On This Date in 1951

Yogi Berra is announced as the American League MVP. It's the first of three times the Yankees catcher would win the award -- he would do it again in 1954 and '55.

A few random thoughts:

  • Yogi would go onto become the Yankees second three-time MVP winner. Joe DiMaggio (1939, 1941, 1947) was the first and Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, 1962) would be the other. (Alex Rodriguez won the first of his three MVP awards as a Texas Ranger).
  • Two of the three times Yogi won the AL MVP, the National League winner played right across town. Roy Campanella of the Dodgers won in 1951 and '55 (as well as '53) and the guys capped their seasons by meeting in the World Series.
  • Bracket the seven peak years of Yogi's career (1950-'56) and he finished in the Top 3 of MVP voting every year. Besides the three awards, he finished second in 1953 and '56 and third in 1950. That's a dominant player!

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