Archives for December 2023

Feeling Powerless? Rarities and Oddities about Zero-home Run Seasons.

December 26, 2023 by

Readers of Baseball Roundtable are aware of how I am drawn to baseball rarities in the off-season.  In this post, we’ll look at some of the unique statistics surrounding zero-home run seasons. If you enjoy this you may want to check out my posts on 20-game winners (click here) and 100-RBI seasons (click here).

Rarities and Oddities – MLB Batting Champions with Zero Home Runs

There have been only two MLB batting champions to log zero home runs in a season in which they won the crown … and they came 75 years apart. 

Wee Willie Keeler, 1897 Orioles

Photo: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1897, 5’-4”/140-pound Baltimore Orioles’ outfielder Willie Keeler won the NL batting title with a .424 average, stroking out a league-leading 239 hits. In the process, he set a still unmatched record for base hits in a season in which the player hit zero home runs.  Of those 239 hits, 193 (81 percent) were singles. Keeler opened the 1897 season with a 44-game hitting streak (still MLB’s longest streak from Opening Day).  Keeler was an accomplished bunter and a renowned contact/slap hitter. Over his career, Keeler struck out just 136 times in 9,619 plate appearances.

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“I keep my eyes clear and I hit ‘em where they ain’t.”

                   Willie Keeler (Baseball’s Greatest Quotations, Paul Dickson, 1991)

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Hall of Famer Keeler played 19 MLB seasons (1892-1910 … in the NL, the Giants, Brooklyn Statistics, Orioles, Brooklyn Superbas and, in the AL, New York Highlanders).   He was a two-time batting champion and collected 200 or more hits in eight seasons.  Of his 2,932 hits, 86 percent were singles. Keeler finished with a .341-33-810 career stat line, with 1,719 runs scored and 495 steals.

Willie Keeler had 33 career home runs – of which only two cleared the fences.  Of the others, thirty were inside-the-park and one left the field on the bounce (it was a different time).

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Rod Carew, 1972 Twins

Photo: Hostess via tradingcarddb.com, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1972, Hall of Famer Rod Carew won his second (of seven) AL batting titles.  He hit .318-0-51, with 51 RBI and 61 runs scored in 142 games – 143 of his 170 hits (84 percent) were singles. 1972 was his only season without a home run.

Carew, like Keeler, was an accomplished bunter (in 1974, he had 29 bunt singles) and contact hitter. Carew played 19 MLB seasons (1967-85 … Twins, Angels). The 18-time All Star won seven batting titles, the 1967 AL Rookie of the Year Award and the 1977 AL MVP Award.  He hit over .300 in 15 of his 19 seasons and finished with .328-92-1,015 stat line, with 1,424 runs scored and 353 steals.

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“He (Rod Carew) has an uncanny ability to move the ball around as if the bat were some kind of magic wand.”

                                                              Pitcher Ken Holtzman

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Most Hits in a Zero-Home Run Season

As usual, one thing led to another and I began digging a little deeper into the rarity of zero-homer seasons. As you might expect, they have become rarer over time.  Starting with a base of players with seasons of at least 100 hits and zero home runs, there were 873 such seasons in MLB history. Not rare at all, although about two-of-every three (593 or 67.9 percent) occurred before 1930.

So, I looked for something a little rarer and ramped up to 150 hits and no home runs.  Now. we were down to 177 such campaigns – still not rare air.  But, using 200 or more hits turned the trick.  There have been only seven seasons of 200 or more hits and zero home runs. Let’s take a look at them – and the players were delivered them.

Willie Keeler, 1897 Orioles (NL) – 239 hits

Willie Keeler has the most hits in a zero-homer season at 239. You’ve already read about him in the opening of this post, so we can move on to number-two.

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Napoleon Lajoie, 1906 Cleveland Naps – 214 hits

In 1906, second baseman Nap Lajoie hit .355 for Cleveland, with a league-leading 214 hits and a league-topping 48 doubles, but zero home runs.  He drove in 91 runs and scored 88 in 152 games.

In a 21-season MLB career (1896-1916 … Phillies, Athletics, Naps), he hit .338-82-1,599, with 1,504 runs scored and 380 steals. Looking for a trivia question? Lajoie is the only player with a 200-hit, zero-home run MLB season, with more career RBI than runs scored.

The Hall of Famer led the league in batting average five times, hits four times (topping 200 hit each time), doubles five times (a high of 51 in 1910), home runs once, total bases four times, RBI three times and runs once. He hit over .300 in 17 seasons, but reached double-digits in home runs just once.

The Triple Crown … and Then Some

In 1901, while with the Philadelphia Athletics, Nap Lajoie, won the Triple Crown with a .426 average, 14 home runs and 125 RBI.  He also led the AL in runs scored (145), hits (232), doubles (48) and total bases (350).

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Jesse Burkett, 1898 Cleveland Spiders, (NL) – 213 hits

In 1898, Cleveland LF Jesse Burkett hit .341 for the Spiders, with 213 hits, 114 runs scored, 42 RBI, 19 steals and zero home runs.  In fact, that season just 27 of Burkett’s hits (12.7 percent) went for extra bases.

Hall of Famer Burkett played 16 MLB seasons (1890-1905 … Giants, Spiders, Cardinals, Browns). He won three batting titles (twice hitting over .400), led the league in hits three times (topping 200 hits in six seasons) and twice led the league in runs scored (topping 100 in nine seasons).

1898 was the only full season in which Burkett failed to hit at least two home runs, Over his career, Burkett hit .338, with 75 home runs, 952 RBI, 1,720 runs scored and 389 steals.

