Oakland Athletics catcher Gene Tenace began the 1972 season as the backup to Dave Duncan, but ended the season as the World Series MVP and the Athletics entrenched starting backstop. Tenace was the catalyst for Oakland’s seven game World Series victory over the Cincinnati Reds, the first of the A’s three-consecutive World Series titles in the early 1970’s. Tenace, who hit five home runs during the regular season, went yard four times in the World Series, adding nine RBI and a .348 batting average for the victorious Athletics. Six of the seven games in this World Series were decided by one run. Tenace was responsible for all three RBI in the A’s 3-2 victory in Game 1, and he added two RBI in the A’s 3-2 win in the clinching Game 7.

After this World Series, Tenace became the Athletics starting catcher until 1976, by which time he had already won three World Series trophies. Tenace would earn another Commissioner’s Trophy as a player with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982, and two more as a coach for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993.

This award plaque measures 15 x 12 inches. It features a gold placard in the center etched with “Sport Magazine / 18th Annual World Series Award / Presented To / Gene Tenace / Most Valuable Player / 1972”. Two gold eagle statuettes are affixed to the plaque, with one on either side of the placard. Tenace has signed the upper corner of this award in black marker, inscribing “W.S. M.V.P.” below his signature. This award is a supremely rare and sought-after piece of history, and an exciting memento from the beginning of the Oakland Athletics 1970’s dynasty.

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