Revisiting The 1976 NL MVP Ballot

To the victors go the spoils. That adage always rings true in the Most Valuable Player voting, and it certainly did so in the final tally for the 1976 NL MVP. The Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies were the National League’s best two teams, and they filled out the top five of the results. Here’s a look at that top 5, along with some notable down ballot performers.

Joe Morgan (2B, Cincinnati)
*.444 OBP/.576 slugging percentage
*.320 batting average
*27 home runs/60 stolen bases
*113 runs scored/111 RBIs
Additional Notes: Morgan’s OBP and slugging both led the league. He got 19 out of a possible 24 first-place votes and secured a 93 percent vote share—the percentage of points available. This was Morgan’s second straight MVP season and those years coincided with the two best years of Cincinnati’s great Big Red Machine.

George Foster (LF, Cincinnati)
*.364 OBP/.530 slugging percentage
*.306 batting average
*29 home runs/17 stolen bases
*121 RBIs/86 runs scored
Additional Notes: Foster was the game’s leading RBI man, a factor that was undoubtedly what persuaded five voters to put him at the top of their ballots. He finished with a 66 percent vote share.

Mike Schmidt (3B, Philadelphia)
*376 OBP/.524 slugging percentage
*.262 batting average
*38 home runs/14 stolen bases
*107 RBIs/112 runs scored
Additional Notes: Schmidt got a 53 percent vote share, leading a potent Phillies offense that won a breakthrough division title, ending Pittsburgh’s hold on the NL East.

Pete Rose (3B, Cincinnati)
*404 OBP/.450 slugging percentage
*.323 batting average
*10 home runs/9 stolen bases
*130 runs scored/63 RBIs
Additional Notes: Rose finished with a 39 percent vote share. He played all 162 games, his biggest advantage over teammates Morgan and Foster, who were each in the low 140s. Setting the table for the great hitters behind him—including Johnny Bench—Pete led the league in runs scored.

Garry Maddox (CF, Philadelphia)
*377 OBP/.456 slugging percentage
*.330 batting average
*29 stolen bases/6 home runs
*75 runs scored/68 RBIs
Additional Notes: You know the sports cliché “90 percent of the world is covered by water, the other 10 percent by (fill in the name of defender)? The first time I ever heard it used was in reference to Maddox. So, while these offensive numbers are impressive, it’s undoubtedly that defensive prowess that also inspired voters to give him a 29 percent share.

Notable Down the Ballot
Steve Garvey (1B, LA Dodgers): Played in all 162 games and got 200 hits for a 92-win team.
Bill Madlock (3B, Chi Cubs): Won the batting title at .339, laboring for the sub-.500 Cubbies.
Ken Griffey Sr (RF, Cincinnati): Even down ballot, the Big Red Machine keeps cranking. Griffey hit .336 and stole 34 bags.
Bob Watson (1B, Houston): Batted .313 and drove in 102 runs.
Al Oliver (CF, Pittsburgh): A stat line of .363 OBP.,476 slugging and the best season from a Pirate player as they got to 92 wins.
Randy Jones (SP, San Diego): The Cy Young Award winner made 40 starts, cleared the 300-inning threshold, won 22 games and finished with a 2.74 ERA. He got those wins pitching for a horrible team.

ANALYSIS

The voters, as a collective whole, did a good job on this ballot. While I’m generally skeptical about too many players from the same team being at the top (because the abundance of quality makes each individual piece a little less valuable on its own), this Reds team is different. Their pitching ranked fifth in a 12-team league, so pretty close to the middle. It was the offense that carried them to greatness. You could even argue that Griffey coming in eighth was a little too low.

I also think voters should be given credit for not overrating Watson. The Houston first baseman certainly had a good year, but batting average and RBIs are the two stats that were generally overweighted in this era (and are probably underweighted in our own). For the voters not to overreact to a .300 hitter with 100 ribbies deserves a nod of recognition—the Astros got arguably better all-around years from rising stars in Jose Cruz and Cesar Cedeno.

But let’s get to the real rub. It’s not the collective results. It’s the five voters who denied Morgan a unanimous win. What is there in Foster’s resume that said he was better than Morgan? Even allowing for the emphasis on RBIs, Morgan was still within ten of his teammate for the league lead. Morgan played a more valuable defensive position—something we know voters noticed because of Maddox’s strong finish.

If you really wanted to put someone besides Morgan at the top I could see maybe picking Rose, given his nearly 200 extra at-bats. Actually, who’s kidding who. There’s no argument for anyone other than Morgan. This one didn’t need to be overthought.

Nor am I going to overthink the historical revision of the top five. I debated moving Griffey in ahead of Maddox, but Garry played the more important defensive position. You could argue for the 2 thru 4 spots to be reshuffled several different ways, but I think they look fine as they are.

So our revised top 5 looks the same as the original:
1)Morgan
2)Foster
3)Schmidt
4)Rose
5)Maddox