He became the first player since 1994 to
throw a perfect game when beating the Twins.
Within the
regular season he had the top winning percentage .818 after a 18-4 record.
He also led the league with five shutouts
and a 1.04 WHIP.
He was 2nd in the AL with eight
complete games and 5th with a 3.49 ERA.
He was 4-0 in the playoffs and won Game One
of each Series the Yankees won.
Boomer Wells struck out nine in eight innings to
open the ALDS for New York in a 2-0 win over Texas.
Wells also picked up the win in Game One of
the Fall Classic.
The
Yankees set a American League record with 114 wins. They also set a record
with 125 wins including the postseason.
They swept Texas outscoring the Rangers 9-1
in three games. New
York beat the reigning AL champs Cleveland in six games and swept past San
Diego in the Fall Classic. The Yanks had the top ERA in the AL at 3.82.
2.
Kevin Brown: Was named the National League Pitcher of the Year by the
Sporting News. He was the Baseball Digest Pitcher of the Year.
He was also
named 1st team starting
pitcher by Baseball America.
He was an All-Star and finished 3rd in the NL Cy
Young voting.
During the regular season Brown
finished 2nd in the NL in ERA (2.39), strikeouts (257), and WHIP
(1.07).
He was 18-7 and had seven complete games.
KB
set the division series record that still stands with 16 strikeouts in Game One vs.
Houston, a 2-1 win for San Diego.
He helped the Padres take Game Three allowing just one
earned run in 6 and 2/3 innings.
In Game Two of the NLCS the Padres’ ace shutout Atlanta with
eleven strikeouts as San Diego built a 2-0 series lead.
In two games of the World Series, Brown strikeout 13 Yankees
in 14 1/3 innings.
San Diego advanced to their first World Series in 14 years
after stunning the 106 win Braves in six games. They knocked out Houston in
four games. The Padres won 98 games and the NL West by 9.5 games.
3. Nomar Garciaparra:
Was the AL MVP runner-up.
He was one
of the top hitters in the American League. He finished 5th in
hits (195), 6th in batting (.323), and 7th in RBI (122).
He was in top 10 in total bases, slugging,
runs, triples and home runs with 35.
It was his 2 HR and 4 run
performance that helped clinch the Red Sox the Wildcard.
He was also the AL Player of Week twice.
Nomar continued to have a hot bat in the
postseason. He became
the first player to have a hit and run in his first five postseason games.
He drove in four including 3 run HR to put Boston up 6-0 in
5th of ALDS Game One win.
In the 4th inning of Game Four, his HR gave the
Sox a 1-0 lead they would hold until 8th when David Justice put
Cleveland ahead for good in the series clincher.
Boston won 92 games, the second most in the AL and won the
Wild Card. They were third in the AL in scoring and batting average.
