Aaron Judge had a remarkable 2025. He led major league baseball in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS, while guiding his team to 94 wins and a playoff berth. In any other season, the Yankee captain would’ve been the indisputable American League MVP. But not in 2025 when Cal Raleigh hit 60 home runs, primarily as a catcher.
How does this happen? Sometimes, the voters get it wrong. They can be swayed by nebulous things like vibes and storylines which allows them to ignore facts, statistics, and good judgment. It’s the reason a kicker once won NFL MVP and why Steve Nash has as many NBA MVP awards as Shaq and Kobe combined. But what couldn’t be corrected at the ballot box can be called out here. These are the Top 10 MVP Robberies in sports.
10.2025 AL MVP: Aaron Judge over Cal Raleigh
Raleigh: 60 HR 125 RBI .247/.359/.589 7.4 WAR
Judge: 53 HR 114 RBI .331/.457/.688 9.7 WAR
Aaron Judge was a deserving MVP. But Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh did things that we've never seen. He hit 60 home runs as a primary catcher (the previous record was Salvador Perez’s 48 in 2021) and shattered Mickey Mantle’s record for home runs by a switch hitter. And he did so while playing the most demanding position in the sport — and doing it well; Raleigh is an elite defensive catcher and one of the best pitch framers in the game. Judge had a season for the ages. It just wasn’t as memorable as the Big Dumper's historic campaign.
9.1998 NBA MVP: Karl Malone over Michael Jordan
Jordan: 28.7 PPG 5.9 RPG 4.3 APG .486/.374/.833 8.6 VORP
Malone: 27.4 PPG 9.9 RPG 4.5 APG .550/.000/.755 7.8 VORP
With 9 seconds left in Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals, Karl Malone stepped to the free throw line with a chance to break an 82-82 tie. Scottie Pippen then slid past him and whispered in his ear, “The Mailman doesn’t deliver on Sundays.” Malone, who collected his first MVP award two weeks earlier, would prove Pippen prescient. He bricked his two free throws. Then, on the ensuing possession, Michael Jordan hit a game-winner at the buzzer; the Bulls went on to win the series in six games.
By this point, voters had Michael Jordan fatigue. He was the undisputed best player in the game going on a decade and had already collected four regular season MVPs. In 1997, he should’ve won his fifth.
8.2006 AL MVP: Justin Morneau over Derek Jeter
Jeter: 14 HR 97 RBI .343/.417/.483 5.6 WAR
Morneau: 34 HR 130 RBI .321/.375/.559 4.3 WAR
The MVP doesn’t always go to the best player. It’s often awarded to the one with the best story. Who overcame the most adversity? Who has yet to win? Who dragged their ragtag team to the playoffs? It’s called the MVP Narrative and it’s a very powerful indicator of who voters will reward. Except in 2006.
As the 2006 season progressed, a narrative took shape: Yankees captain Derek Jeter, the four-time World Series winner and face of MLB, deserved his first MVP Award. He checked all the boxes. He was in the midst of his finest season since 1999. He upped his game after teammates Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield went down with injury and the Yankees ran away with the division, winning the American League East by ten games. The New York tabloids and sports talk radio boosted his case. Then, the voters voted and his coronation got cancelled.
7.2024 NFL MVP: Josh Allen over Lamar Jackson
Jackson: 316-474 66.7 CMP% 4,172 YDS 41 TD 4 INT 119.6 RTG
Allen: 307-483 63.6 CMP% 3,731 YDS 28 TD 6 INT 101.4 RTG
Josh Allen was a beneficiary of the MVP Narrative. With three top five finishes, the Bills star QB had come close to capturing the prize. All season long we were reminded that he was due to win and in the end he did. But here’s the truth: Allen was better in 2020 and 2022 than during his MVP campaign. In fact, the 2024 Buffalo Bills were less dependent on Josh Allen than in previous seasons. James Cook emerged to become a bigger part of the offense and Allen threw nearly 100 fewer passes than he did in 2023.
If not for The Narrative, Allen likely finishes fourth, behind Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley, and Joe Burrow, all of whom had historically great seasons in 2024.
6.2011 NL MVP: Ryan Braun over Matt Kemp
Kemp: 39 HR 126 RBI .324/.399/.586 8.0 WAR
Braun: 33 HR 111 RBI .332/.397/.597 7.7 WAR
Sometimes a heist is obvious and sometimes it takes time to realize voters made a mistake — like in Ryan Braun’s case. About a month after Braun won the NL MVP, ESPN reported that he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs during a random drug test in October. Braun successfully appealed his suspension after an arbitrator questioned the chain of custody for Braun’s urine sample. But he wasn’t off the hook just yet.
