1940 AL Mathewson Award

The Tigers won the pennant, edging out the Indians by one game. The key game was in the final week, when Tiger pitcher Floyd Giebel (who?), a kid who had hardly pitched during the year, shut out the Indians and beat ace Bob Feller to clinch the pennant.
Despite the disappointment of the final week, Feller was still the AL's best pitcher, as he won the Triple Crown in one of his best seasons.

1940 American League Pitchers

		WN	LS	GP	GS	CG	SH	SV	IP	HIT	BB	SO	ERA
B FELLER	CLE	27	11	43	37	31	4	4	320	245	118	261	262
B NEWSOM	DET	21	5	36	34	20	3	0	264	235	100	164	283
S ROWE	DET	16	3	27	23	11	1	0	169	170	43	61	346
A MILNAR	CLE	18	10	37	33	15	4	3	242	242	99	99	327
J RIGNEY	CHI	14	18	39	33	19	2	3	281	240	90	141	311
T BRIDGES	DET	12	9	29	28	12	2	0	198	171	88	133	336
E SMITH	CHI	14	9	32	28	12	0	0	207	179	95	119	322
K CHASE	WAS	15	17	35	34	20	1	0	262	260	143	129	323
E AUKER	STL	16	11	38	35	20	2	0	264	299	96	78	396

         Bobo Newsom of the Tigers had his best year, and is a clear runner-up for the award. Tommy Bridges and Schoolboy Rowe also pitched for the Tigers, giving them a very strong staff. Bridges had a better ERA and more innings, but you have to like Rowe's won-loss record.
        A few words about Bobo Newsom. His nickname isn't very flattering; his real name was Louis, and he apparently was also known as "Buck", but Bobo is the name that has endured. He was a good pitcher, and had an epic career, if not always in a good way. He made his debut in 1929 with Brooklyn, and lost all three games he appeared in. He appeared in a grand total of three games over the next four years, and by age 27 was still without a victory in the majors.
        Finally, in 1934, Newsom got a real chance, albeit with the pitiful St. Louis Browns. Newsom was a workhorse for the Browns that year, as he was most of his 20-year career. He pitched well, but lost 20 games. In September of 1934, Newsom threw a nine-inning no-hitter, but lost on a hit in the tenth. He was well on his way, though, to winning 211 games in his career - and losing 222. Incredibly, Newsom was traded eight times in mid-season, which I think must be a record. He was a member of the Washington Senators on five different occasions, and played on a total of nine different teams. Three times he won 20 games in a season, and three times he lost 20 games. And like I said, he was a good pitcher more often than not, a power pitcher with control problems, who had a strange and amusing career.
        Johnny Rigney had a great year in all facets of the game except wins. This was his best year. Al Milnar didn't have numbers as nice as Rigney's, but they were still pretty good, and his won-loss record was a lot better.