1937 Cy Young Awards

1937 American League - Lefty Gomez, New York Yankees

21-11, 2.33 ERA, 194 K

Evidently it wasn't easy being a right-handed pitcher in the AL in the 1930s; the last pitcher not named "Lefty" to receive a retroactive Cy Young Award from me was Waite Hoyt in 1927.  Lefty Grove won most of those, but for the second time, the "other" Lefty G. won the AL pitching triple crown, with the same ERA, although fewer wins and more strikeouts.  He may be a somewhat marginal player by Hall of Fame standards, but in 1934 and 1937 he was undoubtedly the best AL pitcher, and in 1937 he helped lead the Yankees to yet another World Series title.


1937 National League - Jim Turner, Boston Braves

20-11, 2.38 ERA, 69 K

I'll be honest, I had never heard of Jim Turner before in my life.  In fact, I had expected Carl Hubbell, who finished third in MVP voting and won two thirds of the Triple Crown, would probably win the retroactive Cy Young Award.  However, he also had a very unimpressive 3.20 ERA, which didn't even crack the top ten list, and his WHIP was a mediocre 1.208.  However, Boston's Jim Turner, a 33 year old rookie whose lifetime record ended up being 69-60, had a great season.  Along with leading in ERA by nearly a quarter of a run, he also led in WHIP (1.091), WAR (5.2), and finished tied second in wins.  In the end, he finished fourth in MVP voting, behind only Hubbell among pitchers, and undoubtedly would've been Rookie of the Year had it existed in 1937.  Still, his Major League pitching career was less than stellar; he spent 14 seasons in the minors, and he really only had four seasons as an effective starter.  Imagine my surprise, then, when I found out that he was a part of nine World Series winning teams; after his playing career was over, he served as the pitching coach of the Yankees during their late 1940s-1950s dynasty, and was also pitching coach for the Reds from 1961-1965 and the Yankees again from 1966-1973.