CLEVELAND -- The Cy Young questions sprang up midseason, as C.C. Sabathia consistently put together dominant performances for an Indians team in contention for a division title.

 

As those questions arose from reporters after each win, Sabathia shrugged them off. It was the team's success, not the individual glory, that he sought.

 

But individual glory caught up with the Indians' ace left-hander on Tuesday.

 

In voting conducted by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Sabathia beat Boston's Josh Beckett for his first American League Cy Young Award. He is only the second pitcher in Indians history to win the award -- the first being Gaylord Perry, who won it in 1972.

 

Sabathia was listed first on 19 of 28 ballots cast by two writers in each AL city and totaled 119 voting points. Beckett received eight first-place votes and the Angels' John Lackey received one.

 

The 27-year-old Sabathia was rewarded for a regular season that saw him go 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA in 34 starts. The win total, ERA mark and number of starts were all career bests for Sabathia, as were his strikeout total of 209 and his innings total of 241, which led the Majors.

 

Sabathia, who twice faced Beckett head-to-head in the AL Championship Series and lost each time, bested Beckett in the Cy Young voting in large part because of that innings mark.

 

Though Beckett certainly had award-worthy credentials with a 20-7 record and 3.27 ERA in 30 starts for the AL East champion Red Sox, he was 40 1/3 innings shy of Sabathia's tally.

 

Furthermore, Sabathia didn't have the run support that Beckett had. While the Red Sox put together an average of 6.4 runs in Beckett's starts, the Indians afforded Sabathia an average of 5.1.

 

Had Sabathia's run support been stronger, he no doubt would have become the first Indians pitcher since Perry to win 20 games in a single season. Alas, Sabathia had nine starts in which he received a loss or no-decision while pitching five or more innings and giving up two earned runs or less.

 

Though that 20th victory eluded him, Sabathia polished his Cy Young credentials in other ways. He ranked second in the AL in complete games (four), fifth in strikeouts, tied for third in winning percentage (.731) and finished sixth in walks and hits per inning pitched (1.14). Toss in his second-place finish in the win column, and Sabathia was the only AL pitcher to rank in the top six in each of those categories.

 

"It feels good to have a consistent year all the way through," Sabathia said shortly after the season ended. "It was nice to stay healthy and be consistent and pitch well and be the guy I need to be in this clubhouse."

 

The Indians, who will try to negotiate a contract extension with Sabathia this winter, asked him to be that guy not long after his rookie season of 2001, when he won 17 games. But his temper and his reliance mainly on his upper-90s fastball prevented him from being the type of pure pitcher needed to anchor a rotation.

 

Until midseason 2005, that is. That's when Sabathia refocused his energy into throwing the opposition more breaking balls early in the count and began keeping his emotions in check.

 

He's been dominant ever since. From Aug. 1, 2005, through the end of the '07 regular season, Sabathia went 40-19 with a 3.06 ERA.

 

"I think he really feels confidence in all his pitches at any time," Tribe pitching coach Carl Willis said recently. "C.C.'s been here a long time, but still, at 27, to have that type of confidence in all your pitches is tremendous."

 

Unfortunately for the Indians, Sabathia couldn't keep up that dominance in October, as he went 1-2 with an 8.80 ERA in three starts against the Yankees and Red Sox.

 

When the Indians were ousted in the ALCS, Sabathia said the blame fell squarely on his shoulders, even though fellow 19-game winner Fausto Carmona had also struggled.

 

That attitude was consistent with the leadership mentality Sabathia took on for the Indians this season.

 

"You couldn't tell a difference when he walked out of the locker room, if he had won 1-0 or lost 1-0," manager Eric Wedge said recently. "That's leadership, and that's presence. His teammates saw that."

 

And now they're seeing Sabathia elevated to a new level of personal glory.

mlb.com

WOW!

WOW!

Wow indeed. I had him 2nd in Cy voting on his own team.

 

[edit: retard the flame posts - I'm being somewhat facetious]

The voters have really gotten the awards wrong this year. :thumbdown

I think he deserved it. Congrats to C.C.

Josh Beckett should call the police and the FBI. He got R-O-B-B-E-D...Conspiracy Theory anyone?

Wow triple post!

That goes to show you how much of an outrage this really is, Sabathia had a fine year but everyine feared Beckett

How could the voters screw up so bad? This is the worse voting since the 2004 Presidential Election

Josh Beckett should call the police and the FBI. He got R-O-B-B-E-D...Conspiracy Theory anyone?

Sabathia threw 40 more innings then Beckett with a lower ERA.

 

He wasn't robbed at all.

 

I think Beckett was actually the 3rd best pitcher in the AL this year behind Cleveland's two aces.

i think its more of a crime that fausto carmona didnt receive any votes

i think its more of a crime that fausto carmona didnt receive any votes

He did get votes, 1 2nd place vote and 4 third place votes.

 

He should have been higher than Lackey for sure though.

first place votes is what i meant... thats what really counts in the end... and for lackey to place higher? utterly rediculous

Ah, misunderstood.

 

Agreed.

