Zito's 2002 Cy Young

Has there ever been a player who leveraged a single award as well as Zito did six years ago? Just like Lincecum, Zito won his award when he was 24. He went 23-5 with an ERA of 2.75, 182 Ks and had a WHIP of 1.13. He's been dining out off that season ever since.

Here's one interesting conclusion -- Pedro Martinez, who got 11 first-place votes to Zito's 17, should have won the AL Cy Young in 2002 instead of Zito. He went 20-4, led the league in Ks with 239 and had a much better ERA with 2.26 and a WHIP of 0.923. In short, he should have won his 4th Cy that year; but voters were swayed because Zito had 3 more wins.