Bench hit .275 with 15 hrs. Considering that Koosman pitched for a team that won 73 games, I think he should have won it anyway. I know it was the "year of the pitcher", but a .208 ERA was still nothing to sneeze at.
Seaver won the year before though, and the writers didn't want a Met winning two years in a row.
Edited Feb-1 by AdrianMonk