clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Best Single Season WAR (without winning the MVP)

When I first started talking about Wins Above MVP Level, commenter bdunc8 asked:

Which 10 non-MVP’s had the highest WAR?

Armed with a shiny new download of Rally's WAR database, I aim to please. Here they are:

Highest Single-Season Wins Above Replacement, since 1900, among non-MVPs
Name Year WAR MVP Winner MVP WAR
Babe Ruth 1921 14.0 (None)  
Rogers Hornsby 1924 13.0 Dazzy Vance 9.1
Babe Ruth 1920 12.9 (None)  
Babe Ruth 1927 12.8 Lou Gehrig 12.0
Steve Carlton 1972 12.2 Johnny Bench 9.1
Babe Ruth 1926 12.0 George Burns 4.5
Babe Ruth 1924 11.9 Walter Johnson 6.2
Ty Cobb 1917 11.9 (None)  
Mickey Mantle 1961 11.9 Roger Maris 7.2
Walter Johnson 1912 11.8 Tris Speaker 11.0
Rogers Hornsby 1921 11.7 (None)  
Dwight Gooden 1985 11.7 Willie McGee 8.5
Honus Wagner 1908 11.6 (None)  
Babe Ruth 1931 11.4 Lefty Grove 9.4
Sammy Sosa* 2001 11.4 Barry Bonds 12.5
Ted Williams 1941 11.3 Joe DiMaggio 9.4
Cy Young 1901 11.2 (None)  
Ty Cobb 1915 11.1 (None)  
Ty Cobb 1910 11.0 (None)  
Ted Williams 1942 11.0 Joe Gordon 8.4
Babe Ruth 1928 11.0 Mickey Cochrane 3.7
Alex Rodriguez 2000 11.0 Jason Giambi 8.7
Bob Gibson 1969 11.0 Willie McCovey 8.9

* Sosa, while ranked so highly here, actually did post a lower WAR than the MVP winner. They just both happened to be remarkable.

In many cases, the MVP winner (like Gehrig, Speaker, DiMaggio, and others) had a tremendous season in his own right, but there are certainly a couple head scratchers on here. Ruth appears on this list seven times (twice there was no MVP awarded). He came close to tripling the WAR total of MVPs George Burns and Mickey Cochrane.