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Friday, November 14, 2008

Washington Times: Loverro: A vote for Roy Halladay

According to the Associated Press, Lee “was a heavy favorite to win...the only question seemed to be whether the vote was unanimous.” It wasn’t. Lee received 24 of 28 first place votes, meaning that four voters didn’t vote for Lee for the Cy Young.

I was one of the four who didn’t. It was far from a clear-cut choice, from my point of view. Lee is obviously deserving of the award, and I have no problem with him winning it. He had a remarkable season, going 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA. He was second on my ballot. But Halladay’s complete game numbers blew me away.

In this day and age, to have nine complete games deserves some kind of its own award. That meant his manager didn’t have to go to the bullpen for nine games this past season. That is extremely valuable to me, as well as his 246 innings pitched that led the American League. He also led the league in strikeouts with 206, and led the majors with a 1.05 number for walks and hits to innings pitched.

Hey, Loverro...get off that Unifictionism site and head over to Baseball-Reference. Halladay finished 3rd in strikeouts.

Repoz Posted: November 14, 2008 at 04:36 PM | 12 comment(s)
Related News: General, Cleveland, Toronto, Awards

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1. Bob "Jugement" Dernier Posted: November 14, 2008 at 05:01 PM (#3009505)

He had the most strikeouts of anybody in the league who had 206 strikeouts.

2. Greg K Posted: November 14, 2008 at 05:04 PM (#3009510)

It is kind of funny Halladay's IP. 23 more than the 2nd place guy (Lee). It's almost like he started 3 more games than anyone else in the league.

3. Halofan Posted: November 14, 2008 at 05:05 PM (#3009516)

A vote from the Washington Times is a vote from Sun Myung Moon.

4. bibigon Posted: November 14, 2008 at 05:07 PM (#3009519)

It is kind of funny Halladay's IP. 23 more than the 2nd place guy (Lee). It's almost like he started 3 more games than anyone else in the league.

Is the implication that he doesn't deserve credit for this?

I would have voted for Halladay.

5. Best Dressed Chicken in Town Posted: November 14, 2008 at 05:09 PM (#3009522)

I thought there was supposed to be 2 voters from each league city. How does a DC writer get to vote for the AL CYA? Does he cover Baltimore? Or is this Seattle, WA? I can't tell.

6. Ryan Jones Posted: November 14, 2008 at 05:12 PM (#3009526)

It is kind of funny Halladay's IP. 23 more than the 2nd place guy (Lee). It's almost like he started 3 more games than anyone else in the league.

He only started two more games than Lee - Halladay's 34 appearances included a relief outing.

One thing which I do think is important to note in favor of Halladay - he only had one start this year in which he went less than 6 innings, and he went 5 in that. As a result, a start from Halladay almost always meant that the bullpen was going to have a chance to do at least a bit of resting.

Now, with that being said, and with me being a huge Halladay fan, Lee still deserved to win the Cy Young.

7. The Joe Mauer Power Hour (kj) Posted: November 14, 2008 at 05:53 PM (#3009557)

I thought there was supposed to be 2 voters from each league city. How does a DC writer get to vote for the AL CYA? Does he cover Baltimore? Or is this Seattle, WA? I can't tell.

The paper is from DC. I don't have an answer for the rest of your question.

8. Eric P. Posted: November 14, 2008 at 06:08 PM (#3009572)

It is kind of funny Halladay's IP. 23 more than the 2nd place guy (Lee). It's almost like he started 3 more games than anyone else in the league.

I don't think Greg was being sarcastic here, he was just stating how impressive Halladay's IP/G number is. Doc tied with a whole bunch of other pitchers for the 2nd most starts in the AL this year.

Lee's IP/G is nearly the same, it's just the two fewer starts (and three fewer appearances) that lead to the difference in their IP totals.

9. Greg K Posted: November 14, 2008 at 06:49 PM (#3009601)

Yeah, sorry if that was unclear...I'm a Jays fan and a huge Halladay supporter (though I think Lee is a fine choice for Cy Young).

The implication I was trying to make is that more IP = more value

10. Eric J Posted: November 14, 2008 at 07:43 PM (#3009621)

I thought there was supposed to be 2 voters from each league city. How does a DC writer get to vote for the AL CYA? Does he cover Baltimore? Or is this Seattle, WA? I can't tell.

I believe Robothal has mentioned previously that he's a member of the Baltimore-DC chapter of the BBWAA. So yes, approximately.

11. enochroot Posted: November 14, 2008 at 09:05 PM (#3009651)

The real question is: Who are the four writers that left Halladay off their ballots? Do they watch baseball?

12. mr. man Posted: November 15, 2008 at 12:32 AM (#3009719)

The real question is: Who are the four writers that left Halladay off their ballots? Do they watch baseball?

I can kind of understand the reasoning - they were probably in the group that put k-rod second. The feeling may be that your #3 vote can be used to credit a guy you may think deserves an honourable mention, so if you have Lee-Rodriguez already, I can see writers saying "yes, strictly speaking, halladay should be on there but i'd like to give ervin santana some notice".

I don't really have a problem with writers giving their 3rd place vote to a local favourite...it may be an argument for an expansion of the CYA ballots to 5 spots, though.

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Friday, November 14, 2008

Washington Times: Loverro: A vote for Roy Halladay

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