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Toronto Blue Jays legend Dave Stieb was robbed of 3 Cy Young Awards

By Noah Yingling

TORONTO, ON - CIRCA 1991: Dave Stieb #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches during an Major League Baseball game circa 1991 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. Stieb played for the Blue Jays from 1979-92. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - CIRCA 1991: Dave Stieb #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches during an Major League Baseball game circa 1991 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. Stieb played for the Blue Jays from 1979-92. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /
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Dave Stieb, Toronto Blue Jays, Cy Young Award
Dave Stieb, Toronto Blue Jays (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Toronto Blue Jays Dave Stieb was one of the best players of the 1980s. In fact, he was the winningest pitcher of the decade.

He is, perhaps, best known for falling short on no-hitters. He finally secured a no-hitter against Cleveland on September 2, 1990. To date, it is the only no-hitter that a Toronto Blue Jays pitcher has ever thrown. However, that no-hitter came after Stieb had five one-hitters, including three that were lost in the ninth inning. One of those three (August 4, 1989 against the Yankees) was a perfect game that he lost on the last batter. Two pitches after he lost the no-hitter, he lost the shutout too.

But the thing that he should be known for is winning three Cy Young Awards … in a row. But he didn’t win any.

Toronto Blue Jays legend Dave Stieb should have won 3 Cy Young Awards

For Toronto Blue Jays legend Dave Stieb, he started his MLB career in 1979. His first full season came in 1980 and in both 1980 and 1981, he was an All-Star. He really hit his stride in 1982, though.

He had a 3.25 ERA in 38 starts for the 1982 Blue Jays. He made the plurality of his starts (17) on three days rest, which only happens in the postseason nowadays, if at all. That wasn’t even first or second in the league, though. His teammate, Jim Clancy, actually did start every fourth day as he led the league that year with 40 starts.

Stieb, however, led all of the majors in complete games (19) and he led the AL in shutouts (5). He also led the AL in innings pitched (288 1/3 IP). With modern stats, you can see that he was dominant with his ERA+ (138) and FIP (3.79).

His ERA, ERA+, and wins were all in the top five in the league. But there was one problem. In addition to the wins (17), he also had 14 losses. The BBWAA voters, at the time, often looked at the win-loss record of a player and the team he played for.

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