BOSTON -- For the first half-dozen seasons of his career, Rick Porcello pitched in the shadows of Cy Young Award-winning teammates Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.Now, he walks among them.One year after succumbing to the weight of a lucrative contract extension and losing 15 games for the Boston Red Sox, Porcello won the American League Cy Young Award, edging Verlander -- much to the chagrin of the Detroit Tigers aces fiancée, Kate Upton -- by a narrow margin in voting that was announced Wednesday night by the Baseball Writers Association of America.Porcello became only the fourth pitcher to claim a Cy Young Award with the Red Sox, joining Jim Lonborg (1967), Roger Clemens?(1986, 1987, 1990) and Pedro Martinez?(1999, 2000).Its pretty incredible to be mentioned with those three other Red Sox players, and then Pedro and Roger, Porcello said on a conference call from his parents home in New Jersey, where he received the news. It definitely doesnt feel right, right now, just because I grew up watching those guys. They were my idols growing up, and I had the utmost admiration for what theyve done in the game. To be in that category is -- I cant express my gratitude. Its pretty humbling. I never thought Id be in that position to mention my name with those guys.Porcello, a 27-year-old right-hander, was a first-round pick of the Tigers in 2007 and made his major league debut two years later at age 20. But he entered this season with a 4.39 career ERA and hadnt even been an All-Star, to say nothing of a Cy Young candidate.It was nothing short of a dream season, then, for Porcello, who led the majors with 22 wins and a 5.906 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He ranked behind Verlander and fellow Cy Young finalist Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians in both ERA (3.15) and strikeouts (189), but Porcellos candidacy was built on his mind-numbing consistency. He allowed three or fewer runs in 27 of 33 starts and pitched into the seventh inning 23 times, racking up a career-high 223 innings.Porcello said he began to realize he was having a special season right after the All-Star break, a notion that crystallized when he notched his 20th win Sept. 9 in Toronto.I felt like I had the weapons this year and the command to get out just about any guy that I was going to encounter in any lineup, Porcello said. I had nothing to worry about going into a start.Yet Porcello received only eight first-place votes for the Cy Young Award, as compared to Verlanders 14.What put Porcello over the top in the overall voting by a 137-132 margin over Verlander were his 18 second-place votes, coupled with the fact that two Tampa, Florida-based writers -- Fred Goodall of The Associated Press and Bill Chastain of MLB.com -- left Verlander off their ballots entirely.Voters list their five picks in order. A first-place vote is worth seven points, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Verlander needed to pick up five more points to match Porcello.I feel bad that people are upset about this. I did the best I could, Chastain told the New York Daily News. I went around the clubhouse. I asked guys. I agonized over this. The biggest thing for me was between [Orioles closer?Zach] Britton?and Porcello.Members of the BBWAA have until the end of the regular season to submit their ballots.Chastain said he sent in his ballot a week early, thinking nothing in the final days of the regular season would change his mind. Verlander, though, allowed just one run over his final two starts (14 2/3 innings), going 1-1 and watching his ERA drop from 3.21 to 3.04.At the time, I thought I picked the best five guys, Chastain told the Daily News. Maybe I should have waited until the end. When I voted, it looked pretty clear to me.This marked the second-closest election since 1970, when voters were permitted to select more than one pitcher.Under the current Cy Young voting format, two AL races have been decided by five or fewer voting points. Verlander has been the runner-up in both.Porcello got a $100,000 bonus for winning the Cy Young Award. Verlander, who won the 2011 award, would have gotten $500,000 for this win.Verlanders brother Ben and Upton lashed out against the voters on Twitter, with Upton even saying that Porcello didnt win because he didnt receive as many first-place votes.Verlander later tweeted:?I honestly dont care, Porcello said, when asked about the reaction from Verlanders camp. Im not the one that made that decision, as far as who wins the Cy Young. All I know is Ive got a lot of people around me right now that I love very much and have been instrumental in my success getting to this point. And on top of that, weve got some really good bottles of wine that still need to be drank. Theres not really a concern in my mind.If anything, Porcello said he was thrilled to share this years Cy Young honor with Scherzer, the Washington Nationals ace who won the 2016 award in the National League.Scherzer recalled in his conference call his five seasons as Porcellos teammate, noting that the two pitchers used to critique each others outings and observe their between-start bullpen sessions. Porcello remembered how they used to talk about never throwing back-to-back curveballs and pushed each other to be better after getting demoted to the minor leagues in 2010.We both kind of started from rocky beginnings in our major league careers, Porcello said. Very quickly and almost overnight, [Scherzer] turned himself into an absolute dominant starting pitcher in the big league level. I definitely took a slow development road, and it took me a little bit longer. But the lessons -- we were able to kind of feed off of each other, as far as ideas on how to attack hitters, what were seeing in guys, pitch selection. Watching him and talking to him -- that connection that we have and that friendship that we have -- was instrumental in both of our developments.Porcellos Cy Young ascendance is also a triumph for ex-Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington.After the 2014 season, Cherington staked his reputation on the belief that Porcello would mature into a top-of-the-rotation starter. Not only did the Red Sox trade star outfielder?Yoenis Cespedes?to Detroit for Porcello, they also gave the pitcher a four-year, $82.5 million contract extension that appeared foolish when Porcello went 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA in 2015.