It’s time again for Baseball Roundtable’s Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” one-of-a-kind MLB accomplishments or statistics. This week, we’re looking at pitchers who turned in seasons of twenty or more victories after turning age forty.
Here’s the chart, and details follow.
Warren Spahn, LHP
Photo: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In 1963, Braves’ southpaw Warren Spahn – in his age-42 season – became (and still is) the oldest MLB pitcher to record a 20-win season, going 23-7, 2.60, with an MLB-leading 22 complete games in 33 starts. That season Spahn finished second in the NL in shutouts (7) third in wins, seventh in earned run average and eighth in innings pitched. Even at 42, Spahn did not fade as the season wore on. He was 12-4, 2.67, with 11 complete games in the first half and 11-3, 2.54, with 11 complete games in the second half. His 23 wins in 1963 are the most ever for a pitcher in a post-40 season.
Spahn is also one of only two MLB pitchers to log two 20-win seasons after turning 40 (Cy Young is the other). In 1961, at age 40, Spahn went 21-13, 3.02 in 38 starts leading the NL in wins, earned run average complete games and shutouts (4).
Spahn played in 21 MLB seasons (1942, 1946-65 … with the Braves in all but his final season, which he split between the Mets and Giants). His 363 MLB wins are the most ever for a southpaw and he recorded 13 seasons of 20 or more victories, leading the NL in wins eight timers (five seasons consecutively from 1957 through 1961), ERA three times, complete games nine times (seven consecutively, 1957-63), shutouts four times, innings pitched four times and strikeouts four times. His final MLB stat line was 363-245, 3.09 with 382 complete games and 63 shutouts in 665 starts (750 appearances).
Cy Young, RHP
Photo: Charles M. Conlon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Cy Young was the first pitcher to record a 20-win season after turning forty, when he went 21-15, 1.99 (as a 40-year-old) for the 1907 Red Sox. Then, he proved it was no fluke, by going 21-11, 1.26 for the 1908 Red Sox in his age-41 season. Young, of course, holds the record for MLB victories at 511. He pitched in 22 MLB seasons (1890-1911 … Cleveland Spiders, Saint Louis Browns, Boston Americans/Red Sox, Cleveland Naps), going 511-315, 2.63 and holds the all-time MLB records for wins (511), losses (315), starts (815), complete games (749) and innings pitched (7356). Side note: Over his 22-season MLB career, Young averaged 334 1/3 frames pitched per season.
Young had 16 seasons of 20 or more wins (five of those 30 or more); leading the league in wins five times. He also led the league in earned run average twice, games started once, complete games three times, shutouts seven times, innings pitched twice and strikeouts twice.
Jamie Moyer, LHP
Photo: Galaksiafervojo, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Jaimie Moyer is the pitcher with the most recent 20-win season after turning forty. In 2003, he went 21-7, 3.27 for the Seattle Mariners. That season, he had one complete game in 33 starts. Moyer was a poster-boy for longevity on the mound, pitching in 25 MLB seasons (1986-91, 1993-2010 and 2012 … Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles, Red Sox, Mariners, Phillies, Rockies). He recorded his first MLB win on June 16, 1986 (at age 23) and his final MLB win on May 16, 2012 (at age 49), one month shy of 24 years later.
Over his 25 MLB seasons, Moyer went 269-209, 4.25, with 33 complete games and ten shutouts in 638 starts (696 appearances). He was a 20-game winner only twice. In his age-40 season and in his age-38 season (2001, when he went 20-6, 3.43 for the Mariners).
Moyer did win at least ten games in 15 seasons and finished above .500 in 15. He is the only pitcher on this list not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Phil Niekro, RHP
Photo: Trading Card Database, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Phil Niekro had perhaps the most unusual post-40, 20-win season. In 1979, pitching for the Braves, the 40-year-old Niekro went 21-20, 3.39. He currently holds the distinction of being the last MLB pitcher to win at least 20 games and lose at least 20 games in the same season.
In that age-40 campaign, Niekro led the league in wins AND losses, games started (44), complete games (23), innings pitched (342), home runs allowed (41), walks allowed (113), and hit-by-pitch (11).
Niekro pitched in 24 MLB seasons (1964-87 … Braves, Yankees, Indians, Blue Jays), going 318-274, 3.35, with 245 complete games and 45 shutouts in 716 starts (864 total appearances). He led the league in wins twice, losses four times (consecutively 1977-80), earned run average once, games started four times, complete games four times, innings pitched four times and strikeouts once. He won 20 or more games in three seasons and twice lost 20 in a season.
Grover Cleveland Alexander, RHP
Photo: unattributed, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Grover Cleveland Alexander went 21-10, 2.52, with 22 complete games in 30 starts (37 appearances), as a forty-year-old, for the 1927 Cardinals. It was the last of nine 20+ win seasons (three of 30 or more) for Alexander. Alexander led the league in wins five times, earned run average four times (four consecutively, 1914-17) , games started three times, complete games six times (four consecutively, 1914-17), shutouts seven times, innings pitched seven times (four consecutively 1914-17) and strikeouts six times( four consecutively 1914-17). (From 1914 through 1917, Alexander averaged 30.3 wins, a 1.74 ERA, 35 complete games and 377 innings pitched per season. )
Alexander pitched in 20 MLB seasons (1911-30 … Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals), going 373-208, 2.56 with 436 complete games and 90 shutouts in 600 starts (696 appearances).
Primary Resource: Stathead.com
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