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Hughie Jennings, 1896 Orioles NL – 209 hits

In 1896, Hughie Jennings banged out 209 hits (.401 average) and drove in 121 runs, despite not going yard a single time (87 percent of his hits were singles).

Jennings played 18 MLB seasons (1891-1903, 1907, 1909-10, 1912, 1918 … Louisville Colonels of the American Association and NL Orioles, Brooklyn Superbas and Phillies, and AL Tigers).  Over 1,284 games, he hit .312-18-840, with 992 runs scored and 359 steals. Jennings scored 100 or more runs in five seasons, had two seasons of 200+ hits and stole 50+ bases three times.

Hughie Jennings recorded 121 RBI in 1896, the MLB record for a zero-home run season.

Jennings holds the MLB record for career “hit by pitch” at 287 and the MLB single-season record at 51 (1896 Orioles). He led the NL in HBP six consecutive seasons (1894-1898.) Once again, for Baseball Roundtable,  one thing led to another – and to this chart.

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Johnny Pesky, 1947 Red Sox – 207 hits

In 1947, Red Sox’ 23-year-old rookie SS Johnny Pesky hit .324-0-39, with 106 runs scored and 12 stolen bases (83 percent of his 207 hits were singles).

Pesky played in ten MLB seasons (1942, 1946-54 … Red Sox, Tigers, Nationals). He hit .307-17-404, with 867 runs scored and 53 steals.  Over his career, he topped 100 runs scored in six seasons, exceeded 200 hits three times and hit .300+ six times.

What Might Those Numbers Have Been?

As a 23-year-old rookie in 1942, Johnny Pesky hit .331-2-51, with 105 runs scored and a league-topping 205 hits.  Pesky then missed three years of baseball action due to military service. He returned to the Red Sox as a 27-year-old and picked up right where he left off,  again leading the AL in base hits with 208 – going .335-2-55, with 115 runs scored in 153 games. In 1947, his third MLB season, he led the AL in hits for a third time (207), going .324-0-39, with 106 runs scored.  What might his career numbers have been if he had not missed those three prime years wile in the Navy?

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Milt Stock, 1920 Cardinals – 204 hits

Cardinals’ third baseman Milt Stock went .319-0-76, with 85 runs scored in 1920 (83 percent to his hits were singles). Stock played 14 MLB seasons (1913-26 … Giants, Phillies, Cardinals, Robins). He went .289-22-696, with 839 runs scored and 155 steals.  Stock hit .300+ in five seasons (a high of .328 in 1925) and twice recorded 200+ hits in a season. From 1919 through 1922, he hit over .300 in four consecutive seasons.

Another One Thing Leads to Another 

From his fourth plate appearance on June 21, 1918 until his fifth plate appearance on August 22, 1921, Milt Stock went 1,690 plate appearances without a home run, Stock falls far short of the MLB record, held by Thomas Thevenow, who hit his second career regular-season MLB home run (both were inside-the-parkers) in his final at bat of a game played on  on September 22, 1926 and then played 12 more major-league seasons – going another 1,003 games and 3,607 consecutive plate appearances without a four-bagger. In a 15-season MLB career Thevenow (primarily a SS) hit .247 (1,030 its in 1,229 games). Notably, Thevenow hit a third MLB home run in 1926.  This one was also an inside-the-parker and came in Game Two of the Cardinals-Yankees World Series. St. Louis won the Series four games-to-three and Thevenow hit .417 (10-for-24), with five runs scored, one double, one homer and four RBI.

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One Final Chart:

Doc Cramer, at the top of this list, played 20 MLB seasons (1929-48 … Athletics, Red Sox, Nationals Tigers). He hit .296-37-842, with 1,357 runs scored. He was a five-time All Star, had 200 or more hits in three seasons, 100+ runs in three seasons, and hit .300 or better in seven seasons. He had 2,705 career hits (80 percent of them singles).

Okay, maybe one more chart:

 

Most Seasons with Zero Home Runs and 500 or More Plate Appearances – Seven

Donie  Bush had zero home runs and 500 or more plate appearances for he Tigers in 1909,  1914, 1916-19,  and for the Tigers and Nationals in 1921. He played 16 MLB seasons (1908-23 … Tigers, Nationals) and went .250-9-445, with 1,281 runs scored.

Jim Slagle … Slagle put up seasons of 500 or more plate appearances and zero home runs for the Cubs in 1900,  1902-03 and 1905-07. In a ten-season MLB career (Senators, Phillies, Boston Nationals, Cubs), he hit .268-2-344, with 781 runs scored and 274 steals in 1,300 games.

Primary Resource:  Baseball-Reference.com.

A REMINDER … .

There is still time to cast your vote(s) in the Baseball Roundtable (unofficial) 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Fan Balloting (and qualify for the prize drawing).  Click here to go directly to the ballot.  Click here for a post taking a look at the careers of the players on the ballot.

 

 

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100-RBI Season Rarities … the Stories and the Stats

December 20, 2023 by

Photo: Tuh22823, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Major League Baseball, in its long history and from A-to-Z (Henry Aaron to Richie Zisk), has had 2,029 player-seasons of 100 or more RBI (Baseball-Reference.com). In 2023, we saw a 100-RBI season like never before. Phillies’ LF Kyle Schwarber became the first MLB player ever to drive in 100 or more runs in a season when his batting average was below.200. (As a sidenote: Three of the five lowest averages in 100+ RBI season occurred in 2023.)

