In 1956, Major League Baseball commissioner, Ford Frick, introduced the Cy Young award for pitchers in honor of Hall of Famer, Cy Young, who had passed away in 1955. Originally there was one award for both leagues. That changed in 1967 after Frick retired, and a pitcher in both leagues would win the award. It is voted on by the BBWAA. The local BBWAA chairman in each MLB city recommend two writers to vote for each award. Final approval comes from the BBWAA national secretary-treasurer. Writers vote for either the AL or NL award depending on which league their local team plays. A total of 30 writer’s vote for each league’s awards. Votes are cast prior to the playoffs. 
The first winner was Brooklyn Dodgers starting pitcher, Don Newcombe. Not only did Newk win the Cy Young award, but he was also the NL’s MVP. Newcombe posted a 27-7 record with a 3.06 ERA. He had the lowest WHIP in the NL at 0.989. He also led the league in winning percentage at .794. He had 18 complete games and 5 shutouts. As good as Newcombe was during the regular season, his World Series stats left a lot to be desired. Newk was 0-4 in the series with 8 homers allowed in 22 innings and 21 earned runs. 
The next Dodger to win the award would be Don Drysdale in 1962. Big D went 25-9 with a 2,83 ERA. He led the league in strikeouts with 232. He led the league in innings pitched with 314.1. He also led the league by starting 41 games. He had 19 complete games, 2 shutouts and 1 save. He won the award with a 70% share, beating out the second-place pitcher, Jack Sanford of the Giants by 50%. Sanford won 24 games and the 3rd place pitcher, Bob Purkey of the Reds won 23 games. 
The Dodgers got their second win in a row in 1963. Sandy Koufax, who had turned his career around in 1961, had his first really great season. He had a 10.2 WAR that year. He won 25, lost 5, posted a 1.88 ERA and led the league with 306 strikeouts. He threw the second of what would eventually be 4 no-hitters. He had 20 complete games and led the league with 11 shutouts. His WHIP was 0.875. He was a unanimous choice for the award, and he won the NL MVP too, becoming the second pitcher, and second Dodger, to do so. In the series sweep of the Yankees, he set a series record for Ks with 15 in game 1, and then he beat New York, 2-1 in game four for the sweep. He won again in 1965; this time his stats were even better except for ERA. He won 26 and lost 8. His ERA was 2.08. His WHIP was 0.855. He had 27 complete games, 8 shutouts and 2 saves. To top it all off, he struck out a major league record, 382 batters. In the series against the Twins, He lost his first start, then would win game 5, a 7-0 shutout, then win game 7, 2-0 on two-days’ rest. His ERA for the series? Minuscule 0.38. He threw his 4th no-hitter, a perfect game, 1-0 win over the Cubs in September.
1966 would be Sandy’s swan song. The soon to be Hall of Fame lefty won 27 games, lost 9. He had a 10.2 WAR, 27 complete games, 5 shutouts and a 1.73 ERA he led the league in Ks with 317, marking his third time with 300 or more. Unknown to fans, he was pitching in a lot of pain. He lost his only series start as the Dodgers were swept by the Orioles. Not long after the series ended, he announced he was retiring from baseball at the tender age of 30. He was elected to the Hall in 1972. All three of his Cy Youngs were unanimous.
1967 saw the award now going to pitchers in each league. The first two winners were Jim Lonborg of the Red Sox and the Giants lefty, Mike McCormick. The first ever tie for the award happened in the AL voting in 1969 when Denny McLain of the Tigers, and Mike Cuellar of the Orioles finished tied. In 1974, history was made as the first relief pitcher in history would win the award, and it was Dodger reliever, Mike Marshall. 
Marshall set a record for the most games pitched, 106. He was 15-12 with 21 saves. He finished a league leading 83 games. He had an 80% share of the votes beating teammate Andy Messersmith by 25%. He was 0-1 in the playoffs and World Series with 1 save, which came in the Dodgers only win in the Series. He lost game five giving up a homer to Joe Rudi. He pitched in all five games of the World Series. Marshall is also a doctor of Kinesiology. His nickname was Iron Mike. 
