Today on MLB Monday, it’s time for fun season where the nation was treated to a World Series featuring two teams from New York City … bleh. Forgive our occasional Best Coast bias, but it must have been an annoying time to be a baseball fan from anywhere west of the East Coast. This is the start of an 18-year stretch where the New York Yankees won the American League pennant 15 times and the World Series 10 times as well. Oh, how times have changed for the better?

1947 World Series MVP: Hugh Casey, RP, Brooklyn

The Yankees won the Fall Classic in seven games over the Brooklyn Dodgers, who were still looking for their first championship of the modern era. Our two main N.Y. candidates here are outfielder Johnny Lindell (.500 BA, 7 RBI, 1.403 OPS) and starting pitcher Spec Shea (2-0, 2.35 ERA), and for the Dodgers, we’re considering right fielder Carl Furillo (.353 BA, .921 OPS) and relief pitcher Hugh Casey (2-0. 0.87 ERA). Who gets the hardware? It’s all about context.

Shea is out, because he was knocked out of Game 7 at home before getting out of the second inning. That’s not an MVP-caliber effort, and in three starts, he only managed 15 1/3 innings. Furillo managed just 3 RBI in 7 games, and he had a single hit in Game 7 as well (not to mention a fielding error). That leaves us with Lindell or Casey—but the former didn’t even play in Game 7 despite his gaudy stats. Meanwhile, Casey won Games 3 and 4 for Brooklyn and saved Game 6.

With the Dodgers winning Games 3, 4, and 6 by a combined 4 runs, it’s clear that without Casey’s scoreless efforts in those three games overall, Brooklyn never even gets to a Game 7. Lindell was injured, so Yogi Berra played in his stead for the final game. Yet even with Lindell’s bat, the Yankees couldn’t clinch the Series in six games or less. So, we’re going to go with Casey here in somewhat of a surprise, because … yeah. This is the second time in three years for a “loser” pick.

1947 AL MOTY: Ossie Bluege, Washington

Manager Bucky Harris guided the Yankees to a 12-game margin in the AL pennant race, despite posting a minus-3 PPP mark. No skipper of a winning AL team achieved more than a plus-1 PPP effort, either, so that leaves us with a quandary. We can’t reward an also-ran manager for a barely passable job. So, we’re going to choose the best managerial effort of the season, regardless of record, this time: Washington Senators Manager Ossie Bluege and his plus-8 PPP result. Congrats!

1947 NL MOTY: Burt Shotton, Brooklyn

The Dodgers won the pennant by 5 games over the St. Louis Cardinals, and Brooklyn Manager Burt Shotton notched a plus-7 PPP finish as he managed all but 2 of the Dodgers games during the regular season. That was the best PPP mark of any manager for a winning NL team, so that makes it easy to select him for this trophy. No other discussion needed.