It is hardly a surprise that Clayton Kershaw was the NL Cy Young Award winner for 2011. After all, not only did the Dodgers lefty win the pitching triple crown (21 wins, 2.28 ERA, 248 strikeouts), but also he allowed just 6.7 hits per nine innings with an 0.97 WHIP.
That means not only did Kershaw beat you, he barely allowed you on base.
The interesting part about the 2011 NL Cy Young Award balloting isnt that Kershaw won. Instead, its interesting that the Phillies had the No. 2 and 3 finishers in the voting with Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee rounding out the top three.
Cole Hamels was fifth in the voting to give the Phillies three out of the top five spots.
For the Phillies, it is the first time they had two finishers in the top five since 1980 when Steve Carlton won the Cy Young and Tug McGraw came in fifth. The last time any team had three pitchers in the top five of the voting was in 2005 when the Astros Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte got the votes.
Needless to say, two finishers in the top three is hardly unprecedented. Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright did it in 2009; Clemens and Oswalt in 2005 and 2004; and Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling of the Diamondbacks were the top two finishers in 2002 and 2001. Rounding out the decade is Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux of the Braves in the top three in 2000.
So, how many of those teams won the World Series?
MLB
Try one. Only Johnson and Schilling in 2001 won the World Series in seven games over the Yankees. Meanwhile, the 2005 Astros made it to the series and were swept by the White Sox. Shoot, the 2009 Cardinals were swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS.
So maybe it isnt about the pitching? Or, maybe winning the World Series isnt about placing high in the award voting. The last time the World Series champion also had the Cy Young Award winner was a decade ago with Johnson.
The voting:
1st2nd3rd4th5thPointsClayton Kershaw, Dodgers2732207Roy Halladay, Phillies4217133Cliff Lee, Phillies5179190Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks13618376Cole Hamels, Phillies21317Tim Lincecum, Giants157Yovani Gallardo, Brewers135Matt Cain, Giants113John Axford, Brewers22Craig Kimbrel, Braves22Madison Bumgarner, Giants11Ryan Vogelsong, Giants11