The "Water Cooler" talk of 1986
The MVP race between Roger Clemens and Don Mattingly
Roger Clemens won the American League MVP Award in 1986 and I believe the baseball writers got it wrong.
First, pitchers have their own award (Cy Young Award) and second, a starting pitcher only plays in 20% of the games.
I'll be the first to admit Clemens had one of the best seasons of all time. He won his first 14 starts of the season and went on to lead the league in wins, ERA and finished 2nd in strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Don Mattingly coming off an MVP Award in 1985 played in every single game in 1986 and led the league in plate appearances. Talk about valuable!
Mattingly finished 2nd in batting average, 7th in home runs, 5th in RBI's, 1st in slugging, 1st in total bases, 1st in doubles and 1st in extra base hits.
Roger Clemens Stats
Games: 33
Record: 24-4
ERA: 2.48
Strikeouts: 238
Don Mattingly Stats
Games: 162
Plate Appearances: 742
At Bats: 677
Hits: 238
AVG: .352
Home Runs: 31
RBI: 113
Doubles: 53
Slugging: .573
Extra Base Hits: 86
Fun Facts!
American League MVP
1980 - George Brett (3B)
Kansas City Royals
1981 - Rollie Fingers (P)
Milwaukee Brewers
1982 - Robin Yount (SS)
Milwaukee Brewers
1983 - Cal Ripken (SS)
Baltimore Orioles
1984 - Willie Hernandez (P)
Detroit Tigers
1985 - Don Mattingly (OF)
New York Yankees
1986 - Roger Clemens (P)
Boston Red Sox
1987 - George Bell (OF)
Toronto Blue Jays
1988 - Jose Canseco (OF)
Oakland A's
1989 - Robin Yount (OF)
Milwaukee Brewers
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National League MVP
1980 - Mike Schmidt (3B)
Philadelphia Phillies
1981 - Mike Schmidt (3B)
Philadelphia Phillies
1982 - Dale Murphy (OF)
Atlanta Braves
1983 - Dale Murphy (OF)
Atlanta Braves
1984 - Ryne Sandberg (2B)
Chicago Cubs
1985 - Willie McGee (OF)
St. Louis Cardinals
1986 - Mike Schmidt (3B)
Philadelphia Phillies
1987 - Andre Dawson (OF)
Chicago Cubs
1988 - Kirk Gibson (OF)
Los Angeles Dodgers
1989 - Kevin Mitchell (OF)
San Francisco Giants