1891 Cy Young Awards

1891 American Association - George Haddock, Boston Reds

34-11, 2.49 ERA, 169 K

This was the last season for the American Association, the longest that any of the four now-defunct major leagues lasted.  Between 1892 and the emergence of the American League in 1901, the NL was again the only league at the highest level of professional baseball.  There was no pitcher in the AA in 1891 that clearly dominated over the rest; in fact, Haddock did not lead the league in any significant categories except shutouts, but he was, across the board, the best pitcher in the league.  He finished second in ERA, wins, and WAR, with a different pitcher finishing first in each category; he was the only one to finish in the top 3 in all 3 categories.  An argument could be made for teammate Charlie Buffinton, who finished the season with a slightly higher WAR (9.3 to 8.7) and finished first in WHIP, but overall Haddock put up better numbers.  The Reds, who are unrelated to either the modern Cincinnati Reds or the Boston Red Sox, played the previous year in the Players League, where they won the league pennant, and then moved to the AA where, behind the strong pitching of Haddock and Buffinton, they won the league pennant again.  When the AA was disbanded after the 1891 season, four of the teams joined with the NL, but the Reds were not among them, putting an end to the team that won two league pennants from two different leagues in their only two years of existence.

1891 National League - Kid Nichols, Boston Beaneaters

30-17, 2.39 ERA, 240 K

This was a good season for Boston teams; both the Boston Reds and the Boston Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves) won the pennant in their respective leagues, and the Reds' George Haddock and the Beaneaters' Kid Nichols were the best pitchers in their leagues.  Like Haddock, Nichols did not lead the league in many categories, other than saves (3), walks per 9 innings pitched (2.180), and ERA+ (154), none of which were calculated until many years later.  However, he had the second lowest ERA, fourth most wins, second lowest WHIP, third highest WAR, and second most shutouts.  Like Haddock, there were other pitchers who were higher than him in most categories, but none who were consistently as high as he was, which earned him the retroactive Cy Young Award without too much hesitation.