1948 Cy Young Awards

1948 American League - Gene Bearden, Cleveland Indians

20-7, 2.43 ERA, 80 K

Once again, it was a Cleveland pitcher who was the best pitcher in the league, but for once it wasn't Bob Feller.  Rookie Gene Bearden, who had previously pitched in one game in his entire MLB career, emerged as the best pitcher on a very talented staff that included Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Satchel Paige.  A wounded World War II veteran, he had to have part of his skull removed after being struck by shrapnel, yet he had a great rookie year, leading the league in ERA, ERA+ (168), and finishing second in wins and winning percentage.  Teammate Bob Lemon also had a great season, but I gave it to Bearden, who had fewer innings pitched than Lemon but also a substantially lower ERA.  Lemon did lead the league with an amazing 10 shutouts, but Bearden was no slouch either, finishing the season with six.   Bearden finished eighth in MVP voting, behind only Lemon among pitchers, and he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.  He was not chosen as an All Star, but at the end of the season, when the Indians and Red Sox finished the season tied for first, Cleveland manager Lou Boudreau didn't go with Bob Feller or Bob Lemon; he started Gene Bearden on one day's rest, and he responded by leading the Indians to the World Series, which they won over the Boston Braves.  It was the last time the Indians would win the World Series, and for Bearden it was the highlight of an otherwise unremarkable career; he bounced around to five different teams over the next five seasons, never winning more than eight games in a season; his career total of 45 wins was barely twice that of his win total in 1948.

1948 National League - Harry Brecheen, St. Louis Cardinals

20-7, 2.24 ERA, 149 K

This year had probably the least notable combination of winners with Gene Bearden and Harry Brecheen since the 1886 season, when the best pitchers in each league were Dave Foutz and Lady Baldwin.  However, Brecheen had a great season in the National League as part of an otherwise decent but undistinguished baseball career.  He led in two thirds of the Triple Crown, ERA and strikeouts, while finishing second to Johnny Sain in wins, and he also led in shutouts (7), WHIP (1.037), and ERA+ (182).  It was his sixth full season in the majors, and while he had posted some respectable seasons as one of the better pitchers in the league, 1948 was his only really great season.  It was his second year as an All Star, and his third season finishing in the top 20 for MVP voting, but he would never quite repeat his success, winning just 42 games in the next five seasons before retiring.

1946 Cy Young Awards

1946 American League - Bob Feller, Cleveland Indians

26-15, 2.18 ERA, 348 K

This was a tough call; 1945 winner Hal Newhouser had another great season, but Bob Feller pitched just as well in his first full season after serving in World War II.  Newhouser actually probably pitched better, but Feller pitched almost as well, in far more innings pitched.  They both won the same number of games to lead the league, and Newhouser led the league in ERA at 1.94.  Feller finished third in ERA, and fifth in WHIP (1.158), while Newhouser led in both of those categories.  Normally, I would've chosen Newhouser in such a situation, but what gave Feller the edge was 371.1 innings pitched, to lead the league over Newhouser's second place 292.2.  Feller pitched more complete games (36) than Newhouser started (34), and his 10 shutouts easily led the league over Newhouser's six.  In terms of WAR, they were both extraordinarily high, with Feller at 9.4 and Newhouser at 9.1.  Clearly, they both had spectacular pitching seasons, but I have to give the nod to Feller; the additional eight starts and nearly 80 innings more that he pitched are more valuable, in my opinion, than the slightly lower ERA and WHIP that Newhouser had.  One last statistic worth mentioning was Feller's unbelievable 348 strikeouts.  Although I don't like to put too much faith in strikeout numbers, he finished one shy of Rube Waddell's modern single-season records, and today it remains the sixth most strikeouts in post-1900 baseball history The MVP voters disagreed with me, however, with Newhouser finishing as the runner-up to Ted Williams, and Feller in sixth place.

1946 National League - Howie Pollet, St. Louis Cardinals

21-10, 2.10 ERA, 107 K

Howie Pollet didn't have a particularly spectacular MLB career; he played 14 seasons of occasionally above-average baseball as both a starter and reliever, but in 1946 he was the ace of the World Series winning Cardinals, and the best pitcher in the league.  He led in both ERA and innings pitched (266.0), which is a combination that I like to see, and he also led in wins and ERA+ (165).  Perhaps most impressive, however, was the fact that he had not thrown a pitch in professional baseball in two and a half seasons before 1946 due to service in World War II.  After 1946, he would continue as a decent pitcher for a variety of teams, but he never quite matched his success from this season.

