The most unlikely World Series MVPs of all-time

During the 1955 season, Podres, in his third major-league season, posted a 9-10 record and 3.95 ERA in 27 appearances and 24 starts. However, when the games really mattered, Podres helped the Dodgers finally take down the rival New York Yankees and win the franchise's first, and only, Brooklyn World Series. In Game 3 of the Series, Podres yielded two runs while going the distance for an 8-3 victory. Then, in one of the postseason's great individual performances, the left-hander secured his World Series MVP by tossing an eight-hitter in Brooklyn's 2-0 Game 7 win.

Entering the 1956 World Series, Larsen was far from a star for the New York Yankees, though he did set a then-career high with 11 wins that season. However, Larsen's Game 2 start against Brooklyn lasted just 1 2/3 innings, and the right-hander allowed four walks and four unearned runs in a 13-8 defeat. Still, Larsen got the call in Game 5 and promptly made baseball history by becoming the only player to ever throw a perfect game in the World Series. The Yankees won the Series in seven, and Larsen was named MVP.

Burdette won 17 games in 1957, but was often overshadowed by teammates Warren Spahn and Bob Buhl, who combined for 39 wins and each posted a sub-3.00 ERA. Burdette had a 3.72 ERA during the regular season, but the right-hander was amazing during the Braves' World Series run, allowing two runs while recording three complete-game victories. 

In 1959, Sherry saw his first extensive major-league action. He appeared in 23 regular-season contests, starting nine and posting an impressive 2.19 ERA. In the World Series against the Chicago White Sox, the right-hander didn't start a game, But, in four relief appearances, he went 2-0 while allowing one earned run over 12 2/3 innings to help the Dodgers win their first title since relocating to Los Angeles and take home the World Series MVP trophy.

Richardson is the only World Series MVP for the losing team. His Yankees were memorably beaten by Bill Mazeroski and the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games. During the Series, Richardson, a dependable second baseman and career .266 hitter over 12 seasons, went 11-for-30 with five extra-base hits and 12 RBIs. 

Clendenon is the first player to be acquired by a team during the regular season and then win World Series MVP. The first baseman was sent to the Mets in June from Montreal and did not even play in the NLCS. In the World Series, though, the story was very different. Clendenon, whose name is still likely unknown outside Queens, went 5-for-14 with three home runs and four RBIs during the World Series, which those "Amazin' Mets" won in five games over Baltimore. 

The '72 A's featured names like Fingers, Blue, Hunter, Bando, Rudi and Holtzman. Yet, it was a middling catcher who set a then-career high with 82 games played that season and went 1-for-17 with five strikeouts during the ALCS who earned World Series MVP honors. Tenace batted .348 (8-for-23) with four home runs and nine RBI as Oakland outlasted Cincinnati in seven games.

Dent, the famed shortstop, got the Yankees into the postseason after clubbing a three-run homer to help beat Boston in the NL East tiebreaker in '78. His heroics continued in the World Series, where he earned MVP honors by going 10-for-24 with seven RBIs as New York topped the Los Angeles Dodgers by winning four straight after losing the first two games of the Fall Classic. 

Let's preface: Guerrero was among three Dodgers to earn co-MVP honors as the team topped the rival New York Yankees in six games for the franchise's first World Series title since 1965. Guerrero broke into the majors in 1978, and the strike-shortened '81 season was his breakout year, though he struggled in the second half. In the World Series, Guerrero batted .333 with two home runs and drove in five of his seven runs in Game 6, the clincher. 

Yeager joined Guerrero and Ron Cey as Los Angeles' co-MVPs of the 1981 World Series. Yeager played from 1972-'86, and never made an All-Star team. But while serving as the Dodgers' backup catcher, he hit a pair of home runs and had four RBIs during the World Series. One of those was a go-ahead solo shot off Yankees great Ron Guidry in the seventh inning of the Dodgers' 2-1 victory in Game 5.

In 24 seasons of big-league play, the venerable Dempsey never earned an All-Star nod -- like Steve Yeager. However, he was named MVP of the 1983 World Series. Long lauded as one of the game's better defensive backstops, Dempsey hit just .231 that regular season and went 2-for-12 in the ALCS. But Dempsey was a star during the World Series while helping the Orioles top Philadelphia in five games, batting 5-for-13, with each hit going for extra bases, including a home run.

