Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Corey Kluber & Max Scherzer Named 2017 Cy Young Award Recipients

Congratulations are due to the two hurlers deemed best of the best by the Baseball Writers Association of America to-day and thusly honored with this year's Cy Young Awards: Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians and Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals. Representing, natch, the Junior and Senior Circuits, respectively. For the second and third time each and again, respectively.

Humsoever, I must say: not just the best of the best were present and accounted for, at the oddly casual low-production announcements, as Chris Sale 'tweren't and for some reason Luis Severino 'twas. He answered the panel questions in such a way as I'd, well... answer the panel questions -- for we each knew we had the same shot at glory there. Poor kid. The Cy Young Award to me is what I feel the MVP is to many others. This is my personal biggest-deal of the Fantastic Four year-end accolades. If ya ask me -- but ya don't have to -- because I just told ya. My order of preference (are we still allowed preferences these days?) would be Cy Young, MVP, Manager of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. I won't get into why, nor promise to espouse or even recall that order later. But that all did get my word-count up and might just ping some keyword crawlers so's I look nice to Google searches. Baseball MLB Corey Kluber Max Scherzer Cy Young

In this the Year of the Home-run, the award becomes even a bigger deal and thankfully, found itself quite-well represented in and by this pair a' aces. How many years hath we now that could be called that? The Year of the Home-run. Babe Ruth revolutionizing the game and selling out stadiums as Ty Cob cussed and sharpened his cleats to razors. Barry Bonds going up a hat-size and saving the game from MLB and the strike and no World Serious. It's always the long-ball. And apple pie and blue jeans and beauty queens... Baseball MLB Corey Kluber Max Scherzer Cy Young Boy-O, I'm in a mood! I'd do bes' to digress.

Righty C.Kluber earned 28 of 30 first-place votes. This on the back of an American League-leading 18 wins and 2.25 ERA. All that in spite of spending a month on the shelf, licking wounds and collecting dust. All-told he finished with 203-stanzas of work and went a minimum a' six-frames in 25 of 29 starts. Only in this brave new whirled doth that work-rate speak to work-horse, gentlepersons. His five complete games tied him for tops in all the majors. 

The jury is still out on what I'm 'bout to impart, as to whether it's less or more impressive -- but Kluber truly won this award on the sweat a' only one of two brows. Or at least one of two halves. Of the season, to be clear. This award was awarded on the biggest mound turn-around I can recall (please don't ask me what I ate for breakfast). A day post-May Day his earned-run average was 5.06. He toe'd the rubber for just three-innings that day's-go. Then came the stretcher-stretch: a stint on the disabled-list. In his returning June till the 162nd game, he went 15-2 with that 15 being top of the top-class class, as was his 1.62 ERA. Kluber's other Cy Young came three-years ago, he is now the first Cleveland Indigenous People to win the honor twice. 

BoSox south-paw Chris Sale finished first-loser, followed to the line by Damn Yankees righty Luis Severino. It was not a photo-finish twixt place and show, gentlepersons. Interestingly, C.Sale's season was something like Kluber's in-reverse and part of me wondered if that'd lead to splitting the trophy -- but what-have ya done for me lately prevails and truly, what Kluber done lately was splendiferous.

M.Scherzer won the honors for the first-time as a member of the Detroit Tigers back in 2013. Most recently, he won last-year which is literally, most recently. Scherzer won going away over the innings-lacking trolley-Dodger Clayton Kershaw and his own Nats stable-mate Stephen "The Orchid" Strasburg. He done-so via securing 27 of 30 first-place votes, which makes either that or the AL's count, seem odd. Regardless, he's now the 10th hurler with at least three Cy Youngs under his belt. I wonder how them Mrs. Youngs feel about that. Baseball MLB Corey Kluber Max Scherzer Cy Young "Woooooo!!!" Ric Flair. 

Scherzer's 268 strike-outs led the NL and his 2.51 ERA ranked second. He too finished fourth in wins with 16. I mean really, does anyone else feel odd about this count? Ne'ertheless, he now hath one more Cy Young Award than eye hue. He has two differently-colored eyes.

Each winner had a rough-spot whenst it mattered most in the post-season, but that ain't incorporated into these votings. Lest S.Strasberg going from "Orchid" to "Succulent" therein may've won him the Cy-nod. Scherzer flung-up his arms at the news of his win and exalted an exclamation on the low-production MLB Network live presentation. Kluber's emotions could not be reached for comment and have not responded to phone-calls at the time of this writing.

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