Worst Cy Young Winner Ever

[revo]

was just perusing B-R.com and came across the 1982 AL Cy Young Award winner, Pete Vuckovich, and it amazes me how we view [basic] stats today versus 20-30 years ago.

Sure, 1982 was a bad year for pitchers, but his numbers take the cake on "what the heck were they thinking."

18 Wins (3rd)
6 Losses
3.34 ERA (6th)
1.51 WHIP (44th of 49 qualifiers)
224 IP
234 HA
102 BB (2nd worst)
105 K
2.5 WAR (Dave Stieb led the AL at 7.3)

Wow. Did no one pay attention to his BB+H total, even if "WHIP" as we know it today didn't really exist yet? Or his terrible K%? What's funny is that this season is barely rosterable from a fantasy perspective.

Were there any worse Cy Young award winning seasons than this one??

[Gregg]

was just perusing B-R.com and came across the 1982 AL Cy Young Award winner, Pete Vuckovich, and it amazes me how we view [basic] stats today versus 20-30 years ago.

Sure, 1982 was a bad year for pitchers, but his numbers take the cake on "what the heck were they thinking."

18 Wins (3rd)
6 Losses
3.34 ERA (6th)
1.51 WHIP (44th of 49 qualifiers)
224 IP
234 HA
102 BB (2nd worst)
105 K
2.5 WAR (Dave Stieb led the AL at 7.3)

Wow. Did no one pay attention to his BB+H total, even if "WHIP" as we know it today didn't really exist yet? Or his terrible K%? What's funny is that this season is barely rosterable from a fantasy perspective.

Were there any worse Cy Young award winning seasons than this one??

He had the most wins of the 9 candidates that were up for the award. He played a huge part in the Brewers making the playoffs and going to the WS. Second place finisher was Palmer with 15 wins and second place finish in the division. Not sure anyone cared about whip back then. Wins and era were kings.

[revo]

He had the most wins of the 9 candidates that were up for the award. He played a huge part in the Brewers making the playoffs and going to the WS. Second place finisher was Palmer with 15 wins and second place finish in the division. Not sure anyone cared about whip back then. Wins and era were kings.

Meh, helping a team win its division usually didn't play a part in determining who wins the Cy, even back then. In 1979, Bruce Sutter won for an 80 win Cub team. In '78, Gaylord Perry won it for an 84-win Padre team. In '76, Randy Jones won it for a 73-win Padre team.

He didn't lead the AL in wins in '82 (LaMarr Hoyt with 19 did), and he was 6th in ERA. Strikeouts always played a factor, but for some reason, in 1982 they did not.

Dave Stieb (17-14, 3.25 ERA, 141 K) should have been the runaway winner of the award that year, and even Jim Palmer (whose Orioles finished just one game behind the Brewers) would have been a legit winner. Hell, if voters wanted to give the award to a Brewer, Rollie Fingers was a far more deserving candidate.

[SeaDogStat]

No wonder he swung at Ricky Vaughn's last pitch... had no clue (haywood) of the strike zone obviously. ..