The first World Series was played in 1903, but it wasn't until 1955 that the Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Award was given out. The World Series MVP is cool in the fact that it is not always the team's best overall player that wins the award. Anyone can get hot over a seven-game series, and it has made for plenty of interesting WS MVP winners. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of legends who have won the award, but the World Series MVP isn't just flooded with Hall of Famers like many other sports championship MVP winners are. Below is a list of every WS MVP, along with some history on the award.
Year-by-year World Series MVP winners
1955: Johnny Podres, Brooklyn Dodgers, starting pitcher
1956: Don Larsen, New York Yankees, starting pitcher
1957: Lew Burdette, Milwaukee Braves, starting pitcher
1958: Bob Turley, New York Yankees, pitcher
1959: Larry Sherry, Los Angeles Dodgers, relief pitcher
1960: Bobby Richardson, New York Yankees, second baseman
1961: Whitey Ford, New York Yankees, starting pitcher
1962: Ralph Terry, New York Yankees, starting pitcher
1963: Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers, starting pitcher
1964: Bob Gibson, St. Louis Cardinals, starting pitcher
1965: Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers, starting pitchers
1966: Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, outfielder
1967: Bob Gibson, St. Louis Cardinals, starting pitcher
1968: Mickey Lolich, Detroit Tigers, starting pitcher
1969: Donn Clendenon, New York Mets, first baseman
1970: Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, third baseman
1971: Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirates, outfielder
1972: Gene Tenace, Oakland Athletics, catcher
1973: Reggie Jackson, Oakland Athletics, outfielder
1974: Rollie Fingers, Oakland Athletics, relief pitcher
1975: Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds, third baseman
1976: Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds, catcher
1977: Reggie Jackson, New York Yankees, outfielder
1978: Bucky Dent, New York Yankees, shortstop
1979: Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates, first baseman
1980: Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies, third baseman
1981: Ron Cey (third baseman)/Pedro Guerrero (outfielder)/Steve Yeager (catcher), Los Angeles Dodgers
1982:Darrell Porter, St. Louis Cardinals, catcher
1983: Rick Dempsey, Baltimore Orioles, catcher
1984: Alan Trammell, Detroit Tigers, shortstop
1985: Bret Saberhagen, Kansas City Royals, starting pitcher
1986: Ray Knight, New York Mets, third baseman
1987: Frank Viola, Minnesota Twins, starting pitcher
1988: Orel Hershiser, Los Angeles Dodgers, starting pitcher
1989: Dave Stewart, Oakland Athletics, starting pitcher
1990: Jose Rijo, Cincinnati Reds, starting pitcher
1991: Jack Morris: Minnesota Twins, starting pitcher
1992: Pat Borders, Toronto Blue Jays, catcher
1993: Paul Molitor, Toronto Blue Jays, utility
1994: No World Series
1995: Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves, starting pitcher
1996: John Wetteland, New York Yankees, relief pitcher
1997: Livan Hernandez, Florida Marlins, starting pitcher
1998: Scott Brosius, New York Yankees, third baseman
1999: Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, relief pitcher
2000: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees, shortstop
2001: Randy Johnson (pitcher)/Curt Schilling (pitcher), Arizona Diamondbacks
2002: Troy Glaus, Anaheim Angels, third baseman
2003: Josh Beckett, Florida Marlins, starting pitcher
2004: Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox, outfielder
2005: Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox, outfielder
2006: David Eckstein, St. Louis Caridinals, shortstop
2007: Mike Lowell, Boston Red Sox, third baseman
2008: Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies, starting pitcher
2009: Hideki Matsui, New York Yankees, designated hitter
2010: Edgar Renteria, San Francisco Giants, shortstop
2011: David Freese, St. Louis Cardinals, third baseman
2012: Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants. third baseman
2013: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox, designated hitter
2014: Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants, starting pitcher
2015: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals, catcher
2016: Ben Zobrist, Chicago Cubs, outfielder
2017: George Springer, Houston Astros, outfielder
2018: Steve Pearce, Boston Red Sox, first baseman
2019: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals, starting pitcher
2020: Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers, shortstop
2021: Jorge Soler, Atlanta Braves, designated hitter
2022: Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros, shortstop
Multi-time winners
Only three players have won the award multiple times. Sandy Koufax was the first to do it in 1965, and Bob Gibson did it two years later in 1967. Reggie Jackson is the most recent player to accomplish the feat, winning a second award in 1977. All three of the players won the award twice, and no one has been named World Series MVP three times.
World Series MVP history
Until 2017, the award was a sized-down version of the Commissioner's Trophy, which is the trophy handed out to the Fall Classic winner. In 2017, the award was renamed the Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player Award, and with that, the trophy was changed to Mays' iconic catch from the 1954 Fall Classic. That year was Mays' rookie year and the only year he won the World Series. Unfortunately, it was the last year before the World Series MVP was handed out, meaning Mays was never named World Series MVP.
In 1955, Johnny Podres won the inaugural World Series MVP. The award has been given out every year since, except for in 1994, when there was no Fall Classic because of the player's strike.
Only once has an MVP been named in a losing effort. This was in 1960 when Bobby Richardson was named MVP after hitting 12 RBIs and a grand slam. Richardson – a second baseman – was also the first-position player to win the award.
Overall, 29 pitchers have been named WS MVP, four of which were relief pitchers. Positions players have been selected as MVP 40 times. 10 third basemen, nine outfielders, seven catchers and shortstops, and three designated hitters and first basemen have won. No second baseman has won the award since Bobby Richardson.
Three rookies have won the award. This includes Jeremy Pena, last season's winner and the first rookie position player to win. The other two rookies were Larry Sherry in 1959 and Livan Hernandez in 1997.
The Yankees have the most World Series MVP winners with 12. Pitchers were predominately chosen for the award in the early days of it. Twelve of the first 14 World Series MVPs were pitchers. Twenty-two winners are now in the Hall of Fame.
Twice before, multiple World Series MVPs were chosen. In 1981, Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager were all named MVP when the Dodgers won the World Series. When the Diamondbacks won their first and only World Series in 2001, both Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were named MVP. Ironically, the Diamondbacks are making their second World Series appearance this year.
The 2023 World Series will also feature a former MVP. Corey Seager won World Series MVP with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 and is now on the Texas Rangers. The Rangers will play the Diamondbacks in the World Series starting on Oct. 27.