The Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001 on the strength of their two ace pitchers, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. They had two of the most dominant seasons that teammates have ever had, and were co-winners of the World Series MVP Award. But entering the 2002 season, Johnson was 38 years old, Schilling 35. Could these two warhorses do it again?
        As it turned out, the results were almost the same. Randy Johnson won his fifth Cy Young, and his fourth in a row in an Arizona uniform. Teammate Schilling was, again, the runner-up in the vote. All that was missing was the World Series ring — the Diamondbacks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

        For much of the season, Schilling was the sentimental favourite to win the award. Schilling had an incredible start to the year, and had 18 wins before the end of July. When he won his 21st game in August, he had more wins than walks (21 wins, 20 walks). At that point in the season, he was a strong favourite to win his first Cy Young.
        Schilling, however, faltered in the final month of the season. Teammate Johnson was almost as good for the whole season, and was dominant in September. By the time the season was over, there was no doubt that the Big Unit had had the better season; he won his fifth Cy Young, and was a unanimous choice.
        I think that Johnson was clearly the best pitcher in the league, and was deserving of the award. As for Schilling, his ERA ballooned towards the end of the season, and he was only 10th in the league in that department. But only a handful of pitchers had a significantly better ERA than Schilling, and none of them threw as many innings as he did. I think Schilling deserved to be runner-up.
        The Braves' John Smoltz led the league with 55 saves, falling just two short of the record. The Dodgers' Eric Gagne saved 52 games. Smoltz, of course, had been a great starting pitcher for a decade before he missed the 2000 season with elbow surgery. At age 35, he came back in a new role, and had a great season. His ERA was a little high, but was also a little misleading; early in the season, he had a miserable appearance in which he gave up eight runs, but only got one out.
        Smoltz was terrific, and was third in the Cy Young vote. But I think that the best closer in the league was Gagne. He was 26 years old, and had already failed two previous trials as a starting pitcher. The Dodgers, desperate for help in their bullpen, gave Gagne a shot at closing games. He was a classic closer, a power pitcher with great control, a wild haircut and a trademark pair of goggles. He gets my vote behind Schilling.
        A worthy rival for both Gagne and Smoltz was Byung-Hyun Kim of the Diamondbacks. Kim began his career with Arizona when he was 20 years old, and quickly became the ace of their bullpen. At age 22, he was pitching in the limelight of the World Series — and gave up three devastating home runs that cost his team Games Four and Five of that series. The Diamondbacks recovered and won the championship; this year, Kim also recovered, and was one of the best and most durable relievers in the game.
        Another young pitcher who had a tremendous season was Roy Oswalt of Houston. Oswalt pitched brilliantly as a rookie in 2001, and this season was just as good. He established himself as a power pitcher with good control, who could pile on the innings while pitching in a great hitters' park. A good case can be made that Oswalt was as good, or better than, Schilling; I will take him just behind Schilling and Gagne but ahead of Smoltz.