Cy Young Award facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cy Young Award
The 1971 Cy Young Award won by Ferguson Jenkins, on display in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
Sport	Baseball
League	Major League Baseball
Given for	Best regular season pitcher in American League and National League
Country	United States, Canada
Presented by	Baseball Writers' Association of America
History
First award	1956 (Don Newcombe)
Most wins	Roger Clemens (7)
Most recent	Chris Sale (NL) Tarik Skubal (AL)

The Cy Young Award is a special prize given every year to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB). There are two awards given out: one for the American League (AL) and one for the National League (NL). This award started in 1956. It was created by Baseball Commissioner Ford C. Frick to honor Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who had passed away in 1955.

At first, only one Cy Young Award was given to the best pitcher in all of MLB. But starting in 1967, after Commissioner Frick retired, they decided to give an award to the best pitcher in each league. Members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) vote for the winners. These writers choose their top five pitchers before the playoffs begin. The pitcher with the most points wins the award. If there's a tie, both pitchers share the award.

The Story Behind the Award

Cy Young, the legendary pitcher the award is named after.

The Cy Young Award began in 1956 to remember Cy Young, a famous pitcher who died in 1955. For the first few years, from 1956 to 1966, only one award was given for all of Major League Baseball.

After 1966, fans wanted to see an award for each league. So, in 1967, the award was split. Now, there's a Cy Young Award for the American League and one for the National League.

The very first winner of the Cy Young Award was Don Newcombe from the Dodgers. The Dodgers team has won the most Cy Young Awards over the years. In 1963, Sandy Koufax was the first pitcher to win the award with every single vote, meaning all the writers agreed he was the best. He also became the first pitcher to win the award more than once.

Some pitchers have won the award when they were older, like Gaylord Perry at age 40 in 1978, and Roger Clemens at age 42 in 2004. The youngest winners were Dwight Gooden and Fernando Valenzuela, both at age 20. In 2012, R. A. Dickey became the first pitcher who throws a "knuckleball" to win the award.

Relief pitchers, who usually pitch for shorter times at the end of games, have also won the award. Mike Marshall was the first in 1974. Later, Dennis Eckersley in 1992 and Éric Gagné in 2003, who were "closers" (pitchers who finish games), also won.

Some pitchers have won the award many times. Steve Carlton was the first to win more than three. Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson both won four awards in a row, which is a very impressive achievement!

Award Winners

Key

Year	Each year is linked to an article about that Major League Baseball season.
ERA	Earned run average (This shows how many runs a pitcher allows on average per game.)
(#)	Number of wins by pitchers who have won the award multiple times
*	Also named Most Valuable Player (11 occurrences as of 2025[update])
**	Also named Rookie of the Year (1 occurrence as of 2025[update], by Fernando Valenzuela)
	Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (22 individuals as of 2025[update])

Major Leagues Combined (1956–1966)

Don Newcombe, the first ever Cy Young Award winner.

This table shows the winners when only one award was given for all of Major League Baseball.

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA	K's
1956	Newcombe, DonDon Newcombe*	Brooklyn Dodgers (NL)	27–7	0	3.06	139
1957	Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn	Milwaukee Braves (NL)	21–11	3	2.69	111
1958	Turley, BobBob Turley	New York Yankees (AL)	21–7	1	2.97	168
1959	Wynn, EarlyEarly Wynn	Chicago White Sox (AL)	22–10	0	3.17	179
1960	Law, VernVern Law	Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)	20–9	0	3.08	120
1961	Ford, WhiteyWhitey Ford	New York Yankees (AL)	25–4	0	3.21	209
1962	Drysdale, DonDon Drysdale	Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)	25–9	1	2.84	232
1963	Koufax, SandySandy Koufax*	Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)	25–5	0	1.88	306
1964	Chance, DeanDean Chance	Los Angeles Angels (AL)	20–9	4	1.65	207
1965	Koufax, SandySandy Koufax (2)	Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)	26–8	2	2.04	382
1966	Koufax, SandySandy Koufax (3)	Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)	27–9	0	1.73	317

American League Winners (1967–Present)

Tarik Skubal, the 2024 AL winner.

