They're Making A Strong Pitch

Cy Young would have won only four Cy Young Awards. Actually, he deserved five of them, but in all likelihood he would have been jobbed in 1895, the year he went 35-10 for the Cleveland Spiders. That was also the season rookie sensation Bill (Wizard) Hoffer burst onto the scene with a 30-7 record for the Baltimore Orioles.

Hoffer supporters would have pointed to his superior ERA, 3.21 to 3.24, his better winning percentage, .811 to .778, his league-high four shutouts, and the fact that he helped the Orioles win the National League pennant by three games over the Spiders. Those favoring Cy might have countered with these salient points: 35 wins is an extraordinary feat, Young pitched 55? more innings than Hoffer, and the kid got all the publicity.

Similar arguments, and more, are being heard nowadays as fans, players, managers, coaches, writers and scouts debate who should win the 1984 Cy Young Awards. There are four or more bona fide, deserving candidates in each league. About the only sure thing is that when the Baseball Writers' Association of America announces the winners after the season, shouts of outrage will be heard throughout the land.

In the National League, Rick Sutcliffe has almost certainly pitched the Cubs to their first championship since 1945 with a 15-1 record through Sunday, after coming over from Cleveland, where he was 4-5. The Cardinals have two nominees, Joaquin Andujar, 19-12 and probably the only 20-game winner the league will have, and Bruce Sutter, who has already set the league record with 42 saves and needs just three more to tie Dan Quisenberry's major league mark. Last, but not least, is the latest in the long line of Bill Hoffers, Dwight Gooden. The 19-year-old Met has set the NL on its ear with a major league rookie record of 251 strikeouts in 202 innings, a 16-8 record and a 2.72 ERA.

"No question about it," says Cub catcher Jody Davis. "It has to be Sutcliffe."

"I've already won it," says Andujar. "But they're not going to give it to me. I've got to go to the moon and win 120 games. Then they'll give Cy Young on the moon."

"Bruce Sutter, no question," says San Francisco pitcher Mike Krukow. "Forty-two saves is just a great achievement. The Cy Young Award goes to the best pitcher in the league, and that's what he's been."

" Gooden is the most powerful pitcher to come up in 10 years," says Pirate third baseman Bill Madlock. "He could win four or five Cy Young Awards."

The American League choice is even stickier. Through Sunday Mike Boddicker of the Orioles was 18-10 with an ERA of 2.72. Cleveland's Bert Blyleven was 17-6 with a 2.90 ERA. Out in the bullpen are the Tigers' Willie Hernandez, who's 9-2 and hasn't blown any of his 29 save opportunities and has an ERA of 1.91, and the Royals' Dan Quisenberry, who's only five saves away from breaking his own record of 45. Then there's the sentimental favorite, 45-year-old Phil Niekro of New York, who's 16-8 with a 2.89 ERA. With any luck at all, or with a Hernandez in his bullpen, Dave Stieb of the Blue Jays, 14-7 and 2.50, could have already won 20 games. There's still some support for Jack Morris of the Tigers, who has 17 wins, but he's had a poor second half.

"Personally, I think it should be Niekro," says Boddicker. "He's awesome. I might be dead by the time I'm that old."