1958 American League Most Valuable Player Award presented to Boston outfielder Jackie Jensen. Jensen enjoyed the finest overall season of his career in 1958, batting .286 with career-high totals in home runs (35), RBI (122), and slugging percentage (.535). His 122 RBI were also tops in the league that year. At the time, he joined Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams as the only three Boston Red Sox players to have been named American League MVP (1931 which was the first year in which the award was officially presented). MVP Awards are seldom seen at auction and have always been highly prized by collectors. This is just the second example we have offered in the past thirteen years and one that would be among the highlights of any advanced baseball memorabilia or Boston Red Sox collection.
Major League MVP Awards are not only one of the most prestigious awards in all of sports, but among the most attractive as well. The design features an octagonal sterling-silver multilayered plaque, with gold accents, mounted upon a black wooden backing. The lettering, all in relief, reads "Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award" around the perimeter. Interior lettering, upon a representation of a baseball diamond, reads "Most Valuable Player American League Jackie Jensen Boston Red Sox," with Jensen's name engraved on a mounted gold plate. Additional gold accents consist of a raised image of a baseball dated "1958" and a raised portrait image of former Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Landis, with banners displaying, respectively, the years marking the start and end of his tenure: "1921" and "1944." (Landis died in office in 1944, at which time each League's MVP Award honored his memory by bearing his name.) The enameled logo of the Baseball Writers Association of America, whose members select each League's MVP, appears at the base. The name of the manufacturer, "Dieges & Clust" and "Sterling" are engraved in tiny letters at the base of the octagonal plaque. A Dieges & Clust label also appears on the reverse. Diameter: 16 inches. There is a small nick to the wooden base near the bottom edge; otherwise the award remains in Near Mint condition.
The Jackie Jensen Collection
This is one of fifteen lots in the auction originating from Jackie Jensen's personal collection. All have been consigned directly by a family member and have never before been offered for sale, either publicly or privately. Jackie Jensen was one of the greatest athletes of of his day and was an All-American standout on both the baseball diamond and gridiron at the University of California. While at Cal, he helped lead the baseball team to the championship of the first NCAA College Baseball World Series in 1947. The following year he became the first Cal player to rush for over 1,000 yards and helped lead the football team to a 10-0 record and a share of the Pac-Ten title. He also finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting at season's end. Jensen left college after his junior year to play professional baseball. He began his career with the New York Yankees, and was a member of both the 1950 and 1951 World Championship teams. Unfortunately, his playing time was limited with the Yankees and it wasn't until he was traded to the Washington Senators in 1952 that he began to develop into one of the game's top outfielders. His best years came with the Boston Red Sox from 1954-59, where he teamed with Ted Williams and Jimmy Piersall to form the best outfield trio of the decade. During that six-year span he was one of baseball's best all-around outfielders, leading the American League in RBI on three separate occasions. His finest season came in 1958, when he batted .286 with 35 home runs and a league-leading 122 RBI, numbers that earned him the American League MVP Award. Jensen retired after the 1961 season with 199 home runs, 929 RBI, and a .279 lifetime average.
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