This MLB Monday miniseries is just one more entry away from having MOTY awards to properly analyze, and that means this long-running analysis enters its final stages—even though it has another 40-plus weeks to run. And then what we will do?! We will worry about that sometime in the late Fall 2024 season, that’s for sure. Not today’s problem! We had a heck of a World Series in 1982, so on with the “normal” show!

1982 World Series MVP: Darrell Porter, C, St. Louis (original); Joaquín Andújar, SP, St. Louis (revised)

We didn’t understand it then, and we don’t understand it now. We’re talking about the MVP vote here after the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in 7 games to win the World Series. Somehow, the voters chose Cards catcher Darrell Porter (5 RBI, .775 OPS) for the award; neither number led the St. Louis hitters, of course, and even factoring in his defensive contributions doesn’t put him atop the Cards roster.

If we were to choose a St. Louis hitter, it would have been first baseman Keith Hernandez (8 RBI, .799 OPS, 4 BBs)—even with 2 errors in the field, he had a higher impact on Cardinals victories than Porter. What about the pitchers? Joaquín Andújar (2-0, 1.35 ERA, 0.825 WHIP) was the real MVP for St. Louis, with his wins coming in Games 3 and 7. The first outing gave his team home-field advantage again, and well, Game 7.

But for the Brewers, we also like shortstop Robin Yount (6 RBI, 1.072 OPS), who was the best hitter of the Series. But he all but disappeared in Game 6 and 7 losses on the road in St. Louis. Milwaukee starter Mike Caldwell (2-0, 2.04 ERA, 1.245 WHIP) also was pretty good with Game 1 and 5 wins, but in the end, we’re going with Andújar—who was our 1982 NL Cy Young pick, too. He really deserved this, then and now.

1982 ALCS MVP: Fred Lynn, CF, California (original); Paul Molitor, 3B, Milwaukee (revised)

The Brewers edged the California Angels in 5 games, winning the decisive Game 5 at home after falling behind 0-2 in the matchup. But Angels centerfielder Fred Lynn (.611 BA, 5 RBI, 1.539 OPS) was named the MVP, perhaps with good reason. He also had 3 hits and 2 RBI in the Game 5 loss. But did anyone on the Milwaukee roster deserve it more? Third baseman Paul Molitor (5 RBI, 1.065 OPS), maybe. Dilemmas.

Usually, when we pick a player from the losing team, it’s because the winning team lacked a dominant effort. That’s not the case here: sure, Lynn was incredible. but Molitor hit 2 home runs to help his team, too, and his performance otherwise would have been considered incredible under the circumstances: the Brewers were the first team in the divisional-play era to come back from an 0-2 deficit to win the LCS.

It wasn’t the Milwaukee pitching that enabled this, either, as the Brewers outscored the Angels, 18-11, in 3 consecutive home games to clinch the AL pennant. Lynn got his, of course, but Milwaukee had to outscore California to win this matchup, and Lynn also had a teammate (Don Baylor) drive in 10 runs in this series! That’s nuts. In fact, California had 3 players combine for 19 of the team’s 23 RBI in this 5-game set. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, Molitor topped the Brewers in HRs, RBI, and OPS as the leader of an offense that had to get the job done when its pitching staff was giving up too many runs. We tip our caps to Lynn, but he had more help—and his team still lost. We give this award to Molitor, for leading his offensively dominating team to the historical comeback. He also had 2 hits and a walk in the decision Game 5, so he showed up when it got hot.

1982 NLCS MVP: Porter (original, confirmed)

Porter (5 BBs, 1.603 OPS) won this nod, too, as the Cardinals swept the Atlanta Braves in 3 games by a combined 17-5 score. His offensive contributions were nice, for sure, even though he had just 1 RBI. But one of his teammates (SS Ozzie Smith) had the same batting average (.556); a quartet of teammates had more RBI; and Porter didn’t even hit a HR in this matchup. In fact, 3 doubles and the 5 walks really built his OPS.

It clearly was a team effort at the plate, and it was on the mound, too, where Porter got some credit as the catcher. But we like Game 1 starter Bob Forsch (3 hits, 0 walks, 6 Ks) for this award, which is rare in an LCS sweep in this era: he set the tone for the entire matchup with a complete-game shutout, and the Braves were not able to build/maintain any momentum. Porter had 2 hits and 1 walk in the Game 1 victory, by the way.

He also didn’t do a lot in Game 3, so his big contributions came in Game 2 at home when he reached base all 4 times he came to the plate in a 1-run comeback victory. We’re not sure if we have some built-in bias against Porter from the contemporary experience of watching him “get lucky” after a mediocre season. Maybe that’s our issue, and it’s not fair to him, really. We will confirm his award before we think too much.

1982 AL MOTY: Earl Weaver, Baltimore

Both division winners had negative PPP efforts from their respective managers, and the best managerial impact was delivered by AL East runner-up Baltimore Orioles Manager Earl Weaver (plus-4 PPP). That number was tied for the best effort of any manager of a winning team in the league, and his team finished just 1 game behind the Brewers. He basically almost stole the division; this is his sixth nod from us, too.

1982 NL MOTY: Frank Robinson, San Francisco

The Cards held off the Philadelphia Phillies by 3 games in the NL East despite Phillies Manager Pat Corales (plus-7 PPP) showing up big time for his roster. But in the NL West, the Braves won by 1 game despite being projected to lose by 5 games: the credit has to go to Atlanta Manager Joe Torre (plus-4 PPP), although we’d also like to point out San Francisco Giants Manager Frank Robinson (plus-8 PPP) for his efforts. Dilemma.

The Giants finished just 2 games behind the Braves, and Robinson posted the best PPP mark in the league. His team was projected to be under .500 on the year, and he almost got them into the playoffs. That’s stunning, really, in a year that is quite complicated for this award. We’ve never thought much of either Robinson or Torre as managers with deft touch, but this season proves … something different. So be it.