It might be less of a surprise than Michael Vick throwing another touchdown pass, but Phillies ace Roy Halladay has won the 2010 National League Cy Young Award in impressive fashion.
Halladay received all 32 first place votes by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.The honor is handed out to the top pitcher in each league. Adam Wainwright of St. Louis was second and Ubaldo Jimenez of Colorado was third. Tim Lincecum won the last two years, finished 11th.
And Halladay's teammate Roy Oswalt -- who split his season between Philly and Houston -- was sixth.
“It's surprising,” Halladay who was on vacation in Mexico when the big news came down said on a conference call. “There could have been a lot of cases made, strong cases.”
It was really a no-brainer for Halladay, who threw a perfect game on Memorial Day weekend in Florida and also hurled a no-hitter in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against Cincinnati.
The playoff "no-no" was only the second in major league baseball history.
Halladay may have won the Cy even without those games.
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He led the National League in wins, posting a 21-10 record, innings pitched (250), and complete games (9).
“It's by far the most fun I've ever had playing this game,” Doc said.
But don’t think there isn’t unfinished business for Doc -- he wants to win the World Series.
“We fell short,” he said. “That part is definitely tough.”
Halladay is the fifth pitcher to earn the honor in both leagues. He won the Cy Young in the AL in 2003 when he was playing for Toronto.
Halladay's seven-year gap between Cy Youngs ties the longest in history, matching Tom Glavine.
“To be able to do it again after so long,” he said, “means a lot to me.”
Doc joins Steve Carlton, John Denny and Steve Bedrosian as Phillies pitchers who won the Cy Young Award.
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