Cy Young Profile: Doug Drabek, 1990

Pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age:  28 (July 25)

4^th season with Pirates

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 185

Prior to 1990:

A native of Victoria, Texas Drabek was drafted by the Cleveland Indians out of high school in 1980 but chose to attend the Univ. of Houston where he won a school-record 27 games from 1981-83, including 6 shutouts and 268 innings pitched. In ’83 he produced a 12-3 record that included a no-hitter. He was chosen by the Chicago White Sox in the 1983 amateur draft and this time he signed. Drabek was first assigned to Niagara Falls of the short-season Class A New York-Pennsylvania League where he compiled a 6-7 record with a 3.65 ERA in 103.2 innings pitched. During the 1984 season he was traded to the New York Yankees. With three teams that year at the Class A and AA levels he went 14-7 with a 2.24 ERA and 103 strikeouts over 160.2 innings pitched. In 1985 Drabek had a strong season with Albany-Colonie of the Class AA Eastern League, producing a 13-7 record in 26 starts with a 2.99 ERA and 153 strikeouts. He started the 1986 season with the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League and although he was struggling with a 1-4 record and 7.29 ERA in May after eight starts, he was promoted to the Yankees. Utilized primarily as a starter he went 7-8 with a 4.10 ERA as a major league rookie. In the offseason he was dealt to the Pirates as part of a six-player trade. A power pitcher who primarily relied on his fastball, Drabek moved into Pittsburgh’s starting rotation in 1987 and was 11-12 with a 3.88 ERA and 120 strikeouts over 176.1 innings pitched. Tough and determined, and having added a slider, curve, and changeup to his repertoire, he improved to 15-7 with a 3.08 ERA in 1988 with the up-and-coming Pirates. Receiving poor run support in 1989 Drabek went 14-12 with a 2.80 ERA, five shutouts, and 123 strikeouts.

1990 Season Summary

Appeared in 33 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 33

Games Started – 33 [7, tied with five others]

Complete Games – 9 [2, tied with Bruce Hurst]

Wins – 22 [1]

Losses – 6

PCT - .786 [1]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 3 [3, tied with five others]

Innings Pitched – 231.1 [5, tied with John Smoltz]

Hits – 190 [18, tied with Scott Garrelts]

Runs – 78

Earned Runs – 71

Home Runs – 15

Bases on Balls – 56

Strikeouts – 131 [16]

ERA – 2.76 [6]

Hit Batters – 3

Balks – 0

Wild Pitches – 6

League-leading wins were +2 ahead of runners-up Ramon Martinez & Frank Viola

League-leading win percentage was +.017 ahead of runner-up Ramon Martinez

Midseason Snapshot: 9-4, ERA - 3.28, SO - 54 in 109.2 IP

---

Most strikeouts, game – 8 (in 9 IP) vs. Philadelphia 7/29, (in 7 IP) vs. Cincinnati 8/24

10+ strikeout games – 0

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) at Philadelphia 8/3

Batting

PA – 96, AB – 84, R – 8, H – 18, 2B – 2, 3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 6, BB – 4, SO – 25, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .214, GDP – 0, HBP – 1, SH – 7, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 62

Put Outs – 25

Assists – 36

Errors – 1

DP – 1

Pct. - .984

Postseason Pitching: G – 2 (NLCS vs. Cincinnati)

GS – 2, CG – 1, Record – 1-1, PCT – .500, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 16.1, H – 12, R – 4, ER – 3, HR – 0, BB – 3, SO – 13, ERA – 1.65, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 1

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

8^th in NL MVP voting (59 points, 18% share)

NL Cy Young voting:

Doug Drabek, Pitt.: 118 pts. – 23 of 24 first place votes, 98% share

Ramon Martinez, LAD: 70 pts. – 1 first place vote, 58% share

Frank Viola, NYM: 19 pts. – 16% share

Dwight Gooden, NYM: 8 pts. – 7% share

Randy Myers, Cin.: 1 pt. – 1% share

---

Pirates went 95-67 to finish first in the NL Eastern Division by 4 games over the New York Mets, their first division title in 11 years. The pitching staff led the league in fewest walks allowed (413). Lost NLCS to the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 2.

Aftermath of ‘90:

Drabek dropped to 15-14 in 1991 with a 3.07 ERA and 142 strikeouts while pitching 234.2 innings as the Pirates once again topped the NL East. Pittsburgh made it three straight division titles in 1992 and Drabek contributed a 15-11 record with a 2.77 ERA over 256.2 innings with 177 strikeouts. In the offseason he signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros for four years and $19.5 million and suffered through a 9-18 year in 1993 with a 3.79 ERA over the course of 34 starts. He rebounded in the strike-shortened 1994 season to go 12-6 with a 2.84 ERA over 23 starts and was an All-Star for the only time in his career. He had lesser seasons in 1995 (10-9, 4.77 ERA) and ’96 (7-9, 4.57 ERA) after which he moved on to the Chicago White Sox in 1997 (12-11, 5.74 ERA) and Baltimore Orioles in ’98 (6-11, 7.29 ERA) where he finished his major league career. Overall in the major leagues, Drabek compiled a 155-134 record with a 3.73 ERA and 1594 strikeouts over 2535 innings pitched as well as 53 complete games and 21 shutouts. With Pittsburgh he was 92-62 with a 3.02 ERA and 820 strikeouts over 1362.2 innings. In the postseason his record was 2-5 with a 2.05 ERA in 7 games. He went on to become a minor league pitching coach in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and his son Kyle became a major league pitcher with the Blue Jays, White Sox, and Diamondbacks. The Univ. of Houston baseball team retired Drabek’s #16.

--

Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.