Ache #5: Willie Hernandez wins the 1984 AL MVP

When you look at the retired numbers near the Budweiser Roof Deck at Target Field, there are a lot of individual accomplishments between Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, and Kirby Puckett. There are MVPs, Gold Gloves, Rookie of the Year awards, Batting Titles, Hall of Fame Plaques and 51 combined All Star Game appearances between the 5 legends. But there is one number hanging that lacks the individual accolades, and some argue should have added one in 1984.

The Minnesota Twins weren't on anybody's radar in 1984. Most of Calvin Griffith's young core of Tom Brunansky, Gary Gaetti, Frank Viola, Tim Laudner and Kent Hrbek were entering their third major league season, and had seen a lot of growing pains on the way.

1982 wasn't a total loss for the Terrible

Twins. Gary Ward finished 32nd in the

AL MVP voting

Through his first two seasons, future Cy Young winner Frank Viola had gone 11-25 with a 5.38 ERA. The Twins bullpen was a mess (Twins closer Ron Davis lost 17 games between 1982 and 1983). The bright spot was the Class of '82 Twins, specifically Kent Hrbek. 

Hrbek was an All Star and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting (behind Cal Ripken Jr) in 1982. Hrbek had signed with the Twins out of high school in 1978 and made the jump from Single-A to the majors in August of 1981. In 1982, he hit .311 with 23 home runs in 140 games. Even though the future Hall of Famer Ripken played in 20 more games than Hrbek, their stats were comparable:

The one big difference? Hrbek's Twins lost 102 games. Ripken's Orioles won 94.

National media recognized the talent of

rookie Kent Hrbek in 1982, even though his team

lost 102 games.

The Twins were "better" in 1983, finishing the season with a 70-92 record. But 1984 is when it seemed it was all coming together.

The rotation was solid. Frank Viola broke out, winning 18 games. Mike Smithson and John Butcher, both acquired from Texas in a trade for Gary Ward, combined to win 28 more. 

And Hrbek was lights out. He hit .311 with 28 home runs and 107 RBI (the only 100+ RBI season of his career). The Twins were leading the AL West by 5.5 games on August 22nd and were still leading the division on September 23rd with 8 games to play. But the Twins would lose the last six games of the season, including two blown saves in the last four games by Ron Davis (who would tie an AL record with 14 blown saves in 1984). After blowing a 10-0 lead in Cleveland down the stretch, Gaetti was questioned about a crucial throwing error in the game and replied "It's tough to throw to first base with both hands around your neck." The Twins finished 81-81 and 3 games behind the Kansas City Royals in the AL West. 

During those last six games, Hrbek was 4-22 (.182) with no home runs and three RBI. Had the Twins finished over .500 and won the division, Hrbek likely would have been the MVP, taking the Twins from fifth place in 1983 to a division title in 1984.

Regardless, people gave Hrbek a lot of credit for the turn-around and he was considered a legitimate MVP candidate.

Unfortunately, there was a problem. Well, two of them.

There were two dominant relievers in the American League in 1984: Willie Hernandez of the Detroit Tigers (9-3, 1.92 ERA, 32 SV, 112 K) and Dan Quisenberry of the Kansas City Royals (6-3, 2.64 ERA, 41 SV). Hernandez and Quisenberry would finish 1 and 2 in the AL Cy Young voting, and baseball writers were going to cast their votes for the relievers for the league MVP as well.

Looking back at 1984, there were a lot of players that put up better numbers than Hrbek. Was he the most dominant first baseman that season? Eddie Murray (.306, 29 HR, 110 RBI, 7.1 WAR), Don Mattingly (.343, 23 HR, 110 RBI, 6.3 WAR) and Rookie of the Year Alvin Davis (.284, 27 HR, 116 RBI, 5.9 WAR) all had equal or better statistical seasons. Cal Ripken had the highest WAR (10.0) out of any player that season. What made Hrbek such an interesting candidate for MVP was the fact that he had led his team from 102 losses in 1982 to the doorstep of an AL West title two years later.

But was it enough?

"Numbers-wise it was my best year. I hit .311 with 27 homers and 107 RBI. But you know how a lot of people don't believe a pitcher should be considered an MVP candidate, being that they have their own award - the Cy Young? Well, they gave the MVP award to Detroit reliever Willie Hernandez. My rookie season, when I hit .301 and drove in 92 runs, I finished second to Cal Ripken for Rookie of the Year. I guess I'm just a second-place kind of guy when it comes to awards. But I never finished second in the World Series, did I?" -Kent Hrbek from Tales from the Minnesota Twins Dugout

He didn't.

The overall vote was pretty split. Hernandez received 16 first place votes, while Hrbek, Quisenberry, and Eddie Murray split the other 12. Hernandez also won the 1984 AL Cy Young, getting 12 first place votes. Quisenberry finished second, receiving 9 first place votes.

Oddly enough, Quisenberry won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, not Hernandez. Rolaids award is decided by a point system, not a writers vote. So Hernandez, a reliever that won the Cy Young Award and the MVP, wasn't named the league's best reliever in 1984.

Making a Case for Kent

Hrbek had a point. Since the inception of the Cy Young Award in 1956 to the season prior to Hrbek's should-have-been-MVP season, the AL MVP had been given to a pitcher only three times: Denny McLain in 1968 (31-6, 1.82 ERA) ,Vida Blue in 1971 (24-8, 1.82 ERA) and Rollie Fingers in 1981 (6-3, 1.04 ERA, 28 SV). Roger Clemens also won one in 1986 and Justin Verlander was the AL MVP in 2014. Prior to the Cy Young Award, Lefty Grove, Spud Chandler, Hal Newhouser (Newhouser won two) and Bobby Shantz also won MVP awards.

The first question to ask is who is eligible to win the MVP. This is, according to the BBWAA, the definition of league MVP.

Dear Voter:There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.
The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931:
1.  Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.
2.  Number of games played.
3.  General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.
4.  Former winners are eligible.
5.  Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.
You are also urged to give serious consideration to all your selections, from 1 to 10. A 10th-place vote can influence the outcome of an election. You must fill in all 10 places on your ballot. Only regular-season performances are to be taken into consideration.
Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, including pitchers and designated hitters.

Even the BBWAA says there is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. Number 1: Value of a player to his team...both offense and defense. Hrbek's offensive numbers speak for themselves, but what people often overlook is his defensive ability. People often discounted Hrbek's defense because he was a bigger guy. During Hrbek's 14 year career, the AL Gold Glove at first base was awarded to either Eddie Murray or Don Mattingly 13 times. Hrbek does have a Gold Glove in his basement however...one of Gary Gaetti's. Gaetti gave him his 1988 Gold Glove because if it weren't for Hrbek making great plays at first, Gaetti may not have ever won any.

Also, look at number two: games played. In 1984, Willie Hernandez appeared in 80 games. He threw 140 innings (averaging 1.2 IP per appearance). Kent Hrbek played 149 games, 13 of those were extra inning games and only left five games early due to injury or a pinch hitter. You often hear the argument that, despite playing in fewer games, pitchers face as many batters in a season as offensive players get plate appearances. Willie Hernandez faced 548 hitters in 1984, meaning hitters had 548 chances to score off of him.

Hrbek had 635 plate appearances that season.

Should Pitchers Be Eligible for MVP?

The landscape of baseball was changing in the mid 1970s. Pitchers weren't making 40+ starts or throwing 300+ innings anymore. Teams had begun using relief specialists. The 'save' became an official stat in 1969 and the Baseball Writers were putting too much stock into it.  It was around the same time that people started getting the idea that baseball inside domed stadiums was a good idea.

Pitchers should have their award, and hitter should have their award. As it stands right now, pitchers have the Cy Young award (est 1956), and hitters have the Hank Aaron award (est 1999). There is also the Silver Sluggers, which are given to the best power hitter from each position, NL pitchers and AL DHs included.