The next winner of the award for LA came in 1981. A young kid from Mexico made his debut in 1980 in 10 games at the end of the season, winning 2 of them. On opening day in 1981, he took the place of scheduled starter, Jerry Ruess, and the rest became history. He would look to the sky as he made his windup, and his teammates nicknamed him El Toro. Fernando Valenzuela literally exploded on to the scene. He threw a shutout that first game against Houston. He was the first rookie to start a game for the Dodgers. He began the season 8-0 with 7 complete games and 5 shutouts. His ERA at that point was 0.50. He would finish the shortened season 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA. He had 11 complete games, 8 shutouts and led the league with 190 Ks. He then won 3 games and lost 1 in the playoffs and World Series. Along with being named the Cy Young winner, he was also voted Rookie of the Year. First pitcher in MLB history to earn both in the same season, and so far, the only one.
Seven years later in 1988, another Dodger would win the award. Challenged by Tommy Lasorda to be more aggressive as a pitcher, and act more like a Bulldog than any other breed, Orel Hershiser put together what would be his best season as a major leaguer. The Dodgers ace, he went 23-8 with a 2,26 ERA. He broke Don Drysdales scoreless inning streak tossing 59 scoreless innings at the end of the season. He had 15 complete games, 8 shutouts, and a save. He led the league in WAR, 7.2, innings pitched, 267 and batters faced, 1068. He won the only gold glove of his career. He topped it off by going 3-0 in the playoffs and World Series also getting a save. His ERA in the playoffs was 1.05. He was also named the MVP of the World Series. Bulldog is now a broadcaster for the Dodgers. He was a unanimous choice for the award. 
It would be 2003 before another Dodger would earn the award. Several pitchers who had started in the Dodger system though won the award between 1984 and 03. Rick Sutcliffe, the 78 ROY, won the award with the Cubs in 84. Bob Welch won the award with the A’s in 1990. Pedro Martinez, Ramon’s brother, who won 10 games for the Dodgers in 1993, won with the Expos in 1997, then won with the Red Sox in 1999 and 2000.
2003’s winner was another Dodger reliever, Eric Gagne. Gagne was 2-3 that year but saved all 55 of his save opportunities. The Canadian native would save 152 games in a three-year span, 03-05. He also set a record with 88 consecutive saves. Gagne signed a long-term deal with LA but was injured for most of it and never reached that level of pitching again. 
The next winner of the award for the Dodgers would be Clayton Kershaw. As of this year, Kershaw is the last Dodger to do so, but he has won the award 3 times. His first one came in 2011. He beat out Phillies ace, Roy Halladay, getting a 92% share to Halladay’s 59%. Kersh led the league in wins, 21, tied with Ian Kennedy, ERA, 2.28, Ks, 248, and WHIP, 0.977. The Dodgers did not make the postseason that year. 
His next one came in 2013. He led the league in WAR, 8.2, shutouts, 2, ERA 1.83, Ks, 232, WHIP, 0.915, and ERA+ with 194. He won 16 games and lost 9 but he was 0-2 in the playoffs. He won the award again in 2014. This time he was a unanimous winner over second place winner, Johnny Cueto. Kersh went 21-3 He led the league in WAR, 7.2, winning pct, .875, ERA at 1.77, WHIP at 0.857. He also was the NL MVP, joining Koufax and Newcombe in earning both the same year. 
Since then, no Dodger has won the award. Zack Greinke finished 2nd in 2015, and Kersh was 3rd. Kersh finished 5th in 2016. He finished second and Jansen 5th in 17. Ryu was 2nd, Kershaw 8th, and Buehler 9th in 19. Kershaw had another top 10 finish in 2020 when he was 9th. Urias was 7th in 21. Injuries by this time were taking their toll on Kershaw. Scherzer, who spent a short time with the team was 3rd, Buehler was 4th. In 22, Urias was the only Dodger in the top 10 finishing 3rd. In the last 2 seasons no Dodger got enough votes to qualify. Kersh got his 3000th K this year, and tossed a no-hitter against the Rockies in 2014, his Cy Young, MVP season. Makes you wonder, who will be next. 
