New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Cleveland Indians left-hander Cliff Lee has been named the American League Cy Young Award winner by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Lee placed first on 24 of 28 ballots cast by two writers from each AL city and second on four others for a total of 132 points, based on the 5-3-1 tabulation system, as he became the second straight Cleveland hurler to win this award and the third in team history. CC Sabathia won last year and Gaylord Perry captured the honor in 1972.

"I'm pretty proud of basically everything I've accomplished," said Lee. "Making every start, the amount of innings I threw, quality starts, giving the team a chance to win. That's really the number one thing I'm proud of is basically every time I took the mound this year the team had a chance to win. That's a starting pitcher's job and that's what I take pride in."

Toronto righty Roy Halladay finished second with 71 points, placing first on four ballots, second on 15 and third on six.

Lee was an MLB-best 22-3 this past season with an AL-leading 2.54 ERA, second in the majors only to Johan Santana of the New York Mets (2.53 ERA). His 22 wins were tied for the major league lead with Arizona's Brandon Webb, who was the National League's runner-up for the Cy Young Award to San Francisco's Tim Lincecum on Tuesday.

"I'm pretty proud of basically everything I've accomplished," said Lee. "Making every start, the amount of innings I threw, quality starts, giving the team a chance to win. That's really the number one thing I'm proud of is basically every time I took the mound this year the team had a chance to win. That's a starting pitcher's job and that's what I take pride in."

After a miserable 2007 campaign that included time in the minor leagues, Lee had to win a spot in the Cleveland rotation during spring training. He responded with an amazing season that featured four complete games, two shutouts, 170 strikeouts, 34 walks and just 214 hits allowed in 223 1/3 innings.

"It feels a lot better than it felt in '07," said Lee. "I want to win this Cy Young again. I want to make a habit of it."

His remarkable year included an 11-game winning streak, the longest in baseball since 2005, and he was tabbed as the AL's starting pitcher in the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.

"It was the most incredible season I've ever seen from a pitcher at that level," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said.

Lee's season was even more amazing considering he was just 5-8 a year ago with a 6.29 ERA in 20 games, 16 of which were starts.

"What an honor and a thrill this is (to win the Cy Young)," Lee said. "I think the main (difference between 2007 and 2008) was putting it behind me and taking each day one at a time, doing everything I can to make myself the best baseball player I can be. I used (2007) as motivation to not allow (a season like that) to happen again."

The only player named on all 28 ballots, Lee had already been honored with the AL Comeback Player of the Year and was selected as the AL's best pitcher by the Sporting News in addition to being the Player's Choice Award winner for the best pitcher in his league.

This marked the fifth time two different pitchers from the same team won the AL Cy Young Award in successive years. The others were the New York Yankees' Sparky Lyle (1977) and Ron Guidry (1978), the Baltimore Orioles' Mike Flanagan (1979) and Steve Stone (1980), the Milwaukee Brewers' Rollie Fingers (1981) and Pete Vuckovich (1982) and the Blue Jays' Pat Hentgen (1996) and Roger Clemens (1997). It has happened three times in the National League.

Halladay, the 2003 winner of this award, was 20-11 with a 2.78 earned run average and a major league-best nine complete games, including two shutouts.

Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels was third in the voting with 32 points, receiving seven second-place votes and 11 third-place tallies. He set a single-season record with 62 saves in 2008.

Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka was fourth with 10 points, followed by Yankees closer Mariano Rivera with three points. New York veteran right-hander Mike Mussina, a 20-game winner for the first time, and Ervin Santana of the Angels rounded out the balloting with two points apiece.