In February 2013, Braun’s name appeared in records connected to Biogenesis, the Miami-based clinic that allegedly provided PED’s to several athletes. Braun was suspended 65 games and soon admitted to taking PED’s. Shockingly, he wasn’t the same player after returning from suspension, validating Matt Kemp’s already strong case for MVP.
5.2011 NBA MVP: Derrick Rose over LeBron James
James: 26.7 PPG 7.5 RPG 7.0 APG .510/.330/.759 7.8 VORP
Rose: 25.0 PPG 4.1 RPG 7.7 APG .445/.332/.858 6.7 VORP
Derrick Rose’s sole MVP was lifted by two tropes: The Narrative and voter fatigue. NBA writers couldn’t resist his story. D-Rose was the South Side kid leading his hometown Bulls to heights the franchise hadn’t seen since Michael Jordan patrolled the United Center. They were also looking for any reason to deny LeBron James his third consecutive MVP, especially after The Decision turned him into Public Enemy #1.
LeBron would have his revenge though in the Eastern Conference Finals, outplaying Rose and leading the Heat to a quick series win over the Bulls.
4.2006 NBA MVP: Steve Nash over Kobe Bryant
Bryant: 35.4 PPG 5.3 RPG 4.5 APG .450/.347/.850 8.0 VORP
Nash: 18.8 PPG 4.2 RPG 10.5 APG .512/.439/.921 4.9 VORP
Reigning MVP Steve Nash had a better claim to the award in 2006 than he did the previous season. He scored more points in a more efficient manner and had a much bigger lift once Amar’e Stoudemire’s season was cut short after three games. But Kobe Bean Bryant performed miracles in 2005-06.
Bryant led the league in scoring with 35.4 points per game, the highest average since Michael Jordan’s 37.09 in 1986-87, and put the Lakers on his back all season. With Shaq in South Beach, Bryant was the Batman and Robin for Los Angeles. His supporting cast was, to be kind, not good. Lamar Odom (who despite his talent never made an All-Star team), Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown, Luke Walton, Devean George, Sasha Vujacic, and Bryant’s favorite punching bag Smush Parker. Despite the inferior roster, Bryant led the Lakers to 45 wins and took Nash’s top seeded Suns to seven games in the first round of the playoffs.
3.1982 NFL MVP: Mark Moseley over Dan Fouts
Fouts: 204-330 61.8 CMP% 2883 YDS 17 TD 11 INT 93.3 RTG
Moseley: 20 FGM – 21 FGA 16 XPM – 19 XPA
The 1982 strike-shortened season led to weird developments in the NFL: an abbreviated nine-game schedule and a kicker — Mark Moseley of the team now called the Washington Commanders — winning league MVP. Moseley had a fine season, even though he missed three extra points. He hit two game winners in the final seconds and in overtime and played a large part in two other wins for the eventual Super Bowl champions. But, repeat with me, he was a kicker. San Diego Chargers QB Dan Fouts, who was on a record-setting pace for both touchdowns and yards, would’ve been the logical choice in any other season.
2.2017 AL MVP: Jose Altuve over Aaron Judge
Judge: 52 HR 114 RBI .284/.422/.627 8.1 WAR
Altuve: 24 HR 81 RBI .346/.410/.547 8.1 WAR
Most baseball fans barely flinched when Jose Altuve won the 2017 American League MVP. Sure, it was surprising that he carried 27 of 30 first place votes (Aaron Judge led the league in runs and home runs and his OPS numbers dwarfed Altuve’s total) but these things happened. Altuve had The Narrative on his side. But it was later revealed that the Astros had cheated throughout the season — an elaborate scheme that utilized a centerfield camera feed, video monitors, and, um, a trash can. Astros batters knew what pitch was coming at times during home games, which surely juiced their numbers, including Altuve’s.
Cody Bellinger, whose Dodgers lost to the Astros in the 2017 World Series, spoke for most players and fans after the scandal broke. “Those guys were cheating for three years,” he said of the Astros. “I think what people don’t realize is Altuve stole an MVP from Judge in 2017. Everyone knows they stole the ring from us. But it’s over.”
1.2005 NBA MVP: Steve Nash over Shaquille O’Neal
O’Neal: 22.9 PPG 10.4 RPG 2.7 APG .601/N/A/ .469 4.6 VORP
Nash: 15.5 PPG 3.3 RPG 11.5 APG .502/.431/.887 4.4 VORP
Steve Nash’s case for winning the 2005 NBA MVP could be easily debunked with one simple fact: The Dallas Mavericks were better without him. Nash’s former team improved from 52 to 58 wins largely due to the fact that their defense went from 28th in the league to 14th without the defensively challenged point guard. Meanwhile, the Lakers cratered after trading O’Neal during the summer of 2004, going from 56 wins to 34 and missing the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.