Doc Halladay Wins Cy Young

Roy Halladay added to his already impressive season this week as it was announced that he is the recipient of the 2010 Cy Young Award. As if this season's performances were not enough, Halladay capped off the season by winning the award in unanimous fashion, only the 13^th time in the awards history.

Though Halladay won the award unanimously, it is not as if there was competition.

St. Louis Cardinals' pitcher Adam Wainwright finished in second with 28 of 32 second-place votes.

Colorado Rockies' phenom Ubaldo Jimenez finished third in voting despite having a no-hitter early in the season. Jimenez was also named the starting pitcher for the National League in this years' All-Star game.

Florida Marlins' pitcher and National League earned run average leader Josh Johnson finished fifth in voting.

 The complete voting results are shown below, courtesy of the BBWAA:

The reasoning behind the Halladay pick is clear. Not Only did Halladay throw a perfect game in the regular season, but he also pitched a no-hitter in the playoffs, a feat never done by a pitcher before. Halladay led the National League in innings, with 250.2. Because he threw more innings, Halladay was able to make up for the fact that he didn't lead the league in ERA. At 2.44, Halladay finished behind Johnson (2.30) and Wainwright (2.42), but he threw a more innings than both of them.

It's also worth noting that Halladay spent half his games in Citizen's Bank Park, a hitter-friendly ballpark, whereas Johnson and Wainwright spent half his games in a pitcher-friendly ballpark. Despite this disadvantage, Halladay still managed to win a league-leading 21 games.

It's the second Cy Young Award of Halladay's career, as he also won in 2003 with the Blue Jays. This means that Halladay joins another exclusive club, pitchers who win Cy Young Awards in both the American and National leagues. Others on this list are: Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and Gaylord Perry.