The Milwaukee Brewers won their first pennant this year. They were one of the highest scoring teams of the decade, their awesome hitters were complemented by an above-average pitching staff. Pete Vuckovich and Mike Caldwell were the staff leaders, and combined to win 35 games. Veterans Rollie Fingers and Don Sutton also helped. Vuckovich won the Cy Young Award.

        Vuckovich began his career as a reliever with the White Sox in the mid-70's. He emerged as a quality starter with St. Louis, then joined the Brewers in 1981. He won 14 games in the strike-shortened season, which a led the league. He won the Cy Young Award this season, but made only three starts in 1983 before an injury ended his season. Vuckovich missed all of 1984, then made an unsuccessful comeback attempt in 1985.
        Though he pitched well this season, you can tell that Vuckovich was just hanging on. He gave up more than a hit per inning, plus he walked almost as many batters as he struck out, which was uncharacteristic for him. Vuckovich had a solid ERA, but his won-loss record was helped a great deal by the powerful Brewer offense.
         I think the best pitcher in the league was Dave Stieb of the Blue Jays. Stieb began his career three years earlier, when Toronto was the worst team in the league. He quickly established himself as one of the best pitchers in the league, and started the All-Star Game in both 1983 and 1984. This year, Stieb led the AL in innings, complete games and shutouts. His ERA was among the best in the league, and he won only one less game than Vuckovich.
        Stieb pitched for 16 years, including a brief comeback attempt in 1998. He won 177 games, and was an All-Star seven times. He threw a huge number of innings early in his career and hurt his arm, but came back later in the decade to have some outstanding seasons in a more limited role. A back injury in 1991 ended his career prematurely, just as the Jays were on the verge of winning consecutive World Series.
        After Stieb, I think the next best pitcher in the league was Dan Quisenberry, the brilliant reliever with the Royals. I also think that Jim Palmer had a better season than Vuckovich. It was Palmer's last hurrah; he hung around a couple more years before calling it quits. Goose Gossage had one of his best years for the Yankees.
        This wasn't a strong year for starting pitchers, but Stieb, Palmer, Dan Petry and perhaps Rick Sutcliffe all had better seasons than Vuckovich. On the other hand, there were some very strong relief performances. The voters were clearly blinded by Vuckovich's won-loss record, and made a poor choice.