Scherzer receives Cy Young, pair of Nats honored by Cavaliers

It's been more than two months since he was named the National League's Cy Young Award winner, but on Sunday night, Max Scherzer officially was presented with the award itself.

Scherzer was among several players honored at the annual New York Baseball Writers' Dinner, joined by fellow winners of the BBWAA's annual end-of-season awards along with the winners of awards given out specifically to New York players.

It was Scherzer's second straight January trip to the Big Apple to receive a Cy Young Award, his third in five years. He coasted to the 2017 honor, receiving 27-of-30 first-place votes to top Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and Nationals teammate Stephen Strasburg in balloting after going 16-6 with a 2.51 ERA, a .902 WHIP and 268 strikeouts in 200 2/3 innings.

In the process, Scherzer became only the 10th pitcher ever to win three of more Cy Young Awards in his career. The rest of the list includes seven Hall of Famers (Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton, Greg Maddux, Sandy Koufax, Pedro Martinez, Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver), plus Kershaw (who is well on his way to enshrinement in Cooperstown) and Roger Clemens (who despite a record seven Cy Young Awards has not yet been elected to the Hall due to accusation of PED use).

Scherzer also continued a recent tradition of Nationals representation at the New York dinner. This was the fourth consecutive year at least one member of the Nats has been honored after winning a BBWAA award, with Matt Williams winning NL Manager of the Year in 2014 and Bryce Harper winning NL MVP in 2015 before Scherzer's back-to-back Cy Young Awards.

* Two other Nationals received their own honor over the weekend, not so much for their performance in the majors but rather in college. Ryan Zimmerman and Sean Doolittle were among 15 members of the inaugural class of the University of Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame.

Zimmerman is among the most well-known ballplayers to come out of Virginia, drafted fourth overall by the Nats in 2005 after he hit .393 with a .581 slugging percentage, 59 RBIs and 51 runs as a senior. Primarily a shortstop during his college career, Zimmerman was an All-American in 2005, a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and still ranks in the top five on the school's all-time batting average and hits list.

Zimmerman has remained a loyal support of the Cavaliers since reaching the majors, and in 2016 donated $1 million to the program to help renovate the school's ballpark.

Doolittle was a teammate of Zimmerman for one season, actually as a fellow infielder. A slugging first baseman when he first started playing in college, the left-hander eventually transitioned exclusively to pitching. He was a three-time All-ACC selection and was the 2006 ACC Player of the Year.

Mike Cubbage, a special assistant to Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, was also part of the school's first Hall of Fame class.

* New Nationals manager Dave Martinez will be the featured speaker Friday night at George Mason's annual First Pitch Dinner. Martinez, who was hired in November after 10 seasons as Joe Maddon's bench coach with the Rays and Cubs, will join members of Mason's baseball program at the Country Club of Fairfax.

Ticket information can be found here.