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
Reno Aces (Arizona) 6 – OKC Comets 5
Justin Wrobleski was scheduled to start, but was scratched at the last minute, and OKC went to a bullpen game. Mean anything?
#Dodgers Justin Wrobleski was scheduled to start tonight's @OKC_comets in Reno. He was scratched from the card before the start.
— Dodgers_After_Duty (@msalas24) July 26, 2025
Julien Fernandez pitched 2.0 scoreless/hitless innings, but issued 2 BB. Zach Penrod followed with 2.0 perfect innings. Logan Boyer entered in the 5th and allowed 2 singles but no runs.
Julian Fernandez turned in a good "open" for AAA OKC tonight in Reno.
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) July 26, 2025
2IP 9H 0R 0K 2BB
If you've watched our Farm content on Dodgers Dawgs, you know that Fernandez would be possibly my 1st pick the next time LA calls for a reliever.
Dude has impressive stuff with 96-98 riding… pic.twitter.com/oLYreQVdv2
Zach Penrod turned in a good 2-inning outing on top of Fernandez.
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) July 26, 2025
2IP 0H 0R 2Ks 0BB
Penrod has had a journey that makes you root for him. Went NAIA out of High School, then transferred back home to Northwest Nazarene. Ended up having to play Indy ball for 3 years, got picked up… pic.twitter.com/6qm6jvtfYF
Ronan Kopp entered in the 6th and repeated his lack of control. In his 0.2 IP, he walked 3 BB and a 2-run double. He left with 2 runners on and Ryan Sublette relieved him. He walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, and the next batter slugged a grand slam.
Penrod was the only OKC pitcher who did not issue a BB.
Ryan Ward hit a solo HR in the 1st, his 28th of the season.
Ryan Ward with a first pitch opposite field bomb for his 28th home run off the season. OKC 1 Aces 0 #Dodgers #DodgersProspects pic.twitter.com/k4jOaPMIOy
— Dodgers_After_Duty (@msalas24) July 26, 2025
In the 2nd, Austin Gauthier hit a 2-out double (13) and scored on a Kody Hoese single.
The 3rd run was from Alex Freeland’s 12th HR of the season.
106.5 mph off the bat on this roundtripper from the Triple-A @OKC_comets' Alex Freeland 🔥
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 26, 2025
MLB's No. 36 prospect is one of two @Dodgers Minor Leaguers with 35+ XBH and 15+ SB in 2025 (Eduardo Quintero): pic.twitter.com/fwiGpMIn7y
OKC made it close in the 9th. CJ Alexander drew a 1-out BB, and stole 2nd. Austin Gauthier singled and Alexander moved to 3rd. Kody Hoese struck out for the 2nd out. Gauthier stole 2nd. Chuckie Robinson singled to plate Alexander and Gauthier. Justin Dean grounded to SS to end the game.
Ward had 2 hits and Gauthier had 3 hits. They were the only OKC batters with 2 or more hits.
Tulsa Drillers 3 – Springfield Cardinals 0
Luke Fox made his AA debut and pitched 3.0 scoreless innings. He allowed 1 hit, issued 2 walks, and registered 3 K. Four Drillers pitchers completed the shutout on 3 hits, one walk, and 6 K. All four hits allowed were singles.
Luke Fox made his AA Debut tonight for Tulsa, and did so by striking the side in the 1st inning, and 9 of the 11 hitters he faced.
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) July 26, 2025
3IP 1H 0R 3Ks 2BB
FB was 95-96, his shorter slider nailed the back door on a consistent basis, the breaking ball with sweeping action hit the… pic.twitter.com/3IwW9tmAm6
The score was 0-0 going into the bottom of the 8th. Ezequiel Pagan hit a one out double (14), and scored on a two out Sean McLain single. Taylor Young hit a double (15) moving McLain to 3rd. Kole Myers singled to plate McLain with Young moving to 3rd. Yeiner Fernandez doubled home Young. That was the ball game. 5 of the 6 hits and all three doubles came in the 8th inning. No Drillers batter had more than 1 hit.
