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In the United States , the awarding of the Most Valuable Player Award (or '''MVP''') in Major League Baseball has changed hands several times but since the 1930s has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association Of America . A tally example of the 1999 voting method. CHALMERS AWARD (1911-1914) The Chalmers Automobile Company awarded an automobile in 1910 to the Batting Champion in each league. This led to a controversy in the American League; Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie entered the final day of the season neck-and-neck. St. Louis , playing Lajoie's Cleveland team, played their infield back, allowing Lajoie to beat out seven bunt singles in a doubleheader and win the title. In the ensuing debacle, Chalmers awarded automobiles to both players. (The question of who really won the batting title is still debated.) For 1911 , the Chalmers Company decided that batting average was too narrow a focus for an award. The Chalmers Award was the first attempt to recognize a player for overall contributions to his team's success—hence the designation ''Most Valuable'' rather than "player of the year", a distinction which remains today. LEAGUE AWARDS (1922-1929) In the 1920s the leagues awarded MVP titles, but limited the ballot options to one player per team, which led to there being no National League MVP in 1922 or 1923 . The American League allowed players to win the award only once, leading to unusual results like Babe Ruth 's 1927 (one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time) not being eligible for the award. BBWAA AWARDS (1931-PRESENT) In 1931 , the Baseball Writers Association Of America began awarding the Most Valuable Player trophy. In 1956 the Cy Young Award was first given to the best Pitcher in Major League Baseball (the current practice of honoring the best pitcher in each league did not begin until 1967 ). After that, the belief arose that the Most Valuable Player ought to be a position player, based on two factors, one being that pitchers had their own award, and the other being that pitchers could not be considered as valuable as position players since they do not play every day. On occasion, though, pitchers still win the award, and the current rules for the MVP specifically state that pitchers are to be considered. Since 1971, however, only four pitchers have won the award, the last being Dennis Eckersley in 1992 . †''Denotes unanimous decision.'' SEE ALSO The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award . |