Toronto Blue Jays legend Dave Stieb was robbed of 3 Cy Young Awards
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.
Dave Stieb was snubbed for the AL Cy Young Award because of the team he was on
The 1982 Toronto Blue Jays went 78-84. So, despite Dave Stieb being the best pitcher (he led AL pitchers in WAR and was second-highest in WAR in the AL in general behind AL MVP Robin Yount), Stieb didn’t win the Cy Young Award. In fact, he came in 4th, despite receiving the second-most first place votes.
Instead, Milwaukee’s Pete Vuckovich, who didn’t lead the league in a single category, won it because the Brewers won the AL. Vuckovich was ahead of Stieb in one category: wins (18 compared to Stieb’s 17).
1983 comes along and Toronto Blue Jays starter Dave Stieb was, arguably, even better.
Stieb made 36 starts and dropped his ERA down to 3.04, which made his ERA+ better (142). He had 14 complete games, four shutouts, 278 innings pitched, a 3.55 FIP, and increased his strikeout rate by nearly 30 percent.
All of those stats were among the top five and most in the top three. He also led AL pitchers in WAR (7.0).
The Blue Jays were a better team too, as they went 89-73. How many Cy Young Award votes did he get? Zero. Not even a third place vote (at the time, writers could vote for three pitchers).
Who won it? Chicago White Sox starter LaMarr Hoyt, who was ahead of Stieb in three areas: wins (24 to 17), losses (10 to 12), and WHIP (1.024 to 1.137). Stieb was ahead of him in every other category.
Dave Stieb’s snub was even worse in 1984
The calendar turns to 1984 and the Toronto Blue Jays are the same exact team, as they go 89-73 … with one tie, according to Baseball-Reference. They weren’t in a race for a playoff spot so how or why they played 163 games is anybody’s guess.
The Blue Jays were the same team and Dave Stieb was the same pitcher: the best pitcher in the American League.
Stieb, arguably, got even better. He dropped his ERA down from 3.04 to 2.83. He made 35 starts, had 11 complete games, two shutouts, led the majors in innings (267), led the majors in ERA+ (146), had the lowest hit rate in the AL (7.0 H/9), and, again, increased his strikeout rate.
His rWAR was 7.9, which led all AL pitchers for the third straight season. He was second in the AL, overall, in rWAR behind Cal Ripken, Jr., who was absolutely ROBBED of the 1984 AL MVP Award (we’ll save most of that story for another day, though).
This time, instead of the win-loss record, they just went for the best pitcher on the best team: closer Willie Hernandez on the ’84 Tigers. Hernandez did have a great season for a reliever (80 appearances, 1.92 ERA, 0.941 WHIP, 32 saves) but he shouldn’t have won the AL Cy Young Award. He also shouldn’t have won the AL MVP award (but, again, we’ll talk about that another time).
Instead, Stieb comes in 7th in AL Cy Young Award voting with one third place vote. One.
Dave Stieb was shortchanged in 1985 too, but the BBWAA voters got the winner right
Dave Stieb came in 7th place again (and, again, with one third place vote) in 1985, when the Toronto Blue Jays got to the ALCS. He led the league in some stats (ERA, ERA+, H/9) and was in the top five in many others but the BBWAA voters got it right with Bret Saberhagen.
Saberhagen had a better FIP, WHIP, walk rate, strikeout rate, complete games, and many other stats. He also had four fewer starts and 30 fewer innings but a higher rWAR (7.1 to 6.8). Stieb probably should have finished in second, though.
If Stieb would have won three Cy Young Awards and three straight Cy Young Awards at that, he would almost certainly be a Hall of Famer. Only 10 pitchers have won 3 or more Cy Young Awards. 7 of them are in the Hall of Fame, 2 are still pitching, and the all-time leader (Roger Clemens) isn’t in the Hall of Fame because of suspected PED use.
dark. Next. The Blue Jays need to retire Stieb's number
Unfortunately, Dave Stieb has come just a dollar short on a lot of things in his career but that doesn’t negate the fact that he is one of the best pitchers to ever pitch and the best pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays in their franchise history. Perhaps, he will get some more recognition in the future, and really, it could start with the Blue Jays themselves.