Can Ichiro become the 19th MVP to win despite finishing out of the top 10 in OPS? Let's review the other 18 winners and see how and why they won. Not surprisingly, all 18 played on first-place teams.

That, in turn, will likely disqualify a handful of MVP candidates since no AL player has won the award without getting to the playoffs since Cal Ripken in 1991. Ichiro was the AL MVP along with ...

While Ichiro also had a short stint with the New York Yankees, the majority of his career was spent with Seattle. In 2001 when he won ROY and MVP, Ichiro slashed .350 and also had 56 stolen bases.