Cy Colon

[Optimist]

:thumbdown Boo...

 

Colon named AL Cy Young winner

By Mike Scarr / MLB.com

 

Bartolo Colon added another piece of hardware to his trophy case Tuesday when he was named the American League's Cy Young honoree.

 

A clear-cut winner of the award as voted by the Baseball Writers Association of America, Colon was named on all 28 ballots with 17 first-place votes and 11 second-place votes to easily outdistance Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. Twins left-hander Johan Santana finished third.

 

Rivera secured eight first-place votes, with Santana getting three. Cliff Lee, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Kevin Millwood rounded out the voting.

 

Colon, who already this year has been named baseball's top pitcher by The Sporting News and the AL's outstanding pitcher in the Players Choice Awards, won his first Cy Young Award and became the first Angels starter since Dean Chance in 1964 to be so honored.

[Moose]

I think Colon deserves it.

 

I wish Roy Halladay stayed healthy.

[ARod2212]

One of the most unjustifiable choices for Cy Young, ever. Way to go, retarded sportswriters.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

One of the most unjustifiable choices for Cy Young, ever. Way to go, retarded sportswriters.

 

Why do you say that?? These things always lean toward the amount of wins a pitcher gets. Rarely do they consider his ERA the showing of how well he does in the season. He was the ace for the Anaheim Angels who finished in first place in there division. I think he had a great season.

[yankeessuck013]

Good Choice.

[ARod2212]

Why do you say that?? These things always lean toward the amount of wins a pitcher gets. Rarely do they consider his ERA the showing of how well he does in the season. He was the ace for the Anaheim Angels who finished in first place in there division. I think he had a great season.

Ok, well let's use these new fangled statistics.

 

Colon- 21-8, 2 CG, 0 Shutouts, 3.48 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .254 BAA, 157 K, 222.2 IP

Santana- 16-7, 3 CG, 2 Shutouts, 2.87 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, .210 BAA, 238 K, 231.2 IP

 

It isn't even close, Santana was the best pitcher in the league.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Ok, well let's use these new fangled statistics.

 

Colon- 21-8, 2 CG, 0 Shutouts, 3.48 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .254 BAA, 157 K, 222.2 IP

Santana- 16-7, 3 CG, 2 Shutouts, 2.87 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, .210 BAA, 238 K, 231.2 IP

 

It isn't even close, Santana was the best pitcher in the league.

 

Thats fine I'm not saying Johan Santana didn't have a great year. I'm just saying they tend to go more by the amount of wins a pitcher gets. Doesn't mean I totally agree with it cause I believe the ERA and total innings pitched are the most important stats. I'm not going to take away from Colon though he played well enough this season that he deserves the award.

[Optimist]

Randy Johnson:

4 CG, 225.2 IP, 207 Hits, 3.79ERA, 32HR, 47BB, 211 SO, WHIP 1.13, .298 OBA

 

Bartolo Colon:

2 CG, 222.2 IP, 215 Hits, 3.48 ERA, 26 HR, 43 BB, 157 SO, WHIP 1.16, .291 OBA

 

Now, how is one of those guys the "Big Bust" and the other Cy Young? :dunno:

[Soxfan1]

Ok, well let's use these new fangled statistics.

 

Colon- 21-8, 2 CG, 0 Shutouts, 3.48 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .254 BAA, 157 K, 222.2 IP

Santana- 16-7, 3 CG, 2 Shutouts, 2.87 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, .210 BAA, 238 K, 231.2 IP

 

It isn't even close, Santana was the best pitcher in the league.

Agreed. I think the A.L pitchers were very week this year.

[eZ_d0eS_iT]

One of the most unjustifiable choices for Cy Young, ever. Way to go, retarded sportswriters.

 

 

debatable choice - yes

justifiable choice - yes

 

like previously mentioned, he was the ace on the AL West champs and had an otherwise great year despite suffering through injuries. personally, if halladay not gotten hurt, my money would have been him for cy young, but these things happen.

nowhere does 21-8 = 16-7, which sadly is one of the main things that is looked at for cy-young consideration.

