1955 Cy Young Awards

1955 American League - Billy Pierce, Chicago White Sox

15-10, 1.97 ERA, 157 K

The American League in 1955 was not exactly a pitcher-friendly place to be.  The league leader in wins had just 18, the league average ERA was 3.96, and only one pitcher finished in the top 13 for MVP voting, and it wasn't Billy Pierce.  In fact, Pierce's 15-10 record doesn't exactly scream Cy Young Award winner, nor does his third place 157 strikeouts.  However, what really stands out, and what makes him the best candidate for a retroactive Cy Young Award, was his 1.97 ERA.  No pitcher in either league had finished a season with a lower ERA since Hal Newhouser in 1946, and nobody else would do it again until Sandy Koufax in 1963.  It's unfortunate for Pierce that his two best seasons, 1953 and 1955, both happened just before the Cy Young Award started in 1956; otherwise, he could've easily won the award in both of those years.

1955 National League - Robin Roberts, Philadelphia Phillies

23-14, 3.28 ERA, 160 K

This was a close call between Robin Roberts and Don Newcombe, but I decided to give it to Roberts because he and Newcombe had very similar numbers in rate stats like ERA, and WHIP, but Roberts pitched 71.1 more innings.  As I've said before, if there is a pitcher with a slightly higher ERA but far more innings pitched, I am more likely to choose him over the other pitcher.  Roberts also led the league in wins, and finished fifth in ERA and second in WHIP (1.131).  He also led the league in complete games with 26, 9 more than anyone else, although surprisingly only one of those was a shutout.  It was the last truly great season for Roberts, who eventually won 286 games in a Hall of Fame career.  Unfortunately for him, his last great season was also the last season before the Cy Young Award began, so he never had the opportunity to receive formal recognition for being the best pitcher in the league.

1952 Cy Young Awards

1952 American League - Bobby Shantz, Philadelphia Athletics

24-7, 2.48 ERA, 152 K

This was a close call both for me and for the MVP voters in 1952, but I ended up agreeing with them and giving the Retroactive Cy Young Award to Shantz, who led the league in wins, winning percentage (.774), and WHIP (1.048).  New York's Allie Reynolds also had a great season, though.  He led the league in ERA (by nearly a half a run over third place Shantz) and strikeouts, but overall their ERA+ stats were pretty close, with Reynolds leading over Shantz 162 to 160.  This is because Reynolds had one distinct advantage; he didn't have to pitch against the 1952 Yankees.  Shantz did have to, and he excelled nonetheless.  The MVP voters agreed with me; he received 16 first place votes to Reynolds's 4, and the WAR figures agree as well; Shantz led all pitchers at 8.7, compared to Reynolds, who finished at 4.5, tied for fifth place.  Interestingly, to this day Shantz, at 5'6", remains the shortest player ever to win an MVP Award.  He is also the first living player who I have recognized with a Retroactive Cy Young Award; all of the winners before 1952 died before I started working on this blog.

1952 National League - Robin Roberts, Philadelphia Phillies

28-7, 2.59 ERA, 148 K

I don't know how Hank Sauer won the MVP Award over Roberts in 1952, but it was close; Robin Roberts finished second, although I would have to say he deserved it over Sauer or anyone else.  Roberts was a workhorse who pitched over 300 innings for six seasons in a row, including 1952, when he led the league with 330.0.  To put that into perspective, no pitcher has pitched 300 innings in a season since Steve Carlton in 1980.  For Roberts though, it was his second of five consecutive years of leading in innings pitched, and the first of four seasons in which he led in wins.  And he led in wins by a lot - his 28 wins were 10 more than the runner up.  He also had a decent ERA, which was good for third in the league, and he finished second in WHIP despite actually leading the league in hits allowed.  Overall, it was a great season for the future Hall of Famer, whose peak unfortunately occurred right before the Cy Young Award was instituted.

1950 Cy Young Awards

1950 American League - Bob Lemon, Cleveland Indians

23-11, 3.84 ERA, 170 K

This one was a total toss-up, so I deferred to the judgement of the 1950 MVP voters and gave it to Bob Lemon.  He finished 5th in MVP voting, ahead of any other pitcher, and I'm sure most of it has to do with him leading the league in wins and strikeouts.  However, he did have a relatively poor ERA (10th in the league) and his ERA+ was a decent if unimpressive 112.  However, he also had a few things going for him, particularly the fact that he led the league in innings pitched (288.0).  As I've said before, I think decent pitchers who pitched a lot of innings were more valuable to their teams, and hence better pitchers, than someone who pitched better but in fewer games.  And, given that there was no clear-cut winner who had a low ERA, I figured future Hall of Famer Bob Lemon was as good a good choice as any.