Great Lakes Loons 5 – Beloit Sky Carp (Miami) 1
Wyatt Crowell started and pitched a gem for 5.0 innings. He allowed 1 unearned run, on 2 hits, one BB, and 8 K, including all 3 batters he faced in the 1st inning. Three relievers followed and pitched 4 scoreless innings with 5 Ks.
Wyatt Crowell gets the DAYUM of the day!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) July 26, 2025
5IP 2H 1R 8Ks 1BB…80 pitches, 50 Strikes
The slider was a good pitch to righties, had a a backdoor to back foot effect, and his sweeper was not fair to lefties.
Fastball was located in spots of safety, which gave him the chance to be… pic.twitter.com/T1n3RQcHe8
The Loons offense tallied a run in four of eight innings. In the first inning, Zyhir Hope, Logan Wagner, and Cameron Decker all walked to load the bases. Joe Vetrano scored two with a bloop single to shallow left field that fell in between three defenders.
Kendall George added his seventh stolen base of the series and 52nd overall in the second inning. George doubled (8), swiped third and scored after a throwing error from the catcher.
Vetrano, who reached three times in the contest, singled to start the fourth. Jake Gelof smoked his 12th double, 107 mph to centerfield that one hopped the wall and made it 4-0. Cameron Decker added the final run on a sac fly in the eighth.
Recently promoted Nicolas Cruz now has 9.2 innings as a Loon in his career, all scoreless. The right-hander went two tonight. Christian Ruebeck struck out the side in the ninth.
Welcome to Great Lakes, Nicolas Cruz.
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) July 26, 2025
Cruz did good work in Rancho, and, like clockwork, he zoomed right through the Beloit hitters, creating soft contact and filling up the zone. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/r7psx851bW
Logan Wagner and Joe Vetrano had two hits apiece in this game.
Visalia Rawhide (Arizona) 11 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 5
Aidan Foeller started and completed 3.0 innings. He allowed 5 runs, 3 earned. 2 of the walks were cashed in.
Cody Morse followed Foeller and he pitched 2.0 scoreless innings. Hey, no BB. Go figure.
Marco Corcho pitched one inning allowing 4 hits and 3 runs.
Ryan Brown and Dilan Figueredo followed and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in the final 3.0 innings. Again walks and a leaky defense were very evident in this one. Brown walked the first two batters, and a double steal put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.
Figueredo entered and gave up a sac fly. Alberto Barriga singled to score one run, and Barriga came around to score following a catcher throwing error.
The three ACL position player promotions were in the lineup with mixed results.
- Emil Morales – 0-4 with 3 K and had a fielding error.
- Ching-Hsien Ko – 1-3 (single), 1 BB, 1 K
- Chase Harlan – 1-4 with his 1st
Samuel Munoz, Mairo Martinus, and Eduardo Guerrero each had 2 hits.
HaRlan
Wrobo don’t go . . .
He certainly has trade value…
Dodgers could pull off a few deals. Some interesting rumors out there.
Cavan Biggio was DFAd by the Royals. Nick Kurtz of the A’s became the first rookie in MLB history to have a 4-homer game. He did it in Houston. Two of his homers went to left into the Crawford boxes. Kim needs a reset bad. He looked absolutely awful at the plate. SD lost, and so did the Giants. LA is up 6 on the Padres and 7 on the Giants.
Kurtz! Dang impressive…
Yes, Kim needs a reset. He’s coming back to Earth fast. 4 Ks in 4 ABs, Ouch…
A few reports say that teams are interested in Rushing. While I’d hate to lose him, he is blocked by Smith and I think Feduccia would be capable backup.
I find myself circling back to the notion of Kwan and Clase.
Rushing + May + ?? + ?? might make it happen.
I hope the Dodgers either put Ryan Ward in a deal or call him up.
Who knows? He kills 3A pitching but hasn’t seen a single major league pitch.
He is hitting .190 in July. He has struck out 7 of his last 14 at bats. He struck out more times in July 21, than he had the previous 2 months, 18. He is swinging at pitches that are way out of the zone. The deal with Boston for Rushing everyone is talking about has only mentioned 2 Red Sox prospects. I am not trading Rushing for prospects. Kurtz was 6-6 last night. He also had a double off of the left center field fence that just missed being a homer, and a single.
