3 MVPs, 1 Signed Photo

Do you remember who won the National League MVP in 1960?  

If you answered Dick Groat, your baseball knowledge is very very very strong.

Groat was the starting shortstop for the 1960 World Series Champions, Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished the season with a .766 OPS.  While advanced analytics weren't that common back in 1960, it took one teammate to voice his opinion about what he thought about the writer's choice for the 1960 NL MVP campaign.

Roberto Clemente, one of the greatest Pittsburgh Pirates ever, voiced his anger towards the writers selecting Dick Groat over Roberto Clemente for the 1960 MVP.  I found an article from 2008 that discusses a very early sabremetric look at the 1960 campaign to see how far off Clemente was.  Clemente finished with an 8th place vote with three other Pirates voted higher than him (Dick Groat, Don Hoak, and Vern Law)

Dick Groat might seem like an unlikely victor for the 1960 MVP as he hit only two home runs, stole zero bases, scored only 85 runs and knocked in only 50 runs.  He did finish with the second highest hit total in the senior circuit that season behind Willie Mays (who also happened to have a .936 OPS with over 100 runs and 100RBI while stealing 25 bags.  Goat's WAR that season was 6.1 which was based largely on his glove which accounted for nearly half that total (2.6 dWAR).  

While Goat's MVP season remains as much a controversy today as it was in 1960, Barry Bonds, the NL MVP of 1992 isn't questioned nearly as much.

Bonds QUIETLY put up a near Triple Crown campaign in 1992, his last season with the Pirates.  He finished 1HR shy of the leader, Fred McGriff and only 6RBI behind the NL leader, Darren Daulton.  His batting average of .311 was good for 6th place behind Gary Sheffield.  Bonds posted a 9.0WAR, the best among position players that season.  He also lead the league in on base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS (1.030!!!).  Bonds hit a HR once every 13 at bats in 1992.

Between 1993 and 2012 there wasn't much to root for regarding the Pittsburgh Pirates as the franchise suffered two decades without a winning season.  

That all changed in 2013 when the Pirates went to the playoffs in 2013 largely due in part to Andrew McCutchen, who was emerging as one of the game's greatest stars.  Cutch finished the season with the highest WAR among position players and finishing many categories in the top 10 (hits, HR, batting average, runs, RBI, SB).  Cutch didn't lead any traditional statistical categories, but excelled at them all.  He received 28 (of 30) 1st place votes for the 2013 NL MVP.  

I came across the signed photo you see above via eBay about a year ago.  It doesn't have any third party certification for the signatures, but the source I bought it from specializes in Pittsburgh sports signatures.  The autographs for Groat and Bonds both look authentic and the Cutch, while being a quick signature appears to be valid as well.  Even if it is not authentic, it is still a great looking 8x10 photo to hang on the wall as it features the Pirates 2014 Opening Day ceremonies with Dick Groat and Barry Bonds presenting Cutch with his MVP Award and Silver Slugger based on the 2013 season. 

I found this YouTube video of some of Cutch's 2013 highlights if you want to revisit how great Cutch was in his prime.

Who was the last MVP winner of the team you root for?