In the game of baseball, both amateur and professional, it is tradition to annually recognize the one player in the league who has contributed the most to the success of the player's team.
The Chalmers Automobile Company awarded an automobile in 1910 to the batting average leader in each league. This led to a contoversy in the American League; Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie entered the final day of the season neck-and-neck. St. Louis, playing Lajoie's Cleveland team, played their infield back, allowing Lajoie to beat out seven bunt singles in a doubleheader and win the title. In the ensuing debacle, Chalmers awarded automobiles to both players. (The question of who really won the batting title is still debated.)
For 1911, the Chalmers Company decided that batting average was too narrow a focus for an award. The Chalmers Award was the first attempt to recognize a player for overall contributions to his team's success — hence the designation Most Valuable rather than "player of the year", a distinction which remains today.
In the 1920s the leagues awarded MVP titles, but limited the ballot options to one player per team, which led to there being no National League MVP in 1922 or 1923. A League Award could also be won by a player only once, leading to unusual results like Babe Ruth's 1927 (one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time) not being eligible for the award. The rule was changed in time for Rogers Hornsby to become the first man to win two MVP awards, in 1929.
In 1956 the Cy Young Award was first given to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball (the current practice of honoring the best pitcher in each league did not begin until 1967). After that, the belief arose that the Most Valuable Player ought to be a position player, since pitchers had their own award. On occasion, though, pitchers still win the award, and the current rules for the MVP specifically state that pitchers are to be considered.
since 1911; the Chalmer's Award (1911-1914), the League Award (1922-1929), and this is the third, and currently awarded, version simply referred to as the MostValuablePlayerAward.
This one was first awarded in 1931 and its full title is the Baseball Writers MostValuablePlayerAward, or the M.V.P. by the rest of us, and it is presented annually by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
as the only "official" mostvaluableplayeraward and symbolizes the pinnacle of a player's personal achievement during any single season of play.
The WNBA MostValuablePlayerAward is an annual award is given by the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) to the WNBA player who is the mostvaluable league-wide to her individual team in regular season competition.
The winner of the award is determined by the votes of a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
Sheryl Swoopes won the award for a record third time in 2005 by the closet margin in league history.