Quote:
Originally Posted by G1911
Palmer won the ERA crown. I get that people really like Nolan Ryan but I don't see how this was any kind of robbery.
Palmer 2.40 (155 ERA+)
Ryan 2.87 (123 ERA+)
The Cy Young shouldn't always just go to the ERA leader but it's hard to call it a robbery when the guy who won was objectively better at not giving up runs, which is the primary duty of a pitcher. I'd put Blyleven 2nd for 1973.
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ERA and whatever ERA+ is are only ok indicators of how effective a pitcher is.
Comparing average against, they're closer.
Ryan .203
Palmer .211
The exact same percentage of HR, Ryan had about double the percentage of strikeouts, but more walks at 12% to 9.5%
Giving up runs is a team thing, and consider how the Orioles had an excellent fielding team while the Angels had an assortment of marginal players. More errors which of course don't count towards ERA, but it's also probable they simply couldn't make some plays, allowing earned runs on non- error plays where the Orioles would have gotten an out.