MLB

Cy Young Award: History, records and winners by year

The most desired award for a pitcher that is given during each season to the best arm of each league, American and National. The history behind this award is interesting, and only two players have won the award more than twice in a row.

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By richard tovar

April 11, 2022 02:09PM EDT

The Cy Young Award is given to the two best pitchers in Major League Baseball since 1967, but before that year the award was given only to the best overall pitcher in the MLB. Few pitchers have had the joy of winning the Cy Young Award twice in a row.

The first Cy Young winner was Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers with a record of 27 wins and only 7 losses and a 3.06 ERA. Newcombe also played in the Negro League with the Newark Eagles before joining Major League Baseball in 1949.

The Dodgers, Brooklyn or Los Angeles, are the most dominant team in the Cy Young Award as they have the most pitchers who were awarded the Cy Young title with a total of 12 awards, no other team is close to double digits.

Why is it called Cy Young Award?

The award is named after one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball in the United States, Denton True “Cy” Young. He played for the Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Perfectos, Boston Americans, and Boston Rustlers.

Who is the player with the most Cy Young Awards?

Roger Clemens playing for Yankees

Roger Clemens is the MLB player with a record seven Cy Young Awards (1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004). The other player with a large number of awards is Randy Johnson with 5 awards and third on the list are Steve Carlton and Greg Maddux with 4 each.

Only two active players, Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, are relatively close to Clemens’ record with three Cy Young Awards each. Most of the other players on the list are either retired or way off Clemens’ record.

Who has won the Cy Young Award in a row?

Koufax playing for Dodgers

Sandy Koufax was the first to establish that record by winning two consecutive Cy Young Awards in 1965 and 1966. The second to win the award twice in a row was Jim Palmer (1975 and 1976), other players who did the same was Roger Clemens (first double 1986, 1987, second double 1997, 1998), Pedro Martinez ( 1999 and 2000), Lincecum (2008, 2009), Kershaw (2013, 2014), Scherzer (2016, 2017) and deGrom (2018, 2019).

Other players set literally unbreakable Cy Young Award records by winning the award three or more times in a row: Greg Maddux (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) and Randy Johnson (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002).

ListofCy Young Award winners in the American League

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA	K’s
1967	Jim Lonborg	Boston Red Sox	22–9	0	3.16	246
1968	Denny McLain	Detroit Tigers	31–6	0	1.96	280
1969	Mike Cuellar	Baltimore Orioles	23–11	0	2.38	182
1969	Denny McLain	Detroit Tigers	24–9	0	2.80	181
1970	Jim Perry	Minnesota Twins	24–12	0	3.04	168
1971	Vida Blue	Oakland Athletics	24–8	0	1.82	301
1972	Gaylord Perry	Cleveland Indians	24–16	1	1.92	234
1973	Jim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	22–9	1	2.40	168
1974	Catfish Hunter	Oakland Athletics	25–12	0	2.49	143
1975	Jim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	23–11	1	2.09	193
1976	Jim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	22–13	0	2.51	159
1977	Sparky Lyle	New York Yankees	13–5	26	2.17	68
1978	Ron Guidry	New York Yankees	25–3	0	1.74	248
1979	Mike Flanagan	Baltimore Orioles	23–9	0	3.08	190
1980	Steve Stone	Baltimore Orioles	25–7	0	3.23	149
1981	Rollie Fingers	Milwaukee Brewers	6–3	28	1.04	61
1982	Pete Vuckovich	Milwaukee Brewers	18–6	0	3.34	105
1983	LaMarr Hoyt	Chicago White Sox	24–10	0	3.66	148
1984	Willie Hernández	Detroit Tigers	9–3	32	1.92	112
1985	Bret Saberhagen	Kansas City Royals	20–6	0	2.87	158
1986	Roger Clemens	Boston Red Sox	24–4	0	2.48	238
1987	Roger Clemens	Boston Red Sox	20–9	0	2.97	256
1988	Frank Viola	Minnesota Twins	24–7	0	2.64	193
1989	Bret Saberhagen	Kansas City Royals	23–6	0	2.16	193
1990	Bob Welch	Oakland Athletics	27–6	0	2.95	127
1991	Roger Clemens	Boston Red Sox	18–10	0	2.62	241
1992	Dennis Eckersley	Oakland Athletics	7–1	51	1.91	93
1993	Jack McDowell	Chicago White Sox	22–10	0	3.37	158
1994	David Cone	Kansas City Royals	16–5	0	2.94	132
1995	Randy Johnson	Seattle Mariners	18–2	0	2.48	294
1996	Pat Hentgen	Toronto Blue Jays	20–10	0	3.22	177
1997	Roger Clemens	Toronto Blue Jays	21–7	0	2.05	292
1998	Roger Clemens	Toronto Blue Jays	20–6	0	2.65	271
1999	Pedro Martínez	Boston Red Sox	23–4	0	2.07	313
2000	Pedro Martínez	Boston Red Sox	18–6	0	1.74	284
2001	Roger Clemens	New York Yankees	20–3	0	3.51	213
2002	Barry Zito	Oakland Athletics	23–5	0	2.75	182
2003	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	22–7	0	3.25	204
2004	Johan Santana	Minnesota Twins	20–6	0	2.61	265
2005	Bartolo Colón	Los Angeles Angels	21–8	0	3.48	157
2006	Johan Santana	Minnesota Twins	19–6	0	2.77	265
2007	CC Sabathia	Cleveland Indians	19–7	0	3.21	209
2008	Cliff Lee	Cleveland Indians	22–3	0	2.54	170
2009	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	16–8	0	2.16	242
2010	Félix Hernández	Seattle Mariners	13–12	0	2.27	232
2011	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	24–5	0	2.40	250
2012	David Price	Tampa Bay Rays	20–5	0	2.56	205
2013	Max Scherzer	Detroit Tigers	21–3	0	2.90	240
2014	Corey Kluber	Cleveland Indians	18–9	0	2.44	269
2015	Dallas Keuchel	Houston Astros	20–8	0	2.48	216
2016	Rick Porcello	Boston Red Sox	22–4	0	3.15	189
2017	Corey Kluber	Cleveland Indians	18–4	0	2.25	265
2018	Blake Snell	Tampa Bay Rays	21–5	0	1.89	221
2019	Justin Verlander	Houston Astros	21–6	0	2.58	300
2020	Shane Bieber	Cleveland Indians	8–1	0	1.63	122
2021	Robbie Ray	Toronto Blue Jays	13–7	0	2.84	248
2022	?	?

