The MLB All Star Game has been a traditional breaking point for the season since 1933. The Midsummer Classic marks the halfway point of the season and was originally intended as a way to allow players to pay into their pension fund. In fact, between 1959 and 1962, there were two All Star games per season for this purpose. The practice was ended by owners agreeing to pay the players a larger share of the income from a single game.
The most outstanding player of the All Star game is awarded the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award, named in honor of the great man, often seen as the most complete all-around hitter in baseball history, in 2002, the year of Williams’ death. The recipient is also gifted a Chevrolet vehicle.
The trophy that is given to the recipient is named the Arch Ward Memorial Trophy in honor of the man who first conceived of the idea to have an All Star game back in 1933. A journalist and sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, Ward created the Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament as well as the MLB All Star Game.
The first player to receive the MVP award more than once was Willie Mays, who was the MVP in 1963 ad again in 1968.
The only father-son duo to have won the award is Ken Griffey Sr who won the award in 1980 and Ken Griffey Jr who won the award in 1992. Mike Trout is the only player to have ever won the award two years in a row.
The National League has provided 28 MVP players over the years while the American League has seen 33 of their men take the award, including the last nine in a row, prior to this year of course.
The Colorado Rockies’ Elías Díaz is the latest in this long tradition. Here is a full list of the recipients of the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award.
| YEAR | PLAYER | POSITION | TEAM | LEAGUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962* | Maury Wills | SS | LA Dodgers | NL |
| 1962* | Leon Wagner | OF | LA Angels | AL |
| 1963 | Willie Mays | OF | San Francisco | NL |
| 1964 | Johnny Callison | OF | Philadelphia | NL |
| 1965 | Juan Marichal | P | San Francisco | NL |
| 1966 | Brooks Robinson | 3B | Baltimore | AL |
| 1967 | Tony Perez | 3B | Cincinnati | NL |
| 1968 | Willie Mays | OF | San Francisco | NL |
| 1969 | Willie McCovey | 1B | San Francisco | NL |
| 1970 | Carl Yastrzemski | OF | Boston | AL |
| 1971 | Frank Robinson | OF | Baltimore | AL |
| 1972 | Joe Morgan | 2B | Cincinnati | NL |
| 1973 | Bobby Bonds | OF | San Francisco | NL |
| 1974 | Steve Garvey | 1B | Los Angeles | NL |
| 1975** | Jon Matlack Bill Madlock |
P 3B |
NY Mets Chi Cubs |
NL NL |
| 1976 | George Foster | OF | Cincinnati | NL |
| 1977 | Don Sutton | P | Los Angeles | NL |
| 1978 | Steve Garvey | 1B | Los Angeles | NL |
| 1979 | Dave Parker | OF | Pittsburgh | NL |
| 1980 | Ken Griffey | OF | Cincinnati | NL |
| 1981 | Gary Carter | C | Montreal | NL |
| 1982 | Dave Concepcion | SS | Cincinnati | NL |
| 1983 | Fred Lynn | 3B | California | AL |
| 1984 | Gary Carter | C | Montreal | NL |
| 1985 | LaMarr Hoyt | P | San Diego | NL |
| 1986 | Roger Clemens | P | Boston | AL |
| 1987 | Tim Raines | OF | Montreal | NL |
| 1988 | Terry Steinbach | C | Oakland | AL |
| 1989 | Bo Jackson | OF | Kansas City | AL |
| 1990 | Julio Franco | 2B | Texas | AL |
| 1991 | Cal Ripken Jr. | SS | Baltimore | AL |
| 1992 | Ken Griffey Jr. | OF | Seattle | AL |
| 1993 | Kirby Puckett | OF | Minnesota | AL |
| 1994 | Fred McGriff | 1B | Atlanta | NL |
| 1995 | Jeff Conine | OF | Florida | NL |
| 1996 | Mike Piazza | C | Los Angeles | NL |
| 1997 | Sandy Alomar Jr. | C | Cleveland | AL |
| 1998 | Roberto Alomar | 2B | Baltimore | AL |
| 1999 | Pedro Martinez | P | Boston | AL |
| 2000 | Derek Jeter | SS | NY Yankees | AL |
| 2001 | Cal Ripken Jr. | 3B | Baltimore | AL |
| 2002† | No player was awarded MVP since game ended in a tie | |||
| 2003 | Garret Anderson | OF | Anaheim | AL |
| 2004 | Alfonso Soriano | 2B | Texas | AL |
| 2005 | Miguel Tejada | SS | Baltimore | AL |
| 2006 | Michael Young | SS | Texas | AL |
| 2007 | Ichiro Suzuki | OF | Seattle | AL |
| 2008 | J.D. Drew | OF | Boston | AL |
| 2009 | Carl Crawford | OF | Tampa Bay | AL |
| 2010 | Brian McCann | C | Atlanta | NL |
| 2011 | Prince Fielder | 1B | Milwaukee | NL |
| 2012 | Melky Cabrera | OF | San Francisco | NL |
| 2013 | Mariano Rivera | P | NY Yankees | AL |
| 2014 | Mike Trout | OF | LA Angels | AL |
| 2015 | Mike Trout | OF | LA Angels | AL |
| 2016 | Eric Hosmer | 1B | Kansas City | AL |
| 2017 | Robinson Cano | 2B | Seattle | AL |
| 2018 | Alex Bregman | 3B | Houston | AL |
| 2019 | Shane Bieber | P | Cleveland | AL |
| 2020†† | no All Star Game due to Covid | |||
| 2021 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 1B | Toronto | AL |
| 2022 | Giancarlo Stanton | OF | New York | AL |
| 2023 | Elías Díaz | C | Colorado | NL |
* 1962 was the final year where two games were played and an MVP was chosen for each game.
** In 1975, both Jon Matlack of the Mets and Bill Madlock of the Cubs were awarded co-MVP.
†In 2002, the game ended in a tie, so no player was awarded the MVP.
††There was no All Star Game in 2020 due to the worldwide covid pandemic.
