Photo: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress)Redvers at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Common
When it comes to pitching to contact, southpaw Harry Franklin “Slim” Sallee set a pretty high bar in 1919. That season, Sallee went 21-7, 2.06 for the Reds. In 227 2/3 innings pitched, Sallee walked just 20 batters and fanned only 24. In the process, he recorded the:
- Fewest strikeouts (in a season) by a pitcher winning 20 or more games (since 1900). The next fewest is 37 strikeouts by the White Sox’ Hollis Thurston in his 20-14, 3.80 1924 season (291 innings pitched);
- Fewest walks surrendered in a 20+-win season (since 1900) – second on the list is Giants’ Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson, with 21 walks in his 25-11, 2.06 season for the Giants in 1913;
- Fewest strikeouts per nine innings in a 20+-win season since 1900 (0.9); The second-fewest belong to the White Sox’ Hollis Thurston at 1.1 in 1924.
- Third-fewest walks per nine innings in a 20+-win season since 1900 (0.8). Christy Mathewson walked 0.6 batters per nine innings in a 25-11 season in 1913 and 0.7 batters per nine frames in a 24-13 season in 1914.
Note: Baseball Roundtable used 1900 as a cutoff point on these particular stats because the rule counting the first two foul ball as strikes was not enacted until 1901 (National League, with the American League following in 1930) Similarly, the number of balls required for a walk was not reduced to four until 1889. Notably, none of the pitchers to win 20 or more games after 1888 walked fewer batters than Sallee in 1919.
Pre-1900 Records
For those who like to know such things. The fewest strikeouts ever in season of 20 or more wins were recorded in 1875 by the the Philadelphia Whites’ (National Association) William “Cherokee” Fisher, who fanned just 18 batters in a 22-19, 1.99 season (358 innings pitched). The fewest walks in a season of 20 or more wins was also set in 1875 – by the Hartford Dark Blues’ (National Association) William “Candy” Cummings, who walked just four batters (416 innings pitched) in a 35-12, 1.60 season. (It did take nine balls to draw a walk then.)
Let’s take a deeper look at Sallee’s 1919 season. He:
- Notched 29 appearances (28 starts) and 28 complete games;
- Threw eight complete games with zero strikeouts and nine complete games with zero walks;
- Threw five of his complete games with no walks and no whiffs (included among those in the previous bullet);
- Threw four complete-game shutouts, in which he walked a total of zero batters and fanned just one.
Sallee – as a 22-year-old – was purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals (from the Williamsport Millionaires) in August of 1907. In his third minor-league season (1907), he had gone 22-5 for Williamsport.
The slim 6’3” lefty made his MLB debut on April 16, 1908, pitching two innings of two-run ball (four hits, three walks, zero whiffs) in a relief role (against the Pirates). In his next outing (May 7), he threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout against the Giants. Sallee went on to pitch in 14 MLB seasons (1908-1921 … Cardinals, Giants, Reds), going 174-143, 2.56 with 476 appearances (306 starts), 189 complete games and 25 shutouts. He recorded 573 walks and 836 whiffs in 2,821 2/3 innings. Sallee won 15 or more games in six seasons.
Sallee was a crafty control pitcher – who could spot and throw to each hitter’s weakness – with an unorthodox windup and baffling delivery that batters often said made the ball appear to be arriving from first base.
His overall record could have been better had he not spent the first eight-and-a half seasons of his career with the Cardinals (1908-1916). During that span, the Cardinals finished above .500 only twice – and for the full 1908-16 seasons, they went 508-802. During his time with Saint Louis, Sallee was 106-107, 2.67. In 1913, when the Cardinals were a woeful 51-99-3, Sallee won 19 games (15 losses). No other Cardinal starter won more than ten that campaign and no other Redbird starter put up a .500 or better record.
In the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) bio on Sallee (written by Paul Sallee & Eric Sallee), they quote a Baseball Magazine article pointing to Sallee’s “imperturbable calm which nothing can disturb, faultless control, and back of all a scheming, crafty brain wise to all the quirks and twists of a pitcher.” The SABR bio also notes that Sallee was not always the easiest player to deal with and that his career included training rule violations, fines, suspensions, threats of retirements and issues with alcohol. Regardless, Sallee was one of the top pitchers of his time.
Let’s close this Spring Training post, with another Baseball Roundtable chart.
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com
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