The balloting for the 1962 Cy Young Award marked the second time in three years that an American League pitcher didn’t receive a vote.
In 1960, winner Vern Law of the Pittsburgh Pirates was one of four hurlers to earn a vote, while two years later there would also be four as Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers won his only award.
While Ralph Terry of the New York Yankees and Camilo Pascual of the Minnesota Twins certainly had good seasons, Cleveland’s Dick Donovan finished fifth the AL Most Valuable Player balloting.
This would have been an interesting vote had there been an award for each league. Terry (23-12, 3.19 ERA) was 14th in the MVP voting and Pascual (20-11, 3.32 ERA) was 15th.
Donovan, who had finished second in the Cy Young race in 1957 behind Milwaukee’s Warren Spahn, arguably had his best season in 1962. He was 20-10 with an ERA of 3.59 with a league best five shutouts. He was also selected for both all-star games that summer as were Terry and Pascual.
A pair of two-hit shutouts in Cleveland were the top performances for the Massachusetts native. The right hander blanked Baltimore 2-0 with six strikeouts and no walks on July 2, while holding off Boston 4-0 as he fanned eight on walked one on Aug. 26. Of his five shutouts, three were against the Red Sox and the other was against Kansas City.
Donovan began is 15-year career with the Boston Braves 1950. After two more limited years with the Braves and a minor league stint, he was sold to the Detroit Tigers before the 1954 season. The Tigers didn’t keep him as he was returned to the Braves before he was purchased by the Chicago White Sox prior to the 1955 season.
The 1955 season was the first full year in the big leagues as he was named to the American League all-star team for the first time as he was 15-9.
In 1957, Donovan topped the AL in winning percentage at .727 with a 16-6 record. He also led the way with 16 complete games.
Donovan was not protected as the AL expanded and he was drafted by the Washington Senators, where he spent just one year before getting traded to the Indians. With the Senators in 1961, he was selected for both all-star contests as he posted a 10-10 record and led the AL with an ERA of 2.40. He played his final four years with the Indians before retiring in 1965 with an all-time record of 122-99.
1962 VOTING FOR CY YOUNG AWARD
Don Drysdale (Los Angeles Dodgers) 14
Jack Sanford (San Francisco Giants) 4
Billy Pierce (San Francisco Giants) 1
Bob Purkey (Cincinnati Reds) 1
PRESS ROOM PASS CY YOUNG AWARD WINNERS (1956-1966)
1956 – Billy Pierce Chicago White Sox (20-9)
1957 – Jim Bunning Detroit Tigers (20–8)
1958 – Warren Spahn Milwaukee Braves (22–11)
1959 – Sam Jones San Francisco Giants (21–15)
1960 – Chuck Estrada Baltimore Orioles (18-11)
1961 – Joey Jay Cincinnati Reds (21–10)
1962 – Dick Donovan Cleveland Indians (20–10)
CY YOUNG AWARD WINNERS (1956-1966)
1956 – Don Newcombe Brooklyn Dodgers (27–7)
1957 – Warren Spahn Milwaukee Braves (21–11)
1958 – Bob Turley New York Yankees (21–7)
1959 – Early Wynn Chicago White Sox (22–10)
1960 – Vern Law Pittsburgh Pirates (20–9)
1961 – Whitey Ford New York Yankees (25–4)
1962 – Don Drysdale Los Angeles Dodgers (25–9)
1963 – Sandy Koufax Los Angeles Dodgers (25–5)
1964 – Dean Chance Los Angeles Angels (20–9)
1965 – Sandy Koufax Los Angeles Dodgers (26–8)
1966 – Sandy Koufax Los Angeles Dodgers (27–9)
Since 1967, the Cy Young Award has been handed out to the best pitcher in the American and National leagues. However, during the first 11 years of the award there was only one winner.
This series will take a look at who might have won the award, if there had been winners in both leagues in the early years.