This table lists the pitchers who won the Cy Young Award in the American League.

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA	K's
1967	Lonborg, JimJim Lonborg	Boston Red Sox	22–9	0	3.16	246
1968	McLain, DennyDenny McLain*	Detroit Tigers	31–6	0	1.96	280
1969	Cuellar, MikeMike Cuellar	Baltimore Orioles	23–11	0	2.38	182
1969	McLain, DennyDenny McLain (2)	Detroit Tigers	24–9	0	2.80	181
1970	Perry, JimJim Perry	Minnesota Twins	24–12	0	3.04	168
1971	Blue, VidaVida Blue*	Oakland Athletics	24–8	0	1.82	301
1972	Perry, GaylordGaylord Perry	Cleveland Indians	24–16	1	1.92	234
1973	Palmer, JimJim Palmer	Baltimore Orioles	22–9	1	2.40	168
1974	Hunter, CatfishCatfish Hunter	Oakland Athletics	25–12	0	2.49	143
1975	Palmer, JimJim Palmer (2)	Baltimore Orioles	23–11	1	2.09	193
1976	Palmer, JimJim Palmer (3)	Baltimore Orioles	22–13	0	2.51	159
1977	Lyle, SparkySparky Lyle	New York Yankees	13–5	26	2.17	68
1978	Guidry, RonRon Guidry	New York Yankees	25–3	0	1.74	248
1979	Flanagan, MikeMike Flanagan	Baltimore Orioles	23–9	0	3.08	190
1980	Stone, SteveSteve Stone	Baltimore Orioles	25–7	0	3.23	149
1981	Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers*	Milwaukee Brewers	6–3	28	1.04	61
1982	Vuckovich, PetePete Vuckovich	Milwaukee Brewers	18–6	0	3.34	105
1983	Hoyt, LaMarrLaMarr Hoyt	Chicago White Sox	24–10	0	3.66	148
1984	Hernández, WillieWillie Hernández*	Detroit Tigers	9–3	32	1.92	112
1985	Saberhagen, BretBret Saberhagen	Kansas City Royals	20–6	0	2.87	158
1986	Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens*	Boston Red Sox	24–4	0	2.48	238
1987	Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens (2)	Boston Red Sox	20–9	0	2.97	256
1988	Viola, FrankFrank Viola	Minnesota Twins	24–7	0	2.64	193
1989	Saberhagen, BretBret Saberhagen (2)	Kansas City Royals	23–6	0	2.16	193
1990	Welch, BobBob Welch	Oakland Athletics	27–6	0	2.95	127
1991	Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens (3)	Boston Red Sox	18–10	0	2.62	241
1992	Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley*	Oakland Athletics	7–1	51	1.91	93
1993	McDowell, JackJack McDowell	Chicago White Sox	22–10	0	3.37	158
1994	Cone, DavidDavid Cone	Kansas City Royals	16–5	0	2.94	132
1995	Johnson, RandyRandy Johnson	Seattle Mariners	18–2	0	2.48	294
1996	Hentgen, PatPat Hentgen	Toronto Blue Jays	20–10	0	3.22	177
1997	Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens (4)	Toronto Blue Jays	21–7	0	2.05	292
1998	Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens (5)	Toronto Blue Jays	20–6	0	2.65	271
1999	Martínez, PedroPedro Martínez (2)	Boston Red Sox	23–4	0	2.07	313
2000	Martínez, PedroPedro Martínez (3)	Boston Red Sox	18–6	0	1.74	284
2001	Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens (6)	New York Yankees	20–3	0	3.51	213
2002	Zito, BarryBarry Zito	Oakland Athletics	23–5	0	2.75	182
2003	Halladay, RoyRoy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	22–7	0	3.25	204
2004	Santana, JohanJohan Santana	Minnesota Twins	20–6	0	2.61	265
2005	Colón, BartoloBartolo Colón	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	21–8	0	3.48	157
2006	Santana, JohanJohan Santana (2)	Minnesota Twins	19–6	0	2.77	265
2007	Sabathia, CCCC Sabathia	Cleveland Indians	19–7	0	3.21	209
2008	Lee, CliffCliff Lee	Cleveland Indians	22–3	0	2.54	170
2009	Greinke, ZackZack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	16–8	0	2.16	242
2010	Hernández, FélixFélix Hernández	Seattle Mariners	13–12	0	2.27	232
2011	Verlander, JustinJustin Verlander*	Detroit Tigers	24–5	0	2.40	250
2012	Price, DavidDavid Price	Tampa Bay Rays	20–5	0	2.56	205
2013	Scherzer, MaxMax Scherzer	Detroit Tigers	21–3	0	2.90	240
2014	Kluber, CoreyCorey Kluber	Cleveland Indians	18–9	0	2.44	269
2015	Keuchel, DallasDallas Keuchel	Houston Astros	20–8	0	2.48	216
2016	Porcello, RickRick Porcello	Boston Red Sox	22–4	0	3.15	189
2017	Kluber, CoreyCorey Kluber (2)	Cleveland Indians	18–4	0	2.25	265
2018	Snell, BlakeBlake Snell	Tampa Bay Rays	21–5	0	1.89	221
2019	Verlander, JustinJustin Verlander (2)	Houston Astros	21–6	0	2.58	300
2020	Bieber, ShaneShane Bieber	Cleveland Indians	8–1	0	1.63	122
2021	Ray, RobbieRobbie Ray	Toronto Blue Jays	13–7	0	2.84	248
2022	Verlander, JustinJustin Verlander (3)	Houston Astros	18–4	0	1.75	185
2023	Cole, GerritGerrit Cole	New York Yankees	15–4	0	2.63	222
2024	Skubal, TarikTarik Skubal	Detroit Tigers	18–4	0	2.39	228

