The Cy Young Award was Commissioner Ford Frick’s idea to honor the best pitcher in Major League Baseball. Hard lessons were learned by the Chalmers Award earlier in history so the recipients of the Cy Young Award were selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America from the beginning.
During the first eleven years (1956 – 1966), only one winner from Major League Baseball was selected. Immediately after Commissioner Frick retired, the rules were changed to honor the best pitcher from each league.
November 29, 1971: Gaylord Perry is Traded by the San Francisco Giants with Frank Duffy to the Cleveland Indians for Sam McDowell. Perry 32 at the time will pitch four seasons for Cleveland and win 70 games and the 1972 CY Young award his first. Perry will return to the NL with the Padres and pick…
1971 – Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics wins the American League Cy Young Award by a 98-85 margin over Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers. Blue was 24-8 for Oakland, posting 301 strikeouts, eight shutouts and a 1.82 ERA, becoming the youngest pitcher to win the award. In the National League, Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs receives the honor.
Tiger Denny McLain (24-9, 2.80) and Oriole Mike Cuellar (23-11, 2.38) each receive ten votes from the BBWAA for being the best pitcher in the American League. It is the first time the results for the Cy Young Award have ended in a tie.
Denny McLain is the BBWAA’s unanimous choice for the American League Cy Young Award, after the right-hander posts a 31-6 (.838) record for the World Champion Tigers. The 24 year-old Chicago native, who will cop the prestigious pitching prize again next season, will be also named this year’s Junior Circuit’s Most Valuable Player.
1967 – Boston Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg, who was 22-9 with 246 strikeouts for the American League champions, is named the 1967 American League Cy Young Award winner.
White Sox right-hander Early Wynn, who posted the most victories in either league, wins the Cy Young Award as the top pitcher in the majors. The 39 year-old veteran, who led Chicago to an AL pennant with a 22-10 record, is named on 13 of the 16 votes cast by the BBWAA, with the Giants’ Sam Jones and teammate Bob Shaw also receiving consideration from the writers.
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