Roy Halladay wins 2010 National League Cy Young Award
On Tuesday 16 November, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay took home the 2010 National League Cy Young award. Halladay was the unanimous choice of the Baseball Writers Association
of America (BWAA) to take home the award for the best pitcher in the National League.
Halladay is the fifth pitcher to win the award in both the National and American Leagues. His A.L. win came in 2003 with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Cy Young has been awarded annually since
1956. From 1956-66 it was awarded to the single best pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). In 1967 the BWAA began to give the award to one pitcher from each league.
Halladay was traded to the Phillies in December 2009 in a three-way deal. The complicated deal saw the Phillies send three prospects to Toronto for Halladay, Cliff Lee was then moved from
Philadelphia to the Mariners for three Seattle prospects. Halladay signed a contract with Philadelphia before the 2010 season that will pay him $60 million over three seasons.
Halladay told ESPN that he, “was definitely worried about going to a new team,” to start the season and wondered, “how different are the leagues going to be?”
The right-handed pitcher quickly overcame his fears in his first season in the National League, winning 21 games and posting an earned run average of 2.44. His win total put him tied for
first in the MLB, while his E.R.A was fifth best. Halladay also led all of baseball in innings pitched (250), shutouts (4) and complete games (9).
The Phillies pitcher was a dominating force this season, becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to throw a no-hitter and a perfect game in the same season.
With all 32 first place votes going to Halladay, he became the 13th pitcher to win the award unanimously.
The 2010 American League Cy Young award will be presented on Thursday, 18 November.
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