Two Yankee Joes. Gordon, DiMaggio.

FOXSports.com – More Sports- Forget Nash, these MVP choices were worse — Column by Kevin Hench, a good read.

excerpt:

You can count me among the people who think Shaquille O’Neal got jobbed, but the choice of Nash is hardly the outrage — the moral outrage, according to a few — people have been claiming.

In fact, it wouldn’t make my Top 10 Worst MVP Selections in all sports. Nor is it close to the most egregious decision in NBA history.

You want injustice? Check out this list:

1. Joe Gordon, American League – 1942

Fresh off losing the MVP vote to Joe DiMaggio in 1941 despite hitting .406 with a .551 OBP and an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) more than 200 points better than Joltin’ Joe’s, Ted Williams won the Triple Crown in 1942, only to be robbed again by another Yankee, the slightly less distinguished Mr. Gordon.

Williams hit .357 with 36 home runs and 137 RBIs. Gordon hit .322 with 18 home runs and 103 RBIs. The Splinter’s OPS was 247 points higher than Gordon’s. Gordon, however, did turn in a Triple Crown of his own in 1942, leading the league in errors (28), strikeouts (95) and grounding into double plays (22).

Sure, the Yankees won the pennant %u2014 always the refuge of a fraud voter %u2014 but Teddy Ballgame had a lot more to do with the Red Sox’s 93 wins in 1942 than Gordon did with the Yankees’ 103.

(In 1947, Williams would again win the Triple Crown and lose out on the MVP to DiMaggio by one point in the voting.)