Cy Young Award Winners

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Though the prestigious Cy Young Award has been given to major league pitchers since 1956, this book focuses on more recent recipients. For each of the 10 winners spotlighted (Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Denny McLain, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Jim Palmer, Steve Carlton, Fernando Valenzuela, Dwight Gooden, and Roger Clemens), Young provides statistics, brief biographical information, and insight into the factors that motivated the player and led to his success. Written in clear, somewhat lively journalistic prose, this title is an additional purchase for collections that have Nabhan's Cy Young Winners (Rourke, 1991) and Donald Honig's The Greatest Pitchers of All Time (Outlet, 1988).-Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ

Carolyn Phelan

Focusing on winners of the Cy Young Award for pitching, this book spotlights one outstanding baseball player in each chapter: Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Denny McLain, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Jim Palmer, Steve Carlton, Fernando Valenzuela, Dwight Gooden, and Roger Clemens. The book discusses each player's background and career, but it concentrates on the seaso (s) in which the pitcher earned the award. Each chapter includes two adequate black-and-white photographs of the player, usually one posed portrait and one action shot. A chart with his statistics ends the chapter. For baseball history buffs and, to some extent, current fans.