Just coming across our wire feed here at work, Halladay was the overwhelming winner.

Woot - just announced on ESPNRadio.

Congrats Roy!

26 of 28 first place votes for Roy.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1068548844076&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064
Full story on Homepage link above. 136-63 for Halladay over Loaiza.

Congrats Doc!!!
He really deserved it for the season he had this year.
What a credit to the BJ's for having the patience to stand by him during the lean times and to him for having the integrity to work thru them and to arrive at this point.
Now, let's get him signed to a long term contract so that he is a BJ for his whole carrer!

One part of the article that amused me is the fact that Loiaza gets a $90K bonus for finishing second in the balloting. Is it just a sign that EVERYONE has these bonuses in the contract, or did Loaiza and his people really negotiate to get that in there?

He certainly deserved to win. What I want to know is has anyone ever won a Cy Young while giving up the most hits of any pitcher in baseball as Doc did this year? It will make a great trivia question some day.

Congrats Doc!!!
He really deserved it for the season he had this year.
What a credit to the BJ's for having the patience to stand by him during the lean times and to him for having the integrity to work thru them and to arrive at this point.
Now, let's get him signed to a long term contract so that he is a BJ for a long time!

Not only is it humourous that Loiaza would even have a Cy Young clause in his contract, but Pedro earned a cool half mill for finishing third, 2.5 times more than Halladay and Loiaza received combined for finishing ahead of him.

The fact that Loiaza has a bonus clause for Cy Young tells me that everyone has this clause in there contract. I'm sure when the Sox signed him they never dreamed he would collect on this clause and if he did, all the better.

I think most teams would view it this way so why wouldn't an agent have this type of clause put in a contract.

Halladay winning the Cy is PURE tits. Where does it rank among Blue Jay Cy seasons?

Me Grimlock, off the top of my head, would put him behind Clemens 1997, 1998, and ahead of Hentgen 1996.

Where does it rank among Blue Jay Cy seasons?

Certainly behind 97 Clemens, and certainly ahead of 96 Hentgen. I think that the only question is where it is relative to 1998 Clemens (I think that it is very close).

Congratulations to Doc and to the voters for getting it right.

What were some of your favourite Halladay games? I liked his start in Montreal on short rest, but the bookends against the Yankees and Red Sox at the break were awesome. Obviously, the 10-inning shutout, even though it was only the Tigers, was memorable. In the game thread that night, Ryan made a rash prediction.

Based on the first inning, Halladay is on-pace for a 45-pitch complete game shutout.

Close enough. Well done, Roy.

This has become Good News Central after Canada's Olympic berth!

Hooray for Doc! Maybe I'm dreaming, but I think the soft-spoken ace should be our next big target for a player interview.

has anyone ever won a Cy Young while giving up the most hits of any pitcher in baseball as Doc did this year?

I just looked at ML & AL Cy awards up to 1976, found lots of hit totals more than 253. Some hits allowed by Cy Young Winners:

288 Denny McLain 1969 (shared award)
272 Don Drysdale 1962
268 Catfish Hunter 1974
266 Vern Law 1960
258 Jim Perry 1970
255 Jim Palmer 1976
253 Jim Palmer 1975
253 Gaylord Perry 1972
253 Doc 2003

It's a testament to Roy's amazing combination of durability and control that he can lead the league in hits allowed, and still finish second -- a close second -- in the AL in WHIP (1.07 to Pedro's 1.04).

Congrats, Doc. That 1998 near no-no against the Tigers was really a sign of things to come.

Damn you, Bobby Higginson.

A quick comparison to the previous Cy winners:

Halladay: 22-7, 3.25, 145 ERA+, 266 IP
Hentgen : 20-10, 3.22, 165 ERA+, 266 IP
Clemens'97: 21-7, 2.05, 226 ERA+, 264 IP
Clemens'98: 20-6, 2.65, 176 ERA+, 235 IP

Halladay's season probably ranks fourth, which I don't find all that surprising, consdering he's the first Jay Cy winner I wouldn't have voted for.

Other big BJ seasons:

Stieb'82: 17-14, 3.25, 138 ERA+, 288 IP
Stieb'83: 17-12, 3.04, 142 ERA+, 278 IP
Stieb'85: 14-13, 2.48, 171 ERA+, 265 IP

Key '87: 17-8, 2.76, 164 ERA+, 261 IP

Guzman '96: 11-8, 2.98, 181 ERA+, 178 IP

Guzman's year doesn't really "belong" with the others, but I guess an ERA title shouldn't completely be ignored.

Has any Cy Young award winner who was a starter ever gone winless in April?

Congradulations Doc.

Apparently Mike McCormick did in 1967, to answer my own question.

Roy's about to go on the air with Dan Patrick and Rob Dibble in 5 minutes.

www.espnradio.com

(Click on the Dan Patrick show, then Listen Live)

I think it's a stretch to put Roy's year ahead of '96 Hentgen. Hentgen had a clear advantage in ERA+ which, I think, is a fairly persuasive stat. On the peripherals, Roy had a slight edge in K's and a significant edge in walk rate. Pat had a slight edge in HR rate and a significant edge in his hit rate (to some, a "lucky" stat). All in all, I would give the edge to Hentgen's year although they are comparable. I think both of Rocket's years were better (as much as it pains me to say that).

