World Series MVP Award Winners History: Full List

Ryan Phillips | Oct 22, 2024

Corey Seager has won the World Series MVP award twice in his career. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The 2024 World Series is upon us, and the matchup between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers features several stars and likely future Hall of Famers. But only player will be named World Series MVP.

Given that the Fall Classic is finally here, it's a good time to look back at the history of the World Series MVP award and what makes it so special.

How long has the World Series MVP been given out?

Major League Baseball began handing out a World Series MVP award in 1955. Ironically, the first two were given to a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and a member of the New York Yankees.

In 1955, the Dodgers beat the Yankees in seven games, and pitcher Johnny Podres won the award. In that series he went 2-0 in two outings—both were complete games and one was a shutout. He allowed two earned runs over 18 innings pitched. Podres shut out the Yankees in the deciding seventh game as Brooklyn won 2-0.

In 1956, the two teams faced off again and, once again, it went the full seven games. The Yankees won the series this time and starting pitcher Don Larsen was named MVP. Larsen went 1-0 in two games and pitched the only perfect game in World Series history in Game 5. He took a no-decision in a 13-8 loss in Game 2.

Year	Player	Team	Position
1955	Johnny Podres	Brooklyn Dodgers	Starting Pitcher
1956	Don Larsen	New York Yankees	Starting Pitcher
1957	Lew Burdette	Milwaukee Braves	Starting Pitcher
1958	Bob Turley	New York Yankees	Pitcher
1959	Larry Sherry	LA Dodgers	Relief Pitcher
1960	Bobby Richardson	New York Yankees	Second Baseman
1961	Whitey Ford	New York Yankees	Starting Pitcher
1962	Ralph Terry	New York Yankees	Starting Pitcher
1963	Sandy Koufax	LA Dodgers	Starting Pitcher
1964	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals	Starting Pitcher
1965	Sandy Koufax	LA Dodgers	Starting Pitcher
1966	Frank Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	Outfielder
1967	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals	Starting Pitcher
1968	Mickey Lolich	Detroit Tigers	Starting Pitcher
1969	Donn Clendenon	New York Mets	First Baseman
1970	Brooks Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	Third Baseman
1971	Roberto Clemente	Pittsburgh Pirates	Outfielder
1972	Gene Tenace	Oakland Athletics	Catcher
1973	Reggie Jackson	Oakland Athletics	Outfielder
1974	Rollie Fingers	Oakland Athletics	Relief Pitcher
1975	Pete Rose	Cincinnati Reds	Third Baseman
1976	Johnny Bench	Cincinnati Reds	Catcher
1977	Reggie Jackson	New York Yankees	Outfielder
1978	Bucky Dent	New York Yankees	Shortstop
1979	Willie Stargell	Pittsburgh Pirates	First Baseman
1980	Mike Schmidt	Philadelphia Phillies	Third Baseman
1981	Ron Cey	LA Dodgers	Third Baseman
1981	Pedro Guerrero	LA Dodgers	Outfielder
1981	Steve Yeager	LA Dodgers	Catcher
1982	Darrell Porter	St. Louis Cardinals	Catcher
1983	Rick Dempsey	Baltimore Orioles	Catcher
1984	Alan Trammell	Detroit Tigers	Shortstop
1985	Bret Saberhagen	Kansas City Royals	Starting Pitcher
1986	Ray Knight	New York Mets	Third Baseman
1987	Frank Viola	Minnesota Twins	Starting Pitcher
1988	Orel Hershiser	LA Dodgers	Starting Pitcher
1989	Dave Stewart	Oakland Athletics	Starting Pitcher
1990	Jose Rijo	Cincinnati Reds	Starting Pitcher
1991	Jack Morris	Minnesota Twins	Starting Pitcher
1992	Pat Borders	Toronto Blue Jays	Catcher
1993	Paul Molitor	Toronto Blue Jays	Designated Hitter
1995	Tom Glavine	Atlanta Braves	Starting Pitcher
1996	John Wetteland	New York Yankees	Relief Pitcher
1997	Livan Hernandez	Florida Marlins	Starting Pitcher
1998	Scott Brosius	New York Yankees	Third Baseman
1999	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	Relief Pitcher
2000	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	Shortstop
2001	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	Starting Pitcher
2001	Curt Schilling	Arizona Diamondbacks	Starting Pitcher
2002	Troy Glaus	Anaheim Angels	Third Baseman
2003	Josh Beckett	Florida Marlins	Starting Pitcher
2004	Manny Ramirez	Boston Red Sox	Outfielder
2005	Jermaine Dye	Chicago White Sox	Outfielder
2006	David Eckstein	St. Louis Cardinals	Shortstop
2007	Mike Lowell	Boston Red Sox	Third Baseman
2008	Cole Hamels	Philadelphia Phillies	Starting Pitcher
2009	Hideki Matsui	New York Yankees	Designated Hitter
2010	Edgar Renteria	San Francisco Giants	Shortstop
2011	David Freese	St. Louis Cardinals	Third Baseman
2012	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	Third Baseman
2013	David Ortiz	Boston Red Sox	Designated Hitter
2014	Madison Bumgarner	San Francisco Giants	Starting Pitcher
2015	Salvador Perez	Kansas City Royals	Catcher
2016	Ben Zobrist	Chicago Cubs	Outfielder
2017	George Springer	Houston Astros	Outfielder
2018	Steve Pearce	Boston Red Sox	First Baseman
2019	Stephen Strasburg	Washington Nationals	Starting Pitcher
2020	Corey Seager	LA Dodgers	Shortstop
2021	Jorge Soler	Atlanta Braves	Outfielder
2022	Jeremy Pena	Houston Astros	Shortstop
2023	Corey Seager	Texas Rangers	Shortstop

