With the official signature of Most valuable Player (MVP) of the 2020 National League, Freddie Freemanthe star-studded lineup of the Dodgers became even more powerful. If all goes according to plan, Freeman will be unot of the four winners of the MVP who will play for The Angels in 2022.
The other three who have previously won the MVP Award are: Clayton Kershaw (2014), Cody Bellinger (2019) and Mookie Betts, although unlike his two current teammates, he achieved it when he was a Red Sox player in the year 2018. Following Freeman’s signing Wednesday night, the 2022 Dodgers will be the fifth team to have four MVPs in one season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. A look at the four previous cases.
Dodgers (2021)
That’s right, the Dodgers did this last season. The cast was mostly the same, with 2005 and 2008-09 NL MVP winner Albert Pujols taking Freeman’s place. Pujols joined the Dodgers on May 17, becoming the fourth Most Valuable Player on the roster. All four appeared in the same game together five times, a feat made, of course, made more difficult by the fact that Kershaw is a starting pitcher. For what it’s worth, the Dodgers were 4-1 in those games.
Red Sox (nineteen ninety six)
Rojas began the season with 1986 AL MVP Roger Clemens, ’88 AL MVP Jose Canseco, ’89 NL MVP Kevin Mitchell, and ’95 AL MVP Mo Vaughn, but the four didn’t stay together for long. Mitchell, in his first year with Boston, played in just 27 games, hampered by injuries to both hamstrings, before being traded to the Reds on July 30. The quartet played in five games together, with the Red Sox losing all five.
angels (1982)
The 1982 season was the first of five years with the Angels for 1973 AL MVP Reggie Jackson. Upon his arrival, he was joined by ’77 AL MVP Rod Carew, ’75 AL MVP (and Rookie of the Year!) Fred Lynn, and ’79 AL MVP Don Baylor, who had already played together. The four appeared together in 111 regular-season games and went 60-51.
Reds (1978)
When George Foster won National League MVP in 1977, he joined a trio of teammates who had also won MVP awards, all recently with the same club. That meant the 1978 Reds entered the season with Foster, plus 1973 NL MVP Pete Rose, 1975-76 NL MVP Joe Morgan, and 1975-76 NL MVP Joe Morgan. of the 1970 and 1972 National League, Johnny Bench. The Big Red Machine, in fact. The Reds played 99 games with all four MVPs appearing and finished 52-47.
Sarah Langs/MLB.com
We would love to give thanks to the writer of this write-up for this outstanding material
Dodgers do it again: First team to have 4 MVPs in two different MLB seasons