Of all of Stieb's years and I suppose any year when a blue jay didn't win the Cy, is there a year when a blue jay should have? I know many people think Stieb should have at least one if not more, but what year specifically and why?

What were some of your favourite Halladay games?

Well, I was there for the Labor Day game against the Yankees that started the September push, so I'll vote for that.

Of all of Stieb's years and I suppose any year when a blue jay didn't win the Cy, is there a year when a blue jay should have?

Sure. Dave Lemanczyk in 1977.

I know its old age and nastalgia kicking in, but I remember Stieb's '85 season as the most dominant year for a Jay hurler other than Rocket's '97 year. Whether he should have won the Cy that year I can't remember, but I know there were a huge number of games that year when he had "no hit stuff".

In his report on the Official Site, Spencer Fordin talks about Doc's best start:

Every award winner needs at least one memorable game on which he can hang his trophy, and Halladay's is a no-brainer. On Sept. 6, he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Detroit but had to settle for a 10-inning, three-hit shutout. It was the Majors' first extra-inning shutout in more than a decade, and the first time a Toronto starter went 10 innings since 1989.

But...if a guy's best start is a 'no-brainer', then his other starts would generally not be that good.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1659592
The first Free Agent signing starts with a Home Run ( make that a soft single to left).

The Houston Astros agreed to terms with journeyman right-handed reliever Dan Miceli on a one-year deal Tuesday, making him the first of 210 free agents to sign.

Miceli, 33, will make $600,000 this season, up from $350,000 last year.

The Astros acquired Miceli from the New York Yankees on July 29. It was his fourth stop of the 2003 season, and he went 1-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 30 innings for Houston.

Read the rest of the story at ESPN. Click on my name for a direct link to this story.

For me Doc's most memorable game was on June 6 against the Bosox. The Jays were trying for a sweep of Boston after sweeping the Yankees the weekend before. Halladay was down six runs very quickly but fought back (with great run support) and got the win. That showed tremendous character (and great trust on the part of Tosca) and revealed Halladay as the tremendous competitor he is.

My sons (aged 8 and 9) were at the September 27 game when Halladay got his 22nd win and although he didn't have his best stuff that day, we were on our feet with the rest of Skydome cheering for him. My boys and I will never forget that moment and the final double play that ended the game.

Thanks Doc for great memories over the last two seasons and congratulations on a well-deserved award.

First David Miller wins and now Roy Halladay? It's a good time to be living in Toronto! (Political comments will be deleted in... three..., two...)

Congratulations to Roy and congratulations to Mel Queen also. Queen played a huge role in getting Roy back on track!

Hopefully, this will open up some eyes and Queen will get another pitching coach job in the big leagues!

Doc is a big story in Denver today; Jack Etkin of the Rocky Mountain News has a great column featuring this quote from Carlos Tosca:

"He is - by far, nobody even comes close - the toughest, toughest individual mentally and the most driven that I've ever been associated with."

The skipper compares his current ace quite favourably with Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. There's also good stuff on Halladay's relationship with psychologist Harvey Dorfman.

Geoff Baker's piece in the Star mentions Mel Queen, who deflects the credit back to his prize pupil:

"I can show you a road map on how to get to Albuquerque," Queen said, "but if you don't read it right, or you take a wrong turn, you're never going to get there."

In the National Post, John Lott looks at Doc in the context of the "Can't-Miss Kids" with fellow former prospects Carpenter and Escobar, who didn't work out quite as well. Very prominent in this account, Mel Queen predicts that there's no stopping the big fella.

"Doc is gonna get better because he's a horse. He's gonna do it for many years to come."

Many news sources have noted that the Jays have had three different pitchers win the Cy Young over the past eight years. My initial reaction was "wow, that might be a first."

Woo, was I wrong.

The Atlanta Braves (1991-1998), of course, had three different pitchers -- Glavine (2), Maddux (4) and Smoltz (1) -- earn seven Cys in the span of eight years, so there are a number of mathematical combinations adding up to three different guys in eight years there.

The Philadelphia Phillies did it in a six year span (1982-1987), as Steve Carlton, John Denny and Steve Bedrosian all won. (Cue "one of these things is not like the others"!) If you stretch it out to the eight-year period, Carlton wins another one, too.

The Baltimore Orioles did it in five-year span, with Jim Palmer, Mike Flanagan and Steve Stone, from 1976-1980. Palmer also won in '75.

If we take it back to the pre-1967 era of one Cy Young Award for both leagues combined, then Los Angeles had five straight wins from 1962-1966 -- Dodgers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale had three and one respectively, while then-Los-Angeles-Angel Dean Chance also won one.

So, no big whoop I guess.

He had a great season and all, but can I bit a little bit jealous that HLH is kickin' it back in Hawaii while I'm freezing my butt off in Toronto?

Craig,

If you win a Cy Young I promise to buy you a trip to Hawaii. By the way, what is considered 'freezing your butt off' weather in Toronto? Today, us Edmontonians can look forward to a high temperature of -31. To quote an exchange from Futurama:
"Celsius or Farenheit?"
"First one then the other."

"Freezing your butt off" in TO means -15C. Everything is relative. And we're in the middle of a snowstorm, but our current mayor is unlikely to be calling in the army to help dig us out.