Comparing MVP Worthy Seasons

Just a fun little exercise I though of while trying to come up with some off-season stuff to blog about...

 

It's safe to say that a player had a pretty good season if they received at least one MVP vote that year. Most players would be lucky to have one or two such seasons. Recent Hall of Fame inductees Ichiro Suzuki and Dave Parker each had 9 such seasons, while Dick Allen had 7. Barry Bonds, who won more MVP Awards than anyone, had 15 seasons with MVP votes (in a row no less)! 

 

Obviously, the number of MVP-worthy seasons isn't an indicator of greatness on it's own, but it does paint a decent picture about how good a player was compared to his peers, especially if they get into the Top 10 or top 5.

 

With that in mind, take a look at the following chart:

 

All 5 of these players have had 7 seasons where they received at least 1 MVP vote, right on par with Allen. Based purely on this information, how would you rank these guys? Do you think any of them are Hall of Famers? There's some interesting data here. Player E, for example, never won an MVP award, but has more Top 10 finishes than the others and is tied for the most Top 5 finishes. Player B did win one, but it was the only time in his career he finished in the Top 5 and just 1 of 3 times in the Top 10. Players A and D have the same number of Top 10 and Top 5 finishes, but one was shut out for the MVP Award while the other won twice.

 

Before I reveal the players, again I'm going to ask: How many of these guys do you suspect are Hall of Famers? How would you rank them? (Personally, I'd go E, C, D, A, B but since I know who these guys are I can tell you in advance it is NOT how I would rank them given their careers and legacy.)

 

OK here we go...

 

 

Player A - Carlos Delgado

 

Player B - Jeff Kent

 

Player C - Don Mattingly

 

Player D - Dale Murphy

 

Player E - Gary Sheffield

 

Pretty interesting, huh? If you want to know why I picked these 5 players, it's because these 5 players are on the Hall of Fame's Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot, along with pitchers Roger Clemens (who had 10 MVP worthy season by the way) and Fernando Valenzuela (4 seasons), as well as the previously mentioned Barry Bonds. It's just a coincidence that each of these 5 had exactly 7 seasons with MVP votes. 

 

What do you think? Do any of these guys deserve to make the Hall?