 It was Schwarber’s first 100-RBI season in a nine-season MLB career (2015-23 … Cubs, Nationals, Red Sox, Phillies). During the season, he went .197-47-104, with 108 runs scored – reaching career highs in home runs, RBI and runs (and leading the NL with a career-high 215 strikeouts).

Over his career, the two-time All Star has put up a .227-246-548 stat line.

Another Schwarber Oddity

Kyle Schwarber has a share of the record for most home runs in a season without reaching 100 RBI. In 2022, Schwarber went .218-46-94 for the Phillies, joining Alfonso Soriano who went .277-46-95 for the Nationals in 2006.

Overall, there have been 31 MLB seasons of forty or more homers and fewer than 100 MBI. Just five players have two such seasons:

  • Henry Aaron – 1969 Braves (.300-44-97) & 1973 Braves (.301-40-96).
  • Adam Dunn – 2006 Reds (.234-40-92) & 2012 White Sox (.204-41-96).
  • Joey Gallo – 2017 Rangers (.209-41-80) & 2018 Rangers (.206-40-92).
  • Mickey Mantle – 1958 Yankees (.304-42-97) & 1960 Yankees (.275-40-94).
  • Mike Trout, 2015 Angels (.299-41-90) & 2022 Angels (.283-40-80).

Well, as always, with Baseball Roundtable “one thing led to another,” and I began a search for more 100-RBI seasons rarities and oddities. (No baseball, too much time on my hands.)

First Up, Another 2023 Rarity – Fewest Base Hits in a 100-RBI Season – 102

In 2023, Dodgers’ third baseman Max Muncy put up a .212-36-105 season – collecting just 102 base hits (the fewest ever in an MLB 100-RBI campaign). It was Muncy’s first-ever 100-RBI season (in eight MLB seasons). To date, Muncy’s career stat line is .227-180-489.

A few other tidbits:

  • Barry Bonds, Bryce Harper, Christian Yelich, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, Shohei Ohtani, Nelson Cruz and Henry Aaron are the only MLB players to combine a 40-homer/sub-100 RBI season with a .300 or better batting average.
  • Joey Gallo is the only player with two consecutive 40-homer/sub-100 RBI seasons.
  • The only 40-homer/sub-90 RBI seasons belong to Joey Gallo (.209-40-80 for the 2017 Rangers) and Mike Trout (.283-40-80 for the 2022 Angels).
  • In 11 of the seasons of 40 or more homers and fewer than 100 RBI, the player led the league in long balls, in seven the player led in strikeouts.

The Highest Batting Average in a Sub-100 RBI Season (some qualifiers) … .424

The highest batting average (using a minimum of 400 plate appearances) in sub-100 RBI season is .424 by Willie Keeler, 1897 Baltimore Orioles (.4237) and Rogers Hornsby 1924 Cardinals (.42350).  Keeler had 74 RBI in 129 games, Hornsby had 94 RBI in 143  contests.  Note: I used 450 at bats because of the discrepancy in season lengths. For example, if you used players qualifying for the batting title, the highest average without 100 RBI would be Levi Meyerle of the 1871 National Association Philadelphia Athletics. However, the Athletics played just 28 games that season. Meyerle had a .492 average and 40 RBI in 26 games, 132 plate appearances. 

Rookies Hitting Cookies

Ted William holds the all-time MLB rookie-season RBI record with 145 in 1939. Photo: wild mercury

There have been 44 players who have driven in 100 or more runs in a “rookie” season, with 22 of those in their debut season. (Rookie status can roll over to another season based on days on the roster, number of at bats or number of innings pitched.)  Twelve of those rookies have won the Rookie of the Year award. (Twenty players have recorded 100 or more RBI in their rookie season since the ROY Award was established.)

As the chart below shows, their 100-RBI rookie season was the only career 100-RBI season for 11 of the 44 players who recorded 100 or more RBI in a rookie campaign.

 

Going Out On Top … Or Not

On November 18, 2015, Red Sox DH David Ortiz (on his fortieth birthday) announced that the 2016 MLB season would be his last as a player. The following year, he went out on top – with a .315-38-127, becoming one of just five players to record 100 or more RBI in their final MLB campaign. Here is the list:


The not so much on top? Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch had their careers cut short due to the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Injuries also played a role in adding two players to this list: Albert Belle (osteoarthritis – hip) and David Orr (Stro9ke).

Fewest Games Played in a 100-RBI Season – 69

JOSH GIBSON Photo: Harrison Studio, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1943, Josh Gibson went .466-20-109 in 69 games for the Negro National League II Homestead Grays. That season, the Hall of Famer led the league in runs (93), hits (116), doubles (22), home runs (20), RBI (109) walks (52) and total bases (216).

 Something Old Something New

The oldest player to record a 100-RBI season was 42-year-old Cap Anson of the 1894 Chicago Cubs.

Six players recorded season of of 100 or more RBI in their age-20 season: Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Mel Ott, Alex Rodriguez,  Juan Soto and Ted Williams.  Moving on to months and days, the youngest of those was Ott, who went .328-42-151 for the 1929 Giants. It was, by the way, Ott’s fourth MLB season. Ott played 209 MLB games before his twentieth birthday – going .318-19-100 over three seasons.

The Saga of Jack Reed … One RBI/106 Games … One Memorable Home Run

In 1963, 30-year-old Jack Reed was in his third MLB season as a reserve outfielder/defensive replacement for the New York Yankees.  He replaced Mickey Mantle in the field often enough that he was known in some circles as “Mickey Mantle’s Caddie.”  In 1963, he played in 106 games, had just 82 plate appearances (73 at bats) and hit .205-0-1 … recording the fewest RBI ever for a player who appeared in 100 or more games.  

