RedsManRick
03-05-2007, 10:42 PM
From Jason Stark on ESPN
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2007/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2788301&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1
Maybe if he'd only led the league in strikeouts (with 216, in 234 1/3 IP), we could understand. But he also tied for the lead in wins, with 16. And history tells us it's almost impossible to pull off that daily double without generating some monstrous buzz.
Unless your name is Aaron Harang, that is.
Since the invention of the Cy Young Award in 1956, every pitcher who led the National League in both of those categories won the Cy Young (11 of them in a row). But boy, did Harang ever screw up that trend.
How close did he come to winning last year's Cy Young? Well, let's put it this way: He missed by one vote …
Of even getting a vote.
Did Harang deserve the Cy Young last year? Not by my estimation. But from the people who gave the award to Bartolo Colon over Johan Santana in 2005, this is pretty damning evidence that award voting should not be a function of the media. Market size bias runs hard and deep.
Then again, "Who" could almost be Harang's unofficial last name. For instance, here's the complete list of NL pitchers who have led the league in both wins and whiffs in the past 50 years: Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, Dwight Gooden, Steve Carlton (three times), Tom Seaver, Sandy Koufax (three times), Don Drysdale and … Aaron Harang.
Again, I know wins and strikeouts aren't the best measurement of "the best" pitcher. But just try to give me a reason why Harang got so jobbed without talking about media bias.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2007/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2788301&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1
Maybe if he'd only led the league in strikeouts (with 216, in 234 1/3 IP), we could understand. But he also tied for the lead in wins, with 16. And history tells us it's almost impossible to pull off that daily double without generating some monstrous buzz.
Unless your name is Aaron Harang, that is.
Since the invention of the Cy Young Award in 1956, every pitcher who led the National League in both of those categories won the Cy Young (11 of them in a row). But boy, did Harang ever screw up that trend.
How close did he come to winning last year's Cy Young? Well, let's put it this way: He missed by one vote …
Of even getting a vote.
Did Harang deserve the Cy Young last year? Not by my estimation. But from the people who gave the award to Bartolo Colon over Johan Santana in 2005, this is pretty damning evidence that award voting should not be a function of the media. Market size bias runs hard and deep.
Then again, "Who" could almost be Harang's unofficial last name. For instance, here's the complete list of NL pitchers who have led the league in both wins and whiffs in the past 50 years: Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, Dwight Gooden, Steve Carlton (three times), Tom Seaver, Sandy Koufax (three times), Don Drysdale and … Aaron Harang.
Again, I know wins and strikeouts aren't the best measurement of "the best" pitcher. But just try to give me a reason why Harang got so jobbed without talking about media bias.