Cubs’ Maddux an Easy Winner Over Glavine for NL Cy Young

Greg Maddux, who won 20 games for a Chicago Cubs’ team that finished below .500, outpointed Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves and was named winner of the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday.

Maddux, a free agent, went 20-11 with a 2.18 earned-run average for the Cubs. He received 20 of the 24 first-place votes and four runner-up votes from a panel made up of two writers in each league city, finishing with 112 points.

“One of the goals I set out four years ago was to win the Cy Young and to win 20 games. To finally do that means a lot to me personally,” Maddux said during a news conference at Wrigley Field. “It means all the hard work has paid off. Now all that’s left to do is to pitch in a World Series.”

Glavine, trying to become the NL’s first repeat Cy Young winner since Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers in 1966, was 20-8 with a 2.76 ERA. He got the remaining four first-place votes and 78 points.

Maddux won despite the Cubs’ 78-84 record--seven of his losses came in shutouts--and fourth-place finish in the NL East.