1943 Cy Young Awards

1943 American League - Spud Chandler, New York Yankees

20-4, 1.64 ERA, 134 K

Back in the days prior to the Cy Young Award, there seemed to be little issue over giving the MVP Award to pitchers; today a pitcher has to be particularly exceptional in order to even come close to winning it.  Chandler had one of those seasons in 1943, and if it had happened today, he would've been assured the Cy Young Award and probably the MVP as well.  Along with an ERA that was 0.63 runs better than anyone else, he led the league in wins, winning percentage (.833), shutouts (5), WHIP (0.992), and WAR (6.0), and he easily won the NL MVP Award on his way to helping the Yankees win the World Series.  In a relatively short 11 year career, Chandler barely won 100 games, but he will be remembered as having the highest career winning percentage (.717) among any pitcher with at least 100 decisions, and his 1943 season had a lot to do with that.


1943 National League - Mort Cooper, St. Louis Cardinals

21-8, 2.30 ERA, 141 K

Mort Cooper strikes again, becoming the best NL pitcher for the second year in a row.  It wasn't quite as impressive as his MVP 1942 season, but it was good enough for fifth place in MVP voting and highest among pitchers.  Along with tying for the lead in wins, he finished second in ERA, strikeouts, and ERA+ (147), and although teammate Max Lanier had a substantially lower ERA, he also pitched in substantially fewer innings.  Cooper's Cardinals again made it to the World Series, although the tables were turned; instead of them beating the Yankees four games to one, the opposite happened.

1942 Cy Young Awards

1942 American League - Tex Hughson, Boston Red Sox

22-6, 2.59 ERA, 133 K

This was the first year that World War II affected Major League Baseball, and in the AL this was evident by the fact that the two best pitchers in the league were Tex Hughson and Tiny Bonham, two otherwise mediocre pitchers who benefited greatly from the reduced talent pool.  Regardless though, Hughson was the better of the two (slightly), leading the league in wins and strikeouts, and finishing sixth in ERA.  However, he also led the league in innings pitched (281.0), and as I have mentioned before, I am more likely to defer to pitchers who have a slightly higher ERA but far more innings pitched.  He ended up finishing sixth in MVP voting, the second highest ranked pitcher just behind Bonham, but I think Hughson was probably the marginally better player; among other things, he led the league in WAR with 5.7, over Bonham's seventh place 3.7.  And for the record, Tiny Bonham was not exactly tiny; he was listed as 6'2" and 215 pounds.  Tex Hughson, however, was from Texas, so I'll give him extra credit for having a nickname that actually makes sense.


1942 National League - Mort Cooper, St. Louis Cardinals

22-7, 1.78 ERA, 152 K

Speaking of pitchers who benefited from the better players being away at war.  He was barely an above average player both before and after the war, but from 1942-1944, he looked like Walter Johnson.  He was an All Star twice in that period, finishing in the top 10 in MVP voting all three seasons, and in 1942 was voted the NL MVP.  He led the league in wins, ERA, ERA+ (192), shutouts (10), and WHIP (0.987), so there was little doubt that he was the best pitcher in the league, and the best in the majors in 1942.  He led the Cardinals to a World Series title, and he finished miles ahead of any other pitcher in MVP voting. 

1935 Cy Young Awards

1935 American League - Lefty Grove, Boston Red Sox

20-12, 2.70 ERA, 121 K

With his eighth award, Lefty Grove now ties Christy Mathewson for the most that I have given out to one pitcher on this blog.  It was his first full season on his new team, the Boston Red Sox, and while his numbers after leaving Philadelphia were never quite the same, he was still the best pitcher in the league in 1935.  Along with leading the league in ERA (his sixth time doing so) by nearly a third of a run, he also finished first in WHIP (1.223), ERA+ (175), and WAR (7.7), and fourth in both wins and strikeouts.  Apparently, even pitching half of his games in hitter-friendly Fenway Park didn't hurt his ERA too much.

1935 National League - Dizzy Dean, St. Louis Cardinals

28-12, 3.04 ERA, 190 K

It wasn't quite the same as his 1934 season, but Dean still followed it up with another great one, leading the NL (by a lot) in wins in strikeouts, and finishing sixth in ERA (but third in ERA+ at 135).  After winning the MVP Award in 1934, he came in second this year to Gabby Harnett.  Much like Sandy Koufax 30 years later, Dean was a dominant pitcher for several years, but ended up with a Hall of Fame career that was severely shortened by injury; he played his last full MLB season at the age of 27 and was essentially done by the time he turned 30.  But, in the mid 1930's, he was better than anyone else.

