On November 13, MLB announced the 2013 Cy Young Award winners – and to no one’s surprise they were the Tigers’ Max Scherzer in the AL and the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in the NL. Scherzer finished 21-3, with a 2.90 ERA and 240 strikeouts in 214 1/3 innings. His 21 victories led the AL and he also had the top winning percentage (.875). Kershaw went 16-9, with an NL- and MLB-lowest 1.83 ERA and also led the NL with 230 K’s in 236 innings pitched. (The significance of these stats will become clear in a few paragraphs.) Scherzer became only the third starting pitcher to win the Cy Young Award without a single complete game, joining Roger Clemens (2001 & 2004) and Jake Peavy (2007). BBRT, would like to use this post to take a look at the Cy Young Award; its heritage, historic milestones and unique “factoids.”
Cy Young – MLB’s winningest pitcher.
The Cy Young Award, recognizing baseball’s best pitcher, is named in honor of right-handed hurler Denton True (Cy) Young – the “Cy” being short for his “Cyclone” nickname. Young won an MLB-record 511 games in his 22-season career (1890-1911), topping twenty wins in 15 seasons (with five of those 30+ wins). The award was introduced in 1956 (by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick), the year after Young’s death. For the first eleven years (1956-66), there was only one Cy Young winner and NL hurlers captured the award seven of those eleven seasons. After Frick retired in 1967, new Commissioner William Eckert, responding to fan requests, announced that, going forward, the Cy Young Award would be presented to the top pitcher in each league.
There have been 106 Cy Young Award winners to date and the most telling indicator has been a twenty-win season – with 72 Cy Young Winners achieving at least twenty victories. (This number is 73 if you include 1984 NL CY winner Rick Sutcliffe, who went 16-1 for the Chicago Cubs, after a mid-June trade from the Cleveland Indians, where he had gone 4-5.) The twenty-win statistic is even more indicative when you consider that relief pitchers have captured nine Cy Youngs and there have been four strike-shortened seasons since the award was established in 1956.
The second most likely indicators is league leadership in wins (65 CY winners have led their league in victories). Thirty-five winners have notched their league’s most innings pitched, followed by lowest ERA (34), most complete games (31), and most strikeouts (31). Of the nine relievers who have won Cy Young Award, seven led their leagues in saves.
Here are a few more Cy Young Award factoids”
– The first Cy Young Award winner (1956) was Brooklyn Dodgers’ right-hander Don Newcombe, who notched a league-leading 27 wins (seven losses), with a 3.06 ERA – and also captured the NL MVP Award (one of only 10 pitchers to date to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same season).
– The first southpaw to capture the Cy Young was Warren Spahn, who, in 1957, went 21-11, 2.69 for the Milwaukee Braves.
– The first AL CY winner was the Yankees’ (RH) Bob Turley, off a 21-7, 2.97 season in 1958.
– The first AL left-hander to win the award was the Yankees’ Whitey Ford (25-4, 3.21 in 1961).
– The first relief pitcher to win the award was the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mike Marshall (1974). Marshall pitched in a (still) MLB-record 106 games, going 15-12, with a 2.42 ERA and a league-leading 21 saves. Unlike today’s one-inning closers, Marshall threw a record 208 1/3 innings in relief.
– Nine relievers have won Cy Awards: Mike Marshall (Dodgers 1974); Bruce Sutter (Cubs, 1979); Sparky Lyle (Yankees, 1977); Rollie Fingers (Brewers, 1981); Willie Hernandez (Tigers, 1984); Steve Bedrosian (Phillies, 1987); Mark Davis (Padres, 1989); Dennis Eckersley (A’s, 1992); Eric Gagne (Dodgers, 2003). Of these, only Willie Hernandez and Sparky Lyle did not lead their league in saves in their CY season.
– Only two pitchers have won four consecutive Cy Young Awards: Greg Maddux: 1992 (Cubs); 1993—94-95 (Atlanta Braves); and Randy Johnson: 1999-2001-02-03 (Arizona Diamond backs).
– The oldest player to win a Cy Young Award is Roger Clemens, who claimed the prize at age 42 in 2004 (going 18-4, 2.98 for the Astros).
– The Youngest CY Award winner was Dwight Gooden, who captured the award in 1985 (age 20), with a 24-4. 1.53 season for the Mets.
– The only pitcher to win a Cy Young Award while playing for a last place team was the Phillies’ Steve Carlton. In 1972, with the Phillies going a dismal 59-97, Carlton led the NL with 27 wins (versus 10 losses), while also topping the league in ERA (1.97), CG (30), innings pitched (346 1/3) and strikeouts (310).
– The only MLB pitcher to lose 20 games the season after winning the Cy Young Award was Steve Carlton, who went 13-20 (leading the NL in losses), 3.90 (1973 Phillies), the year after his 27-10, 1.97 season.
– The first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award with less than 20 wins was the Mets Tom Seaver in 1973 (19-10, 2.08). Seaver led the NL in ERA, strikeouts and complete games. In the 35 seasons from 1956 to 1990, there were 13 Cy Young winners with less than 20 victories. In the 23 seasons from 1991 to 2013, there have been 22 Cy Young Award winners with less than 20 wins.
– There has been only one tie in Cy Young Award voting. In 1969, the AL Cy Young was shared by the Tigers’ Denny McLain (24-9, 2.80) and the Orioles’ Mike Cueller (23-11, 2.38).
