The pitcher took a landslide victory with a 17-9, 3.63 ERA, totaling 26 of a possible 28 first place votes. He took the honours with 133 points, handily beating Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon by 70.
I heard rumours all over the place about how Papelbon would take it, but I'm a avid supporter that closers really shouldn't win it, unless they're on a mid-level team. Although Papelbon was a solid closer, he was certainly helped by the fact that the Red Sox gave him a lot of opportunities to save games.
Verlander's wins was probably the deciding factor, since he had 4 or 5 more than the closest rookie competitor - but honestly, he threw 186 innings, and dominated when the time called (although his K's are oddly low for a power pitcher). Either way, I'd have gave it to him as well, especially since he was a huge part of the reason that Detroit did so well this year (whereas even with Boston's big bats, they finished third in the AL East).
