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BBWAA removes Kenesaw Mountain Landis' name from MVP Awards

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Oct 2, 2020 3:48 PM ET

This past June, multiple former Major League Baseball Most Valuable Players campaigned for the removal of ex-commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis' name from the American League and National League MVP Awards.

The Baseball Writers Association of America voted in favor of that request and announced on Friday that the awards will be nameless for 2020, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). The awards could be renamed next year.

Update: Kenesaw Mountain Landis' name has been stripped from the MVP awards, per a vote of BBWAA membership. The organization will decide in 2021 if Landis' name will be replaced. https://t.co/vWsPtEVpe3
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) October 2, 2020

89% of 313 voters were in favor of removing Landis' name because of his legacy of keeping Black players out of the big leagues during his time as commissioner.

Landis served as the MLB head figure from 1920 until his death in 1944. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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