By 1992, Borders had found his place in the majors as the game's best overall catcher. However, Borders hit .242 during the regular season and was far from an offensive star on a '92 Toronto roster that included marquee names like Roberto Alomar, Devon White, Joe Carter, and Dave Winfield. Yet, Borders recorded a team-high nine hits and batted .450 to earn World Series MVP honors as the Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves in six games to win their first of back-to-back championships. 

After appearing in one game in 1996, Hernandez didn't return to the majors until mid-June '97, but won nine games down the stretch for the Marlins. Then he made a name for himself in the postseason, striking out 15 batters in Game 5 of the NLCS against Atlanta. Hernandez then posted a 5.27 ERA in his two World Series starts against Cleveland and walked eight in Game 5. But he was good enough to win both starts and earn MVP honors.

This would not be Brosius' first turn as a World Series hero. He hit a memorable home run in the 2001 Fall Classic, which New York lost, but three years earlier, he played a key role in its first of three consecutive World Series titles. Brosius was exceptional throughout the '98 postseason (batting .383 with 15 RBIs), but especially during the World Series, where he went 8-for-17 with six RBI and claimed the MVP award as New York swept the San Diego Padres. Brosius hit both home runs in the series, including a go-ahead, three-run drive off Trevor Hoffman in the eighth inning of a 5-4 Game 3 victory.

During the 2006 regular season, the light-hitting Eckstein recorded just 21 extra-base hits. However, he had three doubles during his four-hit performance in Game 4 of the World Series alone, a 5-4 victory over Detroit that gave St. Louis a 3-1 lead in a series it would claim in five. Eckstein went 8-for-13 with four RBIs in the final three games of the World Series to take MVP honors -- adding his name to all-time Cardinals postseason heroes like Pujols, Brock, Gibson and McCarver. 

Freese officially earned the love of Cardinals fans by batting .397 with five home runs and 21 RBIs while winning both NLCS and World Series MVP that postseason. Freese batted .348 and recorded seven of those RBI in the Fall Classic, and hit one of the most memorable home runs in the history of the event. St. Louis trailed Texas 3-2 in the Series, and the Rangers led 7-4 in a back-and-forth Game 6. St. Louis rallied as Freese's two-run triple tied it at 7-7 in the ninth. After Texas scored two in the top of the 10th, the Cardinals again answered with two in the bottom of the frame. They ultimately won on Freese's solo homer in the 11th.

Zobrist was one of Chicago's top players in 2016, and that carried over to the World Series. So, even with Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Aroldis Chapman and Jake Arrieta grabbing most of the highlights during the Cubs' curse-busting World Series title, Zobrist took home MVP honors by going 10-of-28 with three extra-base hits. None bigger than his tiebreaking, RBI double in the 10th inning of the 8-7 Game 7 winner.

Pearce joined Donn Clendenon as the only players to take home World Series MVP honors after being acquired in the same regular season. Boston acquired Pearce, who enjoyed a long-awaited breakout season in 2014 with Baltimore, from Toronto near the trade deadline. Pearce was solid at the plate early that postseason, then endured a 0-for-7 rut in the final game of the ALCS and the first three games of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, Pearce's bat came alive by going 4-for-8 with three homers and seven RBIs in Games 4 and 5. Two of those home runs, including one off Clayton Kershaw , came in Boston's World Series-clinching 5-1 win in Game 5.

Soler went 6-for-20 during the 2021 World Series, with three of those hits leaving the park. And, talking about setting the table for what was to come for the underdog Braves, Soler opened the World Series with a 2-0 drive off Framber Valdez over Houston's left-field scoreboard on the first swing of the contest . The Braves went on to win 6-2 in Game 1. Then, Soler's three-run homer in the second inning of Game 6 essentially secured the Braves their first World Series crown since 1995 and series MVP honors for the underrated slugger.

Yes, Yamamoto won 12 games with a 2.49 ERA and earned his first All-Star Game nod in 2025—his second MLB season. However, he's not even the best Japanese player on that loaded Dodgers roster. But during that memorable World Series against Toronto, where plenty of Los Angeles heroes shone, the right-hander was most brilliant, going 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA, highlighted by a complete game in Game 2 and a stellar 2 2/3 relief appearance in the wild seventh game.