[ARod2212]

Thats fine I'm not saying Johan Santana didn't have a great year. I'm just saying they tend to go more by the amount of wins a pitcher gets. Doesn't mean I totally agree with it cause I believe the ERA and total innings pitched are the most important stats. I'm not going to take away from Colon though he played well enough this season that he deserves the award.

I know what the writers tend to think, exactly why this award was a crock. If you want to call the award "The pitcher with the most wins" do that. But as long as the award is intended for the best pitcher that season, Colon did not deserve the award. The one who deserves the award is the one who had the best year, and every single statistic says that Santana had a better year.

[eZ_d0eS_iT]

every single statistic says that Santana had a better year.

 

 

well, i wouldn't say every statistic...especially the biggest one that matters...relax, im sure santana well get his cy young(s) before his time is up...

[ARod2212]

It's just annoying. Santana was easily the best pitcher in the American League this season, and the writers picked a guy based on a stat that relies on a team's offense.

 

Strikeouts, WHIP, ERA and BAA are an easy way to show how dominating a pitcher really was.

[yankeessuck013]

Agreed. I think the A.L pitchers were very week this year.

 

weak

[26 to 6]

debatable choice - yes

justifiable choice - yes

 

pretty much, this is a very argueable choice but he definately does deserve it, although I wish Mo would have won it.

 

Randy Johnson:

4 CG, 225.2 IP, 207 Hits, 3.79ERA, 32HR, 47BB, 211 SO, WHIP 1.13, .298 OBA

 

Bartolo Colon:

2 CG, 222.2 IP, 215 Hits, 3.48 ERA, 26 HR, 43 BB, 157 SO, WHIP 1.16, .291 OBA

wow, that is pretty amazing, considering the year Randy had overall I would have never thought his stats compared to the Cy Young WInner's like that.

 

Ok, well let's use these new fangled statistics.

 

Colon- 21-8, 2 CG, 0 Shutouts, 3.48 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .254 BAA, 157 K, 222.2 IP

Santana- 16-7, 3 CG, 2 Shutouts, 2.87 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, .210 BAA, 238 K, 231.2 IP

 

It isn't even close, Santana was the best pitcher in the league.

Santana had a great year and one of the BEST second halves in HISTORY...but if I recall correctly, his first half wasnt all that great, and the award is based not on one half alone, but the entire season...though I could nto argue with a Santana selection, as he is also very deserving of it as well.

[JimBrown32]

pretty much, this is a very argueable choice but he definately does deserve it, although I wish Mo would have won it.

 

 

wow, that is pretty amazing, considering the year Randy had overall I would have never thought his stats compared to the Cy Young WInner's like that.

 

 

Santana had a great year and one of the BEST second halves in HISTORY...but if I recall correctly, his first half wasnt all that great, and the award is based not on one half alone, but the entire season...though I could nto argue with a Santana selection, as he is also very deserving of it as well.

 

I agree with everything there, I think that ALL of the AL pitchers sucked, basically, but the fact is that we all probably knew he'd win it, because he DID have the most wins, so I guess that makes him awesome I guess. IMO, Randy Johnson was better, and Santana WOULD HAVE BEEN better if he had a better team to back him up. He did this last year, he basically carried his team this year though. Last year Radke, Silva and Lohse somewhat were okay in the second half.

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

When judging an individual pitchers season I usually look at wins down the line as opposed to 1st. There are so many factors that are out of the pitchers hand that have an effect on weather the pitcher gets the win or not. Put Santana on any tean that can hit and we arent having this discussion right now.

[MC Hammer]

Santana and Rivera deserved this award more than Colon.

[Cityofchampions33]

When Garland and Buerhle fell out my vote was gunna be for Rivera, it's really unfair how they look at wins, that really doesn't show who is the better pitcher (see Zito over Martinez).

[ARod2212]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2217711

 

One of these millennia, the Los Angeles-Anaheim-California Angels were bound to have somebody win a Cy Young Award. Wouldn't you think?

 

Heck, until Bartolo Colon finally obliterated the Angels' Curse of Dean Chance Cy Young-less streak Tuesday, this team had seen 41 years, eight presidential administrations, 17 managerial administrations and 326 different men claiming to be Angels pitchers zip by without a single Cy Young trophy.