I bet C.C. would trade that trophy for that ring Beckett will get on Opening night in Fenway.

i'm shocked, but it is a no brainer

40 more innings, more strikeouts, fewer walks, better ERA, same WHIP

and yet, somehow many people think Beckett should win Cy Young because he has just one more win (and the same amount of losses)?

i'm shocked, but it is a no brainer

40 more innings, more strikeouts, fewer walks, better ERA, same WHIP

and yet, somehow many people think Beckett should win Cy Young because he has just one more win (and the same amount of losses)?

 

 

Everyone thinks Beckett should win because they only remember 1) the last thing that happened and 2) the only games they actually saw on TV.

 

Everybody only remembers the postseason and assumes Beckett had like 30 CG shutouts this year.

Of course Sabbathia had more strikeout he pitched more innings, his ERA was only .06 lower than Beckett's. I may totally be a homer on this one but IMO Beckett was the better of the two, because he didn't have another ace to back him up in the rotation.

Of course Sabbathia had more strikeout he pitched more innings, his ERA was only .06 lower than Beckett's. I may totally be a homer on this one but IMO Beckett was the better of the two, because he didn't have another ace to back him up in the rotation.

Sabathia might of only had more stikeouts because he played more innings, but the more important thing is that he pitched 40 more innings, still kept a lower, if not slighly lower, ERA and walked less batters. He also had less run support, pitched more games, and, given the former statistics, pitched more innings per game. He, on average, pitched on less rest than Beckett did, which is why he pitched more games. He also had more complete games(4 vs 1) and more shutouts(1 vs 0) than Beckett did.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sabatc.01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/beckejo02.shtml

 

That statistics may be close, but they mainly tip in Sabathia's favor. It's hard to look at those numbers and give it to Beckett, especially the 40 innings of extra pitching.

because he didn't have another ace to back him up in the rotation.

Out of curiosity, why does that matter?

Of course Sabbathia had more strikeout he pitched more innings, his ERA was only .06 lower than Beckett's. I may totally be a homer on this one but IMO Beckett was the better of the two, because he didn't have another ace to back him up in the rotation.

 

Are opponents scared to swing at good pitches because the know who is in the on deck mound?

How about of course he had les walks, he pitched more innings? Hmmmm..... The only things you listed there are in CCs favor (more innings, more Ks, lower ERA) so besides being a total homer, why was it so obviously Beckett that shouldve won? Oh right, he didnt have an ace pitching in a completely different game.

Of course Sabbathia had more strikeout he pitched more innings, his ERA was only .06 lower than Beckett's. I may totally be a homer on this one but IMO Beckett was the better of the two, because he didn't have another ace to back him up in the rotation.

so should Randy Johnson not have gotten the Cy Young Award in 2001 and 2002 because he had Schilling in the rotation?

Barry Zito in 2002 because he had Tim Hudson?

Roger Clemens in 2004 because he had Roy Oswalt?

Johan Santana in 2005 because he had Francisco Liriano?

This list could go on and on, but you get my point

BTW, CC was at the Warrior game with Dontrelle tonight, and they did a little thing honoring him winning the Cy Young during one of the timeouts

because he didn't have another ace to back him up in the rotation.

Out of curiosity, why does that matter?

Because he had to be the MAN. Not just hope to give a good start knowing someone worthy was backing him up if if he failed. Not that Cle was teaming with Aces but looking at the CC and Carmona was far more intimadating than Dice-K or Schilling.

because he didn't have another ace to back him up in the rotation.

Out of curiosity, why does that matter?

Because he had to be the MAN. Not just hope to give a good start knowing someone worthy was backing him up if if he failed. Not that Cle was teaming with Aces but looking at the CC and Carmona was far more intimadating than Dice-K or Schilling.

 

Cmooooon.

 

So now the Cy Young should go to guys who may not have been as dominant, may not have been as good, may not have better stats, but it should go to a guy who is close who has the be the MAN. Maybe Beckett was able to relax a bit since he knew his team was one of the five best offensive tems in baseball. I cant imagine giving the Cy Young to a guy because, well, he realizes that the guy that pitches the next day isnt as good so that means teams, ummm, will try even harder to hit against him or teams wont be as intimidated by what they face the next day so they can relax which leads to better offense. Im sold.

because he didn't have another ace to back him up in the rotation.

Out of curiosity, why does that matter?Because he had to be the MAN. Not just hope to give a good start knowing someone worthy was backing him up if if he failed. Not that Cle was teaming with Aces but looking at the CC and Carmona was far more intimadating than Dice-K or Schilling.I don't see how that matters at all.

 

Carmona, Dice K, and Schilling aren't coming in to pitch that games that either CC or Beckett pitched. Maybe you could make an argument that a pitcher with a lackluster bullpen deserves it more than another because he had to give his team innings, but that isn't what you're using because Boston had the better pen.

 

If this was the MVP vote, maybe. But a pitcher is out on the island by himself and the batter isn't worrying about who is coming tomorrow. So bad argument. Oh, and Boston had a better top down rotation anyways.