It's unanimous: Justin Verlander is Tiger of the Year

Last Updated: November 12. 2009 6:57PM
It's unanimous: Justin Verlander is Tiger of the Year
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Justin Verlander has won his first Tiger of the Year award.

In the annual balloting of the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Verlander received all 22 first-place votes.

Verlander is the first pitcher since Steve Sparks in 2001 -- and just the second since 1986 (Jack Morris) -- to be named Tiger of the Year.

Verlander finished with a 19-9 record and a 3.45 ERA. These were some of his highlights:

• He tied for the American League lead in wins with Seattle's Felix Hernandez and New York's CC Sabathia.

• He led the AL in strikeouts (269), starts (35) and innings (240).

• He was 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA at home.

• He went 5-0 with a 1.52 ERA in May.

• In 18 starts between April 27 and July 29, he went 12-3 with a 2.17 ERA.

• He was named an All-Star for the second time in his career.

Plus he got tougher as he got deeper into his starts. The OPS against him (on-base percentage plus slugging) was lower after 100 pitches than it was between his 51st and 100th pitch.

Verlander is the first unanimous winner of Tiger of the Year since Morris in 1983. His 269 strikeouts were the most in the AL since Boston's Pedro Martinez had 284 in 2000.