Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
After taking a look at the worst award vote-getters of all time and thoroughly beating the dead horse into the ground while mixing my metaphors, my next pursuit in award voting eccentricities is to determine those players who were the most unjustly overlooked.
Which players were most overlooked for the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year vote in the years that those awards were handed out? I'm not talking about A-Rod losing to Mo Vaughn or Juan Gonzalez. I mean, who are the guys who received absolutely no support while having great years?
Using Total Win Shares as the criterion, here are the best player years that were totally ignored by the voters. Let’s start first with the MVP award (30 WS min.):
| Name | Yr | Lg | Win Shares | Tot WS | Rank |
| Babe Ruth | 1926 | AL | 45 | 45.20 | 1 |
| Babe Ruth | 1928 | AL | 45 | 44.90 | 1 |
| Babe Ruth | 1924 | AL | 45 | 44.60 | 1 |
| Babe Ruth | 1927 | AL | 45 | 44.50 | 1 |
| Lou Gehrig | 1928 | AL | 42 | 41.90 | 2 |
| Walter Johnson | 1914 | AL | 38 | 37.60 | 3 |
| Arky Vaughan | 1936 | NL | 35 | 35.50 | 4 |
| Tris Speaker | 1923 | AL | 35 | 35.40 | 2 |
| Craig Biggio | 1996 | NL | 32 | 32.40 | 6 |
| Dick Allen | 1968 | NL | 32 | 32.30 | 4 |
| Jimmy Wynn | 1968 | NL | 32 | 31.90 | 5 |
| George Uhle | 1926 | AL | 32 | 31.70 | 3 |
| Craig Biggio | 1992 | NL | 32 | 31.70 | 7 |
| Bobby Bonds | 1970 | NL | 32 | 31.60 | 4 |
| Earle Combs | 1927 | AL | 31 | 31.50 | 4 |
| Mel Ott | 1933 | NL | 31 | 31.30 | 4 |
| Red Faber | 1922 | AL | 31 | 31.00 | 1 |
| Jimmy Wynn | 1965 | NL | 31 | 31.00 | 6 |
| Ryan Klesko | 2002 | NL | 31 | 30.82 | 5 |
| Goose Goslin | 1925 | AL | 31 | 30.80 | 2 |
| Wally Berger | 1931 | NL | 31 | 30.60 | 1 |
| Bobby Grich | 1976 | AL | 31 | 30.50 | 2 |
| Eddie Mathews | 1963 | NL | 31 | 30.50 | 7 |
| Joe Morgan | 1977 | NL | 30 | 30.40 | 4 |
| Robin Ventura | 1992 | AL | 30 | 30.30 | 4 |
| Jim Bunning | 1966 | NL | 30 | 30.20 | 6 |
| Julio Franco | 1989 | AL | 30 | 30.00 | 4 |
| Mickey Cochrane | 1932 | AL | 30 | 30.00 | 7 |
| Jim Edmonds | 2001 | NL | 30 | 30.00 | 8 |
| Orlando Cepeda | 1963 | NL | 30 | 30.00 | 9 |
| Sean Casey | 2004 | NL | 30 | 30.00 | 12 |
| Ted Simmons | 1978 | NL | 30 | 29.90 | 3 |
| Ken Williams | 1922 | AL | 30 | 29.80 | 2 |
| Fernando Vina | 1998 | NL | 30 | 29.80 | 7 |
| Gary Sheffield | 2001 | NL | 30 | 29.80 | 9 |
| Paul Waner | 1929 | NL | 30 | 29.80 | 5 |
| Mitchell Page | 1977 | AL | 30 | 29.60 | 4 |
| Tris Speaker | 1922 | AL | 30 | 29.60 | 3 |
| Rusty Staub | 1970 | NL | 30 | 29.60 | 5 |
It's not easy being the greatest player to play the game (apologies to Barry Bonds). Ruth's sole MVP award came in 1923, and he did not even receive a vote in four years in which he "led" the league in Win Shares. Rich Lederer reminds me that there was once a rule that barred past MVPs from the award. I'm not sure when that rule was enacted nor when it was reversed, but I would have to expect that Ruth was its main victim.
Below is a list of the players who won the award for the years in which the Win Share leader received no votes:
| Yr | Lg | Name | Win Shares | Tot WS | Rank |
| 1926 | AL | George Burns | 24 | 24.40 | 12 |
| 1928 | AL | Mickey Cochrane | 22 | 21.50 | 20 |
| 1924 | AL | Walter Johnson | 29 | 29.40 | 3 |
| 1927 | AL | Lou Gehrig | 44 | 44.10 | 2 |
| 1922 | AL | George Sisler | 29 | 28.80 | 5 |
| 1931 | NL | Frankie Frisch | 21 | 21.30 | 17 |
As for modern players, it seems that Craig Biggio is the new Ruth. At least his lack of votes in 1992 and 1996 was downright Ruthian.
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