Leviathan Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia won the 2007 A.L. Cy Young Award, edging out 20-game winner Josh Beckett of Boston, to whom he lost twice in the playoffs. Sabathia led the majors in innings pitched with 241, and became the first African-American pitcher to win the award since Dwight Gooden in 1985. I definitely thought it would be close and I definitely thought Josh Beckett could have won it. I'm glad it worked out this way," he said.
Sabathia, 6'7", 290 pounds, will be a free agent after the 2008 season. His pitching coach gushed to the Cleveland Plain Dealer about his improved poise: "When his emotions get away from him, he tends to overthrow. Now when he can control all that, he can throw any pitch at any time." (More MLB stories.)