Justin Verlander AL MVP 2011: Ranking Every Pitcher To Sweep Cy Young and MVP

After Justin Verlander won the AL Cy Young award—one that he rightly deserved—many baseball fans, myself included, did not believe that he should or would win the AL MVP award as well.

How can you give a pitcher an award that traditionally goes to a hitter? Especially after they have already been honored with the Cy Young and there are a number of everyday players who are legitimate candidates?

Since the Cy Young award was first awarded in 1956—a span of 55 years—a pitcher to be selected as the Cy Young winner has also won the MVP award in the same season nine times.

Er, make that 10, as Justin Verlander is the latest to receive both honors.

But which pitcher put together the greatest season?

Was it Verlander in 2011?

Sandy Koufax in 1963?

Maybe it was a relief pitcher like Dennis Eckersley in 1992 who takes the cake?

After the jump, let's find out which double-award-winner wears the crown.

10. Rollie Fingers, Milwaukee Brewers, 1981

Stats: 6-3, 1.04 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 78 IP, 55 H, 28 SV, 13 BB, 66 K

Rollie Fingers, the man with arguably the greatest mustache in the history of sports, was in his first year with the Milwaukee Brewers when he took home both the Cy Young and AL MVP awards.

His 28 saves would lead the league and he allowed only nine earned runs—six of which came before June 1—in 78 innings pitched.

In what would be the closest MVP race among pitchers to win both awards, Fingers would narrowly beat out a young left fielder from Oakland, Rickey Henderson, for MVP honors, beating out the future Hall of Famer by nine points, 318 to 309.

For the AL Cy Young, Fingers would also beat out a member of the A's, starter Steve McCarthy, though the voting would not be as close. Fingers received 126 points while McCarthy was 42 behind with 84.

9. Don Newcombe, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1956

1956 Stats: 27-7, 3.06 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 268 IP, 219 H, 18 CG, 5 SHO, 46 BB, 139 K

The winner of baseball's first Cy Young award, 30-year-old Don Newcombe was the ace of a talented Brooklyn Dodgers pitching staff that also included a 20-year-old by the name of Sandy Koufax and Sal Maglie, who finished second to Newcombe in both the MVP and Cy Young voting.

Newcombe received 62 percent of the Cy Young votes and 66 percent of the NL MVP votes. Only one batter finished in the top four of the NL MVP voting—a 22-year-old outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves named Hank Aaron finished third, ahead of his teammate Warren Spahn.

He likely never would have been considered for either award had the season come to a close at the end of June—his performance in the second half of the season was superb where he went 16-2 with a 2.64 ERA and 0.91 WHIP over 150 innings.

Unlike today, in 1956 there was only one Cy Young award winner in all of baseball, so Newcombe was up against every other pitcher in baseball at the time, a list that included players such as Spahn, Whitey Ford, Lew Burdette, Robin Roberts and Early Wynn.

Newcombe could be found amongst the top 10 in nearly every pitching category in 1956 except strikeouts, and his 27 wins were six more than Detroit's Frank Lary, whose 21 wins were a distant second.

Until Justin Verlander took home both the Cy Young and MVP this year, Newcombe was the only player in baseball history to have won the Rookie of the Year, MVP and Cy Young awards in his career.

8. Roger Clemens, Boston Red Sox, 1986

Stats: 24-4, 2.48 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 254 IP, 179 H, 10 CG, 1 SHO, 67 BB, 238 K

In his third season with the Boston Red Sox, 23-year-old Roger Clemens had his breakout year in 1986, leading the league in wins and the Red Sox to the 1986 World Series.

Clemens was the unanimous choice for the AL Cy Young award, easily beating runner-up Teddy Higuera of the Milwaukee Brewers by over 100 points in the voting.

The MVP race was tighter as Clemens won over New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly by 81 points.

Personally, as a 10-year-old Yankees fan who idolized Mattingly, this was an unforgivable atrocity committed by the voters and unquestionably began my belief that pitchers should not win the MVP award.

7. Willie Hernandez, Detroit Tigers, 1984

Stats: 9-3, 1.92 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 140.1 IP, 96 H, 32 SV, 36 BB, 112 K

A sold relief pitcher and spot-starter over his career with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, nobody expected that 29-year-old Willie Hernandez would transform into the best pitcher in the game upon his trade to the Detroit Tigers prior to the 1984 season.

But that is exactly what Hernandez did, converting 32-of-33 save opportunities while leading the league in games pitched and games finished.

While his statistics on the surface are impressive by themselves, taking this into consideration makes them even more impressive: Of his 32 saves, 17 saw him pitch two innings or more. If we look deeper, Hernandez had five three-inning saves and one four-inning save—can you imagine one of today's closers doing the same?

