The MVPs for each league in the MLB were just announced, which means I can finally declare that I am the best predictor ever! Well, I actually only went six for eight this year in terms of predicting all eight main MLB awards, but I'm sure Red Sox fans would have gone zero for one if they tried to guess the 1941 AL MVP.
1941 was a big year for the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry because the best players on each team were having arguably the best seasons of their careers. Ted Williams of the BoSox batted a league-leading .406 and has since been the last man ever to bat over .400. He also led the American League in home runs with 37 and his OBP was an astounding .553, the third-best single-season OBP in baseball history! Oh, and his 125 RBIs weren't too shabby, either.
Over in the Bronx, Joe DiMaggio was cooking up a season for the ages as well. Joltin' Joe broke the record for the most consecutive games with a hit at 56, a record that still stands today. DiMaggio led the league in RBIs with 125 and hit 30 home runs. The Yankee Clipper also batted .357, third in the AL only to Williams and Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators. The main point of me telling you all this is that Williams and DiMaggio were the top two in AL MVP voting in 1941, but who actually won the award?
The answer is the man who appeared in an All Star Game in every single season he played in the MLB: Joe DiMaggio! I know that Red Sox fans can't believe that the Splendid Splinter was victimized by the Bronx Bombers yet again, but DiMaggio had some good justification for winning this award: the Yankees won the World Series. Yes, the idea that the MVP must be on a good team to prove his value to the team is a bit controversial, but that has to be the reason that DiMaggio got the '41 MVP, because if the Yankees swapped records with the Red Sox, I guarantee that Williams would have won the MVP. The Red Sox finished with a record of 84-70, 17 games back of the pennant-winning Yankees. Sorry, Boston, but I will admit that Williams probably deserved the award more than DiMaggio, because his 1941 batting average has not been topped since then.
What do you think? Who deserved the 1941 AL MVP? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Anyway, thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."
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