Who Really Deserved It?
short fly that fell in among shortstop Eddie Pellagrini, center fielder Dominick DiMaggio, and second baseman Bobby Doerr. Henrich scored to make it a 3-2 game with Keller stopping at second. McQuinn, the number five hitter, sacrificed the runners over (just like today, right?). Keller scored the tying run when Billy Johnson grounded out.
The next inning might have been when DiMaggio won the MVP award. After Page singled to open the fifth, the Yankees' hurler was picked off first, but Stirnweiss then singled and stole second. Henrich walked but Keller popped up, putting runners on first and second with two outs, bringing up DiMaggio. The count went to three balls and one strike. DiMaggio hit the next pitch for a three run home run to put the game and the Red Sox away.
In the most critical game for both teams, DiMaggio went three for four with a game winning home run. Williams was hitless in four at bats and watched helplessly as DiMaggio's home run soared above his head.
The Red Sox were far from dead. They continued to trail the Yankees in the standings until June 19, when a Yankees' loss to the WHITE Sox moved Boston into first by percentage points. The next day, the Yankees beat the Tigers, the Indians beat the Red Sox, and things were back to normal but the Red Sox would then fade, not due to a lack of ability but rather due to a lack of health. Their pitching staff suffered injuries to Tex Hughson, a twenty game winner the year before, to Boo Ferris, who had led the staff with twenty five wins, and to seventeen game winner Mickey Harris.
After DiMaggio won the MVP, many Boston writers attributed it to the Yankees winning the pennant. They had a point. Despite a contentious relationship with Williams, most of the Boston writers felt he was robbed but some acknowledged that DiMaggio provided the spark that put the Yankees over the top.
The process of determining the MVP is flawed for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is subjective, which is bad, but the fact that there is not even a generally accepted definition of the term "most valuable player" exacerbates the problem.
Did the writers vote for DiMaggio because he was more valuable to the Yankees than was Williams to the Red Sox because winning the pennant is more important than finishing
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