Top 30 Cy Young Award Winners of all-time
By Jason Evans
19. Orel Hershiser 1988
59 scoreless innings
23 wins
8 shutouts
You could make the argument that Hershiser’s season was one of the most impressive of all time, but he finds himself at 19 on this list. Anytime you can set a major league record during a season it gives it a different feel to it. You could make the argument that Hershiser should have been the MVP of the league that season, an honor that went to teammate Kirk Gibson.
Hershiser had a 59 inning scoreless streak, a mark that has stood since. He went 10 innings in his last start to break the record, and if you count his start in the NLCS it goes up to 67 innings.
Hershiser led all players in WAR at 7.1. He won 23 games, including 15 complete games and eight shutouts which also led the league. His 267 innings pitched also led the league along with his 6.7 WPA.
Those are the only other categories he led the league in, however he was top 10 in others. His WHIP of 1.05 was fourth and he struck out 177 batters which placed him seventh. Remember, this was a time Nolan Ryan was still in the National League.
Not bad for a guy who was a 17th round pick.
Hershiser also won LCS and World Series MVP to cap off his amazing 1988 season.
Hershiser would only make one more All-Star team and finish in the top 10 in Cy Young voting the next season. He would never win more than 20 games again. He would pitch until 2000, including one last ride with the Dodgers.