1950 National League - Jim Konstanty, Philadelphia Phillies

16-7, 2.66 ERA, 56 K

Konstanty was the NL MVP in 1950, although I'm not entirely sure he deserved it over Stan Musial.  Still, he was probably the best pitcher in the league at least, although I picked him more because there was no real competition than because I thought he had an amazing season.  The stat line above seems decent but not amazing, until you consider that he made exactly zero starts.  I don't usually like relief pitchers to win the Cy Young Award, because I feel like usually a starter with 250 innings pitched is more valuable than a closer with 75 innings pitched, but back in 1950 things were a little different for closers.  Konstanty pitched in a league-leading 74 games, and with 152.0 innings pitched, he was just 2 innings away from qualifying for the ERA title, which he would've won with those extra innings.  He also led the league in saves (a stat that hadn't been invented yet) with 22, compared to the second place finisher who had 8.  All in all, he had a decent season, and just like in the AL there was no clear-cut winner, so I decided to give the benefit of the doubt to the MVP voters of the day.

1917 Cy Young Awards

1917 American League - Eddie Cicotte, Chicago White Sox

28-12, 1.53 ERA, 150 K

Cicotte very nearly won the Triple Crown in 1917 (he finished first in wins and ERA but second in strikeouts), led the White Sox to their last World Series win until 2005, and is generally credited with inventing the knuckleball, but he will always be best known as one of the eight conspirators banned from baseball for throwing the 1919 World Series.  However, that is still two years in the future, and in 1917 he was definitely the best pitcher in the American League.  Along with wins and ERA, he also led the league in ERA+ (174), WHIP (0.912), WAR (10), and innings pitched (346.2).  His ERA was .21 runs lower than anyone else, and he won 4 more games than Babe Ruth, ho had the second most.  At 33 years old, he was at an age when most pitchers started to decline, but, like most knuckleball pitchers, he was just hitting his prime.  We'll never know how his career might have turned out if he hadn't been banned after the 1920 season, but it's not a stretch to say he could've ended up in the Hall of Fame; after Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, he probably has the best Hall of Fame credentials of any banned players.

1917 National League - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Philadelphia Phillies

30-13, 1.83 ERA, 200 K

It's another easy win for Alexander, who was the best pitcher in the league for the third year in a row and nearly won the Triple Crown for the third year in a row, finishing second in ERA to Fred Anderson, who barely pitched enough innings to qualify for the title.  Once again, he led the league in shutouts, although he "only" had 8 - half as many as the previous year.  He was also the leader in complete games (34) and innings pitched (388).  This year was the third in a row (at least) that he led in wins, strikeouts, shutouts, complete games, and innings pitched, making it one of the best three year runs that any pitcher has ever had.

1916 Cy Young Awards

1916 American League - Babe Ruth, Boston Red Sox

 23-12, 1.75 ERA, 170 K

People tend to forget that before Babe Ruth was a great hitter, he was a great pitcher.  His pitching career was essentially over once he was sold to New York, but in the meantime he helped Boston win the World Series in 1915, 1916, and 1918.  His 1916 season was definitely his best in terms of pitching though; he led the league in ERA, hits per 9 innings (6.396), shutouts (9), and ERA+ (158).  He was also second in WAR (7.4 to Walter Johnson's 7.8), and third in wins and strikeouts.  It could be argued that Johnson was as good as Ruth, but Ruth's lower ERA gives him the advantage.  It has been argued that, had he not been moved to the outfield, Ruth might have ended up in the Hall of Fame as a pitcher.  We'll never know for sure; he could've just as easily blown his arm out in 1920 and been yet another "no-name pitcher" who happened to have one good season.

1916 National League - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Philadelphia Phillies

33-12, 1.55 ERA, 167 K

For the second year in a row, not only was Grover Cleveland Alexander the best pitcher in the NL; he was a Triple Crown winner for the second year in a row.  However, perhaps most impressive of all was his 16 shutouts.  Not only did he tie a MLB record that will likely never be broken; he pitched ten more shutouts than anyone else in the NL in 1916.  By way of comparison, Roy Halladay is the active MLB leader in career shutouts, with 20.  It took Halladay 291 starts to pitch 16 shutouts; in 1916, it took Alexander 45 starts to do so, meaning he did not give up a single run in 35% of his starts.  With that many shutouts, it's amazing that his ERA was even as high as 1.55.  The only other pitcher to throw 16 shutouts in a season was George Bradley, way back when the NL was first founded in 1876.  In the modern era, the next highest single-season total is 13, set by Jack Coombs in 1910 and Bob Gibson in 1968, and the most in the past 20 years is Cliff Lee, with 6 last year.

