There has been some talk in the media about the possibility of the Phillies’ Chase Utley getting this year’s World Series Most Valuable Player award, even if the Phillies lose.

If that happens, he will be only the second player from a losing team to win the Series MVP. The other was the Yankees’ Bobby Richardson in 1960.

Richardson, though, should never have been awarded the MVP award for the 1960 season. In fact, just bringing the whole Richardson-World Series-MVP topic up boils my blood.

Sure, Richardson had a heck of a Series. The stats are mighty impressive. He had 11 hits in the seven-game Series and 12 RBIs, with a .367 batting average. And he hit a homer. But the award isn’t for the guy with the best stats. If that were the case, the award in 1960 maybe should have gone to Mickey Mantle, who had 10 hits and 11 RBIs but also hit three homers and batted .400, with a .545 on-base-percentage.

But the award is for most valuable. In that World Series, perhaps more than any other, “value” should mean contribution to a winning effort.

In the three games the Yankees won in the 1960 Series, the scores were 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0. An argument could me made that padding one’s stats during those routs is not particularly “valuable.”

The four games the Pirates won were by scores of 7-4, 3-2, 5-2 and 10-9. An argument could be made that getting hits and RBIs in those closely contested games more closely defines the word “valuable.”

Which brings us to Bill Mazeroski.

In the 1960 Series, Maz had eight hits in the seven games, with five RBIs and batted .320. Oh, yeah. He also hit two homers, a two-run shot in Game 1 that extended the underdog Pirates’ lead from 3-2 to 5-2 on the way to a huge upset. And the other homer? You may have heard about it or seen it on those all-time great moment highlight shows: The only homer ever to end a World Series Game 7. It capped off one of the most stunning upsets in Series history. He also contributed to the pivotal Game 5 win for the Pirates, with a two-run double in the second inning of what would turn out to be a 5-2 victory.

Comparative defense for the two second basemen? Richardson, two errors; Maz, none.

Richardson the 1960 World Series MVP. An injustice.

It should have been Maz. Case closed.