National League Winners (1967–Present)

Chris Sale, the 2024 NL winner.

This table lists the pitchers who won the Cy Young Award in the National League.

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA	K's
1967	McCormick, MikeMike McCormick	San Francisco Giants	22–10	0	2.85	150
1968	Gibson, BobBob Gibson*	St. Louis Cardinals	22–9	0	1.12	268
1969	Seaver, TomTom Seaver	New York Mets	25–7	0	2.21	208
1970	Gibson, BobBob Gibson (2)	St. Louis Cardinals	23–7	0	3.12	274
1971	Jenkins, FergusonFerguson Jenkins	Chicago Cubs	24–13	0	2.77	263
1972	Carlton, SteveSteve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	27–10	0	1.98	310
1973	Seaver, TomTom Seaver (2)	New York Mets	19–10	0	2.08	251
1974	Marshall, MikeMike Marshall	Los Angeles Dodgers	15–12	21	2.42	143
1975	Seaver, TomTom Seaver (3)	New York Mets	22–9	0	2.38	243
1976	Jones, RandyRandy Jones	San Diego Padres	22–14	0	2.74	93
1977	Carlton, SteveSteve Carlton (2)	Philadelphia Phillies	23–10	0	2.64	198
1978	Perry, GaylordGaylord Perry (2)	San Diego Padres	21–6	0	2.73	154
1979	Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter	Chicago Cubs	6–6	37	2.22	110
1980	Carlton, SteveSteve Carlton (3)	Philadelphia Phillies	24–9	0	2.34	286
1981	Valenzuela, FernandoFernando Valenzuela**	Los Angeles Dodgers	13–7	0	2.48	180
1982	Carlton, SteveSteve Carlton (4)	Philadelphia Phillies	23–11	0	3.11	286
1983	Denny, JohnJohn Denny	Philadelphia Phillies	19–6	0	2.37	139
1984	Sutcliffe, RickRick Sutcliffe	Chicago Cubs	16–1	0	2.69	155
1985	Gooden, DwightDwight Gooden	New York Mets	24–4	0	1.53	268
1986	Scott, MikeMike Scott	Houston Astros	18–10	0	2.22	306
1987	Bedrosian, SteveSteve Bedrosian	Philadelphia Phillies	5–3	40	2.83	74
1988	Hershiser, OrelOrel Hershiser	Los Angeles Dodgers	23–8	1	2.26	178
1989	Davis, MarkMark Davis	San Diego Padres	4–3	44	1.85	92
1990	Drabek, DougDoug Drabek	Pittsburgh Pirates	22–6	0	2.76	131
1991	Glavine, TomTom Glavine	Atlanta Braves	20–11	0	2.55	192
1992	Maddux, GregGreg Maddux	Chicago Cubs	20–11	0	2.18	199
1993	Maddux, GregGreg Maddux (2)	Atlanta Braves	20–10	0	2.36	197
1994	Maddux, GregGreg Maddux (3)	Atlanta Braves	16–6	0	1.56	156
