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by kimchi_chigae » Tue Nov 08, 2005 3:03 pm riveira 2nd and santana 3rd.
Colon Article
Colon named AL Cy Young winner
Angels right-hander easily outdistances runner-up Rivera
By Mike Scarr / MLB.com
Bartolo Colon added another piece of hardware to his trophy case Tuesday when he was named the American League's Cy Young honoree.
A clear-cut winner of the award as voted by the Baseball Writers Association of America, Colon was named on all 28 ballots with 17 first-place votes and 11 second-place votes to easily outdistance Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera. Twins left-hander Johan Santana finished third.
Rivera secured eight first-place votes, with Santana getting three. Cliff Lee, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Kevin Millwood rounded out the voting.
Colon, who already this year has been named baseball's top pitcher by The Sporting News and the AL's outstanding pitcher in the Players Choice Awards, won his first Cy Young Award and became the first Angels starter since Dean Chance in 1964 to be so honored.
A strain to the back of his right shoulder forced Colon to leave Game 5 of the ALDS against the Yankees in the second inning, which turned out to be his last appearance of the year. Colon has not begun throwing a ball yet, but he expects to be fully recovered by Spring Training.
The 2005 season was Colon's finest in the big leagues. His 21 wins (against eight losses) led the AL and his 3.48 ERA was eighth-lowest in the league. Colon was fourth in the AL with a .724 winning percentage and he also placed among the league leaders in strikeouts, innings pitched and both road and night earned run average.
"It would be a great honor to win the Cy Young Award, Colon said after his last regular-season start. "It would be an honor for my family and my country."
Colon had posted a 20-win season once before in his career, but never with the same team. In a 2002 campaign split between Cleveland and Montreal, the right-hander won 10 games for each team. His next highest total for wins is 18, which he accumulated with the Indians in 1999 and matched last season, his first with the Angels.
The 21 wins for Colon this season was also the first 20-win campaign by an Angels pitcher since Nolan Ryan went 22-16 in 1974. Clyde Wright, who won 22 games in 1970, shares the franchise wins record with Ryan, but Colon now holds the No. 3 slot among Angels, tying Ryan's 21 wins in 1973.
Colon proved he was the staff ace capably all season and was as equally effective in the first half of the season as he was in the second. He posted an 11-5 record with a 3.42 ERA before the All-Star break and a 10-3 mark with a 3.55 ERA mark afterward.
The 32-year-old proved his value this past season by going 11-2 after an Angels loss, and was at his best in August, when he posted a 5-0 record with a 1.72 ERA in six starts. Colon's presence in the rotation also helped the Angels weather the losses of Kelvim Escobar and Jarrod Washburn to the disabled list for varying periods.
"It was so great to be on the same staff with him," fellow Angels right-hander Paul Byrd said. "It's not just the way he pitched, but the way he goes about his business. I definitely learned a lot from him. He was the best pitcher in the league, if not in baseball, in my opinion. He absolutely deserves the Cy Young Award."
During the 2004 season, Colon suffered from a sore left ankle that contributed to a slow start. Aside from the lower back strain that plagued him over the last month, Colon was injury free in 2005 and did not miss a start.
