Who Won the 1985 MVP Award? Was it Rickey Henderson?

[maverick4]

I was just looking at Rickey Henderson's stats, as he just got selected for the Hall of Fame.

This guy was one of the best players ever, maybe top 10 all time, I didn't even realize how good he was.

Does anyone remember who won the 1985 MVP award? I can't see anyone doing better than what Henderson did that year:
146 Runs, 24HR, 72RBI, 80Stolen Bases, 0.314 Avg, 0.419 OBP

Rickey Henderson Stats, News, Photos - Los Angeles Dodgers - ESPN

 

[maverick4]

Nevermind, I decided to not be lazy and just look it up. It was Don Mattingly.

MLB Awards | MLB.com: History

Looking at Mattingly's stats that year, I still think Rickey should have won. After all, our own Petey Pedroia won MVP over other power hitters and his stats were not even close to Rickey's).

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Nevermind, I decided to not be lazy and just look it up. It was Don Mattingly.

MLB Awards | MLB.com: History
.

Part of the reason was that Mattingly's Yankees finished 2 games out of first ( no playoffs IIRC because it was pre-wild card) while Ricky's A's finished in 5th place 77-85, 14 games out....

It's the same reason (partly) that Joe Dimaggio beat Ted Williams for the MVP in 1941 when Ted hit .406 and Joe had the 56 game hitting streak. Yankees won 101 games and the pennant and the Sox won 84...Ted had the better numbers with less support around him, which is why he was walked so many times...

http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1941.shtml

Williams .406 BA 37 HR, 120RBI OBP .553, slugging .735 OPS 1.287 147 BB
DiMaggio .357 BA 30 HR 125 RBI OBP .440 slugging .643 OPS 1.083 76 BB

 

[WhiskeyBreath]

Part of the reason was that Mattingly's Yankees finished 2 games out of first ( no playoffs IIRC because it was pre-wild card) while Ricky's A's finished in 5th place 77-85, 14 games out....

Ricky and Mattingly were on the same team that year...