12 Hall of Famers Who Were Named World Series Most Valuable Players

There have been an even dozen Hall of Fame baseball players that have been also named the Most Valuable Player of the World Series. The list would contain more names, but the award has been only given out since 1955, hence players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Dizzy Dean, and Joe DiMaggio are not on it. Of these dozen, there are three Hall of Famers that have twice been named World Series MVP, two pitchers and a feared slugger called Mr. October. Also, there are several players that are still active that will be in the Hall of Fame when they are done that have been named MVP of a World Series, including Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera of the Yankees, Manny Ramirez of Boston, Tom Glavine with the Braves in 1995, and Randy Johnson of Arizona.

We will concentrate on those already in Cooperstown that achieved this feat, a World Series MVP. The first Hall of Famer to do so was Yankee left-hander Whitey Ford in 1961, as he was coming off a fantastic 25-4 campaign. Ford shut out the Reds 2-0 on a pair of hits in the opener and then won Game Four 7-0, leaving after five scoreless frames. Yankee sluggers Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris went a combined 3 for 25 in this Fall Classic, making Ford an easy choice for MVP as New York won four games to one.

Two years later Dodger lefty Sandy Koufax won the first of his two Series MVPs when he held New York to just 12 hits in two complete game contests, striking out 23. Two years later he rebounded from a Game Two defeat at the hands of the Twins to come back and shut them out in Game Five on 4 hits and in Game Seven three days later on 3 hits. Koufax was so good that Yogi Berra remarked, "I could understand how he won 25 games (in 1963), but what I don't understand is how he lost 5."

Bob Gibson in 1964 and again in 1967 walked away as the World Series MVP, when the future Hall of Famer won Game Seven in both cases, one versus the Yanks and the other against the Red Sox. Gibson could have won a third Series MVP in 1968, as he set a record with 17 strikeouts in Game One and won Game Four 10-1. But Curt Flood turned a Jim Northrup drive into a two-run triple in Game Seven, and Gibson, who threw three complete games and fanned 35, lost to eventual MVP Mickey Lolich, who won three games for the prevailing Tigers.

In between the Koufax and Gibson shows, Orioles' outfielder Frank Robinson won a Series MVP on the strength of just four base hits. Two of those were homers, the final one winning Game Four over the punchless Dodgers 1-0 in a Baltimore sweep. Four years later in 1970, Brooks Robinson of the Birds killed the Reds with his bat and glove to take home MVP honors in the post-season. Robinson knocked in 6 runs, hit 2 homers, and filled the highlight reel with enough great plays at third base to easily capture the award.

Pirate outfielder Roberto Clemente batted .414 in the 1971 Series to win the MVP in a thrilling seven game extravaganza with Baltimore. Clemente was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973 on a special exemption of the five year waiting period after he died at sea in a plane crash while trying to help Nicaraguan earthquake victims. Reggie Jackson is the only man to win World Series MVP Awards for two different teams as he did it with Oakland in 1973 against the Mets and with the Yankees in 1978, hitting 5 home runs against the Dodgers, 3 of those in the clinching Game Six. His two-run homer in Game Seven against the Mets in '73 provided the winning runs in a 5-2 triumph.

Rollie Fingers won a game and saved two others in the 1974 Series for the A's as they chased the Dodgers in five, using only five pitchers the entire time. Fingers was the first Hall of Fame reliever to be named a World Series MVP, and will be the only one with the honor until Rivera is inducted once he retires. Johnny Bench's dazzling 1976 display of hitting and catching clinched the MVP for him, as he batted .533 with a couple of home runs. Willie Stargell's three home runs, including the Game Seven winner that led the Pirates back from a 3-1 deficit in games to the Orioles in 1979, persuaded the writers to name him World Series MVP. In a battle of future Hall of Fame third basemen in 1980, the Phillies Mike Schmidt was a bit better than the Royals George Brett, enabling him to take home the MVP. Philly won in six contests as Schmidt blasted two home runs, including a big one in the fourth inning of the critical fifth game.

The last Hall of Famer to earn a World Series MVP was Toronto's Paul Molitor, who hit a startling .500 against the Phillies in the 1993 affair. Molitor had just finished his first 100 RBI season at the age of 36 before he destroyed post-season pitching; Paul had batted .391 against the White Sox in the League Championship Series and wound up with a career .368 average in 29 playoff and World Series tilts.