'' Sporting News'' established the Pitcher of the Year Award in 1944 to recognize the most outstanding

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

s in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). It was given annually (except in 1946 and 1947) to one pitcher each in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

. In 2013, the Pitcher of the Year Award was split into the Starting Pitcher of the Year Award and Relief Pitcher of the Year Award, which are given annually to a starting pitcher and

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

s in each league, as judged by ''Sporting News'' baseball experts.

History

By the Second World War, ''The Sporting News'' (now '' Sporting News''), had been giving

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

and

Manager of the Year Manager of the Year may refer to: * Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award * League Managers Association Manager of the Year * Premier League Manager of the Season The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association footba ...

awards since 1936, and an annual

Most Valuable Player Award In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

since 1929. In 1944, ''The Sporting News'' inaugurated its Pitcher of the Year Award, which has been given each year since to the most outstanding pitcher in each league, with a brief hiatus from 1946 to 1947. Beginning in 2013, ''Sporting News'' issues two awards per league—one to the most outstanding starting pitcher, and one to the most outstanding reliever. This award was established before there was a Cy Young Award, MLB's official honor for the best pitcher in each league. The Cy Young Award is voted by baseball writers from each city, and critics claim that the writers who follow a particular team or player throughout a season are naturally inclined to vote for him. Three

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This cha ...

pitchers have won the award:

Joe Niekro Joseph Franklin Niekro ( ; November 7, 1944 – October 27, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was the younger brother of pitcher Phil Niekro, and the father of former Major League first baseman Lance Niekro. Niekr ...

Wilbur Wood Wilbur Forrester Wood Jr. (born October 22, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched for the Boston Red Sox (1961–64), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1964–65), and the Chi ...

and

R. A. Dickey Robert Allen Dickey (born October 29, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Bra ...

Award firsts

In 1946, Hal Newhouser (W-L: 26–9, ERA: 1.94, Ks: 275) could have narrowly won the award or tied with Bob Feller (W-L: 26–15, ERA: 2.18, Ks: 348) based upon his statistics. It would have been Newhouser's third consecutive win, a feat not yet accomplished by an American League pitcher; however, ''Sporting News'' did not issue the award in 1946 or 1947. In 1981,

Fernando Valenzuela Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (, born November 1, 1960) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. Valenzuela played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, from to and to . While he played for six MLB teams, he is best remembered f ...

won three ''Sporting News'' awards: Pitcher of the Year, Rookie Pitcher of the Year, and Player of the Year.

Winners

Key

American League

Listed below in reverse chronological order are the American League pitchers chosen by ''Sporting News'' as recipients of the Pitcher of the Year Award. Hal Newhouser Leaf

American League starting pitchers

American League relief pitchers

American League pitchers

National League

Listed below in reverse chronological order are the National League pitchers chosen by ''Sporting News'' as recipients of the Pitcher of the Year Award.

National League starting pitchers

National League relief pitchers

National League pitchers

won three National League pitching Triple Crowns, two consecutively and all three within four seasons. Tom Seaver at Shea Stadium 1974 CROP

Players

Multiple wins

Several players have won the Pitcher of the Year Award more than once: *Bob Lemon was the first player to win the award 3 times. *Warren Spahn was the first to win the award 4 times and won his last award at the age of 40. *Roger Clemens was the first to win the award 5 times. *Sandy Koufax (1963–1966) and Greg Maddux (1992–1995) won the award 4 consecutive years. *Pedro Martínez, Roy Halladay, Vida Blue, Zack Greinke, Edwin Díaz and Max Scherzer won the award in the National League and American League. RobinRoberts1953bowman

MLB Triple Crown

Only five Pitcher of the Year Award winners have led the major leagues in wins, ERA and strikeouts which is commonly called the

Pitching Triple Crown In baseball, a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average, home runs, ...

