Best Cy Young Year Ever?

On Thursday, November 17th, 2011, Clayton Kershaw was officially named the 2011 NL Cy Young Award winner.  This was not much of a surprise to most MLB fans.  Kershaw was incredible this year from the very first start to the very end.  Most had him pegged for the award, with either Halladay or Lee as second and third.

Most people know that he was good, but do most people know how good he was?  Here are the statistics Clayton lead the NL in this season: 21 wins, 2.28 ERA, 248 K, 0.977 WHIP and 6.7 H/9.  If you're a stathead like me, you quickly realize this means that Clayton won the NL Pitching Triple Crown, which is comprised of Wins, ERA and Ks.  Throw in WHIP and the H/9 and you have one great season.

We shouldn't forget about Justin Verlander either.  He also won the AL Pitching Triple Crown.  He lead the league at W(24), ERA(2.40), K(250), WHIP(0.920) and H/9(6.2).  So we can see that his statistics were even slightly better than Kershaw's.  Once I realized that both pitchers had won their respective Triple Crowns, it really got me wonder when was the last time this occurred?

After going over the list of Triple Crown winners, I emerged with the result that this has not occurred by a pitcher in both leagues in the same season since 1924(Dazzy Vance in the NL, Walter Johnson in the AL).  It has only been achieved previously three times(1924, 1918, 1905).  This is a very rare occurrence.  The Cy Young Award was first given out in 1956, and did not change to a one-in-each-league award until 1967.  This means that this has never been achieved in the Cy Young Award era.

That fact leads to the question which must be asked: Was this the best year ever for Cy Youngs?  It has to be taken as a serious question.  I believe the answer is, Yes.  There have been better seasons by individual pitchers in baseball history.  Of course those years Pedro had, Maddux in the mid-90s, Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson; those were all some of the best pitching statistics ever posted in a single year.  But as a total of both leagues top pitchers' combined work, this was the best complete year.

Only three pitchers have won their league Triple Crown since 2000: Jake Peavy(2007), Johan Santana(2006), and Randy Johnson(2002).  No American League pitcher won the Triple Crown between 1945 to 1997.  This is not something that happens a lot.

I like to look at other statistics that fall outside the Triple Crown as well, such as WHIP and H/9.  It is always amazing when a starting pitcher pitches a complete season and posts a WHIP under 1.00.  Over 33-35 starts, that is such an amazing testament to their ability to limit base runners to a microscopic level.  I also like H/9 as a telling stat.  I have poured over thousands of stat sheets in my life, and come to the conclusion that if you can post a H/9 around 7.0, you are great.  So to post a H/9 of sub-7.0, you were truly unhittable.  Verlander was literally unhittable on May 7th against Toronto.

Were these the best pitching stats I have ever seen in a single season?  No; but it was the best combined Cy Young numbers I have ever seen.  That should really get more of a shout out in the media.  I mean if someone ever won the batting Triple Crown, it would be front page sports news and dominate sports shows.  Pitchers deserve a little more respect.

A Link To Triple Crown Winners List:  http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/pitrip.shtml