Cy Young Award

The Cy Young Award

The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American and National leagues. The award was first introduced in by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in . The award was originally given to the single best pitcher in the major leagues, but in , after the retirement of Frick, the award was given to one pitcher in each league.^[1]^[2]

Each league's award is voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, with two representatives from each team, which means 28 ballots are cast for the American League winner, and 32 ballots are cast for the National League.^[1] Each voter places a vote for first, second, and third place among the pitchers of each league. The formula used to calculate the final scores is a weighted sum of the votes. The pitcher with the highest score in each league wins the award.^[1] If two pitchers receive the same number of votes, the award is shared.^[3] The current formula started in the season. Before that, writers only voted for the best pitcher and used a formula of one point per vote.^[1]

History
Winners

Key
Major Leagues combined (1956–1966)
National League (1967–present)
American League (1967–present)
Multiple winners

History

Cy Young, for whom the award is named

The Cy Young Award was first introduced in by Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in .^[1] The award would be given to pitchers only. Originally given to the single best pitchers in the major leagues, the award changed its format over time. From to , the award was given to one pitcher in Major League Baseball. After Frick retired in 1967, William Eckert became the new Commissioner of Baseball. Due to fan requests, Eckert announced that the award would be given out both in the American and National Leagues.^[1] From to , a pitcher was not allowed to win the award on more than one occasion; that rule was lifted in 1959. After a tie in the voting, the process was changed, in which each writer was to vote for three different pitchers: the first-place vote received five points, the second-place vote received three points, and the third-place vote received one point, a system still in use.^[1]

The first recipient of the award was Don Newcombe, and the most recent winners were Tim Lincecum, from the National League, and Cliff Lee, from the American League.^[4]^[1] In , Warren Spahn became the first left-handed pitcher to win the award. In , Mike Marshall won the award, becoming the first relief pitcher to win the award.^[1] In , Gaylord Perry became the oldest pitcher to receive the award, only to have the record broken in by Roger Clemens.^[1]

Winners

Key

Year	Each year is linked to an article about that year in baseball
ERA	Earned run average

Major Leagues combined (1956–1966)

Roger Clemens, seven-time winner

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA
	Don Newcombe	Brooklyn Dodgers (NL)	27?7	0	3.06
	Warren Spahn	Milwaukee Braves (NL)	21?11	3	2.69
	Bob Turley	New York Yankees (AL)	21?7	1	2.97
	Early Wynn	Chicago White Sox (AL)	22?10	0	3.17
	Vern Law	Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)	20?9	0	3.08
	Whitey Ford	New York Yankees (AL)	25?4	0	3.21
	Don Drysdale	Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)	25?9	1	2.84
	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)	25?5	0	1.88
	Dean Chance	Los Angeles Angels (AL)	20?9	4	1.65
	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)	26?8	2	2.04
	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)	27?9	0	1.73

National League (1967–present)

Greg Maddux, four-time winner

John Smoltz, one-time winner

Pedro Mart�nez, three-time winner

Tim Lincecum, one-time winner

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA
	Mike McCormick	San Francisco Giants	22?10	0	2.85
	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals	22?9	0	1.12
	Tom Seaver	New York Mets	25?7	0	2.21
	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals	23?7	0	3.12
	Ferguson Jenkins	Chicago Cubs	24?13	0	2.77
	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	27?10	0	1.98
	Tom Seaver	New York Mets	19?10	0	2.08
	Mike Marshall	Los Angeles Dodgers	15?12	21	2.42
	Tom Seaver	New York Mets	22?9	0	2.38
	Randy Jones	San Diego Padres	22?14	0	2.74
	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	23?10	0	2.64
	Gaylord Perry	San Diego Padres	21?6	0	2.73
	Bruce Sutter	Chicago Cubs	6?6	37	2.22
	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	24?9	0	2.34
	Fernando Valenzuela	Los Angeles Dodgers	13?7	0	2.48
	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	23?11	0	3.11
	John Denny	Philadelphia Phillies	19?6	0	2.37
	Rick Sutcliffe	Chicago Cubs	16?1	0	2.69
	Dwight Gooden	New York Mets	24?4	0	1.53
	Mike Scott	Houston Astros	18?10	0	2.22
	Steve Bedrosian	Philadelphia Phillies	5?3	40	2.83
	Orel Hershiser	Los Angeles Dodgers	23?8	1	2.26
	Mark Davis	San Diego Padres	4?3	44	1.85
	Doug Drabek	Pittsburgh Pirates	22?6	0	2.76
	Tom Glavine	Atlanta Braves	20?11	0	2.55
	Greg Maddux	Chicago Cubs	20?11	0	2.18
	Greg Maddux	Atlanta Braves	20?10	0	2.36
	Greg Maddux	Atlanta Braves	16?6	0	1.56
	Greg Maddux	Atlanta Braves	19?2	0	1.63
	John Smoltz	Atlanta Braves	24?8	0	2.94
	Pedro Mart�nez	Montreal Expos	17?8	0	1.90
	Tom Glavine	Atlanta Braves	20?6	0	2.47
	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	17?9	0	2.49
	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	19?7	0	2.64
	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	21?6	0	2.49
	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	24?5	0	2.32
	Eric Gagn�	Los Angeles Dodgers	2?3	55	1.20
	Roger Clemens	Houston Astros	18?4	0	2.98
	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	21?5	0	2.83
	Brandon Webb	Arizona Diamondbacks	16-8	0	3.10
	Jake Peavy	San Diego Padres	19?6	0	2.54
	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18?5	0	2.62

