In 1968, pitchers had taken over the game, and run scoring had become a rarity. This was a problem for baseball; after all, the fans come out to see home runs. Some new rules were implemented before the 1969 season; most notably, the pitching mound was lowered, and the strike zone was shrunk. The changes worked; run scoring went back up, and a lot of players had big seasons. The MVP was Harmon Killebrew, who had his best year at the plate.

        Though Killebrew played third base this season for the Twins, he really wasn't any kind of defensive player. But he certainly had a huge year at the plate; Killebrew, Leo Cardenas and Rod Carew all played for Minnesota, and it is no surprise that the Twins won the division title.
        Yeah, Rod Carew could play, too. Rod was 23 years old, and won his first of seven batting titles. He also missed 40 games with injury, a problem that would plague him for years until he moved to first base in mid-career. Leo Cardenas played for 16 years, and was an All-Star five times. He was a very good defensive player who occasionally had a good season with the bat.
        What a year for Rico Petrocelli. Rico was a decent hitter who put it all together for one giant season. And he played well at shortstop, too. He finished seventh in the MVP voting, but I think he certainly deserved to rank much higher. Rico played for 13 years, all of them with Boston, and was a good player; he hit 210 lifetime homers. A couple of years after his big season, Petrocelli was moved to third base, presumably because power hitters are not supposed to play at short. It was a bad move for Rico, who never hit well as a third baseman.
        Reggie Jackson had one of the greatest half-seasons in baseball history. He had 37 home runs at the All-Star break, and by the end of July he was well positioned to challenge Roger Maris' record. But Reggie slumped the rest of the season, finishing with "only" 47 homers. On the whole, though, it was still one of his best seasons; he was certainly the best outfielder in the league, and was comparable to Killebrew as a hitter. Boog Powell was runner-up in the MVP vote; he was good, and his team (the Orioles) won the most games, but I think that Jackson, Frank Howard and Frank Robinson all had better years.
        Jackson eventually became one of the most colorful, controversial and recognizable players in baseball. But I think most of that was in his New York days, almost a decade after this season. Jackson played with the Oakland Athletics until he was 30, and for eight years he was a great player. Reggie in his youth was consistently the best hitter in the American League, a home run-hittin' machine who drew walks and stole bases, and had to play in the worst hitter's park in the league. The Athletics didn't win three straight World Series by magic.
        I think there is a large possibility that both Jackson and Petrocelli had better seasons than Killebrew. Nevertheless, I'm sticking with Harmon as the MVP. He led his team to the playoffs, and you can't ignore 140 RBI.