Roger Clemens, who came out of retirement and helped his hometown Houston Astros qualify for postseason play as the National League wild card entry, added to his eventual Hall of Fame credentials by being named the NL Cy Young Award winner in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America balloting.
It was another historic victory for Clemens, who won this award six times in the American League, three with the Boston Red Sox, two with the Toronto Blue Jays and one with the New York Yankees. At 42, he is the oldest Cy Young Award winner and joins Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson as winners in both leagues. Clemens is the only person to win BBWAA awards for four teams, and his eight trophies overall (he was the AL Most Valuable Player in 1986) are the most for any player or manager.
Clemens (18-4, 2.98 ERA) was the only pitcher named on all 32 ballots cast by two writers from each NL city. He was cited first on 23 ballots, second on eight and third on one for a total of 140 points, based on a 5-3-1 tabulation system. The only other Houston winner was Mike Scott in 1986.
Johnson, a five-time Cy Young Award winner, finished second with 97 points on eight first-place votes, 18 seconds and three thirds. He led the NL in strikeouts (290), was second in ERA (2.60) and pitched a perfect game while posting a 16-14 record for last-place Arizona. The other first-place vote went to Astros righthander Roy Oswalt, the league’s leading winner (20-10, 3.49 ERA), who finished third.
The vote:
2004 NL Cy Young
Player | Club | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ROGER CLEMENS | Houston Astros | 23 | 8 | 1 | 140 |
RANDY JOHNSON | Arizona Diamondbacks | 8 | 18 | 3 | 97 |
ROY OSWALT | Houston Astros | 1 | 3 | 5 | 19 |
JASON SCHMIDT | San Francisco Giants | 0 | 1 | 10 | 13 |
CARLOS ZAMBRANO | Chicago Cubs | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
CARL PAVANO | Florida Marlins | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
ERIC GAGNE | Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
BRAD LIDGE | Houston Astros | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
BEN SHEETS | Milwaukee Brewers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |