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Most Valuable Player
Retroactive Winners, 1876-1900

The modern Most Valuable Player Award was established by Major League Baseball and the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1931. See "MVP" winners, 1900-1919 for some general information and a few sets of retroactive or hypothetical winners for the early 20th century.

STATS, Inc., selected "retroactive" annual award winners beginning in 1876 for The All-Time Major League Baseball Sourcebook (1998) . "We didn't try to guess what the voting trends might have been in a particular era. We concentrated on individual statistics (offensive and defensive) and team performance."

Notes continue below the table.

Retroactive MVP Awards, 1876-1900

Selector STATS, Inc. (1998)
       -played for the pennant winner

National League
1876   -Ross Barnes          2B  Chi
1877   -Deacon White         1B  Bos
1878    Paul Hines           CF  Pro
1879   -John M. Ward         P   Pro
1880   -George Gore          CF  Chi
1881   -Cap Anson            1B  Chi
1882    Dan Brouthers        1B  Buf
1883   -Jim Whitney          P   Bos
1884   -Old Hoss Radbourn    P   Pro
1885   -John Clarkson        P   Chi
1886   -King Kelly           C-U Chi
1887   -Sam Thompson         RF  Det
1888    Cap Anson            1B  Chi
1889    John Clarkson        P   Bos
1890   -Oyster Burns         RF  Bro
1891    Billy Hamilton       LF  Phi
1892    Dan Brouthers        1B  Bro
1893    Ed Delahanty         LF  Phi
1894    Hugh Duffy           CF  Bos
1895   -Hughie Jennings      SS  Bal
1896   -Hughie Jennings      SS  Bal
1897    George Davis         SS  NY
1898   -Billy Hamilton       CF  Bos
1899    Ed Delahanty         LF  Phi
1900    Honus Wagner         RF  Pit

American Association
1882    Pete Browning        2B  Lou
1883   -Harry Stovey         1B  Phi
1884    Guy Hecker           P   Lou
1885   -Bob Caruthers        P   SL
1886   -Bob Caruthers        P   SL
1887   -Tip O'Neill          LF  SL
1888   -Silver King          P   SL
1889    Tommy Tucker         1B  Bal
1890   -Jimmy Wolf           RF  Lou
1891   -Dan Brouthers        1B  Bos

Union Association
1884   -Fred Dunlap          2B  SL

Players' League
1890    Roger Connor         1B  NY

Position. 19th century pitchers carried heavy workloads and achieved achieved statistical wonders by modern standards. The STATS selections show restraint with only 9 winning pitchers for 37 awards.
             P  C : 1B 2B SS 3B : LF CF RF  += sum
NL           5  1    5  1  3  0    3  4  3   = 25
other        4  0    4  2  0  0    1  0  1   = 12
total        9  1    9  3  3  0    4  4  4   = 37
Deacon White was the best batting catcher of the 1870s, his main position each year except 1877; he wins the STATS Award for that season, his best as a batter. Pete Browning wins as a rookie infielder; he played in the outfield after 1884. King Kelly wins in the only season he did not play at least half of his games at one fielding position; roughly, he played mainly outfield before 1886 and mainly catcher afterward. Billy Hamilton wins one in left field and another in his center, where he was a fixture during his last eight seasons. Ed Delahanty wins two in left field, the first one immediately upon switching positions with Hamilton. George Davis wins one at shortstop in his 8th season and his first of twelve at that position. Honus Wagner wins one, the first of his six, as Pittsburgh's regular right fielder.

First-Place MVPs. Players on pennant-winning teams win 23 of 37 MVPs named by STATS.

Repeat MVPs. Dan Brouthers wins three STATS awards; Cap Anson, Bob Caruthers, John Clarkson, Hugh Jennings, Billy Hamilton, and Ed Delahanty two each. Honus Wagner wins the first of six at the close of the century.

Acknowledgments. STATS, Inc., The All-Time Major League Baseball Sourcebook (1998). Bill Deane, "Awards and Honors", Total Baseball (any edition), covers the history of official MVP awards and names hypothetical winners beginning in 1900.


2005-06-05
Paul Wendt
© Society for American Baseball Research, 2005