We forge on with our second MLB Monday miniseries, looking at World Series MVPs and Managers of the Year in both leagues. We have this annual context from our first miniseries, and we will continue rolling along here—eventually adding some Gold Glove analysis in due time—for a long time going forward … even as the 2022 regular season comes to a close this week. Sad!

1916 World Series MVP: Ernie Shore, SP, Boston (AL)

The Boston Red Sox won another World Series—their fourth so far!—with a 5-game triumph over the Brooklyn Robins. The winners had a balanced offensive lineup that picked up runs from top to bottom, while the pitching staff was dominated by two guys who threw a combined 31 2/3 IP of the Series total (49 IP): righty Ernie Shore (1.53 ERA in 17 2/3 IP) and lefty Babe Ruth (0.64 ERA in 14 IP).

Shore won Games 1 and 5, while Ruth went 14 innings for a complete-game victory in Game 2. While Ruth’s win may have been a more impressive feat, it was also his only appearance on the mound in the Series—and he went 0-for-5 in the game as a hitter. He wasn’t the Ruth we think of in the 1920s yet, and so we’re giving this MVP nod to Shore for his bookend dominance (0.906 WHIP) in the overall victory.

Side note: During the next regular season (1917), Ruth and Shore would make history of a different kind.

1916 AL MOTY: Bill Carrigan, Boston

Boston Manager Bill Carrigan wins his third consecutive nod from us for posting a plus-4 PPP mark in a pennant race that his Red Sox won by just 2 games over the Chicago White Sox. In fact, Pale Hose Manager Pants Rowland came in with a minus-1 PPP effort, probably costing his team the flag as Chicago had a better scoring differential than Boston did.

1916 NL MOTY: Wilbert Robinson, Brooklyn

Brooklyn Robins Manager Wilbert Robinson (plus-2 PPP) and Philadelphia Phillies Manager Pat Moran (plus-3) were the two best managers, and the two teams finished first and second in the pennant race—with just 2.5 games separating the Phils from first place. Robinson had the better team, and he didn’t muck it up. Moran kept his undermanned team in the fight right down to the last few days of the season.

So, which manager gets our hardware? The two teams played each other 22 times, and they split the games evenly at 11 wins apiece. Again, we know Robinson had the better team, but Moran wasn’t significantly better than Robinson, either. At worst, the Brooklyn manager held serve and guided his team to where it should have finished. We can’t slight him for that, since his team did win the pennant.