When Justin Verlander won the American League Cy Young Award in 2019, it marked the longest game ever between Cy Young Awards. Verlander first won in 2011 when he was also the A.L. Most Valuable Player for the Detroit Tigers. But how about the longest gap between seasons receiving votes for the Cy Young Award?…
Author: knightslightning
Chuck Finley, best career to never place in top 5 of Cy voting
Several pitchers dazzled for one season, becoming Cy Young contenders in otherwise unremarkable careers. Many others established long, successful careers but never came close to winning a Cy Young Award. Here are the pitchers who had the best career results without ever placing in the top five of Cy Young Award voting (since 1970 voting…
Cy Young Award winners by year
Annual best pitchers in the American League and National League as voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America in each major league city. Comparative statistics include historically common numbers and advanced measures WAR and Adjusted ERA. Complete voting history for all years
2020 Cy Young Award favorites
A quick glance through the history of Cy Young Award voting makes it clear that favorites don’t always win and sometimes, pitchers emerge from off the radar. More often than you might expect, pitchers without demonstrated prior success put together seasons that make them Cy Young Award contenders. Also more often than you might expect,…
Pitching factories
Some teams have proven to be better than others at developing pitching talent over time. Some ballparks are certainly more favorable to pitchers than others. This leads us to a review of which teams have produced the most Cy Young Award winners. Starting with the original Cy Young Award winner, Don Newcombe in 1956, the…
Cy Young Award potpourri
MOST PITCHERS RECEIVING FIRST-PLACE VOTES IN A SEASON Jim Perry had the lowest number of first-place votes (6 in 1970) for a Cy winner since the ranked-choice voting started in 1970. That first season that the baseball writers had the option to vote for several places also resulted in the most different pitchers receiving a…
Father and son pitchers
There are far more father-son duos of position players than pitchers. Three Cy Young Award winners have had a son reach the majors. Vern Law’s son Vance was an infielder. Steve Bedrosian and Doug Drabek had sons (Cam and Kyle) reach the majors as pitchers but neither merited any Cy Young Award attention. Clyde Wright…
Home runs, high ERAs and missing Ks
LONG AND SHORT OF THE LONG BALL In 25 starts during the strike-shortened 1994 season, Greg Maddux allowed four home runs – four – a in 202 innings. This is the lowest number of home runs allowed by a starting pitcher Cy winner. Maddux is also second and third in low-HR totals having allowed seven…