Phenoms Bring Home the Hardware

Written by Ben Pogany Monday, 23 November 2009 09:56

So all of baseball's '09 prizes are in, are perhaps none were more noteworthy than the MVP and Cy Young Awards by Albert Pujols and Tim Lincecum respectively. There was certainly nothing surprising about these selections; the two absolutely dominated from Opening Day on. The astounding part comes when you look at just what company having won multiple awards put them in. Albert is now one of only 10 players in the history of the game to win a third MVP, and he's only 29! He could easily pile on another three or four. He joins the likes of Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Stan Musial, and has all but punched his ticket to Cooperstown before the age of 30. If he's clean, and we're all hoping to death that he is, we could be talking about the greatest right-handed hitter of the modern era.
As for Lincecum, this is his second straight Cy Young, making him one of fifteen players to ever win multiple awards. Now lets consider the fact that he's only 25. Twenty-freakin-five! Barring a catastrophic injury, which is certainly not out of the question given his unorthodox delivery, this kid could rewrite the record books before his time is up. A closer look at the two prizes:

MVP AWARD
Though some form of the MVP award has been unofficially awarded since 1911, it did not come to take its official present form as voted on by the Baseball Writers of America until 1931.
The balloting instructing mailed out to each voter are as follows:
"There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier. The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931:

Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.
Number of games played.
General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.
Former winners are eligible.
Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.

You are also urged to give serious consideration to all your selections, from one to ten. A tenth-place vote can influence the outcome of an election. You must fill in all ten places on your ballot. Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, and that includes pitchers and designated hitters. Only regular-season performances are to be taken into consideration."

Players with 3+ MVP Awards
Barry Bonds (7)
Yogi Berra (3)
Roy Campanella (3)
Joe DiMaggio (3)
Jimmie Foxx (3)
Mickey Mantle (3)
Stan Musial (3)
Alex Rodriguez* (3)
Mike Schmidt (3)
Albert Pujols* (3)

Active winners with a shot at a second MVP: Dustin Pedroia, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer.

CY YOUNG AWARD
The Cy Young Award was named after pitching legend Denton True Young, nicknamed "Cy" for his ability to reach the speeds of a cyclone with his fastball. After Young died in 1955, major league baseball decided to give an award bearing his name to the best pitcher in baseball the following year. Eleven year later, the award was expanded to include a player from both the American and National League.
Representatives from the Baseball Writer's Association of America cast first, second, and third place votes on whom they think is most deserving; the player who receives the highest sum total of points is awarded the prize. (3 for every first place vote, 2 for every second place vote, and 1 for every third place vote)

Multiple Cy Young Award Winners
Roger Clemens (7)
Randy Johnson* (5)
Steve Carlton (4)
Greg Maddux (4)
Sandy Koufax (3)
Pedro Martinez* (3)
Jim Palmer (3)
Tom Seaver (3)
Bob Gibson (2)
Tom Glavine (2)
Tim Lincecum* (2)
Denny McLain (2)
Gaylord Perry (2)
Bret Saberhagen (2)
Johan Santana* (2)

Active winners with a shot at a second Cy Young: Zack Greinke, Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Brandon Webb, Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy.