The Reds had the league's best record, but crashed and burned in the playoffs against a relatively weak Mets team. Reds' star Pete Rose won his only MVP Award this year. Though there is logic to his selection, I think the voters were a little misguided. First of all, I don't think Rose was the best player at his position. And secondly, I don't think he was the best player on his own team.

        Rose's 230 hits are an eye-popping number, but remember that most of those hits were singles. Willie Stargell, on the other hand, had awesome power numbers; he was clearly the best hitter in the league. I think Rose was good, but he was a one-dimensional hitter, and he doesn't get extra points for defense. I'll take the guy with all of those doubles and homers.
        Or how about Bobby Bonds? Bonds almost became the first player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season; it was a goal that he was never able to reach. It has since been done by three players, including Bobby's son, Barry. Bonds was also a superior defensive player; adding it up, I have to put him ahead of Rose as well.
        At age 39, Hank Aaron had yet another amazing season. He hit 40 homers, despite a limited number of at bats. This was his last big season; he finished the year with 713 home runs, one short of Babe Ruth's career record. He would tie and break the record early in 1974.
        The Braves had three players with 40+ homers this year: Aaron, Darrell Evans and Davey Johnson. They were the first team to have three players with 40 or more home runs.
        Evans was an underrated player for his entire career. The reason? His lifetime batting average was .248. But while he didn't get much respect for his low batting averages, he produced a lot of runs with his power and walks. In his 21-year career, Evans hit 414 home runs and drew 1605 walks (his walk total puts him among the top ten all-time). This year was the best of his career; a year later his batting average dropped to .240, and two years after that to .205, earning him a ticket to San Francisco.
        Evans was one of the best power hitters to ever play third base, and he was also a fine defensive player in his prime. He played eight years in San Francisco and was a solid, consistent player. His best season with the Giants was also his last one, in 1983 at age 36. Two years later, playing first base with the Tigers, Evans led the AL with 40 homers, becoming the oldest player to league the league in home runs. He kept hitting, bashing out 34 homers in 1987 when he was 40 years old.
        Johnson had an amazing fluke year. Davey had been a fine player with Baltimore, but his previous high in home runs was 18. In 1974, Johnson's homer total dropped back down to 15, and he was soon out of the league. He still had a good career that included 13 seasons, four All-Star Games and three Gold Gloves. Johnson would re-emerge a decade later as one of the game's star managers, and led the Mets to the World Series in 1986.
        But I believe that the best player in the game at this point was Joe Morgan. Let's see... Joe hit for average, hit for power, drew a lot of walks, stole a lot of bases with an outstanding success rate, played an important defensive position, and won a Gold Glove. He finished fourth in the MVP voting, which is respectable but not good enough for a player of his calibre.
        There is no question in my mind that Morgan was the league's MVP this year; he was clearly better than Rose, who was good but not in the same class. Stargell and Evans both had huge years, and are close runner-ups. But Morgan, who stood only 5'7", was the best of the best.