Alfred Hithcock, Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick and Robert Altman are universally considered four of the most influential and important masters of cinema in the 20th century. But despite the acclaim and worship this quartet generated from film buffs and fellow artists alike, they were never rewarded with that ultimate, popular mark of distinction in Hollywood for their directorial genius - that is, an Academy Award (one could name several others deserving of the honor who missed out as well). Considering some who have garnered the top director prize, most would concur it's quite an egregious oversight.

But in some ways, if one hasn't won a Best Director Oscar, that person is in just as fine company as those who have claimed the statuette. The same paradigm, while perhaps to a much lesser degree, holds true for Major League Baseball and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Though perhaps not as much of an affront to the sensibilities and knowledge of its historians and fans, Major League Baseball has also had its share of dubious oversights when awarding its version of "the best" - the MVP award. While the honor is almost always bestowed upon at least one of the most deserving players in either league for a particular year, there have been flagrant omissions where there was an obvious choice for the trophy and that player was blatantly overlooked.

And in no year was this more conspicuous than 1942. Ted Williams, coming off his historic .406 season the year before - a year in which he lost out to Joe DiMaggio for the MVP, courtesy of Joe D's 56 game hitting streak - won the Triple Crown in 1942 and unbelievably still didn't claim the prestigious accolade. Not only was Williams the leader in the Triple Crown categories, he also led the league in slugging percentage, runs and total bases. Imagine the circumstances - being the last player to hit .400 followed by a Triple Crown year and not being declared the best player in the league either time?

So who won the MVP in the American League in 1942? Joe Gordon of the Yankees. Though a superb player and Hall of Famer in his own right, Gordon didn't lead the league in any statistical category that year. What he did have was something that Williams lacked in spades throughout his extraordinary career - the favor of the press. The papers were very biased in those days, both in terms of being pro-Yankee and anti-Williams. Ted did win two MVPs, in 1946 and 1949. Ironically in neither season did he win the batting title.

And then there's the rather dubious and rare honor of being a multiple winner of the MVP award but with a career not deemed meritorious for enshrinement in Cooperstown. There have been 29 players who took home the award on more than one occasion and all of them are or will be in the Hall of Fame (with the jury still out on Barry Bonds), except for two; Juan Gonzalez of the Texas "Steroid" Rangers of the 1990's and Dale Murphy of the Braves (1982 and 1983) are the recipients of the Archie Griffin Prize (Griffin won consecutive Heisman Trophies in the 1970's as a star running back under Woody Hayes at Ohio State but failed to make much of an impact in the NFL).

When it comes to players who have never won a MVP, the list is impressive. Here's a Top Ten list of the greatest players (acknowledging significant room for debate) not to have won the MVP who deserved it at one point in their career: Eddie Matthews, Duke Snider, Al Kaline, Eddie Murray, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, Mike Piazza and Derek Jeter. These men also have something significant in common; all are members of the Hall of Fame or will be in the near future (Piazza, Jeter).

And it looks like Derek Jeter will once again be denied the MVP in 2009. Though he is having another superb season in his 14th pinstriped campaign and is a sentimental favorite among fans and some writers, there are other players with gaudier offensive numbers who are more worthy. Joe Mauer is the likely candidate to take home the MVP and it's hard to argue. Mauer is a native Minnesotan and is in fact the "Twins' Jeter", with his consistency, talent, work ethic and Jeter-like preternatural leadership qualities at such a young age. As of this writing the 26 year-old catcher is hitting .374 and is leading a late season charge that may result in the Twins overtaking the Tigers in the AL Central.

But there were years when the Yankee captain could or should have won the award. For starters, consider 1999 during the height of the Steroid Era. Jeter hit .349 with 24 home runs and 102 RBI's while batting second in the order. He also finished first in hits, second in runs and third in on base percentage. Jeter lost out that year to Ivan Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers. Though the very short but powerful catcher had 35 home runs, at the time a record for catchers, he wasn't in the top four in any significant offensive category. Though he was blessed with one of the great throwing arms in the history of the sport, defense has unfortunately been ignored as an important consideration in the MVP voting.

And knowing that I-Rod has been linked numerous times to steroid use (though never an admitted user), in retrospect it seems nearly unfair that Jeter didn't win the MVP that season. One has to wonder whether, in the future, historians will demand a re-do of awards and other stats after the dust finally settles on the ignominy of the performance enhancing drug era in the sport. It'd be highly unlikely and a statistically problematic exercise but I imagine a few baseball historians will give it a crack and seek to offer their revised list of honors when reviewing this period.

But Jeter's legacy is well intact and if he ever feels down about not having acquired the MVP honor, he need only to glance back at the Yankee bullpen during games for an important reminder; Mariano Rivera, that other cornerstone of the Yankee dynasty of the late 1990's and unquestionably the greatest closer of all time, has never won the Cy Young or MVP. And if there are any pitchers who embodied the initials of the MVP (though I am firmly of the belief that it should only be for offensive players) it is Rivera.