May has very little trade value at this point since he’s a free agent this winter and hasn’t been all that effective.
If you’re talking both Clase and Kwan you probably need to start with Rushing and Ferris or Sheehan and then add Hope and another lesser prospect or two.
could he be worse than Outman?
Who could those ?? and ?? be ? With Rushing and May I would not include two more top 15 prospects from our Top 30 list.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!
Just get Conforto out of the lineup by the trade deadline. That’s all I ask.
He looks better than Mookie right now.
Thx Bear. Fun drive down memory lane. My coffee table has space on it for your book! I remember being in the left field bleachers with a bunch of buddies late September 1980 and saw Fernando’s first or second game. His screwball and Kersh’s slider are two of the greatest pitches in baseball history
Glad you enjoyed it.
For anyone interested, LADT is back.
Sorry Watford I didn’t get back to you yesterday. We won’t be in the city this trip. Only in and out of LHR. Love to meet up one day.
Is this a return record for Mark?
I wish Mark well.
That man is clinically insane.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
I have never seen anyone attack other Dodger fans like he has over there.
That’s mark’s way of getting more commenter , And it works for him
The guy is a narcissist .
Plain and simple.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
100%
Rosenthal updates that the Dodgers are looking at an OF (not Robert Jr, it seems) and:
The Los Angeles Dodgers do not want to overpay for reliever volatility when they’re already living through reliever volatility. So, it seems doubtful they will pay sticker price for a late-inning type such as the Cleveland Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase or the Minnesota Twins’ Jhoan Duran, assuming those pitchers are even traded
I saw one today mentioning Harrison Bader as a possibility. I think that is a stretch.
Bader has been mentioned more than sporadically. He is a Plan C type of OF target, but he is an upgrade offensively and defensively over Conforto. Kwan still has to be a favorite if Cleveland wants to move on. Ramón Laureano is also a rental that could interest AF/BG. Like it does every year, it is going to come down to how many top prospects the Dodgers want to trade. If the answer is none, Bader and Laureano are the more likely upgrades over Conforto. They will probably also wait until July 31 to see which relievers are still out there. It does seem silly to me to try and trade Dustin May when they can just put him in the bullpen, and that should be an upgrade.
Bader reminds me of Dan Gladden, with Bader a little more muscled. I met Gladden when he was with the Giants. He later played well for the Twins and finished up his 11 MLB seasons with Detroit.
To me they look and play alike.
I read somewhere today there is reluctance to move May, cant remember if it was him, the team or both.
@Michael Norris
Interesting to see Caspa pitching only 3 days after his “injury” against the Twins.
That boy must sure heal quickly!!
It was a severe cramp. No injury involved.
No m needed
Cute
Mookie is expected back today. They are not sure if he will arrive in time for the game. But he will be available when he arrives. Aaron Judge is being checked for an issue with his elbow. He is out of the Yankees lineup today. He had trouble making throws yesterday. Yankees sinking fast in the east. McMahon makes his first start at third for the Bombers today.
Ya gotta love the week before the deadline, rumors are flying faster than a gaggle of Canadian Geese, which we see here in Colorado now and then. Lately the big one is the Dodgers interest in Cardinal’s utility guy, Brenden Donovan. Nothing really scorching hot yet. Cardinals are actively shopping Arenado and Helsey.
Bear, why on earth would we be interested in yet another utility guy? I know AF loves them but we have enough already!
Get a quality closer and a left fielder or stand pat and play who we have although I’d love to see Ward get a chance somewhere.
Phil, I think they label Donovan as a utility guy because he can play a few different positions. That said, his main position lately has been second base, which would then mean they could move Edman/Kim to center and Pages to left (or better yet move Teo to left and Andy to right).
Donovan is still only 28 and is one of the league leaders in batting average this year. Lifetime stats are .283/.363/.775 with an OPS+ of 117. This year his numbers are right along with his lifetime numbers. He isn’t a big power guy but he also doesn’t strike out a lot. If he continues on his current pace, he will have reached 4.0 bWAR in two of his four years in the league. His bat would basically replace Conforto’s in the lineup. Tell me that wouldn’t be a huge improvement.
