Juan Gonzalez, 1996, American League

Alex Rodriguez has won three AL MVP awards so far, and he conceivably could have won five. 

In ’96, the 20-year-old A-Rod had 54 doubles, 36 homers, led the league in batting with .358, was fifth in OPS with 1.045, and had 157 Runs Created while making 418 outs.  Juan Gone, whose Rangers won the division by four and a half games over A-Rod’s Mariners, had 47 homers and 144 RBIs, but created just 126 runs with 384 outs.  Rodriguez had more extra-base hits, scored far more runs (141-89), slugged nearly as well (.631 vs. .643), had a vastly better on-base average (.464 vs. .368) and played a much more difficult defensive position (SS vs. RF).  

Gonzalez prevailed in the voting by three points; A-Rod was probably hurt by the four first-place votes for his teammate Ken Griffey, Jr.  (In 2002, Rodriguez had the year’s best offensive performance and won a Gold Glove at short, but lost the award to Oakland’s Miguel Tejada.  A-Rod led Tejada 1.015 to .863 in OPS, to take one category, but Oakland won the division while Texas finished 31 games back, and the Oakland shortstop won the vote handily.)