Beckett STIFFED By MLB Writers!

Red Sox ace Josh Beckett came in second place in Cy Young Award voting to the Cleveland Indians’ C. C. Sabathia.

Red Sox ace Josh Beckett [stats] was beaten out by Indians lefthander C.C. Sabathia for the 2007 American League Cy Young Award today.

Beckett finished second with 86 points, 33 behind Sabathia, who became the second Cleveland pitcher ever to win the award. Sabathia earned 19 of the 28 first-place votes, while Beckett took eight. Beckett earned 14 second-place votes and four third-place votes.


Angels starter John Lackey was a distant third while Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona was fourth.
The only other Indians pitcher to win the award was Gaylord Perry in 1972.


Beckett led all major-league pitchers with 20 victories this season, but his numbers apparently were not strong enough to overcome Sabathia’s season. The 27-year-old Sabathia went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA. He led the AL in innings (241), was second in complete games (4), and fifth in ERA (3.21).


Beckett finished sixth in ERA (3.27), and seventh in strikeouts (194). Beckett, sidelined for two weeks with a finger avulsion, also made just 30 starts, four fewer than Sabathia, three fewer than Lackey.


Had voting been allowed to continue through the postseason, Beckett would have been a landslide winner, having beaten Lackey and Sabathia (twice) in head-to-head competition in the Division Series and League Championship Series. Beckett wound up with a 4-0 record and a 1.20 postseason ERA. He was selected the MVP of the ALCS.


Two members of the Baseball Writers Association of America from each of the 14 American League cities voted for the Cy Young, with the balloting conducted immediately at the end of the regular season.