Almost from the beginning the World Series MVP Award often found a way to gravitate to a player that the sportscasters and fans might not have anticipated as the Fall Classic got underway. Johnny Podres and Don Larsen were hardly the staff aces for the Dodgers and Yankees respectively in the first two years of the award and Larry Sherry was even more surprising in 1959 nearly matching his season save total (3) with two in the World Series to go with his two wins but Gene Tenace's heroics in 1972 seemed to up the ante in that department. Only recently advanced to full-time status in the lineup he warmed up nicely as his Oakland A's took on the favored Cincinnati Reds in the fall of 1972. Tenace became the first player to hit home runs in his first two World Series at bats and drove in all three runs in the A's 32 victory. In Game 4 the A's were losing 21 with their only run to that point coming on Tenace's solo home run. A ninth-inning one-out rally consisted of four singles Tenace and three pinch hitters as the A's won the game against Cincinnati's ace relief pitcher Clay Carroll. Then he hit a three-run home run in the A's Game 5 loss. In Game 7 he was once again the hero driving in two runs in a 32 victory for Oakland ending with totals of 8 for 23 in the Series with four home runs and nine RBI to earn the MVP nod.

Presented here is Gene Tenaces 1972 Babe Ruth award plaque for Most Outstanding Player of The World Series (World Series MVP). The historic hardware measures 11-by-13-inches. The stainless steel and wood plaque presentation is essentially as issued with only a couple of tiny scratches on the black wooden portion not detracting from the overall presentation. This is truly a remarkable artifact commemorating one of the great individual World Series performances in modern times.

Comes with a Letter of Authenticity from Gene Tenace.