Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award
| Starting and Relief Pitchers of the Year awards | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Most Outstanding Starting and Relief Pitcher in each League. |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Sporting News |
| First awarded | 1944 |
| Currently held by |
NL – SP Scherzer & RP Jansen AL – SP Kluber & RP Britton |
Sporting News established the Pitcher of the Year Award in 1944. Until the award was replaced by two separate awards in 2013, it was given annually to the pitcher in each league having the most outstanding season. No awards were given in 1946 or 1947. This award was established before there was a Cy Young Award. The Cy Young Award is voted by baseball writers from each city, and critics claim the writers who follow a particular team or player throughout a season are naturally disposed to vote for him. Starting in 2013, the Starting Pitcher of the Year Award and Relief Pitcher of the Year Award are given annually to the starting and relief pitchers in each league judged by Sporting News baseball experts as having had the most outstanding season, and is one of the oldest and most prestigious pitching awards in Major League Baseball.
By the Second World War, the Sporting News (formerly TSN, now SN), had been giving Player of the Year and Manager of the Year awards since 1936, and an annual Most Valuable Player Award since 1929. In 1944, the Sporting News inaugurated its Pitcher of the Year Award, which has been given each year since to the most outstanding pitcher in each league, with a brief hiatus from 1946–47. Beginning in 2013, the Sporting News issues two awards per league—one to the most outstanding starting pitcher, and one to the most outstanding reliever.
Hal Newhouser (W-L: 26–9, ERA: 1.94, Ks: 275) could have narrowly won the award or tied with Bob Feller (W-L: 26–15, ERA: 2.18, Ks: 348) for a third time in 1946 based upon his statistics. The AL youngest is very close between Dean Chance (born June 1) and Hal Newhouser (born May 20) with only 12 days difference.
Listed below in chronological order are the American League Pitchers chosen by Sporting News as recipients of the Pitcher of the Year Award.
Listed below in chronological order are the National League Pitchers chosen by Sporting News as recipients of the Pitcher of the Year Award.
Several players have won the Pitcher of the Year Award more than once. Bob Lemon was the first player to win the award 3 times. Warren Spahn was the first to win the award 4 times and won his last award at the age of 40 years. Roger Clemens was the first to win the award 5 times. Sandy Koufax (1963–1966) and Greg Maddux (1992–1995) have won the award 4 consecutive years. Pedro Martínez, Roy Halladay, Vida Blue, Zack Greinke and Max Scherzer have won the award in the National League and American League. Joe Niekro, Wilbur Wood and R.A. Dickey are knuckleball pitchers that have won the Pitcher of the Year Award.
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