The MVP award is the ultimate prize in any sport. It defines the legacies of the greatest in each respective sport. A majority of league MVPs in all sports find their way into the Hall of Fame, but there
are always those that are “flukes”.
In baseball, we’ve had guys such as Zoilo Versalles (1965), Kevin Mitchell (1989), Miguel Tejada (2002), and Justin Morneau (2006) take home the award. Great players, but players who never quite replicated their MVP campaigns and didn’t do enough to make it close to Cooperstown. An MVP is occasionally won by a player who was really good, but not a legend. That is much less the case when you add on.
Two MVPs have been won by 34 players in the history of baseball. 23 are in the Hall of Fame. Of the 11 that aren’t, six aren’t eligible, and several others are blackballed for steroid usage. To be at this level, you are elite.
But what about three? In baseball, only 13 men have ever accomplished this feat. In the other three major North American professional sports, only 25 combined have done it. That’s 38 players in MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL history who have been the best player in their respective leagues on three separate occasions.
In baseball, only icons of the sport have won the award three times. All 13 players are either in the Hall of Fame, will be in the Hall of Fame, or have PEDs keeping them out of it. It’s guaranteed immortality.
Up until Thursday, that club held just 12 members until Aaron Judge finally made it No. 13. Joining a club that consists of Yogi Berra, Mike Trout, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, and Albert Pujols, among others, puts into perspective just how dominant Judge has been. And when you consider his near misses? His career could already have joined those of Shohei Ohtani and Barry Bonds as the only players to win at least four.
All told, the peak of Aaron Judge will go down as one of the greatest in baseball history. Because his first full season came at the age of 25, he will not retire with 700 home runs or 3,000 hits or any of those gaudy counting milestones that defined legacies for generations, but he’ll go down with some of the most impressive individual seasons and primes ever.
First, Judge is the third player in baseball history to win three MVPs in four years, joining Ohtani (2021, 2023-25) and Barry Bonds (twice). All the other three-time MVPs had some degree of space, while perhaps the only thing stopping Judge from winning four in a row was Dodger Stadium.
What happened in 2023, however, isn’t the greatest snub of Judge’s career. He could be a four-time MVP already, if not for what took place in 2017. Jose Altuve had a great season, but Judge dominated him in every statistical category except batting average and strikeouts. Had he won MVP in that season, he’d be one of three players with four MVPs and join Ichiro Suzuki as the only rookies ever to win the award.
Judge’s three MVPs, however, will still go down in history. His dominance in 2022, 2024, and 2025, three seasons in which he posted an OPS north of 1.100, 50 home runs, and a 200 OPS+, created three of the best runner-up seasons in history with his mere presence.
Ohtani is as much, if not more, of an enigma as Judge. The two-way superstar who’s spent his entire career on two different sides of Los Angeles is a four-time MVP and has won all four of his awards unanimously, something Judge only had once. You might think this means Ohtani is more dominant, but take a look at their competition and you’ll see that Judge’s victories are some of the most impressive you’ll ever see.
In 2022, the only time these generational superstars went head-to-head in an MVP vote (mostly due to Judge’s injury in 2023), it was Judge who came out on top, winning 28 out of 30 votes with his 62-homer campaign. Since the beginning of Ohtani’s prime in 2021, this is the only year he wasn’t named the unanimous MVP in his respective league.
In 2024, while Ohtani’s competition was Francisco Lindor’s sub-.900 OPS, Judge encountered a 10 fWAR shortstop in Bobby Witt Jr. who had an exceptional year, hitting .332 with 32 home runs, 109 RBIs, 88 extra-base hits, and a 174 OPS+ while being a Gold Glove defender at shortstop. And yet, Judge won unanimously, burying one of the greatest seasons by a shortstop in league history.
Despite how his 2022 and 2024 competitions fared, no race was closer than 2025. Cal Raleigh had a season only rivaled by 2012 Buster Posey in terms of all-time catcher greatness. He crushed 60 home runs, a feat only done by Judge, Babe Ruth, and Roger Maris in AL history. All the physical toll of a catcher who led the league in innings caught, along with his great defense, earned him 13 first-place votes. Alas, it wasn’t enough to make up for a man batting .331 with an OPS nearly 200 points higher.
2022 Ohtani, 2024 Witt Jr., 2025 Raleigh. Three of the greatest non-MVP seasons of all time, all coming up short to Aaron Judge.
But it’s not just the accolades that make his peak historic. He’s the fourth player in baseball history to mash 50+ home runs on four different occasions, joining the Ruth, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire. He’s one of four players in history to post an OPS+ north of 200, joining Ruth, Bonds, and Ted Williams.
His prodigious power, though the aspect of his playstyle that will define him for generations, was not the only one on display in 2025. He won the batting title for the first time in his career, avenging his close defeats in 2022 and 2024 to Luis Arraez and Witt.
Only two players in baseball’s history had ever won the batting title and hit 50 home run, until 2025 Judge. 1956 Mickey Mantle won the major league batting title and hit a whopping 52 home runs, a feat not replicated until… 2025 Judge did the same, except breaking the record for most home runs by a batting title winner with 53.
Just think about the names he’s shoulder-to-shoulder with. We’re comparing him to the greatest Yankees, the greatest sluggers, and the greatest overall players of all time. He stands with them, in some ways even above them, and not just by physical stature. His third MVP has fully cemented him along the all-time greats, authoring one of the very best peaks in the history North American sports. Appreciate this greatness, because it only comes around once in a lifetime.