However, Reed’s brightest moment in the major leagues came at the plate, not in the garden. On June 24, 1962, Reed hit the only home run of his MLB career (1961-63). It was a two-run shot off Tigers’ reliever Phil Regan in the top of the 22nd inning – the game winner in the longest game in Yankee history. Reed had replaced Joe Pepitone (who had earlier replaced Mickey Mantle) in RF in the thirteenth inning. Reed’s career stats line (222 games) was .233-1-6. Often used as a pinch runner, he scored 39 runs and stole seven bases. In that 1962 season, Reed went .302-1-4 in 88 games (48 plate appearances.)  

Most hits in a Sub-100 RBI Season – 262

Photo by Matt McGee

In 2004, Mariners’ RF Ichiro Suzuki rapped out an MLB single-season record 262 base hits – but collected just 60 RBI, He hit .373 for the season and 225 of his 262 hits were singles.  Suzuki, who had ten MLB seasons of 200 or more hits and 3,089 hits in 19 MLB seasons, never drove in more than 69 runs in a season.

In MLB history, there have been 539 player-seasons of 200 or more hits, with 54 percent (292) of those seasons seeing the player record fewer than 100 RBI.

In a combined 100 seasons, the players on the above list had 43 seasons of 200 or more hits and just one 100-RBI campaign. (In 1999, Derek Jeter had 219 hits and 102 RBI).

Lloyd Waner of the 1927 Pirates recorded the fewest RBI in an MLB season of 200 or more hits. That season, he hit .355, with 223 hits, but recorded only 27 RBI.

Most Strikeouts in a 100-RBI Season – 223

Just five players have recorded 200 or more whiffs in a 100-RBI season:

  • Mark Reynolds, 2009 Diamondbacks – .260-30-102, with 223 strikeouts (which is the MLB single-season record for batter’s strikeouts).
  • Kyle Schwarber, 2023 Phillies – .197-47-104, with 215 whiffs.
  • Giancarlo Stanton, 2018 Yankees – .266-38-100, with 211 strikeouts.
  • Chris Davis, 2015 Orioles – .262-47-117, with 208 strikeouts.
  • Aaron Judge, 2017 Yankees – .284-52-114, with 208 whiffs.

Fewest Strikeouts in a 100-RBI Season – Three

In 1894, The Giants’ Jack Doyle drove in 103 runs in 103 games. He hit .368-3-103 and fanned just three times in 471 plate appearances.

Post-1900:  The 1902 Athletics’ Lave Cross hit .342-0-108 and whiffed just four times in 597 plate appearances.

Get ‘Em On – I’ll Bring ‘Em Home

Among players with at least 100 RBI in a season, Al Simmons (1930 Athletics) had the highest batting average with runners in scoring position at .436 (85-for-195). When he came to the plate without runners in scoring position, he hit .351. His overall stat line .381-36-165.

Fewest Home Runs in a 100-RBI Season  – Zero

Hughie Jennings (.401-0-121 for the 1896 Baltimore Orioles) and Lave Cross (.342-0-108 for the 1902 Athletics) are the only MLB players to record a 100-RBI season with zero round trippers.

Most Players with 100 or More RBI on a Team in the Same Season – Five 

1936 Yankees: C Bill Dickey (107);  1B Lou Gehrig (152); 2B Tony Lazzeri (109); RF George Selkirk (107); CF Joe DiMaggio (125)

1894 Orioles (NL): 1B Dan Brouthers (128); 2B Henry Reitz (105); SS Hughie Jennings (109); CF Steve Brodie (113);  LF Joe Kelly (111).

1894 Boston (NL); 1B Tommy Tucker (100); 2B Bobby Lowe (115); OF Jimmy Bannon (114); OF  Hugh Duffy (145); OF Tommy McCarthy (126).

 The Most 100-RBI Seasons

Primary Resource:  Baseball-Reference.com

A REMINDER … .

There is still time to cast your vote(s) in the Baseball Roundtable (unofficial) 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Fan Balloting (and qualify for the prize drawing).  Click here to go directly to the ballot.  Click here for a post taking a look at the careers of the players on the ballot.

 

 

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Baseball Roundtable (unofficial) Baseball Hall of Fame Fan Balloting Update

December 15, 2023 by

We’re at about the half-way point in Baseball Roundtable’s 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame (unofficial) Fan/Reader Ballot. You have until January 2 to cast your ballot (and qualify for the prize drawing). In this post, we’ll provide a brief update on fan balloting thus far, but first a call for your vote.

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BEFORE WE RETURN TO OUR REGULAR PRORAMMING/POSTING …

There is still time to cast your vote(s) in the Baseball Roundtable (unofficial) 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Fan Balloting (and qualify for the prize drawing).  Click here to go directly to the ballot.  Click here for a post taking a look at the careers of the players on the ballot.

