Yeah, you can't do too much better than what Gooden did this
year. He is arguably the greatest teen phenom ever to play the
game. Gooden won the Cy Young Award, at the age of 20, and seemed
ready to win many more. But he never did; for the rest of the
decade, Gooden continued to pitch well, but was never as dominant
again. By 1992 he began to have health problems, and his
effectiveness declined rapidly. Then, Gooden's addiction to cocaine
became public. After almost disappearing from the game, Gooden made
a comeback with the Yankees in 1996, and threw a no-hitter. But as
of 1999, his career is still plagued by injuries. Gooden's nickname,
"Doctor K", is still one of my favourites.
Then there is John Tudor. A soft throwing left-hander, Tudor
had been cursed to play in Fenway Park, where left-handers go to
die. This year he made his debut for the St. Louis Cardinals, and
began the year 1-7. Tudor then won 20 of his next 21 decisions, and
had almost as impressive a year as Gooden. In fact, Tudor allowed
fewer baserunners per nine innings, and threw 2 more shutouts. As
well, the Cardinals edged the Mets by one game to win the East
Division.
How about Orel Hershiser? He didn't become really famous for
another three years, but he had a pretty good year as well, going 19-3.
He and teammate Fernando Valenzuela were outstanding, and led the
Dodgers to the Western Division title. And there are some other
interesting years, such as Tom Browning's 20 wins in his rookie
year. Both Rick Reuschel and Bob Welch had impressive ERAs.
For the award, the top three are pretty obvious: Gooden,
Tudor, Hershiser. That's how the voters picked them. Joquain
Andujar finished fourth in the vote, but I have to think that
Valenzuela was better. Fernando had an ERA a run lower than
Andujar's, struck out twice as many batters, and their won-loss
records aren't too different.