1915 Cy Young Awards

1915 American League - Walter Johnson, Washington Senators

 27-13, 1.55 ERA, 203 K

This season was simply more of the same for Walter Johnson, who at the age of 27 has already been the best pitcher in the AL four times by now.  Had it not been for Smoky Joe Wood beating him in ERA by 0.06 runs, it would've also been Johnson's second Triple Crown season.  As it was, he led the league in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched (336.2), shutouts (7), WHIP (0.933), and WAR (9.5).  He also had the highest ERA+, even higher than Wood's, at 191.  This was the third consecutive year that Johnson led the league in wins, and the fifth year (and fourth in a row) that he led in strikeouts.  Just another typical year for Walter Johnson.

1915 National League - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Philadelphia Phillies

31-10, 1.22 ERA, 241

Grover Cleveland Alexander might be one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, but he is also the answer to an odd trivia question: "Who is the only baseball player named after one US president and portrayed by another in a movie?" with the presidents in question being Grover Cleveland and Ronald Reagan.  In any case though, by 1915 he had consistently been among the best pitchers in the league, but 1915 was his first great season.  Along with winning every Triple Crown category by a substantial margin, he led in shutouts (12), innings (376.1), ERA+ (225; 14th all-time), WHIP (0.842), winning percentage (.756), complete games (36), and WAR (9.8).  Although he would go on to have more great seasons, 1915 was definitely the best of his career, and one of the greatest of all time.

1915 Federal League - Eddie Plank, St. Louis Terriers

21-11, 2.08 ERA, 153 K

Unlike in the AL and NL, there was no clear-cut best pitcher in the Federal League in 1915, its second and final year of operation.  However, Hall of Famer Eddie Plank was overall the best, finishing second in ERA (first in ERA+ with 153), fifth in wins, fourth in strikeouts, and first in WHIP (0.991).  Dave Davenport was a worthy candidate as well, and I considered choosing him, but he was lower than Plank in most categories, although he led the league with 392.2 innings pitched, over 100 more than Plank.  However, his relatively mediocre 22-18 record, along with an ERA that was higer by 0.12 runs, suggested that Plank was the better pitcher.  For Plank, it would be his third to last season in the majors, and the only time that he would win a Retroactive Cy Young Award.  Interestingly, although he won over 300 games and is in the Hall of Fame, he never led any league in any of the Triple Crown categories.  Still, he was remarkably consistent over 17 years, averaging 19 wins a year, with an ERA of 2.35 and an ERA+ of 122.

The Rime of the Ancient (former) Mariner

So far this year, Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer has made a very good case for winning the Phil Niekro Award for Best Season by a Starting Pitcher at Age 47 or Older, an award that I just made up on the spot but one that very few people would be eligible for. In fact, prior to this year, Phil Niekro was the only one who even qualified for it. The Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher is still the oldest regular starting pitcher in MLB history, when he started 26 games in 1987 for the Indians, Blue Jays, and Braves, compiling a 7-13 record with a 6.30 ERA at age 48. The year before, when he was 47, he was 11-11, 4.32 for the Indians. Other than him, only Jack Quinn (4), Nick Altrock, and Satchel Paige (1 each) have started any MLB games at age 47 or older.

Until this year, of course. So far Moyer, formerly of the Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles, Red Sox, and Mariners, has gone 9-6 with a 4.30 ERA in 15 starts, but he's actually pitched even better than his record suggests. On June 11, the Red Sox lit him up for 9 runs in one inning. Subtract that from his record and he has a 3.50 ERA in his other 14 starts. On May 7, he became the oldest pitcher to pitch a shutout, giving up just two hits to the Braves and walking none. On June 5, he pitched a complete game win against the Padres, needing only 98 pitches to do so. Most recently, yesterday, he won 11-2 against the Blue Jays, defeating Brett Cecil, who was born two weeks after Moyer made his Major League Debut.

So far, Moyer has 267 wins, 103 of which he won in his 40s. He is 36th all time in wins, ahead of many Hall of Famers, and has recently broken Robin Roberts' record for most home runs allowed by a pitcher (506 as of yesterday). He is the 6th oldest pitcher in MLB history (and 4th oldest among players who pitched regularly), and the 14th oldest player overall. However, despite his longevity records, he's never had any particularly spectacular individual seasons; he only won 20 or more games twice, finished in the top ten for the Cy Young Award three times, and was an All-Star just once, in 2003 at age 40. Incidentally, his first game ever was a win for the Cubs, against his current team, the Phillies, on June 16, 1986. The losing pitcher in that game? Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, who started playing in the majors in 1965.