Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player is an annual Major League Baseball award that is presented to the most outstanding player in each year's MLB All-Star Game. Awarded each season since 1962, it was originally called the Arch Ward Memorial Award in honor of Arch Ward, who conceived of the All-Star Game in 1933. The award's name was changed to the Commissioner's Trophy in 1970, but this name change was reversed in 1985 when the World Series Trophy was renamed the Commissioner's Trophy. Finally, the trophy was renamed the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award in 2002, honoring former Boston Red Sox player Ted Williams, who died earlier that year. No award was presented for the 2002 All-Star Game, which ended in a tie. Thus, the Anaheim Angels' Garret Anderson was the first recipient of the re-named Ted Williams Award in 2003. The award winner receives a glass bat engraved with their name and, due to an advertising agreement, a Chevrolet car or truck. Currently, the winner is chosen based on a vote, with 80 percent coming from writers and broadcasters on-site at the game and 20 percent from an online fan vote.
, NL players have won the award 28 times, and American League players have won 34 times. Baltimore Orioles players have won the most awards for a single franchise ; players from the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants are tied for the most in the NL with five each. Five players have won the award twice: Willie Mays, Steve Garvey, Gary Carter, Cal Ripken Jr., and Mike Trout. The award has been shared by multiple players once; Bill Madlock and Jon Matlack shared the award in 1975. Two players have won the award for a game in which their league lost: Brooks Robinson in 1966 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1970. One pair of awardees were father and son, and another were brothers. Three players have won the MVP award at a game played in their home ballpark. Derek Jeter is the only player to win the All-Star Game MVP and World Series MVP in the same season, doing so in 2000.
Among MVP winners who are no longer active players, only five won the award in what turned out to be their only All-Star Game appearance; LaMarr Hoyt, Bo Jackson, J. D. Drew, Melky Cabrera, and Eric Hosmer. Five teams, the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Nationals have never had a player win the award.