A year ago, the Red Sox’s Pedro Martinez took issue with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America after Oakland’s Barry Zito beat him out for the American League Cy Young Award. Yet Toronto’s Roy Halladay may have had a bigger gripe.
Halladay won 19 games with a 2.93 ERA for a team that lost 84 games, but the right-hander didn’t get a single vote.
Unlike Martinez, Halladay didn’t squawk. He went out and had an even better season, one that few writers could ignore and ended up an overwhelming winner of this year’s AL Cy Young Award.
Halladay, 26, was first on 26 ballots and second on the two others cast by two writers from each league city, finishing with 136 points (tabulated on a 5-3-1 basis).
The other first-place votes–from Chicago writers Doug Padilla of the Sun-Times and Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald–went to White Sox righthander Esteban Loaiza.
Loaiza, 31, faded in September, losing two starts in AL Central showdowns against the Twins, but finished with a 21-9 record, 2.90 ERA and a league-high 207 strikeouts, one more than Martinez and three more than Halladay, who finished the year at 22-7 with a 3.25 ERA.
“I’m excited that I got second place,” Loaiza said. “I just want to continue next year with the same success I had this year.”
Martinez, who was second on three ballots and third on 11, placed third with 20 points.
Halladay is the third Blue Jays pitcher to win the award, joining Roger Clemens (two of his record six) and Pat Hentgen. One month into the season, Loaiza had a five-victory lead over his former Blue Jays teammate. Halladay was 0-2 with four no-decisions in April and became only the second pitcher to win a Cy Young Award despite a winless April. The other was Giants lefthander Mike McCormick, the National League winner in 1967.
Beginning May 1, Halladay reeled off 15 consecutive victories through July 27 and ended the season as the winningest pitcher in the league. He also led the league in starts (36) and innings (266) and tied for the lead in complete games with nine and shutouts with two, including a 1-0, 10-inning victory over the Tigers Sept. 7, which Halladay called his best game of the season.
“Back in April, I didn’t feel as comfortable on the mound as I had in the past,” Halladay said from Hawaii, where he is vacationing. “It seemed that when I started pitching better, we started playing better. It was a team thing all the way. The two were hand in hand. It shows how important offensive support is for a pitcher.”
With a 41-14 record in the past two seasons, it is hard to imagine that not too long ago Halladay’s career was in jeopardy. After posting a 4-7 mark and 10.64 ERA in 2000, the Colorado native was demoted to Class A Dunedin of the Florida State League in 2001.
“When I think back to that, it makes this honor all the more rewarding,” Halladay said. “It was a tougher road than I wanted to take, but in the end it worked out for me.”
Inside the numbers
Voting
First-, second- and third-place votes and total points on a 5-3-1 basis.
PLAYER, TEAM 1 2 3 Tot
Roy Halladay, Tor 26 2 — 136
Esteban Loaiza, Sox 2 16 5 63
Pedro Martinez, Bos — 3 11 20
Tim Hudson, Oak — 4 3 15
Jamie Moyer, Sea — 2 6 12
Andy Pettitte, N.Y. — 1 1 4
Keith Foulke, Oak — — 1 1
Johann Santana, Min — — 1 1
Halladay’s stats
IP W-L H BB SO ERA
266 22-7 253 32 204 3.25
Recent winners
2002: Barry Zito, Oakland
2001: Roger Clemens, New York
2000: x-Pedro Martinez, Boston
1999: x-Pedro Martinez, Boston
1998: x-Roger Clemens, Toronto
1997: Roger Clemens, Toronto
1996: Pat Hentgen, Toronto
1995: Randy Johnson, Seattle
1994: David Cone, Kansas City
1993: Jack McDowell, Chicago
1992: Dennis Eckersley, Oakland
1991: Roger Clemens, Boston
1990: Bob Welch, Oakland
x–unanimous selection
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