1995	Maddux, GregGreg Maddux (4)	Atlanta Braves	19–2	0	1.63	181
1996	Smoltz, JohnJohn Smoltz	Atlanta Braves	24–8	0	2.94	276
1997	Martínez, PedroPedro Martínez	Montreal Expos	17–8	0	1.90	305
1998	Glavine, TomTom Glavine (2)	Atlanta Braves	20–6	0	2.47	157
1999	Johnson, RandyRandy Johnson (2)	Arizona Diamondbacks	17–9	0	2.49	364
2000	Johnson, RandyRandy Johnson (3)	Arizona Diamondbacks	19–7	0	2.64	347
2001	Johnson, RandyRandy Johnson (4)	Arizona Diamondbacks	21–6	0	2.49	372
2002	Johnson, RandyRandy Johnson (5)	Arizona Diamondbacks	24–5	0	2.32	334
2003	Gagné, ÉricÉric Gagné	Los Angeles Dodgers	2–3	55	1.20	137
2004	Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens (7)	Houston Astros	18–4	0	2.98	218
2005	Carpenter, ChrisChris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	21–5	0	2.83	213
2006	Webb, BrandonBrandon Webb	Arizona Diamondbacks	16–8	0	3.10	178
2007	Peavy, JakeJake Peavy	San Diego Padres	19–6	0	2.54	240
2008	Lincecum, TimTim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18–5	0	2.62	265
2009	Lincecum, TimTim Lincecum (2)	San Francisco Giants	15–7	0	2.48	261
2010	Halladay, RoyRoy Halladay (2)	Philadelphia Phillies	21–10	0	2.44	219
2011	Kershaw, ClaytonClayton Kershaw	Los Angeles Dodgers	21–5	0	2.28	248
2012	Dickey, R. A.R. A. Dickey	New York Mets	20–6	0	2.73	230
2013	Kershaw, ClaytonClayton Kershaw (2)	Los Angeles Dodgers	16–9	0	1.83	232
2014	Kershaw, ClaytonClayton Kershaw* (3)	Los Angeles Dodgers	21–3	0	1.77	239
2015	Arrieta, JakeJake Arrieta	Chicago Cubs	22–6	0	1.77	236
2016	Scherzer, MaxMax Scherzer (2)	Washington Nationals	20–7	0	2.96	284
2017	Scherzer, MaxMax Scherzer (3)	Washington Nationals	16–6	0	2.51	268
2018	deGrom, JacobJacob deGrom	New York Mets	10–9	0	1.70	269
2019	deGrom, JacobJacob deGrom (2)	New York Mets	11–8	0	2.43	255
2020	Bauer, TrevorTrevor Bauer	Cincinnati Reds	5–4	0	1.73	100
2021	Burnes, CorbinCorbin Burnes	Milwaukee Brewers	11–5	0	2.43	234
2022	Alcántara, SandySandy Alcántara	Miami Marlins	14–9	0	2.28	207
2023	Blake Snell (2)	San Diego Padres	14–9	0	2.25	234
2024	Chris Sale	Atlanta Braves	18–3	0	2.38	225

Pitchers with Multiple Wins

With 7 awards, Roger Clemens has won the most Cy Young Awards.

