NL Cy Young Award: Roy Halladay and the 15 Easiest Votes of the Last 25 Years
Roy Halladay is the National League's Cy Young Award winner for the 2010 season. That much is certain, and why wouldn't he be? He led the league in wins, complete games, innings pitched, shutouts, and finished in the top three in every other statistic of importance.
As for the others that could be considered, Johnson doesn't have the wins, Jimenez's ERA is much higher than the other three, and Wainwright falls just slightly behind Halladay in nearly everything, and looks to be the second place finisher. Besides, none of those three teams made the playoffs, which does factor into Cy voting; whether it should or not is a discussion for another time.
This is certainly not the first time that a pitcher had shown to be a clear choice for the Cy Young Award. In fact, it seems to happen fairly frequently. Over the last 25 years, there are 15 instances of very easy selections for the Cy Young Award.
Multiple winners are limited to two appearances on this slide for more variation, so Clemens or Maddux isn't going to show up 4+ times.
1985: Dwight Gooden
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1985 saw the makings of a star, one that most probably named as a future Hall of Famer, in Dwight Gooden. He captured the pitching triple crown with a 244 record, a 1.53 ERA, and 268 strikeouts, winning the award unanimously.
While John Tudor had a career year and would have been in the thick of Cy discussions most years, he was an afterthought, as the true winner was obvious. It's a shame that Gooden derailed his career, as he clearly showed he had the tools that year.
1986: Roger Clemens
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A year after a young gun came onto the scene and dominated the National League, it happened in the American League. The 23-year old Clemens dominated in 1986 with a 24-4 record, a 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts, winning both the Cy Young and MVP awards.
His only real competition that year was Teddy Higuera, a 20-game winner who put up good numbers as well, but those numbers were dwarfed by Clemens. Not all of his Cy Young wins were easy choices, but this one certainly was.
1988: Frank Viola
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A case could be made for the NL winner, Orel Hershiser, with how well he played, but the clearer winner looks to be Viola. He led the league in both wins and ERA, finishing the year with a 24-7 record and a 2.64 ERA. His 193 strikeouts were tops except for Roger Clemens, who had another good year but only finished sixth in the voting.
The only one that came close to Viola was Mark Gubicza, who had similar strikeout and ERA totals, but didn't have as good of a win-loss record.
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1989: Bret Saberhagen
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The 1988 NL Cy Young voting was a train wreck, with multiple candidates being deserving for various reasons. The AL Cy Young, however, was easy. He led the league with a 23-6 record and a 2.16 ERA. His 193 strikeouts were best among those who received votes except for Nolan Ryan's 301.
Saberhagen's 12 complete games and 4 shutouts can't be looked past either.
1994: Greg Maddux
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Many of Greg Maddux's Cy Young wins were easy choices. His win in 1994 was one of the most obvious. His 1.56 ERA was miles better than anyone else, and his 16-6 record and 156 strikeouts, as well as 10 complete games, made him the best pitcher in either league that year.
1995: Greg Maddux
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As good as his 1994 season was, 1995 was even better for Greg Maddux. A 19-2 record in a strike-shortened season, along with a 1.63 ERA, makes for a very easy Cy selection. Who else were the voters going to pick, Hideo Nomo and his 2.36 ERA?
Not to mention that Maddux's 8.8 WAR was nearly double the rest of the NL pitchers.
1995: Randy Johnson
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Something about 1995 just worked for awards. Well, maybe not the AL MVP, but the Cy votes fell into place without a problem. Johnson's 18-2 record, 2.48 ERA, and 294 strikeouts were far and away better than anyone else in the league. Yes, Jose Mesa had an amazing relief season that year, not blowing a save for the Indians, but Johnson's season was too good to ignore.
1998: Roger Clemens
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While Trevor Hoffman and Tom Glavine had a tight Cy race in the NL, the winner in the AL was obvious, as Roger Clemens won yet another of his seven Cy Young Awards. Clemens of the Blue Jays was in the tight race against Pedro Martinez and his original stomping grounds, the Red Sox.
Clemens won out on the triple crown stats, 20-6 to 19-7, 2.65 to 2.89, and 271 to 251, to easily take home the Cy. No one else was close to the two of them that year.
1999: Pedro Martinez
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Pedro Martinez could let 98 slide, because the next two years could very well have been the greatest peak by a major league pitcher. Ever. At the height of the steroid era, where you were lucky to keep an ERA under 4, Pedro finished the season winning the pitching triple crown; a 23-4 record, a 2.07 ERA, and 313 strikeouts.
2000: Pedro Martinez
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Somehow, Pedro was able to top himself in 2000, having another legendary season. His record fell to 18-6 and his strikeouts fell to 284, but he ERA also fell to 1.74.
A 1.74 in the middle of the steroid ERA. Roger Clemens finished second with an ERA of 3.70. Not to mention a WAR of over 10. Finding a leader and a second place finisher with that much of a gap in anything is nigh impossible to find. Pitchers just don't have seasons like that. Imagine what his ERA would have been if he had pitched this year rather than at the heart of the steroid era.
2002: Randy Johnson
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The Arizona Diamondbacks in the early 2000s had one of the best pitching duos in recent memory: Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. In 2002, the two were easily the best in the league. That being said, there was no question as to which one was superior. Schilling had a dominant season that year, going 23-7 with a 3.23 ERA and 316 strikeouts.
Not to be outdone, Johnson finished the year with a 24-5 record, a 2.32 ERA, and 334 strikeouts. That also wasn't the last time Schilling finished second to a dominant pitcher. There was also...
2004: Johan Santana
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Both of Santana's Cy Young wins were no-brainers, though this one was certainly closer, with Curt Schilling keeping things close most of the year. Santana won out though, with a 20-6 record, a 2.61 ERA, and 265 strikeouts. Schilling hit the 20-win mark, but it wasn't close to enough as Santana was easily the best pitcher that year.
2006: Johan Santana
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When your closest competition has 76 strikeouts on the year, it's probably pretty easy to know who to give the Cy to. In 2006, Santana went 19-6/2.77/245, alongside only 47 walks, to easily win over Chien-Ming Wang and the Yankees.
2007: Jake Peavy
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The 2007 AL Cy race was an exciting one, pitting CC Sabathia against Josh Beckett. The NL race, however, was a very easy decision. Peavy became the latest person to win the pitching triple crown that year, with a statline of 19-6/2.54/240. Others, such as Brandon Webb and Brad Penny, played well, but they certainly were not on Peavy's level.
2008: Cliff Lee
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It seemed like only yesterday that Cliff Lee came out of nowhere to have an amazing season. After spending part of 2007 in the minors, Lee finished 08 with a statline of 22-3/2.54/170, and while Roy Halladay made a late charge to top 20 wins and 200 strikeouts, it wasn't enough for the sudden ace who is now looking to make the big payday of this year's free agent class.
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