THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

I hope the near future sees somebody strike out 275 batters but win just 5 games & have an ERA over 5. That would be the most outstanding pitcher in the league....not the most valuable, but definitely the most outstanding performance.

good to know. 
Tango, did you notice it doesn’t actually say “most outstanding”—just “The Outstanding AL Pitcher.” That’s terrible! Who comes up with this stuff?

Why can’t it just say “Best Pitcher in the League, 20xx” and leave it at that?

Pujols is the best player in the league, even if he doesn’t perform as the best one year.

We want: most outstanding performance by a pitcher, just like in the music awards show.

I hope the near future sees somebody strike out 275 batters but win just 5 games & have an ERA over 5.

Oh Jason Neighbourall, where are you?

When the Cy Young was initially conceived, it was described in most press reports as honoring the “outstanding” pitcher in the league, even though the plaque itself said “Most Valuable”.  The award itself didn’t have consistent wording, though; some years it said “Most Valuable”, and some years it said “Outstanding”:

Fergie Jenkins, 1971
Jim Palmer, 1973
possibly Jim Lonborg, 1967

The Lonborg plaque is from Fenway Park, where it is displayed with Clemens’ and Pedro’s Cy Youngs.  All 6 Fenway plaques have the same design, so they might be replicas the Sox had made later.  I am not sure if they are accurate or not.  Gibson’s 1968 award and Koufax’ 1963 both say “Most Valuable”, so if that is accurate, it would mean they were switching back and forth for a while.  I have no idea who decided what the plaque said or why, especially since I’ve never heard the award described as the most valuable pitcher aside from the plaques, and outstanding has been used all along.  It could just be that whoever designed the award didn’t make a distinction between the two phrasings, or that it was deliberately left ambiguous between the two.