The Boston Red Sox 11 MVP-winning seasons, ranked

There have been 11 MVP award-winning seasons in Red Sox history, which feels like a number that is far too small. So today, we decided to compare the MVP seasons for Red Sox players against their year's voting results, the rest of the players in the league at that point, and the other Red Sox MVP winners to try and come up with a definitive ranking of who had the greatest season of all time for the Boston Red Sox.

This does mean that seasons like Pedro Martinez in 1999 (and 2000), Manny Ramirez in 2004, and David Ortiz in 2006 are not eligible for this ranking because they did not win MVP those years. While this ranking may be somewhat arbitrary due to the fickle nature of an award given out by baseball writers, sometimes we just have to take what baseball history gives us.

No. 11: Jackie Jensen, 1958

Going into this, I figured that the next MVP winner on this list was surely going to take last place, but then I dove into Jackie Jensen's 1958 season. The idea of a "best player on the best team" argument doesn't even work for Jensen, as the Red Sox finished third in the American League, well behind the pennant-winning Yankees. This award should probably have been given to Mickey Mantle, who finished 5th in voting after winning the previous 2 MVPs.

Jensen was a perfectly solid player for the Red Sox, accumulating 4.9 WAR in the season while leading the league with 122 RBIs that season. However, Mantle was just a much better player than Jensen. Mantle accumulated 8.7 WAR, led the American League in home runs (42), runs scored (127) and walks (129), and led the Yankees to another World Series title that season. The voting showed that the writers were split on the winner, with Jensen receiving only nine of the 24 first-place votes, winning the award based on voting points. Stealing an MVP from the Yankees is always satisfying, there's no denying that. However, Jackie Jensen honestly did not deserve this MVP.

No. 10: Mo Vaughn, 1995

Ask anyone who remembers the 1995 baseball season, and they'll inevitably mention how Mo Vaughn should not have won MVP this year, and that Albert Belle was the true MVP. Now, the Hit Dog was awesome for the Sox, and his hitting talent deserved recognition from the writers. However, this season should have resulted in a podium finish, not winning the whole thing.

Vaughn did tie for the league lead in RBIs and accumulated 4.3 WAR, so it's not like Mo Vaughn was an absolute scrub who came out of nowhere to win the award. The biggest thing that helped Vaughn was the fact that the Red Sox won the AL East that year, so it felt easy enough to award the best player on one of the best teams. However, Albert Belle had an even stronger case on this front. Cleveland won 100 games in the shortened season after the end of the 1994 strike, and Belle himself hit 50 home runs, tied Vaughn with 126 RBIs, and hit .317 to lead Cleveland to an AL pennant, all while accumulating 7.0 WAR. Vaughn received 12 first-place votes, while Belle received 11, and the two were separated by just eight voting points. Did it help Vaughn that the writers liked him, while Belle had an acrimonious relationship with the media? Absolutely.

No. 9: Dustin Pedroia, 2008

This one hurts me to put so low, since Pedroia was easily my favorite player growing up. It was awesome to see him go back to back on Rookie of the Year and MVP, but ultimately, his 2008 season just doesn't quite stand up to the ones above him on this list. The biggest thing that helped Pedroia this season was a lack of true star power in any of the other finalists for the award.

Everyone wanted to see how Pedroia would follow up his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2007, and he did so by playing an extremely solid campaign. Pedroia led the majors with 213 hits and the American League with 118 runs scored, and had one of his typical solid fielding seasons at second base for the Sox. He put up 7.0 WAR, which was one of the top marks across the league, but the thing that helped Pedroia the most, I think, is that there was no true "star" in the running for the award that year.

The other two on the podium against Pedroia were Twins standout Justin Morneau and Pedroia's teammate Kevin Youkilis, hardly names that truly excite voters. Pedroia ended up receiving 16 of the 28 first-place votes, and in the context of the season, is a deserving winner. However, when he stacks up to the rest of the list, his numbers are, in all honesty, a little lackluster.

No. 7: Jimmie Foxx, 1938

The first ever Boston Red Sox player to win MVP, Foxx's 1938 season was his third MVP in his, in my humble opinion, underrated career. Foxx really dominated the 1938 campaign for Boston, leading the AL in two of the three Triple Crown categories (50 home runs was mince meat compared to Hank Greenberg's 58), along with slugging, on-base percentage, and OPS. Foxx racked up 7.4 WAR (another league-best mark) and received 19 of 22 first-place votes, cruising to this MVP award.

It's truly a testament to the seasons above Foxx's in this list that they beat out this dominant campaign. This is the season that I had the toughest time placing on this list, but it ultimately ended up at #7 because it just didn't feel like the competition from the rest of the league made it all that interesting. It's one of the most dominant seasons in Red Sox history still, but ultimately there are seasons that are better from an analytical standpoint that have to go higher.

No. 6: Roger Clemens, 1986

The first year where he really became Roger Clemens, and he goes out and wins a unanimous Cy Young Award and a MVP award (and World Series MVP if Buckner fields the grounder to first... let me stop before this tangent gets too long). Clemens' 1986 campaign was truly a masterclass from April to October, and he earned every single accolade that came his way because of it.

