1893 Cy Young Award

1893 National League - Amos Rusie, New York Giants

33-21, 3.23 ERA, 208 K

This was the first season that the pitcher's mound was moved 5 feet from the plate to its current position 60.5 feet away.  Overall, offensive numbers skyrocketed, and many great pitchers were unable to adjust to the new distance.  However, there were three pitchers in particular, all Hall of Famers, who stood out in 1893: Kid Nichols, the 1891 winner; Cy Young, the 1892 winner; and Amos Rusie, who I chose as the best of the three for this season.  It was a tough call, but Rusie led the league in starts, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, and hits per 9 innings.  He also finished second in ERA, WAR, and fourth in wins.  That alone may have been enough to earn him the recognition, but on top of it, he not only led the league in strikeouts, he had nearly double the amount of anyone else, and had more than Nichols and Young combined.  It was one of five times in his nine full seasons that Rusie led the league in strikeouts, although it was also one of five times that he led the league in walks as well.  Still, despite his high walk totals, he was certainly deserving of the retroactive Cy Young Award in 1893.