1944 Cy Young Awards

1944 American League - Dizzy Trout, Detroit Tigers

27-14, 2.12 ERA, 144 K

Just a look at the above stat line makes it seem like this was an easy decision, but it was actually a pretty tough call.  I had actually started writing this post with Hal Newhouser as the winner, but as I wrote more I realized I didn't have much of a defense for choosing him over his own teammate Dizzy Trout, so I changed my mind and rewrote it.  They had remarkably similar seasons, with Trout leading the league and finishing second, in both cases to Newhouser, in the other two Triple Crown categories.  The one edge that Newhouser had was a better win-loss record; he went 29-9, which is good enough to earn a retroactive Cy Young Award in almost any season.  However, Trout had a slightly lower ERA in far more innings pitched (352.1!), and led Newhouser in WAR 8.9 to 7.4.  The two of them deservedly finished first and second in MVP voting, although Newhouser barely won it, 236 to 232 points.  The twin aces helped Detroit achieve the lowest ERA in the league and kept them in contention all year, although they ended up finishing second in the pennant race to the St. Louis Browns.

1944 National League - Bucky Walters, Cincinnati Reds

23-8, 2.40 ERA, 77 K

It's been a few years since we've heard from Bucky Walters.  He had previously won in 1939 and 1940, but went on to have a few average seasons before again becoming the best in the league in 1944.  The National League didn't have quite the same caliber of pitching that the AL did with Trout and Newhouser, but Walters nonetheless put up a respectable season, leading the league in wins and hits per 9 innings (7.358), and finishing second in ERA and ERA+ (146), behind only fellow teammate Ed Heusser, who pitched nearly 100 fewer innings.  He also tied for fifth in the MVP voting, tied for first among pitchers along with New York's Bill Voiselle, and he made his sixth and final All Star appearance.  Unlike in his other two award-winning seasons though, the Reds didn't win the NL pennant, and instead they finished in third, behind the NL champion and ultimately World Series champion Cardinals.