2012 Superior League Cy Young Award

The year 2012 in the Superior League will not go down in history as the "Year of the Pitcher".  On the flip side, this might be the worst season ever for individual pitching achievements.  Witness - No starting pitcher was able to pull of a 20-win season or a sub 3.00 ERA.  Only two relief pitchers were able to save 40 or more games, but they only averaged 41 saves and 55 innings - hardly enough work to be deemed the best.  Of the 7 ballots cast, only two pitchers appeared on more than 2 ballots (4 and 3).  With that in mind, here are the complete voting results:

11.  Dan Mason, Orlando:  14-10 with a league leading 3.27 ERA in 195 IP
10.  Paul Finch, Mars:  12-14, 3.64 ERA with a league leading 231 K's
T8.  Joe Dirte, New York:  40 saves in 56 IP with a 2.57 ERA
T8.  Tom Harrelson, Baltimore:  10-2, 3.34 ERA with 97 IP in relief
T6.  Eddie Carey, New York:  18-6, 3.76 ERA in 189 IP
T6.  David Tyler, Cleveland:  13-9, 3.34 ERA, 212 IP, 176-62 K/BB Ratio, led league in pitching WAR
5.  James Willits, New York:  6-0 2.84 ERA, 63 IP - Appeared on only one ballot - 1st place
4.  Grant Dunn, New York:  18-8, 3.50 ERA, 210 IP - Appeared on 3 ballots, one 1st place vote
3.  Storm Morris, Baltimore:  16-13, 3.50, League Leading 231 IP, one 1st place vote
2.  Chris Grimes, Utah:  2-6, 2.65 ERA, League Leading 42 saves in 54 IP - Appears on only 2 ballots - both 1st place votes - 10 points

And the winner is:

1.  Mike Carpenter, New York:  16 points, two 1st place votes, two 2nd place votes.  19-7, 3.71 ERA, 206 IP, 180 Hits, 61 BB, 178 K's, 8 CG, 5 shutouts.  It seems like a blast from the past with the Cy Young Award going to the League's leading winner with the unimpressive ERA (Pete Vukovitch 1982 anybody?).  In his defense, Carpenter did have an impressive 5 shutouts and 8 CG's.  Had he not missed 3 starts due to injury, he may have had more impressive IP and win totals.  As it was, the near 3:1 K/BB Ratio should at least appease the stat heads.