Photo: Aaron Judge - Instagram
Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge
The Brewers didn’t get the result they wanted on Sunday, but they might have played a significant part in the race for American League MVP.
After keeping him quiet for much of the weekend the Brewers let Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge show off everything he can do on Sunday. The five hardest-hit balls in the 12-8 game all came off his bat, with the slowest clocked at 110.3 miles per hour. Two of those batted balls were his 58th and 59th home runs of the season, and it’s become all but a formality that he’ll reach and exceed the American League record of 61 before the season is over. He also has a chance to do this while winning a batting title. It’s possible he’s having the best offensive season in modern history.
He is not, however, a lock to win the AL MVP because Shohei Ohtani is also having a historically relevant season. A year after being the only successful full-time two-way player in a century, Ohtani is having another season on that level in 2022. His offensive numbers have fallen off slightly, but he’s already thrown more innings this season than he did all of last year and has been more effective in those outings, lowering his ERA by seven tenths of a run, striking out more batters and walking fewer.
There is likely to be significant debate in the months ahead about which of these players deserves the award, but the reality is that it’s unfortunate that only one can win. As the two players wrap up seasons for the ages, it’s not fair that only one of them can receive this honor.
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Of course, not every great season ends with an MVP award. Here are some of the top performances by Brewers who were snubbed by awards voters:
Tommy Harper, 1970
Harper set a franchise record that stands to this day by stealing 73 bases for the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969, but he followed the team to Milwaukee in 1970 and had a significantly more valuable and well-rounded season. He had never slugged more than .400 in a season before he had a .522 mark in 1970, and for 40 years he stood alone as the only Brewer ever to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season (he had 31 and 38, respectively).
Baseball Reference would later credit Harper with 7.4 Wins Above Replacement for that season, fourth best in the American League. The Brewers’ 65-97 record, however, likely kept Harper from getting the notice he deserved for his excellent campaign. The MVP award instead went to Orioles first baseman Boog Powell, the best hitter on a team that won 108 regular season games. Harper finished sixth in the voting.
Robin Yount, 1983
Yount won the AL MVP in 1982 for a season where he batted .331 and led the American League in both hits (210) and slugging percentage (.578). That season was the best one-year performance by a Brewers position player in franchise history, but Yount’s 1983 season was almost as good. He batted .308 with a .383 on-base and .503 slugging as a shortstop in a year where the average American League player at that position batted .261/.311/.370.
Yount, however, was outshined by another generational talent at his same position: Cal Ripken Jr. played in every game that season, led the American League in hits (211), runs (121) and doubles (47), swatted 27 home runs and played for a team that won the American League East while the Brewers fell back to fifth place. At least in part because of the Brewers’ lackluster finish and in part because he split the local vote with Cecil Cooper, Yount finished 18th that season’s MVP voting.
Carlos Gomez, 2013
After years of waiting to see it, Carlos Gomez finally grew into his full potential as an MLB player in his age 27 season in 2013. He was a first-time All Star and Gold Glove Award center fielder who also batted .284 with a .338 on-base and .506 slugging, connecting for 24 home runs and stealing 40 bases.
Defensive metrics were still relatively new at the time, however, and quantifying the value Gomez generated with his excellent defense was difficult at best. He was overshadowed in that season’s award voting by Andrew McCutchen, a center fielder who had similar value overall but was a better player offensively. Despite being third in the National League in Baseball Reference’s version of Wins Above Replacement (behind McCutchen and Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw) Gomez finished ninth in the league’s MVP voting.
