There seems to be some debate as to whether or not C.C. Sabathia was the most deserving of this year’s American League Cy Young Award. Josh Beckett, this year’s runner up, had an outstanding breakthrough in the American League. When we stop and separate the fact that Beckett pitched for a World Series winning Boston Red Sox team (voting for the Cy Young was completed before the World Series); there is little statistical difference between the two. The little statistical difference that there is, may be just enough to validate the big Cleveland Indian ace’s somewhat surprising victory.
There is not much of an argument as to who pitched in a more win-friendly environment. The Indians and Red Sox had identical regular season records. The Red Sox carry much more weight in superstars, but the biggest of their boppers (Manny and David Ortiz) missed a combined 42 games. For argument’s sake, let’s eliminate all surrounding factors and look solely at the pitchers’ performances.
C.C. Sabathia made 4 more starts than Beckett, but more impressively, C.C. racked up nearly 41 more innings pitched than Beckett. That’s 241 IP for Sabathia compared to Beckett’s 200.7 IP. No pitcher in baseball threw more innings than Sabathia; 37 other pitchers in both the American and National league managed to reach 200 innings pitched. In Beckett’s defense, he was one of only 4 pitchers to reach the 200 inning mark in less than 32 games started (others being Roy Halladay 31/225.1, James Shields 31/215, and Mark Buehrle 30/201). Looking at what was accomplished within those innings is where argumentative comparisons can be made. Beckett won one more game with a record of 20-7 compared to Sabathia’s 19-7. That in itself is enough to ruffle the feathers of Red Sox nation; Beckett was baseball’s only 20 game winner. The rest of the major pitching categories are almost too close to call; Beckett 3.27 ERA/194 K/1.14 WHIP/40 BB, Sabathia 3.21/209/1.14/37.
Is it impressive enough that Sabathia racked up 65 more strikeouts and walked 3 less batters in a heavier workload? Maybe, maybe not. This will continue to be debated over the off-season and every time these two aces take the mound against each other. Perhaps the decisive factor in this year’s vote was Sabathia’s workhorse performance. He did after all complete 4 games and pitch one shutout. Beckett completed one game, but did not register a shutout. Josh Beckett has most certainly arrived after dominating the opposition every time he stepped on the mound this past postseason. He may very well be the most dominant postseason pitcher of his generation, and will more than likely be considered (if not win) for a few more Cy Young Awards. C.C. Sabathia is a very good pitcher who finally delivered on his potential in 2007 with a great performance. He will have all eyes on him next season after failing to deliver in the postseason. Remember, the Cy Young Award is a regular season award, and in the end C.C.’s outstanding workload may have helped him win the award. But, Josh Beckett won when it mattered most and showed the ability to endure a long season of dominance and continue that dominance in the playoffs.
I’ll take Sabathia’s victory. He managed 19 of 28 first place votes for the Cy Young, and they were well deserved. Despite failure in the playoffs as an idividual and for the Cleveland Indians as a team; this is a victory for a team trying to re-establish themselves as an upper-mid level to major market contender. Sabathia was very vocal about his displeasure of Major League Baseball’s ability to reach inner-city and African American youth earlier this season. Winning the award is a personal victory for Sabathia, and a positive sign for the game in a time where there needs to be more work on extending its reach into these communities.