ListofCy Young Award winners in the National League

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA	K’s
1967	Mike McCormick	San Francisco Giants	22–10	0	2.85	150
1968	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals	22–9	0	1.12	268
1969	Tom Seaver	New York Mets	25–7	0	2.21	208
1970	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals	23–7	0	3.12	274
1971	Ferguson Jenkins	Chicago Cubs	24–13	0	2.77	263
1972	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	27–10	0	1.98	310
1973	Tom Seaver	New York Mets	19–10	0	2.08	251
1974	Mike Marshall	Los Angeles Dodgers	15–12	21	2.42	143
1975	Tom Seaver	New York Mets	22–9	0	2.38	243
1976	Randy Jones	San Diego Padres	22–14	0	2.74	93
1977	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	23–10	0	2.64	198
1978	Gaylord Perry	San Diego Padres	21–6	0	2.73	154
1979	Bruce Sutter	Chicago Cubs	6–6	37	2.22	110
1980	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	24–9	0	2.34	286
1981	Fernando Valenzuela	Los Angeles Dodgers	13–7	0	2.48	180
1982	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	23–11	0	3.11	286
1983	John Denny	Philadelphia Phillies	19–6	0	2.37	139
1984	Rick Sutcliffe	Chicago Cubs	16–1	0	2.69	155
1985	Dwight Gooden	New York Mets	24–4	0	1.53	268
1986	Mike Scott	Houston Astros	18–10	0	2.22	306
1987	Steve Bedrosian	Philadelphia Phillies	5–3	40	2.83	74
1988	Orel Hershiser	Los Angeles Dodgers	23–8	1	2.26	178
1989	Mark Davis	San Diego Padres	4–3	44	1.85	92
1990	Doug Drabek	Pittsburgh Pirates	22–6	0	2.76	131
1991	Tom Glavine	Atlanta Braves	20–11	0	2.55	192
1992	Greg Maddux	Chicago Cubs	20–11	0	2.18	199
1993	Greg Maddux	Atlanta Braves	20–10	0	2.36	197
1994	Greg Maddux	Atlanta Braves	16–6	0	1.56	156
1995	Greg Maddux	Atlanta Braves	19–2	0	1.63	181
1996	John Smoltz	Atlanta Braves	24–8	0	2.94	276
1997	Pedro Martínez	Montreal Expos	17–8	0	1.90	305
1998	Tom Glavine	Atlanta Braves	20–6	0	2.47	157
1999	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	17–9	0	2.49	364
2000	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	19–7	0	2.64	347
2001	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	21–6	0	2.49	372
2002	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	24–5	0	2.32	334
2003	Éric Gagné	Los Angeles Dodgers	2–3	55	1.20	137
2004	Roger Clemens	Houston Astros	18–4	0	2.98	218
2005	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	21–5	0	2.83	213
2006	Brandon Webb	Arizona Diamondbacks	16–8	0	3.10	178
2007	Jake Peavy	San Diego Padres	19–6	0	2.54	240
2008	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18–5	0	2.62	265
2009	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	15–7	0	2.48	261
2010	Roy Halladay	Philadelphia Phillies	21–10	0	2.44	219
2011	Clayton Kershaw	Los Angeles Dodgers	21–5	0	2.28	248
2012	R. A. Dickey	New York Mets	20–6	0	2.73	230
2013	Clayton Kershaw	Los Angeles Dodgers	16–9	0	1.83	232
2014	Clayton Kershaw	Los Angeles Dodgers	21–3	0	1.77	239
2015	Jake Arrieta	Chicago Cubs	22–6	0	1.77	236
2016	Max Scherzer	Washington Nationals	20–7	0	2.96	284
2017	Max Scherzer	Washington Nationals	16–6	0	2.51	268
2018	Jacob deGrom	New York Mets	10–9	0	1.70	269
2019	Jacob deGrom	New York Mets	11–8	0	2.43	255
2020	Trevor Bauer	Cincinnati Reds	5–4	0	1.73	100
2021	Corbin Burnes	Milwaukee Brewers	11–5	0	2.43	234
2022	?	?

Richard Tovar

Richard “Richie” Tovar is a bilingual sports writer with over 13 years of experience and a bachelor’s degree in statistics. Born and raised in Venezuela, Richard has always had a deep connection with American sports, particularly the NFL, which he follows closely and covers extensively, along with College Football. Coming from a baseball-loving country, he also covers MLB every season. Since joining Bolavip US in 2021, Richard has continued to grow as a writer, showcasing his passion for numbers and statistics in many of his articles. Outside of sports, he enjoys programming, nature, going to the gym, and cooking homemade meals.