1909 Cy Young Awards

1909 American League - Harry Krause, Philadelphia Athletics

18-8, 1.39 ERA, 139 K

This was another year when there was no pitcher who stood out as being spectacular, but Harry Krause was probably the best.  Despite pitching only 213 innings, his ERA was substantially better than anyone else who pitched more innings.  It was his first full season in the majors, and not only did he lead the league in ERA - he pitched 7 shutouts in just 21 starts, meaning he pitched a shutout every third game he started.  He also had a league-leading 172 ERA+, and barely finished second with a 0.939 WHIP.  Despite the successful season though, he would spend only two more full seasons in the majors, before spending the last 18 years of his professional baseball career in the minors, without ever being called up again.

1909 National League - Christy Mathewson, New York Giants

25-6, 1.14 ERA, 149 K

Both 1906 winner Mordecai Brown and three-time winner Christy Mathewson had impressive 1909 seasons, but although it was close, Mathewson was better.  Along with a league-leading 1.14 ERA (5th lowest all time), Mathewson finished second in wins (behind Brown's 27), first in win-loss percentage (.806), ERA+ (222), and WHIP (0.828).  Both his ERA and win-loss percentage were career bests for him.  Perhaps the only unusual statistic is his 6th place 149 strikeouts, after having led the league in that category five of the previous six seasons.  He did, however, lead the league in strikeout to walk ratio (4.14) for the third time in a row; he would go on to lead that category in 8 consecutive seasons.