And while winning the Cy Young establishes the recipient as the best (and most valuable) pitcher, the Hank Aaron award doesn't do that. Subtracting the years that Justin Verlander (2011) and Clayton Kershaw (2014) won the MVP award in their respective leagues,  the same player has won both the MVP and Hank Aaron Award in the same season 15 times (15/34)...only 44% of the time. (In 2014, Giancarlo Stanton finished second in the NL MVP voting behind Kershaw and won the NL Hank Aaron award and in 2011 Jacoby Elsbury finished second in the AL MVP voting, but Jose Bautista won the AL Hank Aaron.) And of those 15, Barry Bonds has 3, and Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Cabrera each have 2.

The award itself is very inconsistent. When it was first awarded in 1999, it was given to Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa based on a point system that factored in Hits, Home Runs and RBI. From 2000-02, a three-name, point system ballot was given to MLB broadcasters.In 2003, an online fan ballot was added. From 2004-06, fans voted for each team's top hitter in August, then an MLB panel chose the top six, then fans voted for the best of the final six.

From 2007-08, five finalists from each league were voted on by the fans from 30 nominees from that MLB panel, then fans voted for the winner. Since 2009, fans vote for both the finalists and overall winners of the award.

There are Silver Slugger awards (given to the best hitter at each position), Batting Titles (awarded to the highest batting average), and overall Statistical Champions (RBI champion, Home Run Leader, doubles champion, etc). Here's a solution: Rename the each MVP in honor of Hank Aaron and let the writers decide. Keep the Cy Young Award (named after one of the best pitchers of all time) exclusive to pitchers, keep the MVP (aka the Hank Aaron Award) exclusive to hitters, give the top reliever the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year and let the fans vote on the All Star Game.

Should Relievers be eligible for Cy Young or MVP?

And down the rabbit hole we go.

If you know anything about Cy Young, you'd know he was anything but a three-innings-a-game pitcher. While he did have make 91 relief appearances and save 17 games (60 years before the 'save' even existed) over his 22 year career, Young threw 759 complete games and over 7300 innings

From 1977 to 1992, a reliever won the Cy Young 7 times: Sparky Lyle in 1977, Bruce Sutter in 1979, Rollie Fingers in 1981, Hernandez in 1984, Steve Bedrosian in 1987, Mark Davis in 1989 and Dennis Eckersley in 1992. 

Since 1992? Only one...Eric Gagne in 2003. You can either attribute that to offensive players's literally juicing their stats to become a more sexy pick for MVP (40 home runs looks better on the back of a baseball card than 40 saves), or writers and media coming to the realization that the "save" isn't that impressive of a stat.

In 2008, Bradford Doolittle of the Kansas City Star wrote that since the best relievers were pitching fewer innings in the 1980s being reduced from two or three innings to one while less efficient pitchers were pitching those innings in their place. This, however, was not the case for Hernandez in 1984. Out of his 80 relief appearances in 1984, 45 required him to record four or more outs. In those 45 games, the Tigers were 37-8. Hernandez was 8-2 with a 1.67 ERA and 20 saves in those 45 games.

But what about the rest of the 1984 field?

Bert Blyleven, pitching for the Cleveland Indians, finished third. Bert was 19-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 1984. Bert faced twice as many batters as Hernandez, threw 105 more innings, and had a 7.2 WAR for a 75-win Indians club. Bert's third place finish and 45 vote points was the closest the Hall of Famer ever came to a Cy Young Award. Prior to 1984, the Cy Young Award had been awarded to a pitcher on a losing team only once: Gaylord Perry in 1972 who, ironically, also pitched for a 70-win Cleveland club.

It's a shame that when you think of great first basemen of the 1980s, Kent Hrbek isn't one of the first names to come to mind. He was an All-Star only once in his career. Even with the Twins leading the AL West in 1987, Kirby Puckett was the lone representative for the Twins...as a reserve. Adding an MVP to his resume would have been a great springboard for what was to come for the Twins in the next couple years, would have put the national spotlight on Minneapolis and would have added another MVP to the resume of retired numbers at Target Field.

It just sucks that Hrbie not only lost to a pitcher for MVP...he lost to a reliever.