“There are people in and around the baseball world who give the knuckleball a bit of a knock,” MLB network analyst Dan Plesac said at the start of Wednesday night’s Cy Young Awards Show.
Apparently those people are not well represented in the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Mets right-hander R.A. Dickey was named the Cy Young Award winner in the National League, easily beating out the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals in the BBWAA balloting.
Dickey got 27 of the 32 first-place votes, becoming the first knuckleballer in major league history to capture Cy Young Award honors. Kershaw got two first-place votes and Gonzalez got one. Reds ace Johnny Cueto was also given a first-place vote, as was Braves closer Craig Kimbrel.
Dickey led the National League in innings pitched (233 2/3) and strikeouts (230) while finishing the season with a 2.73 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. The 38-year-old threw consecutive one-hitters in June.
“I’m beside myself,” he told MLB Network via satellite after his name was announced. “Clayton and Gio are both supernatural. They give everybody fits. This is an honor to be shared. My hopes always outweighed my doubts.”