Clemens won his first Cy Young unanimously this year, on top of becoming MVP. He went 24-4, keeping an ERA of 2.48, allowing less than 1 walk or hit per inning pitched, and pitching to a tune of a 169 ERA+, good enough to lead the American League. Clemens accumulated 8.8 WAR for his 1986 campaign, and sits perfectly in the middle of this ranking. It's always tough to compare the value of pitchers to hitters, especially across different eras of baseball. However, I think Clemens coming in and asserting himself as the ace of the rotation at such a young age and showing the whole league how great of a pitcher he justified his spot here at #6.

No. 5: Jim Rice, 1978

Possibly the most underrated MVP award on this list, Jim Rice was an absolute menace in 1978. Let me give you the rundown of the categories Rice led in 1978: games played, plate appearances, at-bats, hits, triples, home runs, runs batted in, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+, and total bases. Rice's 1978 campaign satisfies both the baseball purists and the analytic nerds' perceptions of the game and player value.

Rice's main competition for the award this year was Yankees starter Ron Guidry, who generated more WAR than Rice (Guidry ended with 9.6 WAR, while Rice had 7.6 WAR). Rice's ability to produce at such a high level while playing all 163 games for the Red Sox this season had to have been the difference-maker in the final vote. If I learned anything from my little league coach, the best ability is availability, and Rice showed that in spades in 1978. Although it might be a season that is forgotten in the grander sense of baseball history, Rice in '78 was truly dominant.

No. 4: Mookie Betts, 2018

Is Mookie Betts' 2018 campaign the greatest season for a leadoff hitter of all time? While that question can continue to be debated, Betts' 2018 season deserves to be rated as one of the best individual seasons in Red Sox history. It arguably should have been Betts' 2nd MVP award, but Betts was finally able to get some revenge over Mike Trout with this one, establishing himself as one of the premier talents in the majors with his 2018 season.

Betts led all of baseball with 10.7 WAR, a feat that has only been beaten by 21 individual seasons by position players in all of baseball history. Let me say that again: at age 25, Mookie Betts had one of the greatest individual seasons in all of baseball history (this should have been unanimous, but Mike Trout and J.D. Martinez both snagged a first-place vote apiece). Betts ended up with an OPS+ of 186 and a career-best OPS of 1.078, on the way to a 30/30 season for Betts, while he also only committed one error in the field all season. Pair that with the greatest season in Red Sox team history, and you could make a case that this Betts season should be higher on the list. Who knows, time may work in favor of 2018 Mookie Betts, but for right now, sitting number four on this list is the right spot for it.

No. 3: Ted Williams, 1946

The narrative was there for Teddy Ballgame. A dominant hitter, returning from serving his country in the Second World War, leading his team to the AL Pennant, how could you not be romantic about baseball? We start off our podium with Williams' first of two MVP awards, and what a way to get started. Williams in 1946 was truly a man on a mission, but the voting for this one really ended up as a toss-up.

Williams generated 10.6 WAR in the 1946 season, leading the league in walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and runs scored, generating an OPS+ of 215, meaning Williams was more than two times better than the average hitter in the Majors in 1946. With all that being said, Williams only received 9 of the 24 first-place votes for the award, winning ultimately on voting points. A main issue that caused this was the success of his own teammates. The writers were clearly split on who the alpha of the 1946 Red Sox was, meaning that five Red Sox finished in the top 10 of MVP voting in 1946. The writers made the right choice in going with Williams, obviously, but it's amazing just how split the vote was for this award.

No. 2: Ted Williams, 1949

As great as 1946 was for Williams, I think his 1949 season was better. I know the analytics don't support this thought process, I know it might seem crazy to pick this season over 1946, especially since there's a 1.6 WAR difference between the two (for the non-math majors, Williams generated 9.0 WAR in 1949). I know that this season isn't as regarded because of the Red Sox losing out on the AL Pennant right at the end of the season, so it should sit behind 1946 because of that as well. I understand all of this, but I just think that 1949 is really the best cumulative season of Ted Williams that there is.

Williams should have ended up with his third Triple Crown this year (which is a crazy statement to write), but fell one ten-thousandth of a point short in batting average to lose out on the batting title to Detroit's George Kell, but went ahead and decided to lead the American League in almost every other major offensive statistical category. It's ridiculous, looking back at Williams' numbers, that he only has two MVP awards (seriously, go look at his Baseball Reference, and you'll join me in this outrage). Williams took 13 of the 24 first-place votes this year, and I think if Williams does end up with the Triple Crown this year, then it would have stood more of a chance up against the #1 season.

No. 1: Carl Yastrzemski, 1967

It had to be Yaz. It had to be the Triple Crown year. It had to be Yaz leading "The Impossible Dream" team. It feels nice to be able to get Yaz more recognition after I left him on the bench for the all-time WAR lineup, and this season was almost always going to end up being the best.

Yastrzemski collected 12.4 WAR in 1967, which is given the distinction of the greatest position player season of all-time, non-Babe Ruth division. A singular season that held its own in history, being the last Triple Crown until Miguel Cabrera in 2012. I don't know what else Yaz needed to do in this season, but his OPS+ for the year sits at 193 (I would've assumed it would end up in the 200s), but besides this one number, there's no holes in the resume. It's the greatest season put together by a single Boston Red Sox player, and I don't think that it's going to be beat any time soon.

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