 

Johan Santana led the AL in strikeouts (238) and was second in ERA (2.87) in 2005.

And friends, that is one mind-boggling fact for a franchise that has employed Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana, Chuck Finley, Bert Blyleven, Troy Percival, Mark Langston, Tommy John, Don Sutton and John Candelaria -- not to mention (at least briefly) Fernando Valenzuela, Jack McDowell and Luis Tiant -- in between Cy Youngs.

 

So now Colon has put an end to that streak -- the third-longest Cy Young drought in the sport (behind the Reds and Rangers). And though we gladly salute Colon for a terrific year, some of us still aren't so sure the right guy got the trophy.

 

Colon (21-8) did win three more games than anyone else in the American League. And he did become the Angels' first 20-game winner since 1974. And he did have a ferocious finish -- going 10-2 in his last 14 starts, 13-4 in his last 19 starts and 17-5 in his last 25 starts -- for a team that needed every one of his wins to hold off Oakland.

 

But what this voting really proves is that Cy Young voters are still mushy traditionalists who value the almighty "win" above all other indicators of who pitched best over six grueling months.

 

Not that there isn't something to be said for pitchers who find a way to win. That is, after all, the object. But Colon sure was helped out by his bullpen (which blew zero saves for him) and his run support (6.02 runs per game).

 

And if you zap wins out of the who-pitched-best equation and compare him with the guy who finished third in this voting -- Johan Santana -- it wasn't even close.

 

Santana piled up 81 more strikeouts, beat Colon in ERA by 61 points, allowed almost two fewer baserunners for every nine innings, and had more innings pitched, complete games and shutouts.

 

Hitters who faced Colon had a batting average of .254 against him. The on-base percentage against Santana was .250. Any more objections, your honor?

 

True, Colon had five more wins than Santana (21 vs. 16). But since Santana actually pitched more innings, how was that win gap his fault? The win differential is a stat we can attribute almost completely to their offenses. It's that basic.

 

Santana piled up 81 more strikeouts, beat Colon in ERA by 61 points, allowed almost two fewer baserunners for every nine innings, and had more innings pitched, complete games and shutouts.

 

Colon got a ridiculous 1.32 more runs per game than Santana did. And Santana's totals in his last three no-decisions tell it all: 23 innings, 9 hits, 3 runs, 0 wins.

 

But the history of the award tells us that no starting pitcher has won just 16 games over a full season and won a Cy Young. (Rick Sutcliffe won 16 for the 1984 Cubs, but he also won four games earlier in the year for Cleveland.) So fine. Why not give this thing to Mariano Rivera -- another man who actually pitched better than Colon?

 

Rivera, the runner-up, had the best season of his career. And that's saying something. He had his lowest ERA ever (1.38). He allowed his fewest baserunners ever (only 0.87 per inning). He had his best strikeout-walk ratio ever (4.44 whiffs per walk).

 

He gave up one run all season on the road. And he gave up one extra-base hit all year to the 120 hitters he faced with runners on base. Yep, one.

 

But clearly, some voters think relievers aren't supposed to win this award, either -- six of them didn't even list Rivera on their ballot.

 

None of this is meant to disparage the man who won this award -- because we can think of 30 teams that would be thrilled to employ Colon. All we're saying is that it's way too easy to count up wins and cast a Cy Young vote.

 

Maybe that approach made sense four decades ago, the last time an Angels pitcher won himself a Cy. But it was also a lot harder to turn on a computer back then.

 

Jayson Stark + 900 respect points.

 

Read this, worship this.

[Optimist]

First Street wins ROY over Cano, now Colon wins Cy Young over Rivera...where is this East Coast bias that Chitown (whom we all miss, very much) spent most of his posts complaining about!?:dunno:

 

[26 to 6]

another thing to be upset about is that Joe Torre missed out on manager of the year to (I think) Guillen (could have been somebody else, the radio was staticy when I heard it) and then if A-Rod loses out on monday to Ortiz then that one just tops it all off.

