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, 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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