‘BACK ZACK’ T-SHIRTS FREE for the first 10,000 (21 & over) Sunday, September 27 at Kauffman Stadium courtesy of Miller Lite – Twins vs Royals at 1:10pm

Everyone in Kansas City and everyone who follows the Royals knows Zack Greinke has been the best pitcher in the American League this season. Heck everyone who makes the effort to look at the cold hard numbers, or better yet has had the opportunity to watch him knows that no pitcher in baseball can match his performance. If you’ve seen him in person or on TV it’s simply a matter of believing your own eyes – Yes, he has been that good from April through September.

Now the campaign isn’t over and Zack has two more starts to improve his amazing numbers even more. The case for Zack is extensive and has been covered in detail any number of places. But instead of making the case again, I wanted to look back at how other Royals pitchers have fared in Cy Young voting over the last 40 years. Here is a breakdown of every Royals pitcher to ever finish in the Cy Young Award Top 5:

 

Year	Place	Pitcher	% of Vote	First Votes	Winner
1972	Fifth	Dick Drago	1%	0	Gaylord Perry
1977	Fourth	Dennis Leonard	32%	5	Sparky Lyle
1980	Fifth	Dan Quisenberry	5%	0	Steve Stone
1982	Third	Dan Quisenberry	29%	4	Pete Vukovich
1983	Second	Dan Quisenberry	58%	9	LaMarr Hoyt
1984	Second	Dan Quisenberry	51%	9	Willie Hernandez
1985	First	Bret Saberhagen	91%	23	Bret Saberhagen
1988	Third	Mark Gubicza	19%	0	Frank Viola
1989	First	Bret Saberhagen	99%	27	Bret Saberhagen
1993	Third	Kevin Appier	21%	1	Jack McDowell
1994	First	David Cone	71%	15	David Cone

 

Just A Bit More: Closers do not get nearly the support in Cy Young voting these days – but they did back in 1970’s and 80’s. Willie Hernandez won both the Cy Young and MVP Awards with the Tigers in 1984 with 32 saves (1.92 ERA) – 32 saves would have placed sixth in the American League in 2008.

Quiz actually had a better season the year before in 1983 when he set the then MLB record with 45 saves (1.94 ERA) but finished second to LaMarr Hoyt of the White Sox. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim reliever Francisco Rodriguez set the save record with 62 in 2008 and finished no better than third. Consider that the Yankees Mariano Rivera has never won a Cy Young (or come that close really – 2nd in 2005 with only 8 first place votes), and I’m guessing it’s darn near impossible for a closer to get that recognition anymore. Congratulations Guillermo Hernandez! 

(Curt Nelson, Director – Royals Hall of Fame)