Revisiting The 1975 NL MVP Ballot

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The Cincinnati Reds had a dominating 108-win season in 1975, one that set the table for a breakthrough World Series championship in the postseason. Their regular season excellence was reflected in the 1975 NL MVP voting, and second baseman Joe Morgan was a landslide winner of the award. Here’s a look at the top 5 finishers and some notable down ballot performers.

Joe Morgan (2B, Cincinnati)
*.466 OBP (best in the league)/.508 slugging percentage
*.327 batting average
*67 stolen bases
*94 RBI/107 Runs scored
Additional Notes: Morgan is the first of three Big Red Machine players that we’re going to see here in the top five, and he was by far the best. The statistics shown don’t reflect his defensive value at an important middle infield position and the Cincinnati offense overall was the key reason for the team’s greatness. Morgan got 21 of 23 first-place votes. And with a 96 percent vote share (percentage of available points), he was the only player to get more than half of the possible points.

Greg Luzinski (LF, Philadelphia)
*.394 OBP/.500 slugging percentage
*34 home runs
*.300 batting average
*120 RBIs that led the league
Additional Notes: The Phillies had a nice 86-win season and second-place finish in the NL East, one that set the tone for a string of division titles that would begin a year later. The everyday lineup was the reason—the Phils were second in the National League in runs scored, while the pitching ranked just ninth in a 12-team league. Luzinski got help from Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox, Jay Johnstone, and Dave Cash, each of whom had good all-around years. Luzinski finished with a 46 percent vote share.

Dave Parker (RF, Pittsburgh)
.357 OBP/.541 slugging percentage (led league)
*Batted .308
*25 home runs
*101 RBIs
Additional Notes: Pittsburgh outlasted Philadelphia to win their fifth NL East title in the past six years. While the NL’s second-best pitching staff was the key reason, the Bucs didn’t have a Cy Young candidate, and they still finished a solid fourth in the league in runs scored. Parker was the biggest reason why. He got support from Willie Stargell and Manny Sanguillen, while Al Oliver and Richie Zisk added some power.

Johnny Bench (C, Cincinnati)
*.359 OBP/.519 slugging percentage
*28 home runs
*110 RBIs
*Batted .283
Additional Notes: We can add Bench’s status as the best defensive catcher of his generation and arguably ever. The man who won the NL MVP award in 1970 and 1972 got a 35 percent vote share this time around.

Pete Rose (3B, Cincinnati)
.406 OBP/.432 slugging percentage
.317 batting average
*112 runs scored
*Played in all 162 games
Additional Notes: Rose got the two first-place votes that didn’t go to Morgan, and an overall vote share of 34 percent. Not known for his power, Rose hit seven home runs on the year. While not a factor in the voting, Rose ended up World Series MVP, as the Reds survived the Boston Red Sox in a seven-game classic.

Notable Down the Ballot
Ted Simmons (C, St. Louis): The Cardinal catcher hit .332 and drove in 100 runs for a team that got over .500 and won 82 games.

Willie Stargell (1B, Pittsburgh): “Pops” finished with a stat line of .375 OBP/.516 slugging percentage for the NL East champs.

Tom Seaver (SP, NY Mets): “Tom Terrific” won the Cy Young Award, winning 22 games with a 2.38 ERA in 280 innings pitched. Mets pitching finished fourth in the National League and was the reason they were able to post a winning record, at 82-80.

ANALYSIS

Let’s get at what I see as the two big elephants in the room. The first is Luzinski’s second-place finish. The Bull had a nice year, but viewed with a modern lens, his second-place finish is really not defensible. Voters in this era placed a premium on RBIs and it led to some questionable decisions like this one. Our own generation has probably gone too far to the other extreme in completely devaluing this stat, that’s for another time. For now, let’s just say there’s no way on earth any revisiting of history can let Luzinski’s second-place stand.

What can’t be defended, even in a 1975 context, is the decision of two voters to put Rose at the top of their list. Morgan should have been a unanimous pick, and this wasn’t even a vintage year for Rose in any case. The fact he finished fifth suggests most voters got this, but clearly a couple people had a thing for Pete’s image as “Charlie Hustle” and overrated him as a result.

I think the 1-2 spots on this ballot should have been easy calls. Morgan was an obvious winner, and Parker was a no less obvious choice for the second spot. Bench definitely deserved to be in the top 5.

The most underrated player in this entire process was Mike Schmidt. The great Phillie third baseman finished with a stat line of .367/.583. He led the National League with 38 homers and drove in 95 runs. His .249 batting average would have bothered the voters of that era more than it would their modern counterparts. Based on that, we can justify his not appearing in the top 5. But finished tied for 16^th? That seems a little harsh for a home run leader on a contender.

My revised ballot would look like this:
1)Morgan
2)Parker
3)Schmidt
4)Bench
5)Seaver