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Photos: Beltre – Keith Allison on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Helton:  Jonathan Konrath from Oakland, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Wagner: Alex Kim from NYC, USderivative work: Killervogel5, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Reader Balloting Update

Through December 14, a total of 36 fan/reader ballots have been cast. As the chart below shows, among Roundtable readers first-time candidate Adrian Beltre and Todd Helton (in his sixth year on the ballot) lead the voting at 87.5 percent, with Billy Wagner (75 percent) the only other candidate at the 75-percent election threshold.  While only 3.9 percent of the official ballot are known (as of December 12), those results (as reported on bbhoftracker.com) also show Beltre (100 percent) and Helton (93.3 percent at the top), with Gary Sheffield (80 percent) and Joe Mauer (80 percent) also above the 75 percent threshold. (Admittedly with a long way to go in the balloting.)  For those with an interest in the ongoing results, I recommend bbhoftracker.com, particularly as we get closer to the close of official voting.

Looking at reader ballots, the biggest gainers among holdover from 2023 are Helton, Wagner, Andy Pettitte and Bobby Abreu – all with gains of between 17.2 and 18.6 percentage points over last year’s reader voting. As of December 14, the largest declines among readers belong to Alex Rodriguez (- 19.2 percentage) and Francisco Rodriguez (- 22.6 percentage points). Here’s a look at the 2023 reader/fan balloting and this year’s reader/fan totals to date.

Baseball Roundtable also asked reader which players, now off the ballot, they felt should be in the Hall of Fame.   Twenty different players were mentioned.  The leaders were Jeff Kent (five mentions); Lou Whitaker (four), Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens (three) and Dwight Evans (two).

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Baseball Roundtable Musings on 20-Win Seasons … Stats and Stories

December 9, 2023 by

Baseball Roundtable was recently reflecting on that fact that the Braves’ righty Spencer Strider was MLB’s only 2023 20-game winner, which led me to the fact that MLB has had just one twenty-game winner in each of the past three seasons. In the vein of  “In Baseball Roundtable one thing always seem to lead to another,” this led me to the fact that only five pitchers (one of them being Strider) have recorded 20 or more wins in a season in which they pitched fewer than 190 innings:

  • 2022 – Kyle Wright, Braves (21-5, 3.19 in 180 1/3 innings);
  • 2018 – Blake Snell, Rays (21-5, 1.89 in 180 2/3 innings);
  • 2021 – Julio Urias, Dodgers (20-3, 2.96 in 185 2/3 innings);
  • 2023 – Spencer Strider, Braves (20-5, 3.86 in 186 2/3 innings;
  • 2012 – Jered Weaver, Angels (20-5, 2.81 in 188 2/3 innings).

Anyway, that sent me down a research rabbit hole, searching out stats related to 20+ win seasons that interested me (and I hope some of them interest you, as fans and readers).

Of course, one thing led to another and those low inning totals led me to look at complete-game totals.  As the chart below snows. Strider joined a (rather impressive) recent and growing list of pitchers to record twenty wins in a season without throwing a single complete game.

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BEFORE WE RETURN TO OUR REGULAR PRORAMMING/POSTING …

There is still time to cast your vote(s) in the Baseball Roundtable (unofficial) 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Fan Balloting (and qualify for the prize drawing).  Click here to go directly to the ballot.  Click here for a post taking a look at the careers of the players on the ballot.

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Before, getting into single-seasons and records, here a few numbers to show how the times have changed.  Baseball-Reference.com shows 1,219 seasons of 20 or more wins since 1871. Within that statistic:

  • MLB averaged 13.5 20+ game winners per season before 1900 and 9.8 since 1900.
  • Since 2010, the average number of pitchers winning 20 or more games per season is down to 1.9

Side note:  Those numbers provide even more contrast when you consider the increase in the number of teams and games played per season.

  • There has been just one 60-win season (Old Hoss Radbourn … 60-12, 1.38 for the 1884 Providence Grays.) Note: Some sources credit Radbourn with 59 wins, but the Elias Sports Bureau and Baseball-Reference.com list 60, and that’s good enough for me.
  • There were four seasons of between 50-59 wins – the most recent in 1885 (John Clarkson. Chicago White Stockings, NL, 53-16, 1.85).
  • There were 37 seasons of 40-49 wins – the most recent in 1908 (Ed Walsh, White Sox … 40-15, 1.42).
  • There were 117 seasons of 30-39 wins, the most recent in 1968 (Denny McLain, Tigers … 31-6, 1.96) and just 19 since 1900.

The above bullet points explain why, in some cases, I have broken out findings by pre-1900 and 1900 and beyond. So, let’s get on with it.

Highest Earn Run Average for a Pitcher Winning 20 or More Games in a Season – 5.08

I started with a look for “rarities” among 20-game winners – and I quickly found one. In MLB history, only two pitchers have had an earned run average of 5.00 or higher in a twenty-win season:

  • Bobo Newsom, 1938 Browns, 5.08;
  • Ray Kremer, 1930 Pittsburgh Pirates, 5.02.

Louis “Bobo” Newsom – In 1938, righty Newsom went 20-16, with a 5.08 ERA, for the St. Louis Browns. (The league ERA was 4.79.) Newsom had an up-and-down campaign. In his 20 wins, he put up a 3.13 ERA; in his 16 losses, his ERA was 8.11; and in his seven no-decisions, it was 5.65. His career somewhat mirrored that season.  Newsom won 20 or more games in three seasons (consecutively,  1938-40) and also lost 20 games in three seasons (1934-35 and 1941). He pitched in 20 MLB seasons (1929-30, 1932, 1934-48, 1952-53 … Robins/Dodgers, Cubs, Browns, Nationals, Red Sox, Tigers, Athletics, Yankees, Giants).  His final stat line was 211-222, 3.98.

