The Cy-pothetical Young Award: 1912-1945

[cjedmonton]

In the “greatest lefty of all time” thread, I suggested a poll where we can "vote" for retroactive Cy Young Award winners pre-1956 (1st year of the award).

Actually running a poll over multiple years/threads is way too chaotic, but who are your top candidates from any year of choice?

Let's focus on 1912-1945 (the year after Cy retired through the end of WWII).

For an added challenge:

- Try to pick a year in which a pitcher did not win an MVP
- Try to pick a winner from the AL and NL (like it has been since 1967)

[Casey2296]

Walter Johnson. If he would've played on a good team he would have more wins than Cy himself.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

Walter Johnson. If he would've played on a good team he would have more wins than Cy himself.

His Career Shutout total is one of the most impressive records in baseball history. Even without a good team behind him, WaJo was superb.

[DeanH3]

I believe Johnson also holds the record for most 1-0 losses. On a decent team, Johnson could very well have been the wins leader. Or come extremely close.

[G1911]

To get Walter to the wins lead he’d need 95 wins. If we give him 95 wins, and deduct 95 losses, he’d be 512-184. That’s a winning percentage that seems unlikely even for Walter on the best teams. Young just pitched so many innings that I don’t think any team change would take his title away and give it to any other pitcher.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by G1911

To get Walter to the wins lead he’d need 95 wins. If we give him 95 wins, and deduct 95 losses, he’d be 512-184. That’s a winning percentage that seems unlikely even for Walter on the best teams. Young just pitched so many innings that I don’t think any team change would take his title away and give it to any other pitcher.

Could he have won 4.5 games a year instead of lost? Seems plausible with a good team behind him.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by G1911

To get Walter to the wins lead he’d need 95 wins. If we give him 95 wins, and deduct 95 losses, he’d be 512-184. That’s a winning percentage that seems unlikely even for Walter on the best teams. Young just pitched so many innings that I don’t think any team change would take his title away and give it to any other pitcher.

Admitting to some prejudice on the matter, I've never understood how Cy Young--one of the all-time great pitchers, without question--gets a pass on his first ten seasons taking place in the 19th century. If you're going to assign a starting date for "modern" baseball, 1901 and the beginning of the two major leagues would seem to be a logical choice. We don't give Hoss Radbourn the record for wins at 59 or Will White the record for complete games at 75, because the game was too different when they pitched. Even the rules hadn't solidified: the distance from the rubber to the plate was 50 feet through 1893. If you start in 1901, the record book for career pitching feats looks quite different. Are there any other baseball records accepted from the 19th century? If not, why are those? I suppose the answer would be that Young proved himself a great pitcher in the 20th century, also, but is that enough?

[Baseball Rarities]

Originally Posted by DeanH3

I believe Johnson also holds the record for most 1-0 losses. On a decent team, Johnson could very well have been the wins leader. Or come extremely close.

Yes, holds the record. He lost 26 1-0 games

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Eric72

His Career Shutout total is one of the most impressive records in baseball history. Even without a good team behind him, WaJo was superb.

+1 Agree.

And interesting his cards seems to be under appreciated also.
Perhaps also because not playing on good teams.

[OldOriole]

1912 - Walter Johnson
1913 - Babe Adams (I would pick Walter Johnson, but he won the 1913 MVP)
1914 - Walter Johnson
1915 - Walter Johnson
1916 - Pete Alexander
1917 - Ed Cicotte
1918 - Walter Johnson
1919 - Walter Johnson
1920 - Pete Alexander
1921 - Red Faber
1922 - Red Faber
1923 - Dolf Luque
1924 - Howard Ehmke (I would pick Dazzy Vance, but he won the 1924 MVP)
1925 - Bullet Rogan (what a year! he was 15-2 with a 1.74 ERA)
1926 - George Uhle
1927 - Ted Lyons
1928 - Dazzy Vance
1929 - Lefty Grove
1930 - Lefty Grove
1931 - Wes Ferrell (I would pick Lefty Grove, but he won the 1931 MVP)
1932 - Lefty Grove
1933 - Lon Warneke (I would pick Carl Hubbell, but he won the 1933 MVP)
1934 - Slim Jones (I would pick Dizzy Dean, but he won the 1934 MVP)
1935 - Wes Ferrell
1936 - Lefty Grove
1937 - Lefty Grove
1938 - Bill Lee
1939 - Bob Feller (I would pick Bucky Walters, but he won the 1939 MVP)
1940 - Bob Feller
1941 - Thornton Lee
1942 - Tex Hughson (I would pick Mort Cooper, but he won the 1942 MVP)


Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove really stand out.

[cjedmonton]

Originally Posted by OldOriole

1912 - Walter Johnson
1913 - Babe Adams (I would pick Walter Johnson, but he won the 1913 MVP)
1914 - Walter Johnson
1915 - Walter Johnson
1916 - Pete Alexander
1917 - Ed Cicotte
1918 - Walter Johnson
1919 - Walter Johnson
1920 - Pete Alexander
1921 - Red Faber
1922 - Red Faber
1923 - Dolf Luque
1924 - Howard Ehmke (I would pick Dazzy Vance, but he won the 1924 MVP)
1925 - Bullet Rogan (what a year! he was 15-2 with a 1.74 ERA)
1926 - George Uhle
1927 - Ted Lyons
1928 - Dazzy Vance
1929 - Lefty Grove
1930 - Lefty Grove
1931 - Wes Ferrell (I would pick Lefty Grove, but he won the 1931 MVP)
1932 - Lefty Grove
1933 - Lon Warneke (I would pick Carl Hubbell, but he won the 1933 MVP)
1934 - Slim Jones (I would pick Dizzy Dean, but he won the 1934 MVP)
1935 - Wes Ferrell
1936 - Lefty Grove
1937 - Lefty Grove
1938 - Bill Lee
1939 - Bob Feller (I would pick Bucky Walters, but he won the 1939 MVP)
1940 - Bob Feller
1941 - Thornton Lee
1942 - Tex Hughson (I would pick Mort Cooper, but he won the 1942 MVP)


Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove really stand out.

Great list, and agree with Grove in particular…except 1937. Really seems like the other HoF Lefty would have gotten the nod that year. He almost runs the table on Grove.

https://stathead.com/baseball/player...om=1937&type=p