NEW YORK (AP) — Max Scherzer celebrated aboard a boat off the British Virgin Islands, doused by college pals on a floating party.
Rick Porcello enjoyed the moment at his parents’ home in New Jersey, surrounded by family, friends and a few bottles of wine.
As for Justin Verlander, well, fuming supermodel Kate Upton brought the heat for her fiance.
Rotation mates for five seasons in Detroit, the three right-handers topped the Cy Young Award talk Wednesday: Scherzer easily won the NL prize, Porcello edged out Verlander for the AL honor.
“That’s just the weird thing about these,” said Scherzer, who ruled the majors with 284 strikeouts and topped the NL with 20 wins for Washington. “It’s the voting.”
Porcello led baseball with 22 wins for Boston, and had a 3.15 ERA.
Porcello won despite getting just eight of the 30 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America — this was the first time the AL Cy winner didn’t get the most firsts.
Verlander went 16-9 with a 2.40 ERA while leading the AL in strikeouts and other categories. He got 14 first-place votes, but didn’t draw as much support across the board — he was left off two ballots, too.
Overall, Porcello won 137-132 in the second-closest vote since 1970 (Verlander lost by four points to David Price in 2012).
Voters list their five picks in order. A first-place vote is worth seven points, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Verlander needed to pick up five more points to match Porcello.
Upton fired off three tweets, one of them rather saucy, telling Porcello “you didn’t win.”
Asked whether he was bothered by the brouhaha, Porcello simply said, “No, I honestly don’t care.”
“I’m not the one who made the decision,” he said on a conference call.
Porcello got a $100,000 bonus for winning the Cy. Verlander, who won the 2011 award, would’ve gotten $500,000 for this win.
Porcello bounced back from going 9-15 in his first season with the Red Sox, finishing 22-4 for the AL East champs.
He shared this last win of 2016 with those who “never wavered” in their support, admitting, “It was hard not to start bawling and crying.”
Cleveland’s Corey Kluber was third and got three first-place votes. Baltimore reliever Zach Britton, who went 47 for 47 on save chances with a 0.54 ERA, had five first-place votes and was fourth.
Scherzer breezed, drawing 25 first-place votes to beat out Chicago Cubs teammates Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks.
Scherzer became the sixth pitcher to earn the Cy Young in both leagues. After earning the AL honor in 2013 with the Tigers, Scherzer joined Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Gaylord Perry and Roy Halladay as winners in both leagues.
This award, Scherzer said, meant even more than the first one.
“It just verifies everything I try to achieve,” he said.
Scherzer posted a record-tying 20-strikeout performance for the NL East champion Nationals, a year after he threw two no-hitters in his first season with Washington.
“I want to find a way to be better,” he said.
Scherzer is the first pitcher from a Washington franchise to win a Cy Young. The award was first presented in 1956.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw got three first-place votes and finished fifth. Jose Fernandez, the Miami star killed in a boating accident in September, was seventh.
The final major postseason awards will be presented Thursday when the MVP honors are announced.
Cubs slugger Kris Bryant, Washington’s Daniel Murphy and newly presented Rookie of the Year Corey Seager of the Dodgers are up for the NL award. Mike Trout of the Angels, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox and Jose Altuve of the Astros are the AL contestants.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Long before they were honored for guiding teams with depleted rosters to first-place finishes, Dave Roberts and Terry Francona were forever linked.
Fans in Boston and beyond will always remember that signature stolen base.
It was Roberts’ daring swipe as a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth inning that helped the Red Sox — managed by Francona — rally from the brink of being swept in the 2004 AL Championship Series and sped them toward ending their 86-year World Series curse.
Francona went on to win two titles with Boston, and on Tuesday he earned his second AL Manager of the Year award with Cleveland.
But what if Roberts had been thrown out, could that have altered a path that might someday land Francona in the Hall of Fame?
“The truth of it is, it probably would’ve been completely different,” Francona said on a conference call.
“There’s always a Dave Roberts-being-out from being the other way,” he said.
The 44-year-old Roberts won the NL Manager of the Year honor in his first season as a skipper, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to the NL West crown.
Roberts and Francona each won handily. The voting figures to be much closer Wednesday for the Cy Young awards.
Boston’s Rick Porcello (majors-leading 22 wins), Detroit’s Justin Verlander (league-high 254 strikeouts, best wins above replacement for pitchers by baseballreference.com) and Cleveland’s Corey Kluber (second among pitchers in WAR) are up for the AL prize.
Chicago Cubs teammates Kyle Hendricks (majors-best 2.13 ERA, 16-8) and Jon Lester (2.44, 19-5) and Washington’s Max Scherzer (20-7, majors-most 284 strikeouts) are competing for the NL honor.
Roberts didn’t bat in the 2004 postseason and didn’t even play in the World Series sweep over St. Louis. But to just “play a small part” in his only season in Boston was rewarding, and he still retains lessons taught by Francona.
Being unselfish and playing “for the right reasons … the game honors you,” he said.
Known for that one slide into second base, Roberts certainly had to scramble this season.
The Dodgers put 28 different players on the disabled list, more than any team in the last 30 years. An injury to ace Clayton Kershaw was among the reasons they employed a franchise record-tying 55 players, including 31 pitchers.
Among the Dodgers who managed to stay healthy: shortstop Corey Seager, chosen NL Rookie of the Year on Monday.
Roberts said he was particularly proud of “the way our guys battled adversity all year.”
Roberts made a record 606 pitching changes while going 91-71. Twice, he pulled pitchers in the late innings when they were throwing no-hitters, trying to protect their arms from overuse.
In the postseason, Roberts took a creative approach to his bullpen. He used Kershaw against Washington in the deciding Game 5 of the Division Series, then brought in closer Kenley Jansen early while taking a 2-1 lead over the Cubs in the NLCS.
Members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voted at the end of the regular season.
Roberts got 16 first-place votes to top Joe Maddon, whose Cubs won the World Series. Maddon, who earned the award last year, was picked first on eight ballots.
Washington’s Dusty Baker was third and got four firsts. Terry Collins of the New York Mets had the other two firsts.
Roberts was the lone NL manager chosen on every ballot. This marked the third straight year a first-time manager has been honored, following Texas’ Jeff Banister and Washington’s Matt Williams.
The 57-year-old Francona guided the Indians to the AL Central title at 94-67. They overtook the defending champion Royals and high-spending Tigers despite losing starters Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco, All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley and catcher Yan Gomes to injuries and outfielders Marlon Byrd and Abraham Almonte to drug suspensions.
Cleveland came close to winning its first World Series title since 1948, but the Cubs rallied from a 3-1 deficit.
“It was an unbelievably satisfying year,” Francona said.
It’s already been a busy offseason for him, too. The Indians picked up options for his contract in 2019 and 2020, then he had a right hip replacement operation.
Francona drew 22 first-place votes and was the only manager chosen on all 30 ballots.
Banister was second and got four firsts. Baltimore’s Buck Showalter, who was third, and Boston’s John Farrell both drew a pair of firsts.