And one more thing which should appeal to you…………..he likes to get his uniform dirty.
Very well stated.
Although I think the goal would be to reduce Kim’s appearances more than to reallocate them to the OF.
Also Donovan should appeal to Bear because;
Fewest Whiffs:
Ernie Clement: 7 Whiffs
Alex Bregman: 8 Whiffs
Chase Meidroth: 9 Whiffs
Steven Kwan: 9 Whiffs
Brendan Donovan: 9 Whiffs
Luis Arraez: 9 Whiffs
Chandler Simpson: 10 Whiffs
Cody Bellinger: 10 Whiffs
Max Kepler: 11 Whiffs
Javier Sanoja: 11 Whiffs
Got me my friend, but that is the hot story out there. Donovan has played some in the outfield. I think they love the guy’s bat to ball skills.
Dodger offense will be challenged today, Crochet on the mound. Last year when they faced him, they won the game after he left.
Judge to the IL with a flexor strain.
Cleveland is reportedly saying they will not trade Clase. Will Casparius continue to close over the next week.
I think Doc will use whatever pitcher he feels will match up best. Yesterday he used Vesia in the 8th because that was when the heart of the lineup was due to bat. Casparius was not all that great against the bottom of the order.
Clase also blew another save today.
Mookie not in the starting lineup. Ruiz is playing left, and Kim second base. Kim against a tough lefty like Crochet. That my friends is a mismatch. McMahon got his first hit as a Yankee today after striking out twice.
Kim 1-1 in the mismatch so far.
Kim got him twice. But he also had a K. Ohtani looked overmatched after he hit his homer, 3 Ks again. He is a strikeout machine.
Jesus is Ohtani amazing.
Kim needs to only play when he’s overmatched!
Kersh, just can’t get by with 89.
Arizona trades RH Hitting Randall Grichuk to KC for very underwhelming RHP, Andrew Hoffman. I am assuming that only being out 3.5 games from a wild card spot they might need Grichuk.
Not sure WTH Mookie was expecting on a 3-2 count with Shohei on deck. Had to know Chapman was going to throw a FB. Way too passive for such a superstar to look at strike three down the middle. His decline offensively this year may be a mental vs physical thing.
Very disappointing AB by Mookie. Good grief, at least take a swing.
I think he took all the way.
Washington trades SS/2B/OF Amed Rosario to NYY for RHP Clayton Beeter (NYY #20 prospect, FV 40) and OF Browm Martinez (unranked DSL)
sorry Bradley, no Rosario for us this year!
Nope, that is ok with me though.
15 SO in 33 AB. Pathetic. 0 fer with RISP.
At least the bullpen was good.
Put the freaking ball in play dammit.
Uh, can you hit Crochet? Neither can I. They were simply outpitched. They did get some hits, but only Teo’s homer and Ohtani’s shot were hammered.
Did anyone else see Pages route on that ball hit over his head?
We still need an everyday centerfielder.
And Mookie looking at strike 3 down the middle sums up his offensive year. I sure hope he can find it before October because this team is going to need him then.
He also did not take the fly out and throw to the plate properly again. Even Smoltz commented that he threw that off his back foot. He needs an OF coach.
Pages runs the worst routes. Red Sox CF is excellent. Pages belongs in a corner outfield spot. I give Mookie a pass. Chapman is one of the best in the league and Betts just off of a flight from home dealing with a death in the family. I think his focus might have not been the best. But I look for improvement over the next couple of weeks. If we see that, then Mookie will be ok.
Blake Snell today:
76 pitches. 4.2ip 0 hits 4bb 7k
He is ready. Treinen due back any day now. Mookie was dealing with a death in the family.
Max went to an optometrist who helped him become the Max of old.
Maybe Mookie needs to visit a sports psychologist. I think Norcaldodgerfan may have hit on something when he said Mookie’s problem may be more mental than physical. He’s become extremely timid at the plate, like he’s just waiting for something bad to happen. Try being a lot more aggressive Mookie and maybe that will lead to the confidence you seem to be lacking.