Remember, the awards are for the regular season

You could hear the collective gnashing of teeth across the country from Red Sox fans. How could Josh Beckett not be the American League Cy Young Award winner?

It's easy. He wasn't the best AL pitcher in the regular season. C.C. Sabathia was. And the voters got it right.

Sabathia led the Indians to the ALCS, and went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA, and led the majors in innings pitched with 241. He struck out 209 and walked 37. Beckett was great as well, going 20-7 with a 3.29 ERA. He struck out 194 and walked 40 in 40 fewer innings.

But Beckett has the World Series ring, and two wins over Sabathia in the playoffs. So Cy Young definitely feels like the consolation prize. (But Sabathia collected a $2 million bonus for winning the award, and now Indians fans are concerned that they won't be able to keep Sabathia - he becomes a free agent after the season.)

John Lackey of the Angels, who led the AL in ERA at 3.01, finished third.

On Wednesday, the small-market managers collected their worthy prizes. There will be little second-guessing that the Indians' Eric Wedge and the Diamondbacks' Bob Melvin deserved to be named managers of the year in their respective leagues.

More: Baseball postseason awards.

Photo: The Cleveland Indians captured some hardware on back-to-back days. Eric Wedge was named AL Manager of the Year on Wednesday, one day after the Indians' C.C. Sabathia won the AL Cy Young Award. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)