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Comeback Players of the Year Winners

By Patrick Mondout

A "Comeback of the Year" award has been presented to a player from each league since 1955. The Associated Press, United Press International, and The Sporting News have made such awards since at least 1950, with The Sporting News handling the award from 1965 onwards. The Associated Press gave such an award off and on between 1950 and 1954 before making annual "Comeback of the Year" awards for each league starting in 1955 and ending in 1967. We list those winners (1950-1967) for completeness:

Associated Press Comeback of the Year
YEAR WINNER
1950 Eddie Waitkus
1951 (no award)
1952 Enos Slaughter
1953 AL Virgil Trucks 
NL Carl Furillo
1954 Ted Williams
1955 AL Tommy Byrne
NL Roy Campanella
1956 AL Vic Wertz
NL Sal Maglie
1957 AL Bobby Shantz
NL Hank Sauer
1958 AL Pete Runnels
NL Robin Roberts
1959 AL Early Wynn
NL Gene Conley
1960 AL Ted Williams
NL Stan Musial
1961 AL Dick Donovan
NL Joey Jay
1962 AL Robin Roberts
NL Stan Musial
1963 AL Dick Stuart
NL Dick Ellsworth
1964 AL Jimmy Piersall
NL Jim Bunning
1965 AL Frank Howard
NL Vern Law
1966 AL Boog Powell
NL Orlando Cepeda
1967 AL Dean Chance
NL Mike McCormick
AP COMEBACK OF THE YEAR

Here are The Sporting News Comeback Players of the Year:

TSN Comeback Players of the Year
YEAR WINNER YEAR WINNER
1965 NL Vern Law
AL Norm Cash
1988 NL Tim Leary
AL Storm Davis
1966 NL Phil Regan
AL Boog Powell
1989 NL Lonnie Smith
AL Bert Blyleven
1967 NL Mike McCormick
AL Dean Chance
1990 NL John Tudor
AL Dave Winfield
1968 NL Alex Johnson
AL Ken Harrelson
1991 NL Terry Pendleton
AL Jose Guzman
1969 NL Tommie Agee
AL Tony Conigliaro
1992 NL Gary Sheffield
AL Rick Sutcliffe
1970 NL Jim Hickman
AL Clyde Wright
1993 NL Andres Galarraga
AL Bo Jackson
1971 NL Al Downing
AL Norm Cash
1994 NL Tim Wallach
AL Jose Canseco
1972 NL Bobby Tolan
AL Luis Tiant
1995 NL Ron Gant
AL Tim Wakefield
1973 NL Davey Johnson
AL John Hiller
1996 NL Eric Davis
AL Kevin Elster
1974 NL Jim Wynn
AL Fergie Jenkins
1997 NL Darren Daulton
AL David Justice
1975 NL Randy Jones
AL Boog Powell
1998 NL Greg Vaughn
AL Bret Saberhagen
1976 NL Tommy John
AL Dock Ellis
1999 NL Rickey Henderson
AL John Jaha
1977 NL Willie McCovey
AL Eric Soderholm
2000 NL Andres Galarraga
AL Frank Thomas
1978 NL Willie Stargell
AL Mike Caldwell
2001 NL Matt Morris
AL Ruben Sierra
1979 NL Lou Brock
AL Willie Horton
2002 NL Mike Lieberthal
AL Tim Salmon
1980 NL Jerry Reuss
AL Matt Keough
2003 NL Javy Lopez
AL Gil Meche
1981 NL Bob Knepper
AL Richie Zisk
2004 NL Chris Carpenter
AL Paul Konerko
1982 NL Joe Morgan
AL Andre Thornton
2005 NL Ken Griffey
AL Jason Giambi
1983 NL John Denny
AL Alan Trammell
1984 NL Joaquin Andujar
AL Dave Kingman
1985 NL Rick Reuschel
AL Gorman Thomas
1986 NL Ray Knight
AL John Candelaria
1987 NL Rick Sutcliffe
AL Bret Saberhagen
THE SPORTING NEWS COMEBACK PLAYERS


Major League Baseball began awarding its own Comeback Players of the Year for each league starting in 2005, along with The Sporting News. Their picks were identical.

References

Total Baseball: The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia by John Thorn, et al.
2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia by Gary Gillette (Editor), Pete Palmer (Editor).

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WINNER

Eddie Waitkus nearly died after being shot by a femme fan. He became the first AP Comeback Player of the Year.


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