The glamorous 20s, the curved 30s… Sale, best pitcher in league at age 35
He debuted in the Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2010 at the age of 21. Due to his outstanding performance, he ranked 2nd to 6th in the American League (AL) Cy Young Award voting for 7 consecutive years from 2012 to 2018. In 2017, he struck out 308 batters as a member of the Boston Red Sox, but finished in second place behind Corey Kluber (then of Cleveland). The next five years were filled with hardships. I had Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament fusion surgery), fractured my little finger, and broke my wrist in a bicycle accident. Because of the stress, my ribs were damaged and my shoulder became inflamed. Until last year, he had only pitched a total of 151 innings over four seasons. He was eventually traded from Boston to the Atlanta Braves at the end of last year. The condition was that Atlanta would subsidize his annual salary of $17 million (total annual salary of $27.5 million) and give up promising infielder Von Grissom. Boston signed a five-year, $145 million contract extension with him after the 2019 season.
Atlanta’s choice seemed a bit reckless, but 35-year-old veteran pitcher Chris Sale made a remarkable comeback. After pitching 177⅔ innings, he achieved the National League pitcher triple crown (most wins, average ERA, and strikeouts) with 18 wins, 3 losses, an average ERA of 2.38, and 225 strikeouts. The Cy Young Award, given to the best pitcher of the season, was his. The Major League Baseball Secretariat announced on the 21st (Korean time) that Sale won the National League Cy Young Award with 198 points, receiving 26 first-place votes and 4 second-place votes in the vote of 30 Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) members. Second place was Jack Wheeler (Philadelphia Phillies) with 130 points (4 1st place votes, 25 2nd place votes, 1 4th place vote).
After being selected as the winner, Sale said in an interview with ‘MLB.com’, “I think I can cherish this moment more now.” He added, “When I was young, I just went on the mound and threw the ball and the grades followed. But as I went through difficult times, I realized what the problem was. “I am truly grateful to everyone who helped me get to this point.” He is the first Atlanta pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in 28 years, following John Smoltz in 1996. Sale is also the first pitcher to finish in the top five in Cy Young Award voting five times, according to Elias Sports Statistics. He is also the 6th player to win the Cy Young Award for the first time since the age of 35.
In the American League (AL), Tarik Skubal (Detroit Tigers), who celebrated his 28th birthday on this day, received the honor of winning the award unanimously (30 first-place votes, 210 points). Skubal, who debuted in the big league in 2020, underwent elbow flexor surgery in 2022 and returned to the league in July of last year, leaving behind a record of 7 wins, 3 losses, and an ERA of 2.80. This year, while playing full time, he achieved the American League Triple Crown with 18 wins, 4 losses, an ERA of 2.39, and 288 strikeouts. According to ‘MLB.com’, only 22 pitchers have won the Triple Crown since 1913, when ERA became an official statistic, until this year.
Sale and Skubal also became the first left-handed duo to sweep the Cy Young Awards in both major leagues in the same season since Barry Zito and Randy Johnson in 2002. “Sale is a left-handed pitcher who I idolized in high school and college,” Skubal said. “I met him at the All-Star Game and he was really cool. “Being able to share this moment with him is special and something I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Meanwhile, Major League Baseball will announce the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) for both leagues at 8 a.m. on the 22nd. While Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers, National League) and Aaron Judge (New York Yankees, American League) are likely to win the award, attention is focused on whether they will win the award unanimously.
Reporter Kim Yang-hee whizzer4@hani.co.kr
