On Steve Pearce and the Indiscriminate World Series MVP Award
The World Series MVP – It has a nice ring to it. It sure looks great on a Wikipedia page and it instantly places your name into Major League Baseball history. Every year since 1955, with the exception of 1995, one man has taken home the honor of being named the most impactful player of the most significant series of the season. Of the 62 named worthy of the award, only one was of the losing team. Nineteen Hall of Famers have earned the honor, not including men who will be elected into the Hall in the coming years. Winners have come in different shapes, sizes, and ages. Whether it was the 21-year-old or the veteran who was almost 40, the honor has meant so much in such different ways to all sorts of players. We’ll cover that here. Did the award solidify a long, illustrious career? Did it put the spotlight on a young star who was destined for greatness so early? Did it get a player out of the shadows and finally put a name to the face for fans? Was it just another trophy for the mantle above the fireplace? Did it wind up being the peak of a long, troubling career? Our national pastime writes countless stories that we sometimes overlook and take for granted.
Which leads us to this year’s winner, the Red Sox’ Steve Pearce, a player who has never earned any regular season award, never led the majors in homers or even scratched 150 games in a season. The 35-year old veteran, a right-handed hitting utility player who has made most of his living at first base and has been written in the lineup mostly against left-handed pitchers and provided some depth off the bench. About half of his career has been spent searching for room on a squad’s 25-man roster. Now a twelve-year veteran, a Baltimore Oriole on three different occasions and a member of each American League East squad, Steve has placed his name among greats in just a few weeks’ time. What made it interesting was that Pearce did not start the year in Boston. He was traded on June 28th from Toronto making Fenway his seventh career home ballpark. A man who has bounced around from team to team has found himself a new identity in Major League Baseball.
While doing some research of previous winners, there was only one other who had been dealt before the trade deadline. His name was Donn Clendenon. You may remember him from the Miracle Mets in 1969. The first baseman Clendenon was sent to Flushing from the Montreal Expos in June of 1969 at the age of 33. Donn played such a huge part throughout the rest of the regular season and hit three crucial homers in the World Series. Clendenon’s best years were also behind him at this point as he then quickly lost the first base job to Mr. Ed Kranepool in the coming seasons.
The World Series MVP has affected players and their careers in different ways. Some were affected for the better, some for the worse. Some weren’t really affected at all.
Superstar pitchers and position players have been named winners of the honor. Hall of Fame Pitcher Randy Johnson, who shared the award as co-2001 WS MVP with his teammate Curt Schilling, was in the middle of winning four consecutive National League Cy Young Awards while Schilling finished second in the Cy Young voting that year. Sandy Koufax won the NL Cy Young Award in both years he won the honor. Both the youngest and oldest winners (Bret Saberhagen and Willie Stargell) won the Cy Young and NL MVP in their years respectively. Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt won the WS MVP in 1980 in his first of back-to-back NL MVP’s.
Then, there were players like Gene Tenace of Oakland and Bob Gibson of St. Louis, who seemed to be lifted by the award and then led to great things throughout their career. The one winner of the award who was on the losing team, Bobby Richardson became a regular on the All-Star roster for five straight seasons and a Gold Glove winner six years in a row.
Players like Orel “The Bulldog” Hershiser, Troy Glaus and Livan Hernandez were affected differently. Hershiser’s numbers took a severe plunge after that magical 1988 season in Los Angeles. Glaus no longer was a dependable middle-of-the-order hitter after he won the award in 2002 as he was such a “hit or miss” guy with both injuries and then abilities. Livan Hernandez never really reached his full potential in the big leagues after that magical 1997 season in Florida, when he also finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting. Players like Don Larsen, David Freese and Rick Dempsey didn’t snare too many trophies throughout their careers, but their timely performances will be remembered forever. Like Pearce, Dempsey wasn’t much of a starter and is a fan favorite at Camden Yards after multiple stints in Baltimore.
In a matter of minutes, the postseason can wipe a slate clean for someone that’s been struggling all year and could instantly change the hearts of so many fans that are home watching. Even though he was only there for four months, Steve Pearce will always be remembered in Boston. Pearce could be compared to Scott Brosius, who was not a well-known Yankee, but after a career season on that incredible 1998 Yankees squad will always be remembered in that series defeating San Diego. Pearce simply shined brightest on the brightest stage. Now he gets to etch his name among the prestigious winners of the World Series MVP award.
-Kyle Unger
