With Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia putting up consecutive Cy Young Award seasons, we are reminded how long it’s been since the Indians have had dominant pitchers. The only other Indians pitcher to win the honor was Gaylord Perry in 1972.
Keep in mind, however, baseball did not start handing out the Cy Young Award until 1956, when only one pitcher was honored, the best in all of baseball. It wasn’t until 1967 that the award was expanded to include one pitcher in each league.
Too bad the idea was not adopted a few decades earlier. Bob Feller would need an extra wing on his Gates Mills house to display all his trophies.
Feller, who turned 90 on Nov. 3, would have won six Cy Young Awards, the same as Roger Clemens, except that Feller didn’t do it on steroids, as some think Clemens did. I’ve heard Feller declare that his performance-enhancing drug was milk. Feller’s picture also was seen on “Wheaties” boxes.
So I’m going to present him the six Cy Young Awards he should have received. Since I’m the only one voting, it’s unanimous.
Feller would have won three Cy Youngs before World War II and three after the war. WW II comes into play because Feller was the first big leaguer to sign up after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He spent almost four solid years in the Navy, which probably denied him 100 victories, not to mention a couple more Cy Young Awards.
He would have won three straight Cy Youngs from
1939-41 with records of 24-9, 27-11 and 25-13. Each year he led the league in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched. He either won the ERA crown or was in the top three each year. His closest challenger in 1939 was Red Ruffing of the Yankees at 21-7. In 1940, the only other candidate was Bobo Newsom of Detroit at 21-5. In 1941, only Thornton Lee of the White Sox was close at 22-11.
After the war, Feller opened the 1946 season with a no-hitter and dueled Hal Newhouser of the Tigers from beginning to end. They tied for the league lead in victories. Feller was
26-15, Newhouser was 26-9. Newhouser’s ERA was a fraction better, 1.94 to 2.18. But Feller, as usual, was the superior workhorse, and it’s on that basis that I give Feller the edge.
Sit down before reading this. Feller threw 36 complete games and had 10 shutouts. When Feller pitched, the bullpen knew they had the day off.
In 1947, he led the league in wins again at 20-11 and was third in ERA. Nobody else gets a mention.
It would have been an interesting election in 1951. Feller led in victories at 22-8 but he would have been pressed by two Yankee pitchers — Ed Lopat, 21-9, and Vic Raschi, 21-10. As usual, my vote goes to Feller because he outworked everybody else.
To be honest, against today’s powerful batting orders, I don’t think Feller could throw a complete game. He probably wouldn’t last seven innings. But that’s not bad for a guy 90 years old.
If anybody wants to order six replicas of the Cy Young Award, I’ll cover the presentation.
Dan Coughlin is a columnist for The Chronicle-Telegram and a sportscaster for Channel 8. Contact him at ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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