1936 Cy Young Awards

1936 American League - Lefty Grove, Boston Red Sox

17-12, 2.81 ERA, 130 K

I used to think that Bill James ranked Lefty Grove a bit too high when he put him as the #2 greatest pitcher of all time in his Baseball Abstract, but the more I look at just how dominant Grove was for so many years, I'm starting to think maybe James ranked him too low.  This is now the ninth time that I have ranked him as the best pitcher in the AL, and while the choice was not quite as clear-cut as other seasons, I think it's a pretty safe bet.  Grove was ranked 15th in MVP voting in 1936, behind two other pitchers.  However, it appears that a greater emphasis was placed on wins and winning percentage; Grove had a rather pedestrian record, but I think the more important stat is his league-leading 2.81 ERA, more than a half run lower than anyone else.  His ERA+ was 190, 41 points higher than anyone else.  He also pitched a league-leading six shutouts, but had the misfortune of playing on a mediocre sixth place Boston team.  So, the question may be whether he was the greatest AL pitcher in 1936, but I think an even better question is, is he the greatest pitcher ever?  Because I think the answer might be yes...


1936 National League - Carl Hubbell, New York Giants

26-6, 2.31 ERA, 123 K

There were some great pitching seasons in the NL in 1936; the winner the previous two seasons, Dizzy Dean, had another great season, and one of the greatest names in baseball history, Van Lingle Mungo, struck out an astonishing 248 batters.  However, Carl Hubbell was even better, leading the league in wins, ERA, winning percentage (.813), WHIP (1.059), and ERA+ (169), capturing the MVP Award over second place finisher Dizzy Dean.  It was his second MVP, and the fourth year in a row (out of five) that he finished in the top 10 for MVP voting, and he made his fourth of nine All-Star appearances on his way to a great Hall of Fame career.  He is generally considered to be one of the greatest screwball pitchers (as in pitchers who threw primarily a screwball, not pitchers who were screwballs, otherwise that award would probably go to Bill Lee), and according to Joe DiMaggio, he was the toughest pitcher he ever faced.