Dating back to 1956, the Cy Young Award has been given to the best pitcher in the majors. While the award was initially given to the single best pitcher in the majors, since 1967, the award has been given to the best pitcher in the American and National leagues. Many of the "crown jewel" all-time great pitchers have won the award, such as Warren Spahn, Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, and Tom Seaver, to name a few. However, Nolan Ryan and Juan Marichal are two of the "crown jewel" all-time greats never to have won the award. I'm well aware that Walter Johnson, Christy Matthewson, Cy Young, Bob Feller, and many others never won the award, but in this case, I'm talking about the guys who had yet to win since 1956, when the award was first introduced.
Nolan Ryan's career lasted 27 seasons, more than any other player in modern (since 1900) MLB history. Throughout his career, Ryan was a right-handed pitcher who could throw pitches clocked above 100 miles per hour in his sleep. His ability to maintain his velocity throughout his pitching career made him inhuman. Ryan also could throw a devastating 12-6 curveball at an insane rate for a breaking ball.
Nolan Ryan (1966-1993)
W-L 324-292
ERA 3.13
SO 5,714*
IP 5,386
SHO 61
WHIP 1.247
Nolan Ryan is currently the all-time leader in Strikeouts and no-hitters with seven. Despite not winning a Cy Young, he had two ERA titles, led the league in Strikeouts ten times, and had 10 or 11 "Hall-of-Fame seasons." Why did Nolan Ryan never win a Cy Young?
While Nolan Ryan had multiple Cy Young-caliber seasons, every year he had a great season, another guy always pitched better. Gaylord Perry in 1972, Jim Palmer in 1973, Catfish Hunter in 1974, Sparky Lyle in 1977, and Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
Juan Marichal spent all but two seasons of his career with the Giants. Marichal threw five pitches: a fastball, slider, curveball, changeup, and a screwball. He could disguise them with a delivery that allowed him to conceal the pitch type until it was on its way, including a famous high left leg kick that went vertical. He is the greatest pitcher in Giants franchise history, not Christy Matthewson.
Juan Marichal (1960-1975)
ERA 2.89
SO 2303
IP 3,507
SHO 52
WHIP 1.101
Despite not winning a Cy Young, he led the league in Wins twice and won 20 or more games six times in his career. Multiple times he led the league in WHIP, IP, SHO, and CG. He has an ERA title to his resume and stayed under a 2.50 ERA in the prime years of his career. Why didn't he win a Cy Young? His prime years occurred in the 1960s, the dominant starting pitching era. Like Nolan Ryan, for every great year he had, someone always pitched just a little better than him. Sandy Koufax took home the award in 1963, 1965, and 1966; Denny McLain in 1968 and 1969; and Tom Seaver in 1969.
Anyone who underrated these guys because they never won a Cy Young should have their head examined. You can always reflect on the years they didn't win the award and make a case that these two should've won instead. But Nolan Ryan and Juan Marichal aren't just Hall of Famers; they're your "Crown Jewel" Hall of Famers.
References:
Nolan Ryan Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanno01.shtml
Juan Marichal Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maricju01.shtml
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