Our second MLB Monday miniseries has arrived in the middle of the twentieth century, finally! We started this sequence with the 1903 MLB season, and that was a long time ago. And we have so much further to go ahead … yay! Also, this is the decade where we will be able to start comparing our World Series MVP picks with the contemporary ones, and that adds a whole new element to our process, for sure. Enjoy!

1950 World Series MVP: Allie Reynolds, P, New York (AL)

The New York Yankees swept the Philadelphia Phillies in the Fall Classic—marking just the second time the Phils had won the NL pennant. They wouldn’t make the playoffs again for another 26 years, in fact. Anyway, we digress: New York won the first three games by a single run each, so this series was a lot closer than most people remember it being. Usually, we see “sweep” and think it was a blowout. Not so much the case here.

Offensively, Yankees centerfielder Joe DiMaggio (1.086 OPS) gets his first consideration for this award, shockingly enough. His first 8 World Series were relatively quiet. On the pitching side for New York, though, we have a staff that gave up just 3 earned runs. And the top guy was, again, Allie Reynolds, our winner from last year. He posted a 1-0 record in 10 1/3 innings with an 0.87 ERA, a 1.065 WHIP, and one save, too.

His 10-inning, complete-game effort in Game 2 helped the Yanks take the first two game on the road, and he got the final out of Game 4 to clinch the Series. Meanwhile, DiMaggio only had 2 RBI and 4 hits total, as the N.Y. lineup only scored 11 runs itself. Four hits does not an MVP make; we can’t justify it. Whereas Reynolds’ effort in Game 2 changed the entire course of the matchup, before he finished it off, too. Repeat!

Now, only three players have multiple hardware here: Lou Gehrig (3), Babe Ruth (2), and Reynolds (2)—all Yankees, of course.

1950 AL MOTY: Red Rolfe, Detroit

The Yankees won the pennant by 3 games over the Detroit Tigers, 4 games over the Boston Red Sox, and 6 games over the Cleveland Indians. N.Y. Manager Casey Stengel (plus-2 PPP) did a good job keeping his team out front, but Detroit Manager Red Rolfe, a 5-time champion player with the Yankees, kept his team in the race with a stunning plus-7 PPP effort. That was the best mark in the league, and it wins our trophy.

1950 NL MOTY: Eddie Sawyer, Philadelphia

The Whiz Kids won the NL pennant for the first time in 35 years, behind Manager Eddie Sawyer (plus-4 PPP). The Phillies edged out the Brooklyn Dodgers by 2 games and the New York Giants by 5 games. Sawyer’s PPP effort was the top one in the league by 3 wins, though, so that’s all that matters here. He wins our award, as a manager should when they get a moribund franchise like Philadelphia to the World Series.