How many Yankees have won MVP and World Series in same season?
Aaron Judge's 2024 campaign was a season to remember. The 32-year-old got off to a brutal start to the year, only to then go on the kind of offensive tear only players like Aaron Judge can experience. His regular season numbers, as they usually are, turned out to be video game-like.
Overall, Judge slashed .322/.458/.701 with 58 home runs and 144 RBI in 158 games played. While he didn't quite catch the 62 home runs that he hit in 2022, Judge was pretty clearly the best player in the American League, if not the entire sport. He led the league in home runs, RBI, OBP, SLG, OPS, OPS+ (223), and even drew a league-leading 133 walks. Yes, he drew four more walks than his New York Yankees teammate who is known to have the best eye in the sport, Juan Soto.
Barring a massive shock, Judge is going to win his second MVP award in the last three years, and he might win it unanimously. He was that good.
With that being said, though, Judge is being judged (pun intended) more for the work he does in October. While his postseason hasn't been great thus far, the Yankees are in the World Series, needing four wins against the Los Angeles Dodgers to net the franchise its 28th World Series championship (and Judge's first). One big week from Judge can go a long way in achieving this goal, and adding Judge's name to a list of Yankees legends who have won both the AL MVP award and a World Series in the same season.
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How many Yankees have won MVP and the World Series in the same season?
Player | Year |
|---|---|
*Aaron Judge, OF | 2024 (would have to win) |
Mickey Mantle, OF | 1962 |
Roger Maris, OF | 1961 |
Mickey Mantle, OF | 1956 |
Yogi Berra, C | 1951 |
Phil Rizzuto, SS | 1950 |
Joe DiMaggio, OF | 1947 |
Spud Chandler, RHP | 1943 |
Joe DiMaggio, OF | 1941 |
Joe DiMaggio, OF | 1939 |
Lou Gehrig, 1B | 1936 |
Lou Gehrig, 1B | 1927 |
Babe Ruth, OF | 1923 |
With the Yankees being as successful of a franchise as they are, this list was bound to be long. If Judge were to win it, he'd become the 13th Yankees player ever to win a World Series and an MVP award in the same season.
While that definitely is a lot, it has been over 60 years since a Yankees player has accomplished both feats in the same season. The Yankees have six MVP seasons (including one from Judge) in that same 62-year time span, but they didn't win a World Series in any of those years.
They've won seven World Series championships in those 62 years, but again, not in the same year in which the AL MVP wore pinstripes. This is especially surprising considering the fact that New York won four World Series in five years from 1996-2000, yet didn't the MVP winner wasn't on any of those teams.
For the Yankees to knock out the powerful Dodgers, Judge is going to have to prove why he's going to win the MVP award. He's going to have some big moments in the Fall Classic. Will he come through?
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