By BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer
For so many years, the formula for winning a Cy Young Award was pretty simple: Win a lot of games.
Denny McLain was a unanimous pick in 1968 and deservedly so. He posted
31 victories -- the combined total of this year's Cy Young starters,
Tim Lincecum and Zack Greinke.
A whopping win total, a good ERA and a bunch of strikeouts often brought home the hardware.
But the perception of pitching has changed, with fans and voters now
relying more heavily on new-age stats such as WHIP (hits plus walks per
inning) and FIP (a designer equation that factors out a team's
defensive ability).
Pitchers have taken
notice, too. Greinke talked about his Fielding Independent Pitching
after this week's win and Lincecum pointed to his WHIP.
A look back at some Cy Young races and how they might've been seen under modern light:
2005 AL: Bartolo Colon leads the league at 21-8 and takes the award by
a wide margin. Johan Santana is a distant third at 16-7, despite a
better ERA (2.87 to 3.48), more strikeouts (238 to 157) and being the
only starter in the AL with a WHIP under 1.00.
1998 NL: Tom Glavine takes the award as the league's only 20-game
winner. Braves teammate Greg Maddux is way back in fourth place with an
ERA that's a quarter-run better. Maddux is the lone NL pitcher with a
WHIP under 1.00; Glavine isn't in the top 10.
1996 NL: John Smoltz is the overwhelming pick with 24 wins and 276
strikeouts. Kevin Brown barely gets a look with 17 victories -- plus an
ERA that's a full run better and a more impressive WHIP.
1993 AL: Jack McDowell goes 22-10 with a 3.37 ERA for the White Sox and
is an easy winner. Kevin Appier is far back in third at 18-8 with a
2.56 ERA and a sizable edge in WHIP.
1990
AL: Bob Welch breezes on the strength of 27 wins for Oakland. Roger
Clemens is runner-up with 21 wins despite a 1.93 ERA that's a run under
Welch's, more strikeouts and a better WHIP.