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Cheap Air Max 270 Pink . 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Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. A few days before the final roster was to be announced for Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey,?Jack Johnson got a phone call from a member of USA Hockeys management team who asked him to meet the group in Cleveland for dinner, along with fellow defenseman Erik Johnson. The two?players had earned a silver medal together at the 2010 Olympics but had been left off the 2014 team.Typically, when it comes to roster selections, no news is good news. But Jack Johnson had no clue what an invitation to dinner signaled for his chances, so he immediately called Erik Johnson (no relation) to see if he knew anything more.Both of us had the same question: Did this mean we were on the team? said Jack, a 29-year-old blueliner for the?Columbus Blue Jackets. We just didnt know. We had never been invited to dinner like that before and were second-guessing ourselves the entire time leading up to it.Team USA general manager Dean Lombardi, who is also the GM for the Los Angeles Kings, and coach John Tortorella, who also coaches the Blue Jackets, were both in Cleveland to watch their respective AHL affiliates battle in the Calder Cup playoffs.?John and I wanted to meet with Erik and Jack specifically to explain to them the importance of fulfilling their role whenever John puts them in -- whether its 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 30 minutes, Lombardi explained. We wanted to be perfectly clear with them about our expectations.Lombardi and Tortorella?showed them cuts compiled from more than six hours of video on each player -- the good, the bad and even a little ugly. The GM and coach then talked about the players job descriptions and roles for the tournament, and even described the scouting process they went through to reach that point. But neither Lombardi nor Tortorella had yet to reveal whether either Johnson had actually made the team.All signs were pointing in that direction, but we werent allowing ourselves to get excited until we actually knew, Jack Johnson said. Finally, when things were wrapping up, Erik flat-out asked them if all this meant we had made the team. Dean Lombardi kind of chuckled and said yes -- and I was finally able to breathe.Not making the Olympic team in 2014 was a tough pill to swallow for Jack Johnson. After being an overtime goal away from a gold medal in Vancouver in 2010 and settling for silver, he wanted another crack at the Olympics. But that disappointment turned out to be the least of his concerns that year. That fall, he filed for bankruptcy after he discovered his parents had taken out several large, high-rate loans against his future earnings and had defaulted on more than $6 million of debt with several million still due.The legal process is still going on, but right now Im closer to the end of it than the start of it, Jack Johnson said. Unfortunately with my family, things arent ideal. But Ive started a family of my own and it gives me a lot more perspective on things and a lot more clarity on it.Over the past year and a half, Jack Johnson has ggotten married, had a daughter and found his game again.ddddddddddddI never gave up on the hope of putting the USA jersey on again, Johnson said. Coach Tortorella called me last summer and said hed be watching me, so I knew making this team was a real possibility. I just had to go out there and be myself and not let anything else affect me and just get back to having fun playing hockey again. I think all the positive things that happened for me in a short amount of time this past year helped me do that.As far as Lombardi is concerned, Jack Johnson is exactly the type of player he wants on this team.Theres no way were going to win this thing unless we play hard and are hard to play against, Lombardi said. We know thats what were going to get from Jack on every shift, and after going through the scouting process, we knew we wanted him on our blueline making it difficult for the other teams top lines.Both Erik, at 6-foot-4 and 232 pounds, and Jack, who is 6-foot-1, 240, bring a big, physical presence to the blueline.It was pretty clear to Erik and I -- and I think we were there together because well probably play together -- were going to be out there with a very physical presence, Jack Johnson said. There will be plenty of guys who can bring the offensive side of the game, but they think we can bring the strong defensive side of the game that might have been lacking before.Once Lombardi said the magic word that revealed Jack was on the World Cup roster and allowed him to exhale, Johnson knew it was just Step 1 and that there was still more work to be done.When he said yes, I flat-out told him, I promise you. I wont let you down. Whatever you want -- kill penalties, block shots, change water bottles -- whatever you want, Ill be happy to do it, said Johnson, who has worn the USA jersey at two U-18 world championships, two world junior championships, five world championships and one Olympics with a gold, two silver and a bronze medal to show for it.Im not sure theres another player who takes more pride in putting on that USA jersey than Jack, Lombardi said. Its real. The pride he takes in that jersey is unsurpassed. I think he likes wearing the USA jersey more than his NHL jersey, and I have no doubt hell do everything he can to help the team win.For Jack Johnson, this opportunity is more than just another chance to put on that jersey and win a gold medal. Its proof that he can bounce back.I was dealing with a lot [in 2014] and I didnt play well enough to make it impossible for them to leave me off the team, and I take full responsibility for that, Johnson said. I knew my game wasnt at the level it could have been or needed to be, but you have to learn from it and keep pushing forward. When you do that, things always seem to turn around as long as you keep the right frame of mind. This time, I know I earned my way back onto this team. 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