Pittsburgh Pirates: Four National League MVP Snubs in Franchise History

Ralph Kiner, 1947

Ralph Kiner was an absolute masher for the Pittsburgh Pirates throughout his career. 1947 was his big breakout year.

In 666 plate appearances Kiner killed the baseball. He blasted 51 home runs, which at the time was only totals Babe Ruth was consistently hitting. Overall, he had a .317/.417/.639 with a 169 wRC+ in his 666 plate appearances. Kiner walked at a strong 14.1% clip, and struck out just 12.2% of the time.

He also was not a horrible base runner with +0.1 base running runs above average, and was able to field his position well having +6 total zone runs in the outfield. Kiner had a 8.2 fWAR and and 8.1 bWAR. Only Ted Williams outpaced Kiner in wRC+, and fWAR. But who won the MVP that year for the National League?

Well it was former long-time Pirate third baseman/outfielder Bob Elliot. By no means did the Boston Brave third baseman have a bad year. He hit .317/.410/.517 with a 147 OPS+ and 144 wRC+. Elliot fielded well at third base for the Boston Braves having +4 total zone runs, but he wasn’t anything close to Kiner. Elliot registered a 6.4 bWAR/fWAR in 645 plate appearances. Clearly, Kiner well outdid him in the offensive department, being 65% more effective in the batter’s box in comparison to Elliot.

One of the big factors that probably led to Kiner finishing in just 6th place in MVP voting that year was the fact the Pittsburgh Pirates were 62-92 that year. The team was a really good offensive force with five players with a 100+ OPS+, but their pitching was sub-par, and that led to them losing as many games as they did. Elliot’s Braves in comparison had an 86-68 record, who had one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.