Winner of 2011 AL Cy Young Award announced: Justin Verlander takes the honours – MLB News
Justin Verlander became the first Detroit Tigers Cy Young winner on Tuesday, November 15, since Guillermo Hernandez in 1984. Having already won Triple Crown in pitching, he was being tipped as the Cy Young winner.
Nonetheless, for the ace pitcher of the Detroit Tigers, it was a monumental event and a distinguished achievement as he got a unanimous vote for the American League Cy Award.
"I've worked extremely hard for this," Verlander said. "You guys know how competitive I am. Looking at the big picture of things, it'd be nice to win some more. But for right now, I've got to be excited about where I'm at.”
Last year it was the Philadelphia Phillies’ Roy Halladay who won this award, prior to whom Jake Peavy had been endowed with this honour. However, Verlander has become the 21st unanimous player to be entitled with this award.
He got every one of the 28 first-place votes for his award. The sum total of these votes makes 196 points. The other pitchers in line were CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees, James Shields of the Tampa Bay Rays and Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels
coupled with that of Jose Valverde.
For Verlander, winning the award might have been a dream. The fact that he won with a unanimous vote is a matter of pride and a distinct honour. He had always dreamt of seeing his favourite Nolan Ryan win this award, but he never did.
The Triple Crown, which consists of wins, earned run average and strike-outs, had already come his way as the icing on the cake was the unanimous vote for the AL Cy Young Award.
"[The unanimous selection] means a lot," Verlander said. "Obviously there haven't been too many people that have gotten a unanimous decision. Last one Johan Santana 2006.”
In the American League, Verlander eclipsed all other peers with a 2.40 ERA, winning no less than 24 games and having led the AL pitching with 251 innings. The last time any AL pitcher had more than 24 wins was Bob Welch in 2007.
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