Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams deserved more MVP Awards

Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams won two MVP awards in his career but the Hall of Famer deserved to win more than that.

Ted Williams was the greatest hitter who ever lived and he’d be the first to tell you so. He complied a resume of prolific accomplishments during his 19-year career with the Boston Red Sox but didn’t have the hardware to match the production. Williams won the American League MVP Award twice but there were multiple years when he was robbed.

The period that Williams played in was vastly different from today’s game. MLB was split into the two leagues we still have today but there were no divisions or Wild Cards. The top team in each league would earn a trip to the World Series. MVP voters tend to favor players from playoff teams and the Red Sox only made the postseason once during Teddy Ballgame’s career. Under today’s playoff structure, Williams would have had more opportunities to shine on the October stage.

His team falling short in the standings cost him some votes for an individual award. It’s fair to hold it against a productive player on a bad team since they play in fewer meaningful games. That was the case for Williams on some of the disappointing teams he played on in the 1950s.

However, there were many times in his career when the Red Sox were in the hunt that Williams deserved the MVP based on his superior production only for him to have the honor stolen by a player on a better team.