. Below is a complete list including individuals before the award was created. *Sandy Koufax is the only player to achieve it more than once. Koufax achieved it three times in a four-year period. *Hal Newhouser, age 24 and Dwight Gooden, age 20 were the youngest individuals. *Shane Bieber, age 26 was the last player to achieve this feat. *Johan Santana, age 27, is the fifth individual. * Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove achieved it twice before the award began.

MLB Hall of Fame predictor

Winning three or more Pitcher of the Year Awards has been seen as a strong indicator of future admission to the

Major League Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...

(as active players are not eligible for the Hall of Fame). All of the eligible pitchers with three or more awards have been elected to the Hall of Fame, with one exception: Roger Clemens has the most (five) Pitcher of the Year Awards, is in the top ten for all-time wins and strikeouts, and is considered to be one of the best pitchers of all time. Clemens' alleged use of

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

is the major stumbling block to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Starting pitchers that have won three or more Pitcher of the Year Awards and the year they were inducted into Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Members of Baseball Hall of Fame Active player statistics are through the 2022 season.

300 and 3,000 club members

Ten pitchers have recorded 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. A list of these elite pitchers with the years they won the Pitcher of the Year Award is below. Only two pitchers, Walter Johnson and Tom Seaver, have a career ERA below 3.00. Four pitchers have more than 4,000 career strikeouts. Walter Johnson is the best in wins, ERA and WHIP. Nolan Ryan has the most strikeouts.

Battle of Pitchers of the Year

It is a rare occurrence when reigning Pitcher of the Year winners face off against each other. *A pitching duel occurred on August 28, 1989, when Frank Viola (WP: 10–15, 9IP, 5K, 3H, 0BB, 0R) of New York Mets pitched a complete-game shutout defeating Orel Hershiser (LP:14-10, 8IP, 4K, 8H, 1BB, 1ER) of the Dodgers 1–0. *On May 9, 2013, Toronto's R. A. Dickey (6IP, 5K, 5H, 5BB, 2ER) pitched against David Price (8IP, 8K, 7H, 1BB, 2ER) of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays won in 10 innings, 5–4, and neither starting pitcher got a decision. *Arizona's Zach Greinke (WP:7-3, 11K, 7IP, 4H, 0BB, 0R) bested (3–0) Houston's Dallas Keuchel (LP:3-7, 6IP, 6K, 6H, 1BB, 3 ER) on June 2, 2016.

The lost years

The award was suspended for 1946–1947. A list of the lost year's top two pitchers in each league based on a pitcher rating composed of wins, ERA and strikeouts is below. A pitcher rating of 6.0 is considered very good. A rating of 9.00 (1.5*6) is rare. Bob Feller and Hal Newhouser in 1946 AL had a rating above 9.

Organizations

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the only organization whose pitchers have won the Pitcher of the Year Award in 5 consecutive years: 1962–1966 (Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax) and 2013–2017 (Kershaw, Greinke and Jansen). Los Angeles (Brooklyn) Dodgers pitchers have won the award 18 times ; Atlanta (Boston and Milwaukee) Braves pitchers have won the award 13 times. The following three (3) organizations have never had a pitcher win the award: Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, and Texas Rangers. The Detroit Tigers have three pitchers who have won consecutive awards — Hal Newhouser (1944–1945), Denny McLain (1968–1969) and Justin Verlander (2011–2012). Each was also Player of the Year and AL MVP at least once while being Pitcher of the Year. The Atlanta (Boston and Milwaukee) Braves also have three pitchers who have won consecutive awards — Warren Spahn (1957–1958), Greg Maddux (1992–1995) and Craig Kimbrel (2013–2014).`

Notes

Sutfliffe statistics are for the NL only. His AL win–loss: 4–5, era: 5.15 and 58 strikeouts are not included.
Max Scherzer was traded in July 2021 from Washington National to Los Angeles Dodgers. His award is credited to both teams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award Major League Baseball trophies and awards * Awards by magazines Awards established in 1944