"Baseball's Most Baffling MVP Ballots" with Jeremy Lehrman

 

"I just won the Nobel Prize of baseball."  -Elston Howard, American League MVP, 1963

 Snubs.  Grudges.  Conspiracies.  Incompetence.

 All in a day's work for some of those who vote on Baseball's Most Valuable Player Award.

 From its colorful and scandalous beginnings more than a century ago, the MVP has evolved into the most prestigious -- and contentious -- individual honor in the sport.  No award means more to the players, the media, or the fans -- and no other award can claim a voting history so rich in controversy.

 "Baseball's Most Baffling MVP Ballots" looks at the past, present and future of the MVP Award through the most controversial ballots of all time.  Which of the so-called "worst MVPs" can hold up to contemporary statistical analysis?  Who cast the single worst vote in MVP history?  Does racial bias influence the MVP vote?  Who really deserved the award in a given year?

 On a November evening, we attempted to answer these questions, right some wrongs, unravel some threads, and looked at some very familiar faces in unfamiliar ways.  A fascinating Clubhouse conversation with Jeremy Lehrman.  Listen in...