Top 30 Cy Young Award Winners of all-time
By Jason Evans
21. Tom Seaver 1973
2.08 ERA
251 strikeouts
3.92 K/BB ratio
It’s rare that one player in baseball can come in and turn a franchise around. You have to win a lottery. In some cases literally. The Mets won a lottery for the rights to acquire Tom Seaver after Seaver’s contract with Braves was voided by the commissioner at the time. The Mets, Phillies and Indians were put in a lottery because they were willing to match the terms of the Braves deal. The rest as they say is history.
The miracle Mets of 1973 came all the way back late in the season to win the NL East and beat the heavily favored Big Red Machine in the NLCS. They don’t do that without Tom Terrifc on the bump.
Seaver won the NL Cy Young award for the second of three times in 1973 and this may have been his best work.
Seaver led the entire league in WAR posting an 11.0, a staggering number. He led the league with a 2.08 ERA and tied for second in wins with 19.
He compiled a WHIP of 0.97 and only allowed 6.8 hits per nine innings. Seaver led the league in strikeouts with 251, and complete games with 18. Seaver also led the league in FIP with 2.57 and a 6.4 WPA.
Seaver would go on to win another Cy Young Award in 1975 and pitch until 1986 and reach the Hall of Fame.