Besides from the Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series or the Tampa Bay Rays having the best season in the history of their franchise, one of the best stories from the 2008 MLB Season was Cliff Lee, who won the American League Cy Young Award on Thursday.

Cliff Lee is a runaway winner for the American League Cy Young Award, capping a dominant comeback season that made him the second consecutive Cleveland Indians lefty to earn the honor.

Demoted to the minors last year, Lee went a major league-best 22-3 this season with a 2.54 ERA. He received 24 of 28 first-place votes and 132 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Thursday.

Toronto ace Roy Halladay finished second with four first-place votes and 71 points.
Lee became the third Indians pitcher to win the award, following Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry in 1972 and CC Sabathia last year.

Good to see Lee, and Giants’ youngster Tim Lincecum claim their respective league’s Cy Young awards this season. Both played on below average teams this season and still had tremendous success. When they pitched, their hapless teams won – and often because of them.