Ray Kremer – In 1930, righthander Ray Kremer went 20-12, 5.02 for the Pirates. It was Kremer’s second 20-win season.  In 1926, he had gone 20-6, 2.61 for the Pirates – leading the NL in wins, winning percentage and ERA (2.47). Kremer had a solid 10-year MLB career (1924-33), all with the Pirates. He had only one sub-.500 season and won 15 or more games in seven of his ten MLB campaigns.  Kremer’s final line was 143-85, 3.76.

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This look at the highest earned run average among 20-game winners, led me (as one would expect) to search out the lowest ERA among 20-game winners.

Lowest Earned Run Average in a Season of 20 or More Wins – 1.04

Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, 1906 Cubs

Photo: Paul Thompson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1906, righthander Mordecai Brown went 26-6 for the Cubs – and put up the lowest ERA ever in a season of 20 or more wins (1.04).  He made 36 appearances, completed 27 of 32 starts and led the NL in shutouts with nine.  Over the course of the season, Brown gave up more than two runs in just four games. From July 28 through September 13, he appeared in 14 games (11 starts) and went 11-0 with three saves (awarded retroactively). Over that span, He completed ten of his 11 starts and the eight runs he surrendered were all unearned.

The Hall of Famer went 239-130, 2.06 in 14 MLB seasons (1903-1916 … Cardinals, Cubs, Reds, and the Federal League St. Louis Terriers & Brooklyn Tip Tops).  He won 20 or more games in six seasons (consecutively from 1906 through 1911).

 

Honorable Mention … Bob Gibson, 1908 Cardinals

Bob Gibson came the closest to Mordecai Brown (above) among 20+ game winners, posting a 1.12 earned run average, while going 22-9 for the 1968 Cardinals. Gibson led MLB that season in ERA, as well as in shutouts (13).  He completed 28 of 34 starts. From June 6 through July 30 of that season, Gibson started, completed and won 11 games, throwing eight shutouts and giving up just one run in each of three other starts. 

The Hall of Famer pitched in 17 MLB seasons (1959-75), all for the Cardinals. He was an All Star in eight seasons, won 20 or more games in five and was a two-time Cy Young Award winner. He finished at 251-174, 2.91.  

 

Fewest Games Pitched in a Season of 20 or More Wins – 26

Fred Goldsmith & Jesse Tannehill

Fred Goldsmith, 1880, Cubs

In 1880, 24-year-old righty Fred Goldsmith – one of professional baseball’s earliest curveball specialists – went 21-3, 1.75 for the National League Champion Cubs (67-17-2). He pitched in just 26 games (24 starts) and put up a 1.75 Earned Run Average over 210 1/3 innings. (The National League ERA was 2.37 that season.) Goldsmith won 20 or more games four times in a six-season MLB career (112-68, 2.73 from 1879 through 1884).  A sign of the times: He threw 174 complete games in 185 starts.

Jesse Tannehill, 1902, Pirates

Southpaw Jesse Tannehill went 20-6 for the 1902 Pirates, pitching in 26 games (starting 24) and completing 23. He put up a 1.95 ERA in 231 innings pitched. (The 1992 NL average ERA was 2.78.) The Pirates went 103-36-3, finishing first in the National League. Tannehill pitched in 15 MLB seasons (1894, 1897-1909, 1911 … Reds, Pirates, the AL Boston Americans, Nationals). He won 20 or more games in six seasons – a high of 25 (13 losses) for the 1898 Pirates.

Pretty Darn Close

In 2014, Dodger lefty Clayton Kershaw came close to this record, going 21-3, 1.77 in 27 games (all starts). He led the NL in wins, winning percentage (.875), ERA and complete games. During the season, Clayton threw five complete games and pitched seven or more innings in 22 of his 27 starts and only gave up more than three runs once. Thus far, in his 16-season MLB career, Kershaw has won 20 or more games in two seasons, won three Cy Young Awards and been al All Star ten times.

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Fewest Starts in a Season of 20 or More Wins – 20

Bob Grim, 1954 Yankees

Photo: Jay Publishing via tradingcarddb.com, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1951, As a 21-Year-old in the Yankee farm System, righthander Bob Grim went 16-5, 2.58 at A and Double-A.  After this breakout year, his professional career was interrupted by military service. Although, as a Marine, he did pitch in 1952 and 1953 for the Camp Lejeune baseball team.

Grim’s service experience apparently served him well. In 1954, Grim made the Yankee squad out of Spring Training. He went on to a 20-6, 3.26 record and the 1954 AL Rookie of the Year Award. In the process, he compiled the fewest starts ever for an MLB 20-game winner (20 starts out of 37 appearances). That season, he went 12-6, 3.50 (with eight complete games) as a starter and 8-0, 2.70 in 17 games in relief.

Grim enjoyed an eight-season MLB career (1954-60, 1962 … Yankees, Athletics, Indians, Reds, Cardinals), going 61-41, 3.61 in 268 appearances (60 starts). That rookie season was his only 20-win campaign (his next high was 12 wins in 1957) and also marked his single-season highs in starts (20), complete games (8), innings pitched (199), and strikeouts 108).

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How About Those Rookies?  And a Rarity.

The fact that Bob Grim won 20 games in his rookie season led me to examine other rookie twenty-game winners.  On this one, I just took a look at rookie 20-game winners since 1900. (From 1872 through 1899 – 28 seasons – 48 rookies won 20 or more games in a season.  Since 1900, just 32 rookies have achieved that feat.)

I found another rarity – in the major-league career of Henry Schmidt.  Schmidt not only was a 20-game winner (22-13, 3.83) as a 30-year-old rookie for the 1903 Brooklyn Superbas, he is the only pitcher to win 20 or more games in his only MLB season.

