After a season full of dominating hitters, Clayton Kershaw dominated something one last time: first place ballots.
Kershaw was named the National League's Cy Young Award winner on Thursday. He received 27 out of a possible 32 first place votes, which put him well ahead of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Ian Kennedy. He's the first Dodger to claim the prestigious award since Eric Gagne in 2003, and first starting pitcher since Orel Hershiser in 1988.
The reason for winning is simple: he started the year off hot, and only got better in the heat of the summer. He ended up 21-5 with a 2.28 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 278 strikeouts in 233 1/3 innings pitched. Those numbers were good enough to win the pitching Triple Crown. Heck, he even picked off nine runners, which was a big reason he won the Gold Glove as well.
And let's not forget his continued mastery of Tim Lincecum, the two-time award winner. In head-to-head matchups, Kershaw went 4-0, winning by scores of 2-1, 1-0, 2-1, and 2-1. Those numbers alone showed just how much of a big-game pitcher he's become.
Obviously I'm a Dodger fan, and naturally a big fan of his, but this was absolutely the right call. The Dodgers may have fallen out of the playoff picture much earlier than other teams, but Kershaw still did his thing. In fact, for most of the season, about the only time you really needed to turn on a Dodger game was every fifth day. He was that much fun to watch.
Kershaw has set the bar very high for himself, but the scary part is that he's only 23. Can you imagine what kinds of numbers he'll put up for the next 10 years, and he'll still be in his early 30's? If the two studs from Philadelphia are any indication, he would still have plenty more good years ahead of him even then. Wow, that's just awesome to think about.
Even though the Dodgers went through all sorts of crap on and off the field during the season, the hardware has been flowing in very nicely, which shows they have the young guns to turn things around and fast. Kershaw will lead the way on the mound, with Matt Kemp on the other side. Dodger fans have to feel great about that.
Congratulations one more time to the great Clayton Kershaw, and here's to many more years of brilliance to come!
Kershaw was named the National League's Cy Young Award winner on Thursday. He received 27 out of a possible 32 first place votes, which put him well ahead of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Ian Kennedy. He's the first Dodger to claim the prestigious award since Eric Gagne in 2003, and first starting pitcher since Orel Hershiser in 1988.
The reason for winning is simple: he started the year off hot, and only got better in the heat of the summer. He ended up 21-5 with a 2.28 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 278 strikeouts in 233 1/3 innings pitched. Those numbers were good enough to win the pitching Triple Crown. Heck, he even picked off nine runners, which was a big reason he won the Gold Glove as well.
And let's not forget his continued mastery of Tim Lincecum, the two-time award winner. In head-to-head matchups, Kershaw went 4-0, winning by scores of 2-1, 1-0, 2-1, and 2-1. Those numbers alone showed just how much of a big-game pitcher he's become.
Obviously I'm a Dodger fan, and naturally a big fan of his, but this was absolutely the right call. The Dodgers may have fallen out of the playoff picture much earlier than other teams, but Kershaw still did his thing. In fact, for most of the season, about the only time you really needed to turn on a Dodger game was every fifth day. He was that much fun to watch.
Kershaw has set the bar very high for himself, but the scary part is that he's only 23. Can you imagine what kinds of numbers he'll put up for the next 10 years, and he'll still be in his early 30's? If the two studs from Philadelphia are any indication, he would still have plenty more good years ahead of him even then. Wow, that's just awesome to think about.
Even though the Dodgers went through all sorts of crap on and off the field during the season, the hardware has been flowing in very nicely, which shows they have the young guns to turn things around and fast. Kershaw will lead the way on the mound, with Matt Kemp on the other side. Dodger fans have to feel great about that.
Congratulations one more time to the great Clayton Kershaw, and here's to many more years of brilliance to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment