Cy C. Sabathia (and trivia)

I don’t think anyone is particularly surprised that the AL Cy Young has just been awarded to C.C. Sabathia. The voting was concluded before his postseason meltdown (and before runner-up Josh Beckett’s postseason kickassery). I am much more surprised that it’s the Indians’ second Cy Young win ever, with the first going to Hall of Famer (and famous spitballer) Gaylord Perry in ‘72. What, no love for Bob Feller or Bob Lemon? As it turns out, the Cy Young award wasn’t invented until 1956, when Cleveland’s best one-two punch prior to Sabathia-Carmona was aging ungracefully.

Nonetheless, this is a storied franchise that has fielded the likes of Cy Young himself, Napoleon Lajoie, Addie Joss, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Tris Speaker, Lou Boudreau, Mel Harder, Joe Sewell, Satchel Paige (who was, by then, quite old), fan favorite Rocky Colavito, Roger Maris, Luis Tiant, Bert Blyleven, Andre Thornton, Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton (every now and then), Orel Hershiser, Charles Nagy, Bartolo Colon (in the glory days), and Omar Vizquel. Phew! You would have thought at least one or two of the dominant pitchers on that list would have snagged a Cy somewhere in that lengthy history.

Which brings me to the trivia part of this post: the Cleveland Indians are one of just four founding teams of the American League to have played their entire history in one city. Can you name the other three?