1980: Midwest Baseball Alliance (Part Three)
So if a triple crown season from Vince Tinsley wasn't enough to secure him the MVP then what was?
The answer is St. Louis LF Dean McPeck. The 32 year old cuts a fairly ordinary presence at 5'11"/195lbs but boy he can smash the home runs. His 45 home runs were 10 clear of #2 Adam Aceves. Throw in his 95 walks (good enough for #3 in the MBA) then you have a fairly deadly hitter at the plate.
Unfortunately, as good as the Stags were at getting themselves runs (led by McPeck), they were just as bad at preventing them. Ultimately, they finished the season 57-63 and bottom of the West Division. An MVP season from McPeck gone to waste.
The MVP vote was one of contention with fierce debate between the merits of McPeck vs Tinsley. One voter however decided they wanted nothing of that debate and simply gave their first place vote to Pittsburgh catcher Jake van Kuren (who led the league in batting average and on-base percentage while being a slighty-better-than-average catcher).
"No comment" was all we got from the Pittsburgh writer who made the vote.
One final fun fact is that Nigel Knowles, who finished #7 in the MVP vote was a 37 year old left fielder for Pittsburgh. He had a pretty solid season with .286/.437/.596 slash line with 32 home runs and 95 RBIs. 153 OPS+ and 4.3 WAR and decided to retire. BNN reported that he wants to take a role in the broadcasting booth next.