The World Series MVP Award is given to the player who most contributes to his team's success in the World Series - the Most Valuable Player. The award was originally given by the editors of SPORT magazine, but is now decided by a combination of media members, Major League Baseball officials, and fan voting. Another similar award "The Babe Ruth Award" was awarded by the New York branch of the BBWAA from 1949 (Joe Page) to 2002 (Dennis Eckstein) when it was subsequently discontinued. The award was inaugurated the year after Babe Ruth's death. On a number of occasions, different players won each award.
Duplicate winners[]
- Players who have won the Cy Young award in the same season as the World Series MVP include: Orel Hershiser (1988), Bret Saberhagen (1985), Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965), Whitey Ford (1961) and Randy Johnson (2001).
- Players who have won the regular-season MVP award in the same season as the World Series MVP include: Mike Schmidt (1980), Willie Stargell (1979), Reggie Jackson (1973), Frank Robinson (1966) and Sandy Koufax (1963).
- Players who have won the Championship Series MVP (NLCS or ALCS) in the same season as the World Series MVP include: Willie Stargell (1979), Darrell Porter (1982), Orel Hershiser (1988), Liván Hernández (1997)
- The only player who has won the All-Star Game MVP award in the same season as the World Series MVP is Derek Jeter (2000).
- Only Sandy Koufax (1963) has won the Cy Young award, the regular-season MVP and the World Series MVP in the same season.
- Only Willie Stargell (1979) has won the regular-season MVP, the League Championship Series MVP and the World Series MVP in the same season.
- Only Orel Hershiser (1988) has won the Cy Young award, the LCS MVP and the World Series MVP in the same season.
- Only Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson have won the award twice. Jackson is the only one to do it for two different teams.
The only player on the losing team to win the MVP was Bobby Richardson of the 1960 New York Yankees.