First of all, I got some sleep last night. Thank you those of you who were concerned.
Granted, one of my sons woke me up at 4:45 AM DEMANDING water... but I got some rest.
But I did think about which Cy Young winners match up in the World Seres, as I foreshadowed in my MVPs in the World Series entry.
The Cy Young split into NL and AL awards in 1967, so there wasn't as big a sample to choose from as the MVP.
But pitching wins championships, right?
The Cy Young is given to the best pitcher, right?
So there must have been a TON of Cy Young winners matching up with each other, right?
WRONG!
It's happened 4 out of 41 World Series.
THE WORLD SERIES FEATURING THE EVENTUAL AL CY YOUNG WINNER AND THE EVENTUAL NL CY YOUNG WINNER
1968 - Denny McLain's DETROIT TIGERS defeat Bob Gibson's ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
1969 - Tom Seaver's NEW YORK METS defeat Mike Cuellar's BALTIMORE ORIOLES
1974 - Catfish Hunter's OAKLAND A's defeat Mike Marshall's LOS ANGELES DODGERS
2001 - Randy Johnson's ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS defeat Roger Clemens' NEW YORK YANKEES
And THAT'S IT!
And I should note that Mike Cuellar was Co-Cy Young winner in 1969 with Denny McLain. If one voter put McLain a little higher on their ballot, we'd only have three to talk about!
Fernando and Hershiser never matched up with the AL Counterpart.
Multiple winners like Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer and Bret Saberhagen won multiple Cy Youngs but didn't face the other winner in late October.
None of the great Braves pitchers of the 1990s faced off against the AL Cy Young winner. (Andy Pettitte arguably should have won in 1996... but he didn't.)
So with such a small sample, let's see how many times they faced off head to head.
Because Mike Marshall is a reliever and both Catfish Hunter and Randy Johnson came out the bullpen for surprise relief performances in the World Series, I'll word this list carefully.
WORLD SERIES GAMES THAT FEATURED BOTH LEAGUE'S CY YOUNG WINNERS
CARDINALS 4 - TIGERS 0
NL Cy Young Winner Bob Gibson - (W)
9 IP. 0 ER. 5 Hits. 1 BB. 17 K's. (A World Series record.)
AL Cy Young Winner Denny McLain - (L)
5 IP. 2 ER. 3 Hits. 3 BB. 3 K's
CARDINALS 10 - TIGERS 1
NL Cy Young Winner Bob Gibson - (W)
9 IP. 1 ER. 5 Hits. 2 BB. 10 K's.
AL Cy Young Winner Denny McLain - (L)
2 2/3 IP. 3 ER. 6 Hits. 1 BB. 3 K's.
ORIOLES 4 - METS 1
AL Cy Young Winner Mike Cuellar - (W)
9 IP. 1 ER. 6 Hits. 4 BB. 8 K's.
NL Cy Young Winner Tom Seaver - (L)
5 IP. 4 ER. 6 Hits. 1 BB. 3 K's.
METS 2 - ORIOLES 1 (10 Innings)
NL Cy Young Winner Tom Seaver - (W)
10 IP. 1 ER. 6 Hits. 2 BB. 6 K's.
AL Cy Young Winner Mike Cuellar - (ND)
7 IP. 1 ER. 7 Hits. 0 BB. 5 K's.
A'S 3 - DODGERS 2
AL Cy Young Winner Catfish Hunter - (SV)
1/3 IP. 0 ER. 0 Hits. 0 BB. 1 K.
NL Cy Young Winner Mike Marshall - (ND)
1 IP. 0 ER. 1 Hit. 1 BB. 1 K.
A'S 3 - DODGERS 2
AL Cy Young Winner Catfish Hunter - (W)
7 1/3 IP. 1 ER. 5 Hits. 2 BB. 4 K's.
NL Cy Young Winner Mike Marshall - (ND)
2 IP. 0 ER. 1 Hit. 0 BB. 1 K.
DIAMONDBACKS 3 - YANKEES 2
NL Cy Young Winner Randy Johnson - (W)
1 1/3 IP. 0 ER. 0 Hits. 0 BB. 1 K.
AL Cy Young Winner Roger Clemens - (ND)
6 1/3 IP. 1 ER. 7 Hits. 1 BB. 10 K's.
And THAT'S IT!
It's mindboggling to me that the eventual Cy Young winners haven't started against each other in a World Series game in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and so far through the 2000s.
I can't believe that.
But why would Baseball Reference lie to me?
Pettitte has no argument that he should have won the Cy in 1996. His own teammate, Mariano Rivera, who was third had a better case given the way he was used that year. Hentgen, who did win, had better numbers in just about every way.
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