For Seaver, it was his second Cy Young Award after posting a record of 19-10 with a league-leading 2.08 earned run average and 251 strikeouts.
Leading the way for the Mets to reach the World Series for the second time in franchise history, Seaver anchored a staff that also had Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack and a surprising George Stone, though they’d fall to the budding dynasty Oakland A’s in the series in seven games.
In the American League, it was another future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, who was taking home the first of what would be (like Seaver) three Cy Young Awards during his incredible career that saw him post EIGHT 20-win seasons in nine years!
For the 1973 season, Palmer won 22 games against only nine losses, with a league-leading 2.40 E.R.A., along with six shutouts and 158 strikeouts.
He would go on to win the award two more times in the next three years, solidifying his stature in Major League history as one of the greats of the game.
Two all-time greats representing the 1970’s in full force: six Cy Young Awards between them, with 579 wins and almost 6,000 strikeouts between them!