In one segment of Tuesday's show, the two were asked to "grade" (whatever that means) Felix Hernandez's "Cy Young Chances" after he threw a complete game shutout in his most recent start.
Tony Kornheiser: "Last night he threw his third one-nothing game of August! There's only two other guys in the history of baseball who've done that!"
This is correct. This is how all people should speak when they speak of Felix: with incredulous awe. Sadly, this does not last long.
Kornheiser: "Look, Felix is 13-5. That's far better [than] when he won the Cy Young at a joke of 13 and 12--"
Kornheiser referring, at the end there, to Felix's record (13-12) when he won the award in 2010. Michael Wilbon then interrupts:
Wilbon: "He shouldn't have won the award."
Again, referring to 2010. Never mind the fact that Felix led the AL in innings (249.2) with the lowest ERA in baseball (2.27) on a godawful baseball team. How dare the best pitcher in the league win the award for Best Pitcher in the League! What a travesty that was!
These guys think that Felix didn't deserve to win the Cy Young award because he only won 13 games and lost 12. This is stunningly backwards thinking. Like, 'Galileo-should-recant-because-the-Sun-revolves-around-Earth' backwards. Felix's team scored the fewest runs in baseball that year. It wasn't even close. It's hard for pitchers to accumulate "wins" when your team OPS is .637, almost a full 100 points worse than league average that year. Felix "lost" 12 games, yet gave up three earned runs or fewer in eight of those. And nine other times he was eligible for a win and surrendered three earned runs or fewer, but got a no-decision. These were all very winnable games for a better offense. Not for the 2010 Mariners. Penalizing Felix for failing to inspire (cheerlead?) his teammates to score more runs for him is ridiculous.
Kornheiser: "But Jered Weaver is 16 and 3, David Price 16 and 5, Chris Sale 15 and 4. King Felix right now no better than a B."
Wilbon: "No better than a B is right, Tony. Now, also I think the people who voted for him when he got 13 and 12--"
Kornheiser: "--UGH--"
Wilbon: "--they probably figured they've done enough. They handed him one, he's going to earn this one more than that one..."
Love the implication that the voters 'gifted' Felix with that Cy Young, as if he didn't earn it WITH THE LOWEST ERA AND THE MOST INNINGS PITCHED IN HIS LEAGUE FOR A MISERABLE 101-LOSS TEAM.
Funny side note: Wilbon also implies that Felix is earning this Cy Young more than the 2010 one, simply because he's 13-5 this year compared to 13-12 two years ago. He's got a better record, so he must be pitching better, right?
Felix, 2010: 2.27 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 7.0 hits/9, 13-12 record
Felix, 2012: 2.43 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 7.1 hits/9, 13-5 record
Nope. He's basically the exact same pitcher. He was actually maybe a bit better in 2010. The difference in wins/losses is because of a slightly improved offense, a better bullpen, and pure luck.
Turns out, like....wins and losses aren't everything.
Wilbon: "...I'm going to give him a B-plus, but you mentioned those guys, Tony, 16 and 3 for Weaver even though he got lit up in one of his last two starts, Chris Sale had a great outing against the Yankees so he's 15 and 4, Price has been good 'til last night. All those guys--it's a dead heat. B-plus though."
This is fantastic. To recap, here are Michael Wilbon's Four Important Criteria for Cy Young Consideration:
1. How Many Wins And Losses You Have (A.K.A How Good Your Team's Offense Is)
2. Whether Or Not You Got Lit Up In One Of Your Last Two Starts
3. How Your Last Outing Against The Yankees Went ("Great", "Not-So-Great", "Crappy", etc.)
4. How You Pitched Last Night
Back in reality, Felix leads the AL (and baseball) in ERA. He has thrown the most innings. He's third in strikeouts. He's second in Wins Above Replacement among all pitchers. The fact that Weaver, Sale, and Price have more wins than him means less than nothing.
Finally, third contributor Tony Reali chipped in with an editorial comment:
Tony Reali, Blessed Voice of Reason: "...You guys realize there are other stats than wins and losses, right?"
Wilbon: [facetiously, I pray] "No, there aren't...Win the game!"
This is so mind-numbingly stupid that I simply can't write about it any more for fear of falling to a spontaneous coma. We're done here.
