The Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given to the
Major League Baseball (MLB) player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the
World Series,[1] which is the final round of the
MLB postseason. The award was first presented in 1955 as the
SPORT Magazine Award, but is now decided during the final game of the Series by a committee of reporters and officials present at the game.[2][3]
On September 29, 2017, it was renamed in honor of
Willie Mays in remembrance of the 63rd anniversary of
The Catch, which occurred the year before the award's debut;[4] Mays never won the award himself.
Pitchers have been named Series MVP twenty-nine (29) times; four of them were
relief pitchers. Twelve of the first fourteen World Series MVPs were won by pitchers; from 1969 until 1986, the proportion of pitcher MVPs declined—
Rollie Fingers (1974) and
Bret Saberhagen (1985) were the only two pitchers to win the award in this period. From 1987 until 1991, all of the World Series MVPs were pitchers, and, since 1995, pitchers have won the award nine times. The most recent pitcher to win the award is
Stephen Strasburg, who won in 2019.
Trophy
Up until 2017, the World Series MVP trophy was similar to the
Commissioner's Trophy, albeit scaled down and with a single large gold-plated flag. After being renamed to Willie Mays World Series MVP Award for the 2018 edition and onward, the trophy is a wooden pedestal topped by a bronze sculpture of Willie Mays making the
iconic catch in the 1954 World Series.[4]
General Motors has provided a vehicle to the World Series MVP winner for 14 straight seasons through 2018.[5] Since 2019, Disney Parks, Products and Experiences has sponsored the award.
Winners
Key
Year
Links to the article about that corresponding World Series
In 1977,
Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in the deciding game, taking the nickname "Mr. October", in which October is the month of the MLB postseason;[100] Jackson had a total of five home runs in the series, a World Series record.[98]
Hideki Matsui, the 2009 winner, batted in six runs in the sixth game of the
2009 World Series, tying Richardson's record for most runs batted in for a single World Series game. Matsui became the first Japanese-born player to win the award, as well as the first player to win it as a full-time designated hitter.[105][106] He is also the only player named both a World Series and a
Japan Series MVP.[107]
Four players have won the award twice:
Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965),
Bob Gibson (1964, 1967), Jackson (1973, 1977), and
Corey Seager (2020, 2023). Jackson and Seager are the only players to have won the award with two different teams, while Seager is the first player to win the award in both leagues.[108]
There have been two occasions on which multiple winners were awarded in the same World Series:
Ron Cey,
Pedro Guerrero, and
Steve Yeager in 1981,[33] and Johnson and Schilling in 2001. The duo of Johnson and Schilling combined for all four of Arizona's wins in the
2001 World Series; Johnson had three of them.[56]
Twelve of the fifty-eight World Series MVPs have also won the
MLB MVP, the
Cy Young Award, or the
LCS MVP in the same season. Koufax (1963),
Frank Robinson (1966), Jackson (1973), Stargell, and
Mike Schmidt (1980) are the only players to have won the MLB MVP and the World Series MVP. A total of six players won the Cy Young Award and the World Series MVP in the same season:
Bob Turley (1958),
Whitey Ford (1961), Koufax (1963, 1965),
Bret Saberhagen (1985),
Orel Hershiser (1988), and Johnson (2001).
Koufax (1963) is the only person to have won the Cy Young Award, the MLB MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season, while Stargell (1979) is the only person to have won the MLB MVP, the LCS MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season. Hershiser (1988) won the Cy Young Award, the LCS MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season.[109][110][111]
In the 4th inning of the 2015 All-Star Game, 2014 World Series MVP
Madison Bumgarner pitched to future 2015 World Series MVP
Salvador Pérez, who struck out but reached first due to a passed ball. This was the first time the previous year's MVP faced the current year's future MVP in the All-Star Game. Bumgarner and Pérez also faced each other in the final play of the 2014 World Series: Pérez popped out.
^Dickson, Paul (2011).
The Dickson Baseball Dictionary (Third ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 945.
ISBN9780393073492. Retrieved October 31, 2019. The SPORT Magazine Award, an annual award presented since 1955, originally by SPORT magazine in cooperation with the Chevrolet Motor Co. (the magazine ceased publication in 2000 and is no longer involved with the award).
The Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given to the
Major League Baseball (MLB) player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the
World Series,[1] which is the final round of the
MLB postseason. The award was first presented in 1955 as the
SPORT Magazine Award, but is now decided during the final game of the Series by a committee of reporters and officials present at the game.[2][3]
On September 29, 2017, it was renamed in honor of
Willie Mays in remembrance of the 63rd anniversary of
The Catch, which occurred the year before the award's debut;[4] Mays never won the award himself.
Pitchers have been named Series MVP twenty-nine (29) times; four of them were
relief pitchers. Twelve of the first fourteen World Series MVPs were won by pitchers; from 1969 until 1986, the proportion of pitcher MVPs declined—
Rollie Fingers (1974) and
Bret Saberhagen (1985) were the only two pitchers to win the award in this period. From 1987 until 1991, all of the World Series MVPs were pitchers, and, since 1995, pitchers have won the award nine times. The most recent pitcher to win the award is
Stephen Strasburg, who won in 2019.
Trophy
Up until 2017, the World Series MVP trophy was similar to the
Commissioner's Trophy, albeit scaled down and with a single large gold-plated flag. After being renamed to Willie Mays World Series MVP Award for the 2018 edition and onward, the trophy is a wooden pedestal topped by a bronze sculpture of Willie Mays making the
iconic catch in the 1954 World Series.[4]
General Motors has provided a vehicle to the World Series MVP winner for 14 straight seasons through 2018.[5] Since 2019, Disney Parks, Products and Experiences has sponsored the award.
Winners
Key
Year
Links to the article about that corresponding World Series
In 1977,
Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in the deciding game, taking the nickname "Mr. October", in which October is the month of the MLB postseason;[100] Jackson had a total of five home runs in the series, a World Series record.[98]
Hideki Matsui, the 2009 winner, batted in six runs in the sixth game of the
2009 World Series, tying Richardson's record for most runs batted in for a single World Series game. Matsui became the first Japanese-born player to win the award, as well as the first player to win it as a full-time designated hitter.[105][106] He is also the only player named both a World Series and a
Japan Series MVP.[107]
Four players have won the award twice:
Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965),
Bob Gibson (1964, 1967), Jackson (1973, 1977), and
Corey Seager (2020, 2023). Jackson and Seager are the only players to have won the award with two different teams, while Seager is the first player to win the award in both leagues.[108]
There have been two occasions on which multiple winners were awarded in the same World Series:
Ron Cey,
Pedro Guerrero, and
Steve Yeager in 1981,[33] and Johnson and Schilling in 2001. The duo of Johnson and Schilling combined for all four of Arizona's wins in the
2001 World Series; Johnson had three of them.[56]
Twelve of the fifty-eight World Series MVPs have also won the
MLB MVP, the
Cy Young Award, or the
LCS MVP in the same season. Koufax (1963),
Frank Robinson (1966), Jackson (1973), Stargell, and
Mike Schmidt (1980) are the only players to have won the MLB MVP and the World Series MVP. A total of six players won the Cy Young Award and the World Series MVP in the same season:
Bob Turley (1958),
Whitey Ford (1961), Koufax (1963, 1965),
Bret Saberhagen (1985),
Orel Hershiser (1988), and Johnson (2001).
Koufax (1963) is the only person to have won the Cy Young Award, the MLB MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season, while Stargell (1979) is the only person to have won the MLB MVP, the LCS MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season. Hershiser (1988) won the Cy Young Award, the LCS MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season.[109][110][111]
In the 4th inning of the 2015 All-Star Game, 2014 World Series MVP
Madison Bumgarner pitched to future 2015 World Series MVP
Salvador Pérez, who struck out but reached first due to a passed ball. This was the first time the previous year's MVP faced the current year's future MVP in the All-Star Game. Bumgarner and Pérez also faced each other in the final play of the 2014 World Series: Pérez popped out.
^Dickson, Paul (2011).
The Dickson Baseball Dictionary (Third ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 945.
ISBN9780393073492. Retrieved October 31, 2019. The SPORT Magazine Award, an annual award presented since 1955, originally by SPORT magazine in cooperation with the Chevrolet Motor Co. (the magazine ceased publication in 2000 and is no longer involved with the award).