On MLB Monday we take a closer look at a fun season of baseball, one very much remembered for its World Series: an intrastate matchup between the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals. But that’s not the only intrigue in this column today as we made perhaps one of our most controversial award picks ever this week. We won’t spoil it, but read on below to find out what we mean: it surprised even us, in truth. Go figure.

1985 World Series MVP: Bret Saberhagen, SP, Kansas City (original, confirmed)

Kansas City won its first-ever MLB title in a crazy 7-game series against St. Louis that beset by controversy in Game 6 and Game 7 as the Royals won both at home to win the World Series. K.C. starter Bret Saberhagen (2-0, 0.50 ERA, 18 IP, 0.667 WHIP) was named the MVP after shutting out St. Louis in Game 7; it’s hard to argue with it after he tossed 2 complete-game victories, the other coming in a must-win Game 3.

The Cardinals actually won the first 2 games on the road, and they seemed set to win their second Series of the decade already until Saberhagen came through with the Game 3 effort. The Royals had a trio of good hitters this series, too, but none of them were stellar enough to top Saberhagen’s incredible efforts. No one on St. Louis can match the impact the voted MVP had on the matchup, either. We confirm the vote, readily.

1985 ALCS MVP: George Brett, 3B, Kansas City (original, confirmed)

The Royals came back from a 3-1 deficit in both the World Series and the American League Championship Series, the latter against the Toronto Blue Jays (making their first playoff appearance ever). Kansas City third baseman George Brett (3 HRs, 5 RBI, 1.326 OPS) won the ALCS MVP vote, to go along with our 1985 AL MVP nod. We are open to others, though, as Brett also got caught stealing once and committed 2 errors.

Our only other logical candidate from the Royals is SP Danny Jackson (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 IP, 1.100 WHIP), who tossed a complete-game shutout in a must-win Game 5, while adding 1 scoreless inning in the Game 1 loss. While we can’t deny the Game 5 victory is tremendously clutch, it’s hard to give someone the MVP nod in a 7-game matchup for basically just one game. Is there anyone on Toronto we could give this to instead?

There really isn’t. So this comes down to Brett’s bat and Jackson’s arm, and both candidacies have issues. However, Brett’s flaws are negative ones, while Jackson’s “flaw” is a circumstantial one. In an elimination game, Jackson tossed an 8-hit shutout with 6 Ks. It’s not a dominant performance, but it was a very effective one, and the win kept the season alive. Yet … we still have reservations, so we will just confirm Brett’s vote.

1985 NLCS MVP: Ozzie Smith, SS, St. Louis (original, confirmed)

The Cards took out the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 6-game matchup, and St. Louis shortstop Ozzie Smith (1 HR, 3 RBI, 1.196 OPS) was the voted MVP. He had a whopping 10 hits in the series, while walking 3 times, too, and stealing a base. His defense was flawless, of course. But second baseman Tommy Herr also had a great stretch of games, too: 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1.111 OPS, 5 BBs, 1 SB. And there were others, too, who hit very well.

Without a Cardinals pitcher stepping up, we have to add first baseman Jack Clark (1 HR, 4 RBI, 1.024 OPS, 5 BBs) to the discussion as well. No stolen bases for Clark, of course, but all 3 hitters truly shone through. However, we know Smith won the vote for both his defense and this famous HR that won Game 5 in walk-off fashion—giving St. Louis a 3-2 lead in the series. We will stick with the voters here, whenever in doubt.

1985 AL MOTY: Bobby Cox, Toronto (original); Dick Howser, Kansas City (revised)

The Blue Jays won the AL East by 2 games over the loaded New York Yankees despite getting a break-even PPP effort from their manager, Bobby Cox, who won the vote at the time. He really didn’t deserve it for holding the course, really, as the Yankees got a negative PPP effort from their manager. In fact, every other manager of a winning team in the division posted negative PPP. Toronto just held serve here. So …

The Royals won the AL West by 1 game over the California Angels, and Kansas City Manager Dick Howser (plus-5) and California Manager Gene Mauch (plus-6) jockeyed until the end. Howser did what he needed to do in order to stave off the challenge from Mauch and the Angels, so we’re going to give this award to Howser again, for the second year in a row. It’s amazing to think what he could have done if only … yeah.

1985 NL MOTY: Whitey Herzog, St. Louis (original); Pete Rose, Cincinnati (revised)

Cards Manager Whitey Herzog (plus-1 PPP) won the NL MOTY vote, as St. Louis held off the New York Mets by 3 games in the NL East. In the NL West, though, the Dodgers won by 5.5 games over the Cincinnati Reds, as L.A. Manager Tommy Lasorda (plus-2 PPP) didn’t mess anything up. However, we’re impressed with the plus-7 PPP mark posted by Reds Manager Pete Rose. Shocking, right? All things considered …

We can’t deny it was the best managerial effort in the National League, and with both division-winning managers not doing anything too special to their rosters that were expected to win, Rose really milked a lot out of his Cincinnati roster to get it into a position to win as much as it did and stay alive into the final week of the season. His gambling issues have nothing to do with this, either, so we can award him this nod easily.