Game Notes – AL MVP Award Finalists

Following this opening, there’s a little more than a thousand words devoted to connecting the three AL MVP finalists from 2024 to the past.  Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are going to be referenced, as will Honus Wagner and Rogers Hornsby.  Ted Williams and Stan Musial are brought up, as are Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle.  Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt, Ken Griffey, Jr., Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols receive nods, too.  It was that kind of year in the AL, where star-making turns from Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt, Jr. and Juan Soto latched onto the super-duper stars of the past to elicit all tenor of whoa and wow.   

*Aaron Judge*

~Judge scripted an OPS+ of 223 to establish a new high bar for any qualifying right-handed hitter in any AL/NL season in the modern era.  

223     Aaron Judge in 2024

222     Rogers Hornsby in 1924

216     Mark McGwire in 1998

213     Jeff Bagwell in 1994

212     Frank Thomas in 1994

~Judge’s Offensive WAR (oWAR) is calculated at 11.7 – also a new high mark for any right-handed hitter in the modern era.  Aside from setting a new standard, the figure this season also gave the slugger a pair in the top-five:

11.7     Aaron Judge in 2024

11.5     Rogers Hornsby in 1924

11.4     Honus Wagner in 1908

11.3     Rogers Hornsby in 1922

10.3     Rogers Hornsby in 1925

10.3     Aaron Judge in 2022

~For all batters in the AL or NL since 1901, those two marks – the 223 OPS+ and the 11.7 oWAR – reside in the upper echelon of performances.

^The 223 OPS+ comes in as the 12th best, behind multiple seasons by Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

^The 11.7 oWAR comes in as the sixth highest, behind various seasons from Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth.

~Judge drove in a Major League-leading 144 runs and accepted a Major League-leading 133 walks.  This line gave him the 11th 140-130 combination in history and the first since Mark McGwire had 147 RBI and 133 walks in 1999.  McGwire also did this in 1998.  The others to get there:  Babe Ruth (1921, 1926-1928, 1930), Lou Gehrig (1936), Ted Williams (1949) and Harmon Killebrew (1969).

~Aside from his league-leading 133 walks, Judge also collected an AL-leading 392 total bases.  The last 10 times a player has paced his league in both categories:

2024     Aaron Judge

2022     Aaron Judge

2006     David Ortiz

1981     Dwight Evans

1981     Mike Schmidt

1958     Mickey Mantle

1951     Ted Williams

1949     Ted Williams

1947     Ted Williams

1946     Ted Williams

~Judge’s 10.8 bWAR in 2024 stands as the highest for a position player in the Majors since Barry Bonds’ 11.8 in 2002.  The last 10 marks to be so high:

10.8     Aaron Judge in 2024

11.8     Barry Bonds in 2002

11.9     Barry Bonds in 2001

11.5     Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1991

11.0     Joe Morgan in 1975

12.5     Carl Yastrzemski in 1967

11.2     Willie Mays in 1965

11.0     Willie Mays in 1964

11.3     Mickey Mantle in 1957

11.2     Mickey Mantle in 1956

*Bobby Witt, Jr.*

~The shortstop, who turned 24 on Flag Day this year, turned in 88 extra-base hits and 374 total bases and assembled a 171 OPS+ to show off a 9.4 bWAR.  So young, so good at a premium defensive position, so much to examine:

>For all of the rankings below, the sample comes for all AL or NL players since 1901. ”Shortstop” is defined as having played at least 67% of one’s games at the position<

88 XBH

^Ties for the second most for a shortstop.  Álex Rodríguez had 91 in 1996, while Jimmy Rollins collected 88 in 2007.  

^ For all players in an age-24 or younger season, ties for the 17th most.  Witt is matched with Joe DiMaggio in 1936 and Albert Pujols in 2001.

374 Total Bases

^Is the seventh most for any shortstop.  Witt is behind four seasons from Álex Rodríguez and one each from Ernie Banks and Jimmy Rollins.

^For all players in an age-24 or younger season, ties for the 16th most.  In 1934, Hal Trosky also had that many.

171 OPS+

^Is the eighth highest for a shortstop. Witt trails marks from Honus Wagner (five of them), Arky Vaughan and Corey Seager.

^Sits in a tie for 43rd among players in age-24 or younger seasons.  Here, Witt is beside Eddie Mathews from 1953 and Ken Griffey, Jr. (in both 1993 and 1994).

9.4 bWAR

^Is tied – with Álex Rodríguez in 1996 – for the 12th highest among shortstops. 

^Is tied – with Rodríguez in ‘96 – for the 27th highest for any player in an age-24 or younger season.

~Sometimes, it’s just plain fun to punch in a bunch of numbers for a player and see who else matched or surpassed all of them in a single season.  For the Royals’ shortstop, starting with his baseline of 125 runs, 211 hits and 109 RBI yields a delicious cohort.  Aside from Witt, 40 other players have hit all of these benchmarks, starting with a pair from 1887 – Pete Browning and Tip O’Neill.  The previous 10, before Witt added his name:

Albert Pujols in 2003

Todd Helton in 2000

Álex Rodríguez in 1996

Ellis Burks in 1996

Stan Musial in 1948
Tommy Holmes in 1945

Joe DiMaggio in 1937

Earl Averill in 1936

Charlie Gehringer in 1936

Joe Medwick in 1935

*Juan Soto*

~While doing his normal thing – draw more than 100 walks – the Yankees’ outfielder also set new career highs for runs, hits, homers, total bases and extra-base hits.  What can be drawn out?  A whole lot.

^Soto produced his first-ever 40-homer, 100-walk, 100-RBI season (a line also shared by his teammate, Aaron Judge, for some spectacular company creating).  He and 20 others have been in an age-25 or younger season and produced this type of line.  Half of them did it while batting exclusively from the left side.  In ascending chronological order, just because it’s fun to start with Babe Ruth.

1920     Babe Ruth

1927     Lou Gehrig

1929     Mel Ott

1954     Eddie Mathews

1955     Eddie Mathews

1969     Reggie Jackson

2004     Adam Dunn

2005     Adam Dunn

2009     Prince Fielder

2024     Juan Soto

^ Soto’s 40-homer season came while drawing more walks than strikeouts.  There are plenty of other batters to make this claim (118 others), but not so many can step forward to say they did it when they were as young or younger than Soto.  The list slims down to 23 with that marker in place.  By how many times a player did this in an age-25 or younger season:

(3)     Eddie Mathews and Albert Pujols

(2)     Jimmie Foxx, Ralph Kiner and Willie Mays

(1)     Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott, Chuck Klein, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Bench,            Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Bregman and Juan Soto

~Soto’s 178 OPS+ in 2024 raised his career mark to 160.  Among all players with at least 3,000 plate appearances through their age-25 season, that 160 follows just seven others.

180     Ty Cobb

174     Mickey Mantle

172     Mike Trout

171     Jimmie Foxx

167     Albert Pujols

166     Tris Speaker

165     Rogers Hornsby

160     Juan Soto

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.