He beat out fellow closer Dan Quisenberry of the Kansas City Royals for the AL Cy Young award and Minnesota Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek for the AL MVP.

6. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers, 2011

Stats: 24-5, 2.40 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 251 IP, 174 H, 4 CG, 2 SHO, 57 BB, 250 K

There is not much I can say about Justin Verlander that we do not already know—he was simply the best pitcher in baseball this past season.

After losing 10-1 to the Seattle Mariners on April 28, Verlander turned it on, asserting his dominance over the rest of the league.

He would not lose again until July 5, a span of 12 starts during which he was the winning pitcher nine times.

After another loss on July 15, Verlander would not take another loss, winning 12 consecutive starts.

5. Dennis Eckersley, Oakland Athletics, 1992

Stats: 7-1, 1.91 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 80 IP, 62 H, 51 SV, 11 BB, 93 K

Dennis Eckersley would rack up 36 consecutive saves to start the season, not blowing his first one until August 8 against the Kansas City Royals, a game the Oakland A's still won.

Of his 11 walks on the year, six were intentional—Eck had incredible control of his pitches.

He converted 51-of-54 save opportunities and won both the AL MVP and AL Cy Young awards with relative ease, beating runners-up Kirby Puckett and Jack McDowell, respectively, by a wide margin.

4. Denny McLain, Detroit Tigers, 1968

Stats: 31-6, 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 336 IP, 241 H, 28 CG, 6 SHO, 63 BB, 280 K

If his statistics for the season are not impressive enough, consider this: Denny McLain went the distance in 68 percent of his starts in 1968.

A unanimous choice for both AL MVP and AL Cy Young, McLain would lead the league in wins and innings pitched. Bill Freehan, McClain's battery-mate with the Detroit Tigers, would finish second in the MVP voting while nobody else received a vote in the AL Cy Young race.

Interestingly enough, McLain's 1.96 ERA and 0.95 WHIP was bested by fellow starting pitchers Luis Tiant (1.60/0.87) and Dave McNally (1.95/0.85). Tiant also had more shutouts (nine) then McLain did.

Not to take anything away from McLain but the argument could be made that Luis Tiant should have been the winner of both awards.

3. Vida Blue, Oakland Athletics, 1971

Stats: 24-8, 1.82 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 312 IP, 209 H, 24 CG, 8 SHO, 88 BB, 301 K

Entering his first full season as a starting pitcher, 21-year-old Vida Blue would put together one of the most impressive seasons a left-handed pitcher has ever had.

He would lead the league in complete games, shutouts and ERA en route to becoming the youngest recipient of the Cy Young award, a mark that would stand 14 years until a 20-year-old flamethrower by the name of Dwight Gooden would take home the award in 1985.

Blue would receive 80 percent of the vote for MVP, beating out teammate Sal Bando for the honor.

Voting for the AL Cy Young award was much closer, with Blue's 82 percent just enough to fend off Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers who would finish with 72 percent.

2. Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1963

Stats: 25-5, 1.88 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 311 IP, 214 H, 20 CG, 11 SHO, 58 BB, 306 K

Coming off a 1962 season that saw him earn his first All-Star berth and leading the league in both ERA and WHIP, 27-year-old Sandy Koufax was a different pitcher in 1963, winning the "Triple Crown" of pitching by leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

Along the way, Koufax no-hit the San Francisco Giants on May 11, losing his perfect-game bid in the top of the eighth inning and striking out 10 or more batters in 11 starts.

Koufax would be the first unanimous choice for the Cy Young award—nobody else received a vote—and he received 82 percent of the vote for NL MVP, beating out St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Dick Groat, who hit .319 and led the league with 43 doubles.

1. Bob Gibson, St. Louis Cardinals, 1968

Stats: 22-9, 1.12 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 304.2 IP, 198 H, 28 CG, 13 SHO, 62 BB, 268 K

Like his counterpart in the American League, Denny McLain, Bob Gibson was truly a unanimous selection for the NL Cy Young award—nobody else received a vote.

The voting for the NL MVP award was closer than one might expect, with Gibson's 242 points beating out Pete Rose who received 205 points in the voting.

His 1.12 ERA is third lowest for all starting pitchers since the "dead ball era" and he completed 28 of the 34 games that he started.

In other words, Bob Gibson finished 82 percent of the games he started—82 percent.

Gibson's dominance was the result of only two pitches—a fastball and slider.

While others have had long scoreless streaks, what Gibson accomplished in 1968 is a feat that likely will never be broken.

From June 6 through July 30 Gibson would make 11 starts, completing each game. He allowed three runs over those 99 innings.

Think about that for a second.

Three runs—99 innings. That works out to a 0.27 ERA.

There may have been pitchers who had better careers, but nobody had a more dominating season than Bob Gibson in 1968.