Sabathia Runs Away With AL Cy Young Award
Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia, despite two lackluster performances against runner-up Josh Beckett in the ALCS, won 19 games and lead baseball in innings pitched.
(By Gregory Shamus -- Getty Images)
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007; Page E03
In the two head-to-head meetings during the American League Championship Series of the pitchers considered the leading candidates for the Cy Young Award, Boston's Josh Beckett dominated Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia each time. But yesterday, the individual honor went to Sabathia, in a reminder that baseball's major awards take into account only regular season performance.
Sabathia, the Indians' hulking left-hander and ace, received 19 of a possible 28 first-place votes in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, easily outpacing Beckett, who received eight first-place votes. John Lackey of the Los Angeles Angels received the remaining first-place vote and finished third. Baltimore Orioles lefty Erik Bedard received one third-place vote and finished tied for fifth.
"I was a little surprised" by the award, Sabathia said in a conference call with reporters. "Beckett had a great year and an even better postseason. I didn't know, going in, what to expect."
Sabathia and Beckett had similar seasons, statistically speaking, with Beckett holding a slight edge in wins (20 to 19) and strikeouts per nine innings (8.7 to 7.8), and Sabathia leading in ERA (3.21 to 3.27) and strikeouts (209 to 194). However, in choosing Sabathia, voters placed high value on his endurance -- he made 34 starts and led both leagues with 241 innings, or four more starts and 40 1/3 additional innings than Beckett.
"Being able to run out there every fifth day, and take the ball and kind of be in control of those games, is what I'm most proud of," Sabathia said.
It is possible the toll of those additional innings hurt Sabathia in October, while the cautious approach the Red Sox took with Beckett helped. Beckett won all four of his postseason starts -- including decisive wins over Sabathia and the Indians in Games 1 and 5 of the ALCS -- and recorded a 1.20 ERA as the Red Sox surged to the World Series title, while Sabathia went 1-2 with an 8.80 ERA in his three postseason starts.
Sabathia yesterday repeated assertions that there was nothing physically wrong with his arm during the playoffs, saying instead that his October problems stemmed from "trying to do too much and make perfect pitches . . . instead of doing what I did all year, and trusting my stuff and just letting the ball go."
Sabathia, whose Indians contract expires after the 2008 season, earned a $2 million incentive bonus for winning the award. Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro is believed to be preparing an offer for a long-term extension and has said he hopes to have Sabathia signed by the start of spring training.
