MVP EXTRA CREDIT (Catchers: Part 1)

By Paul Semendinger

December 2025

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NOTE - This article was published by the IBWAA in their daily baseball newsletter, Here's The Pitch, on December 20, 2025

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I have been researching MVP voting over the years and have come to the conclusion that catchers often receive extra credit.

It seems that when catchers have good to great years, they receive a great deal of consideration for the MVP Award. This is especially true if the catcher is on a pennant-winning team — even if he had a teammate who had a superior statistical season.

The trend to award catchers “extra-credit” has occurred almost as long as the MVP has been awarded. This article will examine catchers and the MVP Award from 1931 through 1969. I will use Baseball-Reference WAR retroactively as a standard measure (in addition to other statistics) while understanding and recognizing that WAR was not a statistic at the time.

1934

The first catcher to win an MVP was Mickey Cochrane in 1934. (The MVP Award, as we know it, was first given in 1931.)

In 1934, Cochrane batted .320. Not bad! But, he hit only two home runs while driving home 75 runs. In 1934, Cochrane earned only 4.5 WAR which placed him 12^th among the vote getters.

The MVP in 1934 should have been Lou Gehrig who batted .363/49/166 winning the Triple Crown as he earned 10.0 WAR.

In 1934, though, it was the Tigers’ year. They won the American League pennant. The runner-up in MVP voting was their second baseman Charlie Gehringer. Pitcher Schoolboy Rowe finished fourth in the voting. First baseman Hank Greenberg finished sixth. Gehrig, in spite of his great season, finished fifth. It seemed that winning the pennant was what mattered in 1934, and even though Gehringer, Rowe, and Greenberg all had better years (by WAR) than Cochrane, the winner of the MVP was the leader on the field in the eyes of the writers, the catcher.

1935

The very next year, Gabby Harnett, a catcher, won the N.L. MVP while helping to lead the Chicago Cubs to the pennant. Hartnett hit .344/13/91, but only totaled 4.9 WAR placing 14^th among vote getters. The MVP should have been Arky Vaughn of the Pittsburg Pirates who totaled 9.8 WAR while leading the league in batting as he accumulated a batting line of .385/19/99.

Of note, Billy Herman and Augie Galan, both of the Cubs also finished in the top ten vote-getters. They both had higher WARs than Hartnett.

1938

Catcher Ernie Lombardi batted .342/19/95 for the Cincinnati Reds and won the N.L. MVP. Lombardi did lead the league in batting. The Reds, though, finished in only fourth place, and Lombardi earned only 4.8 WAR, ninth best among vote getters.

Both Arky Vaughn and Mel Ott earned 8.9 WAR in 1938, but the winner of the award was a catcher.

1951

It took 13 years for a catcher to win the MVP again, but once they awarded an MVP to one, they gave it to two. In 1951, Yogi Berra won the MVP in the American League while Roy Campanella won the award in the National League.

In 1951, Berra batted .294/27/88 (5.3 WAR). Campanella hit .325/33/108 (6.9 WAR). The Yankees won the A.L. pennant, the Dodgers lost out in the famous playoff to the New York Giants.

Berra was 6^th in WAR in the A.L. Ted Williams led the league with 7.1 WAR.

Campanella was also 6^th in WAR. His teammate, Jackie Robinson led the league with 9.7 WAR.

1953

Roy Campanella won his second MVP Award, but was 8^th in WAR behind teammates Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson. Pitcher Robin Robers led the National League with 9.9 WAR. Duke Snider had 9.1 WAR to lead all position players. Neither Roberts nor Snider, though, was a catcher.

1954

Yogi Berra won his second MVP in one of the few seasons of the 1950s when the Yankees did not win the pennant. Berra batted .307/22/125 and earned 5.3 WAR. The best player in the league Minnie Minoso who earned 8.1 WAR. Berra was only 8^th among the players earning votes in WAR.

1955

In the season when the Brooklyn Dodgers won their only World Series over the Yankees, Yogi Berra and Roy Campanella both won their third MVP awards.

Berra’s 4.5 WAR was 11^th in the league. Mickey Mantle earned 9.5 WAR.

Campanella’s 5.2 WAR was 12^th in the league. Willie Mays earned 9.2 WAR. Duke Snider of the Dodgers was the runner-up in WAR at 8.6.

1963

As the Yankees dynasty was drawing to a close, Elston Howard batted .287/28/85 — good enough for 5.2 WAR, placing him 7^th among vote-getters. Bob Allison of the Minnesota Twins earned 7.4 WAR.

1970

Johnny Bench won the N.L. MVP while batting .293/45/148. Bench’s 7.4 WAR was impressive. He also led the league in home runs and RBIs. Bench led all position players in WAR as his Cincinnati Reds won the pennant.

This was the first time since the award started in 1931 that a catcher was the best position player statistically. Johnny Bench was the rightful winner of the 1970 MVP.

No other catcher had had a season quite like Bench’s. He is the only catcher in the first 50 years of the MVP to lead position players in WAR.

1972

Bench batted .270/40/125, leading the league in homers and runs batted in while putting up 8.6 WAR as he won his second MVP Award. His teammate, Joe Morgan, .292/16/73, who also lead the league in walks, runs, on base percentage, and had 58 stolen bases had a higher WAR (9.3), but awarding this to Bench, again, makes a lot of sense.

1976

Thurman Munson earned the A.L. MVP after batting .302/17/105. He earned 5.3 WAR. Graig Nettles, a teammate of Munson’s, led all position players in WAR with 8.0, but, Munson, who was 12th in WAR among vote-getters, but a catcher on a pennant- winning team, won the award.

1931-1979 Summary

In this 49-year period, only one catcher, Johnny Bench in 1970, led position players in WAR. That season, he rightfully won the MVP. But, in this time 13 catchers won their league’s Most Valuable Player Award.

The trend was set. When a catcher has a very good to great year, it is clear that the MVP voters award him extra credit. This is especially true when a catcher has a good to great year and his team wins the pennant.

It seems very clear that when it came to MVP voting, if measured by WAR, at least in the first 49 years of the award, that there were catchers who earned extra credit from the voters.

Part Two of this series will examine the seasons from 1980 through 2025.

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Dr. Paul Semendinger’s newest book, West Point at Gettysburg (Part 1), is earning outstanding reviews. An award-winning author, Paul is looking forward to Christmas when he will be able to enjoy lots of time with his family.