Schmidt had been a star in the minor- and independent-leagues before he signed with the Superbas for the 1903 season. In 1902, he had gone 35-20 for the California League Oakland Clamdiggers. A gutsy performer (perhaps effectively wild), known for his ability to get into and out of trouble, Schmidt was the ace of the Brooklyn staff, despite having the highest ERA among the main pitchers in the rotation. After the season, Brooklyn offered Schmidt a healthy raise for 1904, but he returned the contracts unsigned, telling the team Eastern living was not for him. He instead signed with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League. He never returned to the major leagues.

Schmidt is included in the chart below, which lists all rookies (since 1900) to win twenty or more games in a season – and notes which ones accomplished the feat in their debut seasons (rookie status can carry over if a pitcher logs less than 50 innings), as well las which rookies recorded just the one campaign of 20 or more wins.

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Special Mention – Something Old/Something New – Something Worth the Wait 

Photo by Keith Allison

In 2008, the Yankees’ Mike Mussina – at 39 years of age and in his 18th major-league season – tried something new.  The Hall of Famer won 20 games in a season for the first time in his career.  In the process he became the oldest MLB player to win 20 games for the first time, as well as setting the mark for the most seasons in the major leagues before recording a first 20-win campaign.  But wait, the story gets better. Mussina picked up that 20th win with a six -inning scoreless stint on September 28, as New York topped the Red Sox 6-2. It came in his 537th and last-ever MLB mound appearance. (Mussina retired after the season.) He finished the season at 20-9, 3.37 – and ended his MLB career with as 270-153, 3.68 record. 

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How About a Look at Some Striking Statistics?

Most Strikeouts in a season of 20 or more wins – 513

Matt Kilroy, 1886 Baltimore Orioles, American Association

Matt Kilroy went 29-34, 3.37 as a 20-year-old rookie for the 1886 Baltimore Orioles. In the process, he started 68 games, completed 66 and fanned 513 batters in 583 innings.

Matt Kilroy’s 513 strikeouts in 1886 are the most ever in an MLB season.

Kilroy provides a prime example of the impact of overwork on pitchers’ arms in the early days of baseball.  In his first four seasons, he averaged 30 wins, 25 losses, 494 innings pitched, a 3.26 ERA and 270 strikeouts per campaign. In his final six seasons, he averaged just three wins (six losses), 77 innings pitched, a 4.37 ERA and 15 strikeouts.

 Since 1900 – Nolan Ryan, 1973 Angels, 383

Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan went 21-16 for the 1973 Angels and fanned 383 batters in 332 2/3 innings. – tossing 26 complete games in 39 starts. Ryan pitched in 27 MLB seasons, going 324-292, 3.19. He fanned a record 5,714 batters in 5,386 innings and topped 300 whiffs in six seasons.

 Fewest Strikeouts in a Season of 20 or More Wins – 18

William Cherokee Fisher, 1875 Philadelphia Whites

In 1875, Cherokee Fisher went 22-9. 1.99 for the National Association’s Philadelphia Whites. He fanned just 18 batters in 358 innings. Note:  In 1875, the NA’s overall ERA was 2.23 and pitchers averaged just one whiff per nine innings. (If he had fanned batters at the league-average rate, Fisher would have recorded 40 strikeouts.) Fisher pitched in seven MLB seasons (1871-76, 1887) in the National Association and National League – going 56-84, 2.61. 1875 was his only 20-win season.

 Since 1900 – 24 – Harry “Slim” Sallee, 1919 Reds

At 6’3” and 180-pounds, Slim Sallee earned his nickname. In 1919, in his 12th MLB season, at the age of 34, he had his only 20-win season (21-7, 2.60 for the Reds). He fanned just 24 batters in 227 2/3 innings. That season, NL pitchers averaged 2.9 whiffs per nine innings – which means had he fanned batters at the league-average pace, Sallee would have whiffed 73 batters. Sallee pitched in 14 MLB seasons (1908-1921 … Cardinals, Giants, Reds), going 174-143, 2.56.

In his lone 20-win campaign, Slim Sallee fanned just 0.9 batters per nine innings, the lowest figure of his MLB career (he averaged 2.7 whiffs per nine over his 14 MLB seasons).

 

Winning Percentage. It was the Best of Times – It was the Worst of Times.

The best and worst winning percentages among pitchers wining 20 or more games in a season both occurred before 1900.

Photo: Boston Red Stockings, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Best – .915 – Al Spalding, 1875, Red Stockings. In 1875, Al Spalding of the National Association Boston Red Stockings went 54-5. 1.59 for a .915 winning percentage (the best ever among pitchers winning 20 or more games in a season.) Spalding pitched in 72 of the Red Stockings’ 79 games, starting 62 of them (52 complete games). Hall of Famer Spalding pitched in seven MLB seasons (1871-77).  He finished 251-65, 2.13 – with five seasons of 38 or more wins.

Worst – .333 – Jim McCormick, 1879 Cleveland Blues. Jim McCormick went 20-40 for the 1879 Cleveland Blues (NL) for a .333 winning percentage – the worst ever for a pitcher winning 20 or more games in a season. McCormick pitched in ten MLB seasons (1878-87, going 265-214, 2.43). He nearly reversed his W-L record in 1880, going 45-28, 1.85 for the Blues. Overall, he won 20 or more games in ten seasons (40 or more twice).

