The New York Yankees Past Most Valuable Players

Monday Major League Baseball announced that the 2007 American League MVP is Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. The New York Yankees are the most successful franchise in Major League Baseball history so it's no surprise that Alex Rodriguez is just one in a long line of American League MVP award winners from the Yankees. These are the many New York Yankees that have received the award.

Babe Ruth (1923)
The first member of the New York Yankees to win the American League MVP was none other than the Great Bambino, Babe Ruth. In 1923 Babe Ruth hit 41 homeruns and batted .393 with a 1.309 OPS on his way to receiving every first place vote. It was actually Babe Ruth's only MVP award.

Lou Gehrig (1927, 1936)
Lou Gehrig was a two time winner of the American League MVP. In 1927 Lou Gehrig hit 47 homeruns, 33 more than the second place finisher Harry Heilmann. In 1936 Lou Gehrig got tougher competition from Luke Appling but Gehrig barely pulled out the win by 8 points in the voting.

Joe DiMaggio (1939, 1941, 1947)
Joe DiMaggio's three MVP awards with the New York Yankees is even more impressive when you think about the stiff competition that DiMaggio had. In 1939 Jimmie Foxx hit 35 homeruns, a .360 average and 1.159 OPS and Joe DiMaggio still got 15 first place votes to Foxx's 1. In 1941 Joe DiMaggio won the American League MVP over Ted Williams, even though Williams hit .406 that season. In 1947 Joe DiMaggio defeated Ted Williams again even though Williams had more homeruns, a higher batting average and a higher OPS.

Joe Gordon (1942)
Ted Williams must have really hated New York Yankees. It was bad enough that Joe DiMaggio took two American League MVP awards from him but now he was losing to Joe Gordon too? Gordon batted .322 with a .900 OPS but Williams batted .356 with a 1.147 OPS.

Spud Chandler (1943)
In 1943 another member of the New York Yankees won the American League but it wasn't a household name like Mantle, Ruth or DiMaggio. The 1943 American League MVP was Spud Chandler. At this point I'm not sure the voters didn't just pick somebody at random because Spud Chandler's .258 average wasn't really MVP quality.

Phil Rizzuto (1950)
Phil Rizzuto won his one and only MVP award in 1950. Rizzuto got 15 first place votes, a healthy lead over Billy Goodman. Rizzuto's teammate Yogi Berra finished third.

Yogi Berra (1951, 1954)
In 1951 Yogi Berra finished with the same amount of first place votes in the American League MVP race as Ned Garver but got more second place votes inched Berra past Garver. In 1954 there was another tight race for the American League MVP but Yogi Berra again pulled out the victory, this time over Larry Doby.

Mickey Mantle (1955, 1956, 1962)
Mickey Mantle is another New York Yankee that has won three MVP awards. The first came in 1955 when Mantle hit 52 homeruns and got all 24 first place votes. The next season Mickey Mantle hit another 52 homeruns and won the MVP unanimously again. Mantle won his third American League MVP in 1962 but since he only hit 30 homeruns he didn't win unanimously.

Roger Maris (1960, 1961)
In 1960 Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle finished first and second in the homerun race. Mickey Mantle won and got more first place votes but Roger Maris won the MVP by 3 points in the voting. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle finished first and second in the American League MVP voting again in 1961 but this time Roger Maris hit his record breaking 61 homeruns and won by a good distance. Although Mickey Mantle did still get some first place votes.

Elston Howard (1963)
In 1963 Elston Howard won the American League MVP by a good distance despite finishing behind Al Kaline in several offensive numbers.

Thurman Munson (1976)
In 1976 Thurman Munson hit 17 homeruns and batted .302 on his way to winning the American League MVP. Munson defeated George Brett and his teammate Mickey Rivers in the MVP voting.

Don Mattingly (1985)
Before Alex Rodriguez the last member of the New York Yankees to win the American League MVP was Don Mattingly. Don Mattingly defeated George Brett in the MVP voting thanks to leading the league in hits.

Alex Rodriguez (2005, 2007)
It would be another 20 years before one of the New York Yankees won the American League MVP but in 2005 Alex Rodriguez edged out David Ortiz in the voting. Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz had similar numbers but some voted for Rodriguez because he plays in the field and Ortiz plays designated hitter.