Last night, history was made in two ways. When the announcement of the Cy Young awards was made, I suspect that many fans, diehard or casual, old-school or new-school, were blown out of the water. In the short time that pitching has dominated the league, no Cy Young race has been this close in either league. I am sure that the winners of these awards pitted many fans against each other in heated arguments over the "rightful" winners.
In the American League, it appears that this year the voters were almost absolutely and completely split. Although three years ago Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum won the hardware with 16 and 15 wins, respectively, this years vote, the second-closest vote in the modern era, came down to old school statistics. I do not think it is right here to consider whether the voters swung in support of new-school or old school statistics because the race came down to one first-place vote. While I believe that Justin Verlander would have been robbed in any other recent year, David Price has quietly been building up to this season with consistent improvement. After breaking in as a bullpen power arm in 2008 and making his first big league taste test challenging, Price has been an ace for a Tampa Bay Rays team noted for incredibly deep pitching. While Verlander was an obvious choice after posting numbers comparable to his dual MVP-Cy Young season last year and continuously receiving national attention for doing so, Price has been quitely going about his business. He pitches in one of the worst pitchers parks, Tropicana Field, and in the most competitive division in baseball, the AL East.
The undisputed leader for a Rays team that never receives any attention until the division race comes down to the wire, Price tied for the highest win total, posted the lowest ERA, and was sixth in strikeouts in the American League. I completely concede the argument that Justin Verlander represents more of the idea of an ace, a pitcher that puts the team on his back, but the Cy Young is for the best pitcher, not the most valuable. The argument that Verlander had a higher WAR is beside the point. Price lead the American League in the standards by which we evaluate pitchers, and as a result, he clawed his way to victory.
Continuing to buck the trend of the Cy Young going to a pitcher whose team made the playoffs, R.A Dickey and his knuckle ball won the National League award. Gaining national attention for his rags-to-riches baseball story, Dickey pulled together a completely astounding season with a feel-good finish. A career minor-leaguer who had never won more than 11 Major League games, Dickey won his award in much more of a landslide victory while pitching through a torn abdominal muscle. Every time this man threw a pitch, he was in pain, yet he somehow managed to pace the National League in wins and quality starts while coming in second to Clayton Kershaw in ERA. Consider that the New York Mets won only 74 games; R.A Dickey won 20. He won more than a quarter of his team’s games while throwing primarily a pitch many consider a circus trick. The argument that a knuckleballer should not win the Cy Young is absurd. In baseball, a sport where differences in style in every aspect of the game are lauded and even imitated, we should celebrate R.A Dickey’s perseverance and performance this year. All in all, it was Dickey’s career rebirth and absolutely unbelievable, storybook season that netted him this award.
Check out the MVP analysis posted as well: http://gothamsports.blogspot.com/2012/11/mlb-mvp-awarded-reaction-and-analysis.html
Written by Shane Gaer
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