A World Series is all about the bling, but oftentimes there isn’t enough hardware to truly capture all the great performances in a series. In honor of those performances worth remembering, we have created fictional awards to honor the most dominant performance that won’t win an MVP and the most surprising performance from a player no one expected to make a significant impact. Our MLB experts made their picks for who would win these “awards” in this World Series, if the awards existed:

Who will win the Barry Bonds Award for unrecognized excellence?

During the 2002 World Series, which famously went to seven games, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit .471/.700/1.294 (yes, that was his SLG and not his OPS) with four home runs, two doubles and 13 walks. It should have been a redemptive performance for a generational player who up to that point had a reputation, fair or not, for underperforming in October.

Instead, his brilliance — perhaps best captured by the Anaheim Angels’ Tim Salmon, who exclaimed that Bonds’ Game 2 ninth-inning homer off Troy Percival was the “furthest ball I’ve ever seen hit” — was overshadowed by the Giants’ Game 6 collapse and eventual loss to the Angels in Game 7. To the victors go the spoils, and it was Anaheim’s Troy Glaus and his 1.313 OPS who took home the MVP that series.



Not every series has a Bonds, but almost every series has a star performer from a losing team whose exploits are lost to history. We surveyed our experts to see who they predicted would play “Barry Bonds, 2002 edition” in this series.

Reflective of our experts’ prediction that the Los Angeles Dodgers will win the World Series, the majority of those nominated for this award were on the Toronto Blue Jays side. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer were the two Blue Jays mentioned most frequently, with Ernie Clement finishing in third. On the Dodgers’ side, there weren’t many nominations, but Kiké Hernandez had a couple, along with Mookie Betts and Andy Pages.

Here’s a sample of who our experts see filling Bonds’ large shoes:

Sam Blum: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Remember when Randy Arozarena hit 10 (postseason) home runs for the 2020 Rays? Exactly. Guerrero, with six blasts already, could do the same thing this postseason.

Jayson Stark: George Springer. Mr. October!

Katie Woo: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has clubbed six homers this postseason. He’s posted a 1.440 OPS. He won the ALCS MVP. He’s cried on the field multiple times during the Jays’ improbable run — it means that much. He’s a certified October star … and that still won’t be enough to topple the Dodgers.

C. Trent Rosecrans: Daulton Varsho. If Vlad or Springer or even Bo Bichette does something, I think we’ll remember it. But if it’s Varsho, it could be less memorable. Of course, Bonds was known, so there is that, but I think by that time he was trying to cement a legacy, not start one. Guerrero still has several years on his contract, so he’s still in that building type part of his career, while Springer’s legacy is set.

Levi Weaver: Ernie Clement (but only because if it’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., people will remember it).

Steve Berman: Mookie Betts. He’s had a weird season up to this point.

Who will win the Billy Hatcher Award for coming out of nowhere to dominate a Series?

On paper, the 1990 World Series looked like a mismatch, as the defending champion Oakland A’s stormed into the series off a dominant four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. That A’s team featured future Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson and Harold Baines, plus several of the game’s most well-known stars, including Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Dave Stewart, Terry Steinbach, Bob Welch and Carney Lansford. The National League champion Cincinnati Reds were no slouches, with greats like Barry Larkin, Eric Davis, Chris Sabo and José Rijo on the roster, but the A’s were still the heavy favorites.

Instead, the Reds pulled off one of the most shocking four-game sweeps in World Series history. Rijo was brilliant and the Series MVP and Cincinnati’s “Nasty Boys” bullpen sucked the life out of the A’s vaunted lineup. But the Reds’ real secret weapon in that series was outfielder Billy Hatcher, who collected nine hits in 12 at-bats while not striking out once in the entire series. He scored six runs in four games and his Championship Win Probability Added (cWPA) for the series was an incredible 18.47 percent, according to Baseball-Reference. No one else on the Reds had a cWPA higher than 11.21 percent (Rijo). It would, by far, be the most impactful four games of Hatcher’s MLB career. He played 12 seasons in the big leagues and hit .264/.312/.364.



It would be hard to top Hatcher’s improbable performance, but there’s still bound to be one or two surprise stars in this World Series. Our experts took a crack at finding the Billy Hatcher of this series. Kiké Hernandez was the most popular pick for this “award,” while Addison Barger and Nathan Lukes earned multiple mentions for the Blue Jays. Here’s a sample of how our experts voted:

Sahadev Sharma: It’s always Enrique Hernandez.

Katie Woo: This screams noted playoff superhuman Kiké Hernández to me.

Jayson Stark: Can we still use the term “comes out of nowhere” to describe Tommy Edman? He’s such a good player who feels like that guy the game always finds when there’s a big moment.

Steve Berman: Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Not close to as under-the-radar as Hatcher, but he hasn’t done much with the Jays … so far!

Chad Jennings: Dodgers lefty Alex Vesia is one of the few traditional relievers Dave Roberts trusts, and the Blue Jays have four left-handed hitters in their regular lineup. Vesia could become the glue that holds the pitching staff together — bridging the gap between the rotation and Roki Sasaki in the ninth — without getting even a hint of MVP consideration.

Sam Blum: Roki Sasaki will continue to make his imprint as the Dodgers closer, but it won’t be enough for the MVP award.

C. Trent Rosecrans: Will Smith. He’s just 6 for 42 in 11 World Series games, but he’s coming off a strong NLCS and has gotten to play some, but the sweep afforded his body a chance to get some rest.

Levi Weaver: There are like … maybe three guys on the Dodgers who could even “come out of nowhere” … Hyeseong Kim?