Bret Saberhagen was a brilliant young pitcher, but he had a habit of having his best seasons in odd-numbered years. In 1985, he won the Cy Young Award. After a losing season in 1986, Saberhagen had another outstanding year in 1987. Then came another losing season in 1988.
         This year, Saberhagen again rebounded. He had the best year of his career, and perhaps the best season by any AL pitcher of the 1980's. It didn't do his team much good; the Royals finished well behind the mighty Oakland Athletics. Though Saberhagen became notorious for his odd-year streak, the pattern eventually ran dry; Saberhagen's best years of the 1990's were 1994 and 1998, both even years.

         The runners-up in the vote were Oakland teammates Dave Stewart and Mike Moore. Though Stewart got more votes, I think Moore was better. Moore had been a fine young pitcher for Seattle, at a time when Seattle was the last place a fine young pitcher wanted to be. After a series of losing seasons, Moore finally ended up in Oakland, and had the best season of his career.
         I would also place Stewart behind Bert Blyleven, who had yet another comeback. Blyleven was 38 years old, and had arguably the best season of his career. His wonderful season put Blyleven within striking distance of 300 wins, but he would fall just short. Injuries the next three years eventually brought his long career to an end, and he finished with 287 career victories.
         To be honest, I just don't think that Stewart had a Cy Young-calibre year. He was good, but his ERA wasn't impressive, and he gave up more than a hit per inning. This, despite pitching for a great team in a great pitcher's park. Stewart gets extra marks for endurance and tenacity, but I can't place him among the top four; instead, I'll take Nolan Ryan, who made a triumphant return to the American League. Ryan was 42 years old; he was the toughest pitcher in the league to hit, and he set a new AL record for strikeouts per nine innings (11.32, to be exact). Unlike Blyleven, Ryan would last long enough to get 300 wins, reaching the mark in 1990.