"From Cy Young to Sayanora"- One Year Wonders that Won a Cy Young Award

The Cy Young Award was first introduced by Major League Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in 1956, named after Denton True "Cy" Young a year after the great pitcher's death, a tribute to his 511 career pitching triumphs. The first recipient of the Cy Young, an honor bestowed on the pitcher deemed to have had the finest season, was the Brooklyn Dodgers' Don Newcombe, a three-time twenty game winner that had his best campaign in '56, going 27-7. Since that initial Cy Young was handed out fifty-one years ago, there have been many winners that have gone on to the Hall of Fame, such as Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, and Whitey Ford. However, there have been a few pitchers that won the Cy Young out of the blue, to where they quickly returned, players that had that one great shining moment and then sank back to mediocrity for whatever the reason.

There was only one Cy Young for both leagues from 1956 until 1966, when Major League Baseball decided that a pitcher in both leagues deserved one. The first hurler to win a Cy Young with a season totally out of character was the San Francisco's Giants' Mike McCormick, who had a remarkable 22-10 season in 1967 with a 2.85 earned run average. Mike's previous best year had been his 15-12 1960 season, and indeed in the years directly before and after his winning of the Cy Young he went a combined 23-28. In his sixteen years on the hill McCormick went 134-128 and he won just 28 more games after his one fabulous season.

Mike Flanagan of the Orioles went 23-9 in 1979 while winning the Cy Young in the American League, easily his best effort, but at least he was the winner of 167 games lifetime so it cannot be categorized as a total fluke. The very next year perhaps the most unbelievable Cy Young winner emerged. Another Baltimore pitcher, Steve Stone, went 25-7 and edged the Oakland A's Mike Norris in the voting. Stone had never won more than fifteen times in a single major league season before that year and in 1981 he went 4-7 before tendonitis ended his career at the age of 33. Stone had decided in 1980 to throw more curveballs, fully aware of the impact the pitch would have on his arm, saying that one season at 25-7 was "worth five at 15-15." He was true to his word, tossing the breaking pitch almost half the time and keeping the batters on their heels, but it took its toll and by 1983 he was working in the Chicago Cubs' broadcast booth.

Pete Vuckovich of the Brewers in 1982 at 18-6 and John Denny of the Phillies at 19-6 in 1983 were one year wonders, but Mark Davis of the 1989 Padres personified that concept when he posted 44 saves and an earned run average of 1.85 while earning the NL Cy Young. Davis had been a Giant in the early part of the decade, going 10-29 in 1984 and '85. After his one phenomenal season he signed as a free agent with the Royals of the American League and was an utter failure, going 2-7 in 1990 with an ERA over five runs per game. He was almost as bad one year later and then posted a 7.13 earned run average in 1992 as the Royals unloaded him on the Braves.

The Blue Jays Pat Hentgen was named the AL Cy Young choice in 1996 over the Yankees' Andy Pettitte, mostly because he had an ERA that was superior. Hentgen had only one similar season before that one, as he went 19-9 in 1993, but after he won the Cy Young he was just 53-45 in his next four full years as a starter and 11-24 over his last four as he stumbled through the remainder of his career. It remains to be seen if the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter makes this list, but hefits the stereotype. His 2005 21-5 record was without a doubt his finest, as he struggled for years with the Blue Jays. Compare his 2.83 earned run average that year to his lifetime 4.10 standard, throw in the fact that Carpenter has missed almost all of 2007 with arm trouble so that his future in the game is in doubt, and you have all the ingredients for a Cy Young one-year-wonder.