David Price: You've won some hardware! (US Presswire)

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David Price of the Rays has won the 2012 American League Cy Young Award.

This season, Price authored a record of 20-5 and also paced the AL with a 2.56 ERA. Price also ranked eighth in the AL in innings (211.0) and sixth in strikeouts (205). On a park-adjusted basis, Price's ERA was good for second in the junior circuit.

Also in Price's favor is that he faced a tough docket of opposing lineups. In fact, Price, according to data available at Baseball Prospectus, ranked fifth among AL qualifiers in terms of highest opponents' OPS.

When it comes to advanced metrics, Price finished third in the AL in the Fangraphs version of WAR (behind Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez). He was second to Verlander, according to the Baseball-Reference iteration of WAR. By any measure, though, it was an outstanding, Cy-worthy campaign turned in by the 27-year-old.

The award is not only Price's first but also the first Cy Young in Rays franchise history.  In 2010, Price finished second in the balloting to Seattle's Hernandez.

As for the balloting, it was perilously close ...

In fact, save for the 1969 round of balloting, when Denny McLain and Mike Cuellar tied for the award, this is the closest vote in Cy history. The individual ballots ...

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