A brief history of leadoff hitters to win the Baseball Writers' Association of America's MVP Award:
Phil Rizzuto, 1950 American League
Maury Wills, 1962 National League
Zoilo Versalles, 1965 AL
Pete Rose, 1973 NL
Rickey Henderson, 1990 AL
Ichiro Suzuki, 2001 AL
Jimmy Rollins, 2007 NL
In this final month of the regular season, J.D. Martinez has a shot to make history.
The Red Sox slugger entered September in the top two in the Major Leagues in batting average, home runs and RBIs, putting him in position to challenge for a "true" Triple Crown, which would encompass all of MLB.