1888 Cy Young Awards

1888 American Association - Silver King, St. Louis Browns

45-20, 1.63 ERA, 258 K

Not much of a debate about this one; not only did King lead the AA in most pitching categories, but he dominated those categories.  He was the ERA leader by .38 runs, wins by 10, ERA+ by 48, WHIP by .12, and WAR by 4.  He also tied for the lead with 6 shutouts, and came in second in strikeouts, along the way leading the Browns to yet another AA pennant.  At 20 years old, it was only King's second full season in the majors, but, like many of his contemporaries, he burned out quickly, with only a few more productive seasons, and he was done in the majors before he turned 30.

1888 National League - Tim Keefe, New York Giants

35-12, 1.74 ERA, 335 K

Just like in the AA, there wasn't much question as to who was the NL's best pitcher in 1888.  After several years of consistently being a contender for the league's best pitcher, the future Hall of Famer was quite decisively the best in 1888.  Along with winning the Triple Crown, Keefe led the league in winning percentage, WHIP, WAR, and shutouts.  There were other pitchers, particularly Charlie Buffinton, who did well, but Keefe was by far the best, and in the process led the Giants to the NL pennant.

1886 Cy Young Awards

1886 American Association - Dave Foutz, St. Louis Browns

41-16, 2.11 ERA 283 K

It was hard to not pick rookie Matt Kilroy for this award, given his all-time record 513 strikeouts, but he also led the league in both losses (34) and earned runs (218), and his ERA was barely above the league average.  There were other worthy candidates for the award though, including Ed Morris, Bob Caruthers, and the curiously nicknamed Toad Ramsey, but I felt that Foutz, who led the league in wins, ERA, winning percentage, and led the Browns to their second consecutive AA pennant, was the most deserving of the award.  His ERA was particularly impressive though, being .21 points higher than the nearest competition, for a 164 ERA+, 15 points ahead of second place Ramsey.

1886 National League - Lady Baldwin, Detroit Wolverines

42-13, 2.24 ERA, 323 K

Don't let the nickname fool you; Lady Baldwin was a good pitcher, in 1886 anyway.  It was a close call between him and Charlie Ferguson, but in the end I chose Baldwin, who tied for the league lead in wins, was third in ERA (behind Ferguson), led in strikeouts, WHIP (0.967), and shutouts (7 - and the next highest in the league was 4).  Interestingly, it was Baldwin's only full season as a starter; he played for six years, and nearly half of his 118 games came in 1886.  In 1886, his Detroit Wolverines finished second in the NL with a starting rotation that included not only Lady Baldwin, but other names such as Pretzels Getzien and Phenomenal Smith.

1885 Cy Young Awards

1885 American Association - Bob Caruthers, St. Louis Browns

40-13, 2.07 ERA, 190 K

This award was a toss-up between Caruthers and Pittsburgh's Ed Morris.  Caruthers led the league in ERA and wins, with Morris finishing third and second, respectively.  Morris did, however, lead the league in strikeouts, innings pitched, lowest walks & hits per inning, and highest WAR.  I ended up choosing Caruthers for the award though, on the basis of his lower ERA (2.07 to 2.35), significantly higher winning percentage, the fact that Caruthers was right behind Morris in most of the other categories, and the fact that Caruthers led the Browns to the league pennant.

1885 National League - John Clarkson, Chicago White Stockings

53-16, 1.85 ERA, 308 K

After three years of Old Hoss Radbourn dominating the NL, another future Hall of Famer, John Clarkson, took over as the league's best pitcher.  Clarkson led the league in just about every "counting" statistic: wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, starts, complete games, shutouts, saves, etc., and did well in the "average" stats as well, finishing third in ERA and second in WHIP.  He also led in WAR (13.8) by a substantial margin.  His 53 wins are the second most of any season, behind only Radbourne's 1884 season, and it was one of only three times when a pitcher won 50 or more games in a season.  Clarkson also pitched a no-hitter on July 27, beating the Providence Grays 4-0.

1876 Cy Young Award

1876 National League - George Bradley, St. Louis Brown Stockings

45-19, 1.23 ERA, 103 K

Although not exactly a household name today, George Bradley would have been my pick for the Cy Young Award, had I been alive in 1876, and had the Cy Young Award existed then.  Not only did he pitch the first no-hitter in MLB history, he was also the league's first ERA leader, winning by a healthy margin, and finished second in wins for the third place Brown Stockings.  He also pitched 16 shutouts that year, a record that Grover Cleveland Alexander tied in 1916, but that nobody else has come close to.  Incidentally, Bradley's win-loss record of 45-19 was also the team's win-loss record; he started all 64 of their games and completed all but one, with outfielder Joe Blong pitching the final four innings of one game.