What teams have had the most World Series MVPs?

The Yankees have won the most World Series all-time, so it's no surprise they have the most World Series MVPs.

Yankees players have won 12 World Series MVP awards, while the Dodgers are second with nine. The St. Louis Cardinals boast five winners, while the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics both have four.

The Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee Braves each have three.

What position has been awarded World Series MVP the most?

Not surprisingly, pitchers have overwhelmingly won the most World Series MVP awards. Of the 71 times the award has been given out, it has gone to a pitcher 29 times.

Third base comes in second at 10 times, outfielders have won nine times, while shortstops have won eight and catchers have won seven. Designated hitters and first basemen have won three times each and a second baseman has won once.

Has the World Series MVP ever been given to more than one player?

Yes, on two occasions the World Series MVP has been awarded to multiple players.

The first instance was in 1981 when the Dodgers beat the Yankees in six games. Third baseman Ron Cey, outfielder Pedro Guerrero and catcher Steve Yeager tied for the award.

In 2001, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in seven games, and pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were jointly awarded the MVP award.

Has anyone won a World Series MVP for the losing team?

A player on the losing team has been named World Series MVP one time. It came in 1960 when the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Yankees in seven games. That series is famous for Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hitting a game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7.

While Mazeroski was the hero, his counterpart, Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson, was named MVP of the series. Richard finished the series with a .367 batting average, one home run (a grand slam) and 12 RBIs.

Richardson is the only player from a losing team to win World Series MVP and the only second baseman to earn the honor.

Have any players won World Series MVP multiple times?

Four players have won the World Series MVP on multiple occasions. All have won it twice, no one has ever won it four times.

Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax was the first to accomplish the feat, as he was named MVP of the World series in 1963 and 1965. Cardinals ace Bob Gibson wasn't far behind as he won the honor in 1964 and 1967.

Reggie Jackson earned his nickname Mr. October for a reason. He won World Series MVP for the A's in 1973 and the Yankees in 1977. Shortstop Corey Seager has also done it for two different teams. He accomplished the feat for the Dodgers in 2020 and the Texas Rangers in 2023.

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