Next up on my thread regarding my imagined 1975 sub-set of Cy Young winners is 1952, and this one is about as easy as it gets!
First off, take a look at my designed card for my sub-set:
As we all know, the American League winner most definitely would
have been Bobby Shantz of the Philadelphia Athletics since he was the
Most Valuable Player that season.
A "gimmie" as far as guessing who the winner would have been there,
and the fine people as SABR felt the same way in their article back in
1993 or so, where they speculated on Cy Young winners pre-award.
Shantz had a MONSTER year in 1952, going 24-7 with a neat 2.48 earned run average.
In his 33 starts that year he completed 27 of them, pitching five shoutouts along the way as well.
Considering the Athletics went 79-75 that year, Shantz's record is even more amazing!
No wonder when it was time to select an M.V.P., he won over another pitcher, Allie Reynolds of the Yankees.
Now, as clear-cut the American League winner seems to be, for the
National League it was an even EASIER pick both for me and the voting at
SABR!
Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies was "all-WORLD" that year!
All Roberts did in 1952 was go an incredible 28-7 with a 2.59 E.R.A.!
Throw in 30 complete games out of 37 starts for a league-leading
330 innings with three shutouts and two saves, and you see why he left
all other pitchers in the dust that year.
Roberts almost matched Shantz in taking home the M.V.P., finishing second to Hank Bauer of the Cubs by only 15 points.
And considering that the Cubs were a .500 team at 77-77 while the
Phillies ended up at 87-67, you have to wonder what the deal was with
voting?!
Roberts had some run between 1950 and 1955, winning at least 20
games each year, leading the league in wins four times, games started
six times, complete games four times, innings five times, shutouts once
and strikeouts twice.
He was a beast on the mound and well on his way to a Hall of Fame
election, albeit a bit delayed, as he was inducted in 1976, ten years
after he hung up the spikes in 1966.
Next up on the thread, the 1953 "Cy Young" winners as assumed by SABR, and I can't really disagree.
Keep an eye out for it and see what YOU think…