– Rick Sutcliffe is the only pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in a season in which he pitched for two teams (and in two leagues). Sutcliffe opened the 1984 season with the Cleveland Indians and went 4-5, 5.12 in 15 starts before a June 13 trade to the Chicago Cubs (Sutcliffe, George Frazier and Ron Hassey for the Cubs’ Mel Hall, Joe Carter and Don Schulze). Sutcliffe went on to win the NL Cy Young (and help the Cubs win the NL East title), going 16-1, 2.69 in 20 starts.
– Only four times has a starting pitcher won the Cy Young without tossing a single complete game: Roger Clemens with the Yankees in 2001 (20-3, 3.51); Clemens again with the Astros in 2004 (18-4, 2.78): Jake Peavy with the Padres in 2007 (19-6, 2.54); and Max Scherzer with the Tigers (21-3, 2.90) in 2013.
– The fewest wins ever by a Cy Young Award winner is two, by Dodgers’ reliever Eric Gagne, who went 2-3, 1.20 in 2003 – with a league-topping 55 saves and 137 strikeouts in 82 1/3 innings.
– The most wins for a CY winner goes to the Tigers’ Denny McLain, who went 31-6, 1.96 in 1968.
– The highest-ERA ever for a CY winner was 3.51, by the Yankees’ Roger Clemens; 20-3, 3.51 in 2001).
– The lowest ERA for a CY winner was 1.04, by Brewers’ reliever Rollie Fingers in 1981 (6-3, 28 saves, 1.04).
– The lowest ERA for a starting pitcher winning the CY is 1.12, for the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson in 1968 (22-9, 1.12). Eighty-four of the 104 CY winners have had ERAs under 3.00, of those 19 were under 2.00.
– The only rookie to win the Cy Young Award was the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela (13-7, 2.48 in the strike-shortened 1981 season). Valenzuela thus becomes the answer to: “Who is the only pitcher to win the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in the same season?”
– Don Newcombe, the first CY winner, was also the first player to win the CY and league MVP in the same year (1956). Since that time, nine more pitchers have won the CY and MVP in the same season. (The next two after Newcombe were National Leaguers; the last seven have been American Leaguers. 1968 was the only year in which both leagues boasted a CY/MVP combined winner (Bob Gibson/NL & Denny McLain/AL). Here are the CY/MVP same season winners: Don Newcombe (Dodgers, 1956, 27-7, 3.06); Sandy Koufax (Dodgers, 1963, 25-5, 1.88); Bob Gibson (Cardinals, 1968, 22-9, 1.12); Denny McLain (Tigers, 1968, 31-6, 1.96); Vida Blue (A’s, 1971, 24-8. 1.82); Rollie Fingers (Brewers, 1981, 6-3, 28 saves, 1.04); Willie Hernandez (Tigers, 1984, 9-3, 32 saves, 1.92); Roger Clemens (Red Sox, 1986, 24-4, 2.48); Dennis Eckersley (A’s, 1992, 7-1, 51 saves, 1.91); Justin Verlander (Tigers, 24-5, 2.40).
– Roger Clemens has won the most CY Awards (7) and won for the most teams (4), and gone the longest between his first and final CY’s (18 years). Clemens wins: 1986 (Red Sox); 1987 (Red Sox); 1991 (Red Sox); 1997 (Blue Jays); 1998 (Blue Jays); 2001 (Yankees); 2004 (Astros).
– The Brooklyn/LA Dodgers boast the highest number of CY Award won at 11. The AL leadership is shared by the Orioles and Red Sox at six each.
– R.A. Dickey of the Mets was the first knuckleballer to win the CY (20-6, 2.73 in 2012).
– The first pitcher to win a CY in both leagues was Gaylord Perry (Indians, 1972 & Padres 1978). He has since been joined in that accomplishment by four hurlers: Randy Johnson (Mariners 1995 & Diamondbacks 1999-00-01-02); Pedro Martinez (Expos 1997 & Red Sox 1999-00); Roy Halladay (Blue Jays 2003 & Phillies 2010); Roger Clemens (Red Sox 1986-87 91, Blue Jays 1997-98, Yankees 2011 & Astros 2004).
– The only brothers to both win CY Awards are Jim Perry (1970, AL) and Gaylord Perry (1972, AL & 1978, NL).
– Eight pitchers have won back-to-back Cy Young Awards: Sandy Koufax (Dodgers 1963-64); Denny McLain (Tigers 1968-69): Jim Palmer (Orioles 1975-76); Roger Clemens (Red Sox 1986-87 & Blue Jays 1997-98); Greg Maddux (Cubs 1992, Braves 1993-94-95); Randy Johnson (Diamondbacks 1999-00-01-02); Pedro Martinez (Red Sox 1999-00); Tim Lincecum (Giants 2008-09).
– Brett Saberhagen did not make the All Star team in either of his Cy Young Seasons (AL 1985, 1989). Jim Palmer also missed the All Star team in two of his CY Award seasons (AL 1973, 1976). Sixteen other pitchers earned CY Awards in seasons in which they did not make their league’s All Star team: Don Newcombe (NL 1956); Mike McCormick (NL 1967); Mike Cueller (AL 1969); Gaylord Perry (NL 1978); Mike Flanagan (AL 1979); Pete Vukovich (AL 1982); Lamarr Hoyt (AL 1983); John Denny (NL 1983); Rick Sutcliffe (NL 1984); Roger Clemens (AL 1987); Doug Drabek (NL 1990); Greg Maddux (NL 1993); Pat Hentgen (AL 1996); Johan Santana (AL 2004); Felix Hernandez (AL 2010).
So, there’s a bit of a Cy Young Award primer. (I’ll update this post after the 2013 awards are announced.
PHOTO: George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress.
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Oops! Originally had a typo, Newcombe 27 wins not 29.
Out of the Cy Young winners, were any the third or fourth starter during their winning season?