Stats: The Official LanguageStats: The Universal LanguageZack Greinke won the ALCY today in somewhat of a landslide over second place Felix Hernandez. Although I predicted Greinke to win easily (see below), the winning margin was even greater than I expected. What makes it historical? Well, that’s easy.

Never before has a pitcher won the ALCY with less than 18 victories in a complete season… until now (16). There had never been a pitcher rank lower than fourth in victories… until now (tied for 7th). There has never been a pitcher win the ALCY when his team won less than 72 games… until now (65). The fact that all of them are true at the same time - along with the fact that Greinke got 25 of 28 first place votes is remarkable. But, it also means the ALCY voting has permanently moved into a new era – one where the success of the team is no longer considered critical.

THE VOTING

 
 1st2nd3rdTotal
Greinke2530134
Hernandez223180
Verlander10914
Sabathia02
7
13
Halladay001111

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MY PREDICTION

 
 1st2nd3rdTotal
Greinke1882116
Hernandez1011285
Sabathia091744
Others0077

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FORMER ROYALS WINNERS

Cone’s season was strike-shortened, so I projected his numbers.

 
ALCYYear ERASOHR/9Rec.
Saberhagen19852.87158.7320-6
Saberhagen19892.16193.4523-6
Cone19942.34186.7923-7
Greinke20092.16246.4316-8

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GREINKE’S FINAL PLACE IN HISTORY

The last pitcher to have 242+ strike outs, a 2.16 (or less) ERA and .44 (or less) home runs per 9 innings pitched was Pedro Martinez in 1999. Even more amazing, it has only happened five times in the majors since 1970.

 
PitcherYearERASOHR/9Rec.
Martinez19992.07313.3823-4
Clemens19972.05292.3121-7
Gooden19851.53268.4224-4
Guidry19781.74248.4325-3
Carlton19721.97310.4427-10

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Each were unanimous Cy Young winners except for Clemens who had 25/28 first place votes – the same as Greinke.

UFR’s GREINKE WATCH

October 23: Sabes vs Greinke: Part II by Jonathan Tucker

October 16: Sabes vs Greinke: Part I by Martin Manley 

October 9: Greinke vs Hernandez: My Vote

October 8: Royally Screwed: Part II

October 7: GREINKE: The Royals and the ALCY: Part II

October 6: GREINKE: What hasn’t yet been said.

September 18: GREINKE: Lowering the ERA

September 12: GREINKE: Some Cool Stuff

September 6: GREINKE: If not for bad luck… 

September 5: GREINKE: Can He Keep Pace Tonight? 

September 2: GREINKE: 18W = ALCY

August 30: GREINKE: 1 down, 5 to go

August 30: The Cy Young: Greinke vs The Field: Part 3

August 29: The Cy Young: What will it take to win it? Part 2

August 28: The Cy Young: What will it take to win it?