Clayton Kershaw wins National League 2011 CY Young Award – MLB News
Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers attributed unlimited qualities to pitch in the strike zone this season, which enabled him to be named the National League Cy Young Award winner, voted by the selected members of Baseball Writers Association of America
on Thursday, November 17.
Out of balloting panel of 32 selected members, Kershaw got 27 first place votes and three second place while only two for third place. Accumulating all the points gave the left-hander a total of 207. Philadelphia Phillies’ Roy Halladay was spotted on the
second place while the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ian Kennedy was given third place. Halladay got four first place votes and earned 133 points, 74 less than the Clayton Kershaw earned.
"You never think you'll get to do, or win something like that," Kershaw said."It's just so special and I'm not taking it for granted. I'm just soaking it all in right now."
Having been nominated for the Award, Kershaw became the first Dodgers’ starter to get such an honour since Orel Hershiser in 1988 and the first Dodgers’ pitcher to get this award since Eric Gagne in 2003.
“Throwing strikes is an important part of it for me,” he said. “Being in the league three or four years and gaining consistency and experience has made me more confident throwing in the strike zone. The other part is being able to throw off-speed pitches
for strikes.”
This past season, 23-year-old Kershaw tossed an unmatchable performance, getting second highest 23 wins in NL and losing only five games. Kershaw also got the second spot both in ERA with 2.28 and in strike-outs with 248. Kershaw got his name in the All-Star
for the first time in his career and helped NL to get a victory with his perfect five innings.
Kershaw started his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008, when he made his thrilling debut on May 25, against the St. Louis Cardinals, in which he struck-out seven batters over his two-run six innings. On the day of his debut, Kershaw was the youngest
player in Major League Baseball.
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