 

because he DID have the most wins

The Angels bullpen did not blow a save for him once this year, so if you give Santana the Angels bullpen and Colon the Twins' pen then this discussion is not taking place

 

....I still wish Rivera won it ...I think he gave up like 1 erned run on the road all year (could be mistaken, but im pretty sure) and blew like 2 games from the 4th game of the season until the end of the season (I believe, but I could be mistaken, I dont think so though), pretty amazing if you ask me

[ARod2212]

http://www.nypost.com/sports/yankees/31027.htm

 

Edit- forgot the Post makes you sign up.

 

November 9, 2005 -- ROBBED? Mariano Rivera wasn't just robbed yesterday. He was mugged. He was pistol-whipped.

He was bound and gagged and put under an interrogation lamp by a blind gaggle representing the Baseball Writers' Association of America, who voted overwhelmingly to make Bartolo Colon one of the most underwhelming Cy Young Award winners ever.

 

Ridiculous?

 

It isn't just ridiculous, it's shameful. It's dreadful. It's woeful. And don't think for one second that the fact that Mariano Rivera plays for the New York Yankees wasn't held against him in certain quarters. So that makes it spiteful, too.

 

They're going to hand out an award to the best pitcher in the American League this year and they aren't going to give it to Rivera? Then why hand the award out at all? Or why not simply re-work the language describing what the award should be: best pitcher in the league with at least 20 wins.

 

That's the crazy part: Colon wasn't even the best starting pitcher in the American League this year; Johann Santana was. The fact that Colon not only won, but did so in Reagan-Mondale fashion, only underlines how absurd this campaign really was.

 

As if Mariano Rivera finishing second didn't do that already.

 

 

 

It's galling, is what it is, because if any of the people who cast votes for Colon over Rivera had bothered to do any homework - which includes watching the Yankees occasionally - then the vote couldn't possibly have gone any other way.

 

Colon had a very nice year. He was 21-8. He had an ERA of 3.48, which wouldn't exactly make Sandy Koufax envious but is a respectable number in these offensive-minded times (even if it was more than half a run higher than Santana's). He also had 157 strikeouts, a shockingly low number for a strikeout pitcher. And Colon may be singularly responsible if Alex Rodriguez wins the MVP Award over David Ortiz, thanks to the three homers he surrendered to A-Rod in one game back in the spring.

 

And there isn't a baseball player alive who recoils in fear at the prospect of having to face Bartolo Colon. Not this year. Not ever. Not one.

 

Then there is Rivera. You know how it used to be required that Joe DiMaggio be introduced as the Greatest Living Ballplayer? Rivera, by universal acclamation, is now referred to as the Greatest Relief Pitcher Ever. There is no question about that. It is highly likely that even the people who voted for Bartolo Colon have referred to him that way often in their newspaper stories.

 

Now, the Cy Young isn't a lifetime achievement award. But there ought to be some kind of law that when the Best Relief Pitcher Ever has his best year ever, it gets recognized - especially since there were no Koufaxian shoo-ins this time around.

 

Rivera blew two saves in the season's first three games; he blew exactly two more over the final 159. He allowed one earned run on the road all year. He had 43 saves. He had 80 strikeouts against only 18 walks. His ERA was 1.38, and even those who scoff at relievers should have been able to figure out that having an ERA more than two full runs lower than Colon's should have counted for something.

 

But it didn't. And that's a travesty, although not the first one directed at him, for the bizarre Cy Young bias against Rivera is nothing new. Get this: Rivera finished third in the voting in 1996, 1999 and 2004 - and those are the only other years besides this one when he's even received a vote!

 

Think about that for a second. The single-dominant weapon in baseball over the last 10 seasons, and in six of those years not one voter wrote his name on a Cy Young ballot. It's staggering. It's sickening. And it cheapens the award.

 

Look, worthy candidates get scammed all the time. It took winning 114 games in 1998 for Joe Torre to win a Manager of the Year Award. In other years, the likes of Johnny Oates, Jimy Williams and Tony Pena earned the nod over him. That was crazy. But it wasn't criminal.

 

This Cy Young Award is both.