Today we move into a new decade as far as the Cy Young Award is
concerned, yet we meet up with two players who were pretty well
established by then: Jim Perry and Bob Gibson.
Take a look at my 1970 "Cy Young Award Winners" 1975 sub-set design before we delve into the players themselves:
In the American League we have a player who would have won his second such award had they voted for two winners back in 1960.
That year, while pitching for the Cleveland Indians, Perry posted a
decent season on an off-year for A.L. Pitchers, and could have walked
away with some hardware for his effort (according to the SABR guys).
Ten years later however, he posted an excellent season for the
Minnesota Twins, going 24-12 with a 3.04 earned run average, four
shutouts and 168 strikeouts, even finishing 9th in M.V.P. voting as
well, officially taking home the award for the only time
in his career.
As you all know by now, Jim Perry is half of the only brother-duo
to both win the Cy Young, as his brother Gaylord took home the award
just two years later (and again in 1978).
As a matter of fact, Gaylord ended up in second place for the
National League award in 1970, almost giving us an award winning brother
duo in the same year!
Gaylord would receive 51 points in 1970, well behind the next guy
we're looking at today, Bob Gibson, who received 118 points, and his
second Cy Young award.
Smack in the middle of Gibson's dominance over National League
batters, he posted awesome numbers in 1970, going 23-7 (the win total
marking a career high), with a 3.12 E.R.A., three shutouts and 274
strikeouts.
He'd also take home his sixth Gold Glove Award, as well as get
named to his seventh all-star team and finish fourth in the National
League M.V.P. Race.
Gibson would eventually become only the second pitcher in Major
League history to reach 3000 strikeouts, and find himself elected to the
Hall of Fame in 1981, closing out a storied career, all with the St.
Louis Cardinals.
Next up on this thread we'll look at the 1971 season, where one
league had an established pitcher take home the award, Fergie Jenkins,
while another had a super-nova of a bright young star on their hands
walk away with it, as well as the Most Valuable
Player Award, Vida Blue.
