Worst award selection

[toomanyhatz]

I'm sure we've had this before, but didn't know what to put in the search function to find it. What is the worst awards selection ever? (Single-season awards only, the Hall of Fame is of course a whole other story, and obviously much-discussed here and elsewhere.)

Some possible finalists:

Any number of Gold Glove awards, but particularly the infamous Palmeiro selection
Jim Lefebvre over Joe Morgan for ROY 1965
Zoilo Versales over Tony Oliva for MVP, same year
Mike Marshall over Messersmith, Sutton, Niekro or any number of better candidates for NL Cy Young in 1974

I vote for Morgan losing out in '65. One reason- it wasn't even close. The vote reads as if Lefebvre was way better, when in fact the reverse is true.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Any relief pitcher winning a Cy Young is a mistake in my opinion. Especially MVP relief pitchers. Except mayby Konstanty in 1950 but i'm sure there had to have been better choices.

[9RoyHobbsRF]

Maury Wills winning the MVP in 1962 over Mays or Aaron or Frank Robinson

Dick Groat winning the 1960 NL MVP

Ken Boyer winning the 1964 NL MVP - he was probaby the fourth best THIRD BASEMAN in the NL that year

Andre Dawson winning the NL MVP in 1987 - he probably wasn't a top ten OF that year

[drstrangelove]

Both MVP and both CY awards in 1974. The quadfecta of voting ineptitude. In 3 of the 4 votes, the winner was not even the best player / pitcher on their own team.

Garvey, Burroughs, Marshall and Hunter.

Hunter was the only one where one could argue plausibly (although incorrectly) for his choice.

[Francoeurstein]

Jimmy Rollins, 2007
Miguel Tejada, 2002

[GiambiJuice]

ichiro in 2001
Rollins MVP and GG IN 2007
Morneau in 2006
Juan Gonzalez in 96 and 98
Mo Vaughn over Belle and Edgar Martinez
Any of Jeter's 5 GGs
Maury wills
Every time Ted Williams got snubbed by angry writers
Justin verlander's MVP
bartolo colon's CY
jack McDowell's CY

[KHenry14]

Dawson in 1987 has always rankled me.

[dgarza]

I vote for Morgan losing out in '65. One reason- it wasn't even close. The vote reads as if Lefebvre was way better, when in fact the reverse is true.

I don't think this selection was THAT bad, even if I disagree with the eventual winner. They were both really good 2B.

The 1980 NL ROY race is more troubling to me.
Several of the other relievers were better than Howe, they just didn't have the Save total he did.
And Lonnie Smith batted .339 and stole 33 bases.

                                                                                      
                                                 Voti                             Pitc
Rank                  Tm Vote Pts 1st Place Share WAR    W L  ERA  WHIP  G GS SV    IP
1         Steve Howe LAD     80.0      12.0   67% 0.3    7 9 2.66 1.240 59  0 17  84.2
2    Bill Gullickson MON     53.0       5.0   44% 2.5   10 5 3.00 1.255 24 19  0 141.0
5         Dave Smith HOU     13.0       2.0   11% 2.4    7 5 1.93 1.188 57  0 10 102.2
6       Jeff Reardon NYM      2.0       0.0    2% 1.9    8 7 2.61 1.296 61  0  6 110.1
7         Al Holland SFG      1.0       0.0    1% 2.9    5 3 1.75 1.275 54  0  7  82.1
7           Bob Walk PHI      1.0       0.0    1% 0.0   11 7 4.57 1.543 27 27  0 151.2

                                                                                                   
                                              Voti                                             Batt
Rank               Tm Vote Pts 1st Place Share WAR    G  AB  R   H HR RBI SB BB   BA  OBP  SLG  OPS
3    Lonnie Smith PHI     49.0       4.0   41% 2.1  100 298 69 101  3  20 33 26 .339 .397 .443 .840
4      Ron Oester CIN     16.0       1.0   13% 1.0  100 303 40  84  2  20  6 26 .277 .336 .363 .699
7     Leon Durham STL      1.0       0.0    1% 1.5   96 303 42  82  8  42  8 18 .271 .309 .426 .735

[Yilan Dai]

1925 AL MVP Roger Peckinpaugh over Al Simmons
1934 AL MVP Mickey Cochrane over Lou Gehrig
1944 NL MVP Marty Marion over Stan Musial
1947 AL MVP Joe DiMaggio over Ted Williams
1955 AL MVP Yogi Berra over Mickey Mantle
1960 NL MVP Dick Groat over Willie Mays
1964 NL MVP Ken Boyer over Willie Mays
1974 NL MVP Steve Garvey over Mike Schmidt
1987 NL MVP Andre Dawson over Tony Gwynn
1987 AL MVP George Bell over Alan Trammel
1995 AL MVP Mo Vaughn over Albert Belle
1996 AL MVP Juan Gonzalez over Alex Rodriguez
1999 AL MVP Ivan Rodriguez over Pedro Martinez
2002 AL MVP Miguel Tejada over Alex Rodriguez
2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau over David Ortiz
2011 AL MVP Justin Verlander over Jacoby Ellsbury

[Captain Cold Nose]

I remember Ruben Sierra being very upset he did not win the MVP over Robin Yount in 1989. How does that election stand up through time?

[1905 Giants]

1962 Wills.

[GiambiJuice]

Angel Berroa over Hideki Matsui for the 2003 ROY got a lot of flack at the time, but looking back, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. They were pretty dead-even offensively and Berroa had a positional advantage.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Bob Welch winning the 1990 CYA over over Roger Clemens still smelts of elderberries today.

[TomBodet]

Willie Hernandez winning the Mvp in '84 ditto the Cy. Really?! A bad choice is a bad choice but they hadda double the fun that time out.

[NJYankeeFan]

Miguel Tejada's MVP. He was behind A-Rod in everything and they played the same position. A-Rod played that position far better. There was no case to be made for Tejada.