Who is the best?
That’s a question baseball fans have asked for decades.
The next Strat-o-Matic event to appear on Press Room Pass will be the 1970s Cy Young Tournament as the winners of the award are set to challenge each other in a single elimination battle.
Jim Palmer, Steve Carlton and Gaylord Perry each earned the honor more than once during the 1970s, so there were decisions made on how to deal with that situation.
Palmer and Carlton won for the same team, so only one of their winning seasons was selected. Carlton’s season was with the 1972 Philadelphia Philles, while Palmer’s choice was the 1973 Baltimore Orioles.
With Perry getting the award in the National and American Leagues, will be represented with the 1972 Cleveland Indians and the 1978 San Diego Padres.
The others in the 16-team field are Bob Gibson (1970 St. Louis Cardinals), Jim Perry (1970 Minnesota Twins), Fergie Jenkins (1971 Chicago Cubs), Vida Blue (1971 Oakland A’s), Tom Seaver (1973 New York Mets), Mike Marshall (1974 Los Angeles Dodgers), Catfish Hunter (1974 Oakland A’s), Randy Jones (1976 San Diego Padres), Sparky Lyle (1977 New York Yankees), Ron Guidry (1978 New York Yankees), Bruce Sutter (1979 Chicago Cubs) and Mike Flanagan (1979 Baltimore Orioles).
Some of the rules for the tourney.
Each of the Cy Young winners are going to start every game with a maximum of 10 innings, including closers Marshall, Lyle and Sutter. Should be interesting to see how they perform under those conditions (fatigue will NOT be used for any Cy Young winner). All of the other relievers will be under normal strat-o-matic rules. Pitchers who would normally be starters can be used for one inning during a game at any time for one inning, but they can not appear in two straight contests.
Since the designated hitter was used for the first time during the 1970s, all of the teams in this tourney will have one in the lineup. Home teams are being determined by a coin flip.
Should be a fun event and provide many memories for fans of the 1970s.
Who are you picking to win?
1970s Cy Young Tournament
First Round Schedule
1970 Minnesota Twins (J. Perry) at 1970 St. Louis Cardinals (Gibson)
1979 Baltimore Orioles (Flanagan) at 1979 Chicago Cubs (Sutter)
1971 Oakland A’s (Blue) at 1971 Chicago Cubs (Jenkins)
1978 New York Yankees (Guidry) at 1978 San Diego Padres (G. Perry)
1972 Cleveland Indians (G. Perry) at 1972 Philadelphia Phillies (Carlton)
1976 San Diego Padres (Jones) at 1977 New York Yankees (Lyle)
1973 Baltimore Orioles (Palmer) at 1973 New York Mets (Seaver)
1974 Oakland A’s (Hunter) at 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers (Marshall)