Former Razorback Lee wins Cy Young with comeback season
MLB
Matt Watson
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: Sports
Just a season after he spent a month pitching for the Buffalo Bisons, former Arkansas lefthander and Benton native Cliff Lee earned Major League Baseball's top honor for a pitcher.
He was the runaway American League Cy Young winner, garnering 24 of the 28 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Toronto's Roy Halladay finished a distant second.
Lee's 22-3 record on the mound was the best in the majors, and he led the A.L. with a 2.54 ERA, one hundredth of a point behind New York Met Johan Santana in the National League.
He struck out 170 hitters in 223.1 innings, threw four complete games and two shutouts.
The 6-foot-3, 190 pounder earned every bit of the $4 million Cleveland paid him in 2008, a bargain for an All-Star game starter.
But Lee's climb to the pinnacle of his position is all the more impressive considering how far down the mountain he started.
The southpaw came into Spring Training in March fighting for the last spot in the Indian rotation, and with good reason. He finished 2007 with a 5-8 record and a whopping 6.38 ERA.
Lee was even demoted to the team's Triple-A affiliate last season after he lost four straight games in July, giving up 26 earned runs in a span of 20 innings.
As he was pulled from his last start, he was booed by the hometown Cleveland fans and gave a sarcastic tip of his cap to the crowd on his way to the dugout. He was a Buffalo Bison the next day.
He spent August in the minor leagues, winning just one game against three losses. He pitched a few meaningless innings out of the Indians' bullpen when rosters expanded in September and was eventually left off the team's playoff roster.
Lee's 2008 campaign ended on a slightly better note.
He became the first player in a quarter-century to be named his league's Comeback Player of the Year and Cy Young Award winner in the same season.
"Sometimes it takes someone falling on their face to figure things out and turn things around. I tried to make the best of it, I tried to stay as positive as I could and here I am now," Lee said.
He was the runaway American League Cy Young winner, garnering 24 of the 28 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Toronto's Roy Halladay finished a distant second.
Lee's 22-3 record on the mound was the best in the majors, and he led the A.L. with a 2.54 ERA, one hundredth of a point behind New York Met Johan Santana in the National League.
He struck out 170 hitters in 223.1 innings, threw four complete games and two shutouts.
The 6-foot-3, 190 pounder earned every bit of the $4 million Cleveland paid him in 2008, a bargain for an All-Star game starter.
But Lee's climb to the pinnacle of his position is all the more impressive considering how far down the mountain he started.
The southpaw came into Spring Training in March fighting for the last spot in the Indian rotation, and with good reason. He finished 2007 with a 5-8 record and a whopping 6.38 ERA.
Lee was even demoted to the team's Triple-A affiliate last season after he lost four straight games in July, giving up 26 earned runs in a span of 20 innings.
As he was pulled from his last start, he was booed by the hometown Cleveland fans and gave a sarcastic tip of his cap to the crowd on his way to the dugout. He was a Buffalo Bison the next day.
He spent August in the minor leagues, winning just one game against three losses. He pitched a few meaningless innings out of the Indians' bullpen when rosters expanded in September and was eventually left off the team's playoff roster.
Lee's 2008 campaign ended on a slightly better note.
He became the first player in a quarter-century to be named his league's Comeback Player of the Year and Cy Young Award winner in the same season.
"Sometimes it takes someone falling on their face to figure things out and turn things around. I tried to make the best of it, I tried to stay as positive as I could and here I am now," Lee said.
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