Fastball

Former Chicago White Sox Pitcher Chris Sale Joins Sandy Koufax in Baseball History

Sale won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, joining one of the most prominent pitchers to ever play in history.

Brady Farkas

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (49) delivers against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning at U.S. Cellular Field in 2016.
Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (49) delivers against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning at U.S. Cellular Field in 2016. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images
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Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night. It was the first Cy Young win of his career.

Sale, who was traded from the Boston Red Sox last offseason, is now a member of the Atlanta Braves.

With his Cy Young win, Sale joined left-hander Sandy Koufax in some amazing baseball history.

Per @OptaSTATS on social media:

In his MLB career, Chris Sale has:

struck out 300 batters in a season
gotten the last out of a World Series
won a Triple Crown
won a Cy Young

Only one other pitcher has done all four: Sandy Koufax.

Koufax is one of the best pitchers to have ever lived, even though his career was generally short. A veteran of 12 years, Koufax retired at the age of 30. In that time, he went 165-87 with a 2.76 ERA. He was a three-time Cy Young winner, an MVP, a three-time Triple Crown winner, a five-time ERA champ and a four-time World Series champion. He made the Hall of Fame in 1972.

In his 14th season in the majors, Sale is 138-83 with a 3.04 lifetime ERA. He debuted with the White Sox in the 2010 season, staying there until 2016. He was traded to the Red Sox in 2017, helping them win the World Series in 2018 and get to the ALCS in 2021, though he only made nine starts that year.

This year, he put up the most dominant season in the National League, going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA. He also struck out a National League-best 225 batters and made the All-Star team.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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