One True Outcome: January 24

Weekly Trivia segment about pitching awards

The last two segments covered individual accolades in the Most Valuable Player award and the triple crown. We’ll continue that trend this time covering the Cy Young and ERA titles.

1. When Gerrit Cole won the ERA title in the 2019 season with a 2.50 mark, he also struck out a whopping 326 batters, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished in well over a decade. Who was the last winner of the ERA title with fewer than 100 strikeouts?

• (A) Steve Ontiveros (1994)
• (B) Danny Darwin (1990)
• (C ) Bill Swift (1992)
• (D) Allan Anderson (1988)
• (E) Rick Honeycutt (1983)

2. Clayton Kershaw has three Cy Young awards and interestingly enough, the one year that a fellow southpaw also won the ERA title in the American League, Kershaw didn’t win the Cy Young. When was the last time that both Cy Young winners were left-handers?

• (A) 2006
• (B) 2004
• (C ) 2002
• (D) 2000
• (E) 1998

3. During the 1990’s, the Atlanta Braves had one of the more impressive trio of starters in the history of baseball (Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine). How many Cy Young awards did that trifecta win from ‘90-’99?

• (A) 5
• (B) 6
• (C ) 7
• (D) 8
• (E) 9

4. Discounting the years after the franchise moved to Washington and became the Nationals. How many different pitchers won the ERA title with the Montreal Expos?

• (A) 0
• (B) 1
• (C ) 2
• (D) 3
• (E) 4

5, Nolan Ryan had a .333 winning percentage when he won the ERA title as a Houston Astro in 1987 with a 2.76 ERA and an 8-16 record. In the 21st century, only one pitcher led his league in ERA and also had a losing record. Who was he?

• (A) Jacob deGrom - 2018
• (B) Félix Hernández - 2010
• (C) Josh Johnson - 2010
• (D) Kevin Millwood - 2005
• (E) John Burkett - 2001

Answers

1. Steve Ontiveros won the ERA title in 1994 with the following numbers:

6-4 record

27 games (13 starts) 115 IP

2.65 ERA

1.03 WHIP

*The only pitcher out of those five who won the ERA title, but struck out over 100 batters was Danny Darwin with 109 in 1990.

2. (C) 2002 season. Barry Zito won it in the American League and Randy Johnson in the National League.

*The year in which Kershaw and Price won the ERA title, RA Dickey was the NL Cy Young winner.

3. (C) 7. Greg Maddux won four including one with the Cubs, Glavine won a couple and Smoltz had one. That included a run of consecutive awards from 1991-96.

4. (D) 3. Dennis Martínez, Pedro Martinez, and Steve Rogers were the winners.

Steve Rogers (2.40) - 1982

Dennis Martínez (2.39) - 1991

Pedro Martinez (1.90) - 1997

5. (D) Kevin Millwood - 2005

Here are his final stats in ‘05:

9-11

2.86 ERA

146 SO

192 IP