1. Tom Seaver - 1969
Tom Seaver helped lead the Miracle Mets to win the 1969 World Series. The Franchise was everything and more during that magical season. Like Gooden in 1985, Seaver won the Cy Young that year. He had 23 out of the 24 first-place votes. Phil Niekro received only one.
San Francisco Giants’ own Willie McCovey won the MVP that year finishing on top of the league in five offensive categories. Seaver only led the league in one, wins (25).
Looking at these stats you would think that McCovey would run away with the award but no. Both him and Seaver tied for 1st place votes (11 each). McCovey ended up winning with a higher percentage (79%, to Seaver’s 72%). The voting was closer than it seemed and if winning the World Series didn’t matter why didn't Gooden, Strawberry, and Wright get more votes.
I think the fact that the Mets won the World Series and the way they won especially behind the pitching of Tom Seaver, should have put him over the top even if it was by the slightest percentage. Seaver won 10 of his last 11 starts. The last eight of those starts were complete games and three of those games were complete-game shutouts. Those stats, shall I say, were MVP-worthy!