Randy Johnson, a five-time winner.

Many great pitchers have won the Cy Young Award more than once. Roger Clemens holds the record with seven awards! His first and last wins were 18 years apart. Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson both won four awards in a row, which is a very rare achievement.

Some pitchers have won the award in both the American League and the National League. These include Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, Gaylord Perry, Roy Halladay, Max Scherzer, and Blake Snell. Sandy Koufax is the only pitcher to win multiple awards when there was only one award for all of MLB.

Roger Clemens is also the only pitcher to win the award with four different teams. No one else has won it with more than two teams.

Pitcher	# of Awards	Years
Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens	7	1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004
Johnson, RandyRandy Johnson	5	1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Carlton, SteveSteve Carlton	4	1972, 1977, 1980, 1982
Maddux, GregGreg Maddux		1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
Koufax, SandySandy Koufax	3	1963, 1965, 1966
Seaver, TomTom Seaver		1969, 1973, 1975
Palmer, JimJim Palmer		1973, 1975, 1976
Martínez, PedroPedro Martínez		1997, 1999, 2000
Kershaw, ClaytonClayton Kershaw		2011, 2013, 2014
Scherzer, MaxMax Scherzer		2013, 2016, 2017
Verlander, JustinJustin Verlander		2011, 2019, 2022
McLain, DennyDenny McLain	2	1968, 1969
Gibson, BobBob Gibson		1968, 1970
Perry, GaylordGaylord Perry		1972, 1978
Saberhagen, BretBret Saberhagen		1985, 1989
Glavine, TomTom Glavine		1991, 1998
Santana, JohanJohan Santana		2004, 2006
Lincecum, TimTim Lincecum		2008, 2009
Halladay, RoyRoy Halladay		2003, 2010
Kluber, CoreyCorey Kluber		2014, 2017
deGrom, JacobJacob deGrom		2018, 2019
Snell, BlakeBlake Snell		2018, 2023

Team Wins

The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team has won the most Cy Young Awards with 12 wins. Only two teams in MLB have never had a pitcher win this award.

Unanimous Winners

A "unanimous" win means every single voter agreed that pitcher was the best. This has happened 28 times with 21 different pitchers.

Sometimes, a pitcher also wins the Most Valuable Player award in the same year (*). If they win both unanimously, it's marked with (**).

In the National League, 12 pitchers have won unanimously 15 times:

• Sandy Koufax (1963*, 1965, 1966)
• Greg Maddux (1994, 1995)
• Bob Gibson (1968*)
• Steve Carlton (1972)
• Rick Sutcliffe (1984)
• Dwight Gooden (1985)
• Orel Hershiser (1988)
• Randy Johnson (2002)
• Jake Peavy (2007)
• Roy Halladay (2010)
• Clayton Kershaw (2014*)
• Sandy Alcántara (2022)

In the American League, nine pitchers have won unanimously 13 times:

• Denny McLain (1968**)
• Ron Guidry (1978)
• Roger Clemens (1986*, 1998)
• Pedro Martínez (1999, 2000)
• Johan Santana (2004, 2006)
• Justin Verlander (2011*, 2022)
• Shane Bieber (2020)
• Gerrit Cole (2023)
• Tarik Skubal (2024)

Other Baseball Awards for Pitchers

See also

In Spanish: Premio Cy Young para niños