Feezil wins N.L. Cy Young Award

First Catholic to win award since the transition

SEATTLE (RWN) - Travis Feezil, the strong-armed left handed starting pitcher for the San Francisco Scythes, was awarded the National League's Cy Young Award today.

Feezil went 24-8 with a 2.87 ERA for the Scythes, striking out 208 in 175 innings.
More significant than his stats, though, is Feezil's status as a pioneer. He is the first Catholic to win the award since the transition in 2016.

"I feel good that I was able to win this," Feezil said. "I worked real hard to get it and my team was just great. You can pitch so much better when you know that if you make a bad pitch, you've got seven guys behind you who can make the play and get the guy out."

"As for my religion playing into this, I don't think of it much. The guys are real respectful of me in the locker room. And my dad always told me 'No man should wear his cross where another man can see it,' and I think that's fine advice."

Long-time observers of baseball, though, see this as a major breakthrough.

"For the first time, we've seen a media vote for the award that hasn't been across religious lines," said Max Allen, a longtime sportswriter with the Philadelphia Crescent Moon. "It used to be, hell, until last year, guys would vote along religious lines. You wouldn't want it getting out that you were a Muslim who voted for a Catholic. You'd probably be fired on the spot."

Some 106 of the 214 sportswriters eligible to vote put Feezil at the top of their list. There is no way to determine who voted for whom, but the majority of eligible sportswriters are Muslim.

Ghassan Succor, closer for the Los Angeles Taliban, came in second with 21 first-place votes.

"TFeez had a great year," Succor said after the awards ceremony. "To strike out 208 batters in 175 innings is amazing. And what, he walked, like 13 guys? He deserves it."

And the Catholic thing?

"Who cares, man?" Succor said. "It doesn't matter out on the field, so it doesn't matter."


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