  • Best Since 1900 – .893  – Ron Guidry, 1978 Yankees. Now, if you want to look at the high and lows since 1900, the best winning percentage among 20-game winners belongs to the Yankees’ Ron Guidry, who went 25-3 (an .893 percentage), 1.74 in 1978. Guidry went 170-91, 3.29 over 14 seasons (1975-88), all with the Yankees. He won 20 or more games in three campaigns.

Worst Since 1900 – .488 – Irv Young, 1905 Boston Nationals &  Jim Scott, 1913 White Sox. Young and Scott put up 20-21 records in those seasons. Young’s came in his rookie year (and was his only season with 20 or more wins). He pitched in six MLB seasons (1905-08, 1910-11 … Boston Nationals, Pirates, White Sox) and went 63-95, 3.11. Scott pitched in nine MLB seasons (1909-1917), all with the White Sox He went 104-114, 2.30 and twice won 20 or more games in a season. His career stat line was 107-214, 2.30.

 20-20 Vision – An Eyeful of Wins & Losses

Photo: Texas Rangers via tradingcarddb.com, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Looking at those 20-21 seasons (Irv Young & Jim Scott, above) got me to thinking about players who won and lost twenty or more games in the same season. Not a rarity early on. It happened 141 times before 1900.  Rare since 1900 though – only 11 such seasons. As the chart below shows, the most recent such instance is credited to the Braves’ Phil Niekro, who went 21-20, 3.39 in 1979, leading the NL in wins and losses in the same season. Notably, Phil’s brother Joe tied Phil for the NL lead in wins, with 21 (11 losses) for the Houston Astros. A Hall of Famer, knuckleballer Phil pitched in 24 MLB seasons (1964-87 … Braves, Yankees, Indians, Blue Jays), going 318-274, 3.35. He won 20 or more games twice and lost 20 or more twice.  From 1977 through 1980, he led the NL in losses four consecutive season.  In each of those seasons, the Braves finished last.

 

More one thing leads to another: Phil Niekro’s season of winning and losing at least 20 games and doing it for a last-place squad led me down another rabbit hole: Pitchers with at least 20 wins for a last-place team. It’s happened a lucky 13 times.  Here’s the list.

 

 

How About 40-40 Vision? Quite a Turnabout.

Only three pitchers recorded (separate) seasons of 40 wins and 40 losses during their MLB careers.

Will White won 43 games for the 1879 Reds (43-31, 1.99) and the very next season lost 42 games for the Reds (18-42, 2.14).  White pitched in 10 MLB seasons (1877-1886 … NL Boston, Reds and Wolverines and the American Association Cincinnati franchise). He won 229 and lost 166, with a 2.28 ERA. He won 20 or more games five times, including three seasons of 40 or more wins. He led the American Association with 40 wins in 1882 and 43 in 1883.

Jim McCormick lost 40 games (20 wins) for the 1879 Cleveland Blues and turned around to win 45 games (28 losses) for the Blues the following season. McCormick pitched in ten MLB seasons (1878-87 … NL Indianapolis Blues, NL Cleveland Blues, Union Association Cincinnati Outlaw Reds, NL Providence Grays, NL Cubs, NL Allegheny City). He won 20 or more games in eight of those seasons and lost 20 or more in six.

George Bradley, won 45 games (19 losses) for the 1876 St. Louis Brown Stockings (NL) and lost 40 (13 wins) for the 1879 Troy Trojans (NL). Bradley pitched in nine MLB seasons (1875-77, 1879-1884 …  the NL St. Louis Brown Stockings, Troy Trojans, Providence Grays, Detroit Wolverines and Cleveland Blues; the American Association Philadelphia Athletics; the Union Association Cincinnati Outlaws). He went 172-151, 2.43, with three seasons of 20 or more wins and three seasons of 20 or more loses.

A few Other 20-win factoids:

  • As you might guess, Cy Young holds the record for the most twenty-win seasons in a career (16) and the most consecutive seasons of 2o or more wins (14). Young pitched in 22 MLB seasons and went 511-315, 2.63.
  • Al Atkinson is the only MLB pitcher to have a season of 20 or more wins while pitching for three different teams. In his 1884 rookie season, he went 20-26, 3. 36 for the Union Association Baltimore Monumentals (3-5); Chicago/Pittsburgh of the Union Association (6-10); and Philadelphia Athletics of the American association (11-11).
  • Grover Alexander (1916 Phillies) and George Bradley (1876 St. Lous Brown Stockings) share the record for the most shutouts thrown in a season of 20 or more wins (16). Alexander went 33-12, 1.55 and Bradley went 45-19, 1.23) in their record-setting seasons.
  • Denny McLain (1966 Tigers) gave up the most home runs in a season of 20 or more wins (42). He went 20-14, 3.92 that season.
  • The fewest hits allowed per nine innings in a season of 20 or more wins is 5.3 – Luis Tiant, 1968 Indians, in a 21-9, 1.60 season.
  • The youngest-ever 20-game winner was 17-year-old Willie McGill, who went 20-14 for the American Association Cincinnati Kelly’s Killers and St. Louis Browns in 1891. McGill went 2-5 for Cincinnatti and 18-9 for St. Louis.
  • The oldest pitcher to log a season of 20 or more wins was the Braves’ Warren Spahn, who went 23-7, 2.60 – as  a 42-year-old – in 1963.  Spahn tossed 22 complete games in 33 starts that season.

Primary Resources:  Baseball-Reference.com; Elias Sports Bureau; Baseball Maniac’s Almanac Sixth Edition, Bert Randolph Sugar, Sports Publishing, 2023.

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