019 Mike Trout^ (3) Los Angeles Angels OF Cody Bellinger^ Los Angeles Dodgers OF
2020 José Abreu Chicago White Sox 1B Freddie Freeman^ Atlanta Braves 1B
2021 Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Angels RHP/DH Bryce Harper^ (2) Philadelphia Phillies OF
2022 Aaron Judge^ New York Yankees OF Paul Goldschmidt^ St. Louis Cardinals 1B
2023 Shohei Ohtani (2) Los Angeles Angels RHP/DH Ronald Acuña Jr. Atlanta Braves OF
2024 Aaron Judge (2) New York Yankees* OF Shohei Ohtani (3) Los Angeles Dodgers* DH
2025 Aaron Judge^ (3) New York Yankees OF Shohei Ohtani (4) Los Angeles Dodgers* RHP/DH

Multiple MVP winners

Player # of Awards Years
Barry Bonds 7 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
Shohei Ohtani 4 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025
Yogi Berra 3 1951, 1954, 1955
Roy Campanella 1951, 1953, 1955
Joe DiMaggio 1939, 1941, 1947
Jimmie Foxx 1932, 1933, 1938
Aaron Judge 2022, 2024, 2025
Mickey Mantle 1956, 1957, 1962
Stan Musial 1943, 1946, 1948
Albert Pujols 2005, 2008, 2009
Alex Rodriguez 2003, 2005, 2007
Mike Schmidt 1980, 1981, 1986
Mike Trout 2014, 2016, 2019
Ernie Banks 2 1958, 1959
Johnny Bench 1970, 1972
Miguel Cabrera 2012, 2013
Mickey Cochrane 1928, 1934
Lou Gehrig 1927, 1936
Juan González 1996, 1998
Hank Greenberg 1935, 1940
Bryce Harper 2015, 2021
Rogers Hornsby 1925, 1929
Carl Hubbell 1933, 1936
Walter Johnson 1913, 1924
Roger Maris 1960, 1961
Willie Mays 1954, 1965
Joe Morgan 1975, 1976
Dale Murphy 1982, 1983
Hal Newhouser 1944, 1945
Cal Ripken Jr. 1983, 1991
Frank Robinson 1961, 1966
Frank Thomas 1993, 1994
Ted Williams 1946, 1949
Robin Yount 1982, 1989

Wins by team

Teams Awards Years
New York Yankees 25 1923, 1927, 1936, 1939, 1941–1943, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1954–1957, 1960–1963, 1976, 1985, 2005, 2007, 2022, 2024, 2025
St. Louis Cardinals 21 1925, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1942–1944, 1946, 1948, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1979, 1985, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2022
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers 16 1913, 1924, 1941, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1962, 1963, 1974, 1988, 2014, 2019, 2024, 2025
New York/San Francisco Giants 14 1912, 1933, 1936, 1954, 1965, 1969, 1989, 1993, 2000–2004, 2012
Philadelphia/Oakland Athletics 13 1914, 1928, 1931–1933, 1952, 1971, 1973, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2000, 2002
Cincinnati Reds 12 1938–1940, 1961, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975–1977, 1995, 2010
Detroit Tigers 1911, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1940, 1944, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2011–2013
Boston Red Sox 1912, 1938, 1946, 1949, 1958, 1967, 1975, 1978, 1986, 1995, 2008, 2018
Chicago Cubs 11 1911, 1929, 1935, 1945, 1952, 1958, 1959, 1984, 1987, 1998, 2016
Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves 9 1914, 1947, 1957, 1982, 1983, 1991, 1999, 2020, 2023
Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins 8 1913, 1924, 1925, 1965, 1969, 1977, 2006, 2009
Pittsburgh Pirates 1927, 1960, 1966, 1978, 1979, 1990, 1992, 2013
Philadelphia Phillies 1932, 1950, 1980, 1981, 1986, 2006, 2007, 2021
California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels 7 1979, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2023
Baltimore Orioles/St. Louis Browns 6 1922, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1983, 1991
Texas Rangers 1974, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2010
Milwaukee Brewers 5 1981, 1982, 1989, 2011, 2018
Chicago White Sox 1959, 1972, 1993, 1994, 2020
Cleveland Indians / Guardians 3 1926, 1948, 1953
Seattle Mariners 2 1997, 2001
Toronto Blue Jays 1987, 2015
Houston Astros 1994, 2017
Kansas City Royals 1 1980
San Diego Padres 1996
Colorado Rockies 1997
Washington Nationals 2015
Miami Marlins 2017
Arizona Diamondbacks 0 none
New York Mets none
Tampa Bay Rays none

See also

  • "Players Choice Awards" Player of the Year (in MLB; all positions) (there are also Outstanding Player and Outstanding Pitcher awards (in each league))
  • Baseball America Major League Player of the Year (in MLB; all positions)
  • Baseball Digest Player of the Year (in MLB; position players only; from 1969 to 1993, included all positions; in 1994, a separate Pitcher of the Year award was added)
  • Best Major League Baseball Player ESPY Award (in MLB; all positions)
  • "GIBBY/Esurance MLB Awards" Best Major Leaguer (in MLB; all positions) (there are also Best Hitter and Best Pitcher awards) (discontinued in 2017)
  • The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award (in each league) (discontinued in 1946)
  • The Sporting News Player of the Year (in MLB; position players only)
  • List of Major League Baseball awards
  • Baseball awards

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