Barry Bonds Wins His Third NL MVP in Four Years

On November 9, 1993, the Baseball Writers' Association of America named San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds the National League's Most Valuable Player for the third time in four years. He joined Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, and Mike Schmidt as the only players to win three NL MVP awards. He would eventually win four more.

Bonds had signed with San Francisco as a free agent before the 1993 season, leaving the Pittsburgh Pirates after seven years. The Giants gave him a then-record six-year, $43.75 million contract. He responded with the best offensive season of his career to that point, hitting .336 with 46 home runs, 123 RBIs, and 129 runs scored.

The Giants won 103 games that year, the best record in franchise history at the time. They still missed the postseason. The Atlanta Braves won 104 games in the same division, and the wild card format had not yet been adopted. San Francisco's 103-win season ended with no October baseball.

Bonds had won his first two MVPs with Pittsburgh in 1990 and 1992. Both times, the Pirates made the playoffs and lost in the National League Championship Series. By the end of his contract in Pittsburgh, the small-market Pirates could not afford to keep him.

The 1993 MVP confirmed what scouts had known for years. Bonds was the most complete player in baseball. He hit for power, drew walks at an extraordinary rate, stole bases, and played strong defense in left field. He was also polarizing. His relationship with the press was tense, and his teammates found him difficult. None of that showed up in the voting.