American League (1967–present)

Jack McDowell, one-time winner

Barry Zito, one-time winner

Johan Santana, two-time winner

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA
	Jim Lonborg	Boston Red Sox	22?9	0	3.16
	Denny McLain	Detroit Tigers	31?6	0	1.96
	Mike Cuellar Denny McLain	Baltimore Orioles Detroit Tigers	23?11 24?9	0 0	2.38 2.80
	Jim Perry	Minnesota Twins	24?12	0	3.04
	Vida Blue	Oakland Athletics	24?8	0	1.82
	Gaylord Perry	Cleveland Indians	24?16	1	1.92
	Jim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	22?9	1	2.40
	Catfish Hunter	Oakland Athletics	25?12	0	2.49
	Jim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	23?11	1	2.09
	Jim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	22?13	0	2.51
	Sparky Lyle	New York Yankees	13?5	26	2.17
	Ron Guidry	New York Yankees	25?3	0	1.74
	Mike Flanagan	Baltimore Orioles	23?9	0	3.08
	Steve Stone	Baltimore Orioles	25?7	0	3.23
	Rollie Fingers	Milwaukee Brewers	6?3	28	1.04
	Pete Vuckovich	Milwaukee Brewers	18?6	0	3.34
	LaMarr Hoyt	Chicago White Sox	24?10	0	3.66
	Willie Hern�ndez	Detroit Tigers	9?3	32	1.92
	Bret Saberhagen	Kansas City Royals	20?6	0	2.87
	Roger Clemens	Boston Red Sox	24?4	0	2.48
	Roger Clemens	Boston Red Sox	20?9	0	2.97
	Frank Viola	Minnesota Twins	24?7	0	2.64
	Bret Saberhagen	Kansas City Royals	23?6	0	2.16
	Bob Welch	Oakland Athletics	27?6	0	2.95
	Roger Clemens	Boston Red Sox	18?10	0	2.62
	Dennis Eckersley	Oakland Athletics	7?1	51	1.91
	Jack McDowell	Chicago White Sox	22?10	0	3.37
	David Cone	Kansas City Royals	16?5	0	2.94
	Randy Johnson	Seattle Mariners	18?2	0	2.48
	Pat Hentgen	Toronto Blue Jays	20?10	0	3.22
	Roger Clemens	Toronto Blue Jays	21?7	0	2.05
	Roger Clemens	Toronto Blue Jays	20?6	0	2.65
	Pedro Mart�nez	Boston Red Sox	23?4	0	2.07
	Pedro Mart�nez	Boston Red Sox	18?6	0	1.74
	Roger Clemens	New York Yankees	20?3	0	3.51
	Barry Zito	Oakland Athletics	23?5	0	2.75
	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	22?7	0	3.25
	Johan Santana	Minnesota Twins	20?6	0	2.61
	Bartolo Col�n	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	21?8	0	3.48
	Johan Santana	Minnesota Twins	19?6	0	2.77
	CC Sabathia	Cleveland Indians	19-7	0	3.21
	Cliff Lee	Cleveland Indians	22-3	0	2.54

Multiple winners

Randy Johnson, five-time winner

There have been 14 pitchers who have won the award multiple times. Roger Clemens currently holds the record for the most awards won with 7. Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson share the record for the most consecutive awards, as they won the award in 1992-1995 and 1999-2002 respectively. Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Mart�nez and Gaylord Perry are the only pitchers to have won the award in both the American League and National League.