How many MLB players have won both AL and NL Cy Young?

2023-09-20 20:59

The Cy Young Award has been given to the best pitcher in the American League and National League since 1967. How many players have won it in both leagues?

When people talk about the most unbreakable sports records, there should be no debate that Cy Young should top that list. His 511 career wins, 749 complete games, and 7,356 innings pitched will never be touched. It's no surprise then that the award for the best pitcher in the American League and National League is named after him.

First awarded in 1957, only one pitcher in the MLB could win it each year until 1967 (and nobody was allowed to win it twice from 1957-1959). Twenty-one pitchers have won the award more than once, but how many have pitchers in MLB history won the award in the AL and also won it in the NL?

The answer is six players, and they are listed below along with the years and stats of their first in each league.

MLB pitchers who have won both the NL and AL Cy Young Award:

Gaylord Perry

Probably most famous for his spitball, Perry won his first Cy Young award in 1972 for the Cleveland Indians. His 24 wins that season were the most in the American League. He had 29 (five of those were shutouts) complete games and finished the season with 234 strikeouts and only 67 walks. He had an ERA of 1.92 and a WHIP of 0.978.

In 1978 he won his second Cy Young award, this time for the San Diego Padres of the National League. His 21 wins were the best in the NL, and with only six losses, so was his winning percentage at .778. He finished the season with a 2.73 ERA and a WHIP of 1.178. He struck out 154 batters, walking only 66.

Pedro Martinez

People forget that Pedro started his career on the Dodgers with his older brother Ramon. He was later traded to the Montreal Expos, where he won his first Cy Young award in 1997, going 17-8 with a 1.90 ERA. He led the league that year with 13 complete games (4 shutouts) and racked up 305 strikeouts versus 67 walks in 241.1 innings pitched. His WHIP of 0.932 was the best in all of baseball that year.

In 1999 He won his first AL Cy Young award with an all-world season for the Boston Red Sox. He went 23-4 (most wins in the majors, and best winning percentage at .852). He had a 2.07 ERA (best in the MLB) and struck out an AL-best 313 batters to win the American League pitching triple crown. He pitched 213 innings and led the majors for the second time in his career with a 0.923 WHIP (He would lead the league in WHIP six times over his career). Pedro also won the 2000 AL Cy Young.

Randy Johnson

Johnson made his debut back in 1988 with the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals but wouldn't win his first Cy Young Award until the age of 31, in the American League with the Seattle Mariners in 1995. He finished the season 18-2, with a league-leading .900 winning percentage. He had a 2.48 ERA in 30 games, six of them complete games, and three of those were shutouts. He led the majors with 294 strikeouts (one of seven times he led the majors in K's) against 65 walks in 214.1 innings pitched. He also featured a league-leading WHIP of 1.045.

In 1999 he won his first National League Cy Young with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He went 17-9 with a 2.48 ERA. He started a league-best 35 games, with 12 complete games, two of which were shutouts. He had 364 strikeouts to 70 walks, and a WHIP of 1.020. He would also win the NL Cy Young in 2000, 2001, and 2002 (4 consecutive years).

Roger Clemens

Clemens has more career CY Young awards than anyone in MLB history, with seven. He won the first of those in 1986, with the Boston Red Sox of the American League. He also won the American League MVP that year (one of only ten times a pitcher has won Cy Young and MVP in the same season). He completed that season with a 24-4 record with a league-leading 2.48 ERA. He had 238 strikeouts against 67 walks in 254 innings pitched, and a league-best WHIP of 0.969.

In 2004 he won his final Cy Young award, this time in the National League with the Houston Astros. He finished the year 18-4 with a 2.98 ERA and had 218 strikeouts versus 79 walks. He had a WHIP of 1.157. Clemens would also win the AL Cy Young in 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001.

Roy Halladay

Halladay won his first Cy Young in the American League for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003, at the age of 26. He went 22-7 that season, with a 3.25 ERA in 36 games started. He had a league-best 9 complete games (two shutouts) and piled up 204 strikeouts against just 32 walks. His WHIP to finish the season was 1.071.

In 2010 he won his second Cy Young award, this time for the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League. He went 21-10 with an ERA of 2.44. He led the league in innings pitched, with 250.2, and again in complete games (he did this seven times in his career) with nine. He had 219 strikeouts and walked only 30 batters that season, and finished with a WHIP of 1.041.

Max Scherzer

Scherzer won his first Cy Young award in the American League with the Detroit Tigers in 2013. He went 21-3, giving him a .875 winning percentage, and had an ERA of 2.90. He struck out 240 batters that he faced and walked 56 in 214.1 innings. His WHIP for the year was 0.970.

In 2016 he would win his first National League Cy Young award with the Washington Nationals. He went 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA. He led the league in strikeouts with 284 and walked just 56 batters. He also led the NL with 228.1 innings pitched and led the majors with a 0.968 WHIP. Scherzer also won the 2017 NL Cy Young with the Nationals.

Another name could be added to the list by the end of the 2023 season, as Blake Snell is seen by some as the favorite for the NL Cy Young, and he had previously won the AL Cy Young with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018.