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Which of the following pitching feats is the most impressive to you and in your opinion the least likely to happen again?

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saturdaysarebetter

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Which of the following pitching feats is the most impressive to you and in your opinion the least likely to happen again?

A. A pitcher win 30 games in a season. Detroit Denny McClain in 1968 31 wins.

Previously done by Dizzy Dean in 1934 with 30 wins.

B. A pitching staff with four 20-game winners. Baltimore in 1971: Dave McNally 21 wins, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson all with 20 wins each.

Previously done by the 1920 Chicago White Sox.

C. A pitching staff with five 16-game winners. The 1998 Atlanta Braves: Tom Glavine 20, Greg Maddux 18, John Smoltz 17, Kevin Millwood 17, and Denny Neagle 16.

Previously done by the 1923 New York Yankees.
 
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fairgambit

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Nitknee said:
12 perfect innings is probably still the best pitching performance
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Agreed, but Elroy Face went 18-1 (.947 winning percentage) in relief for the Pirates in 1959 and those numbers will likely never be equalled. Oddly, the Haddix 12 perfect innings for the Bucs was also in 1959.
 
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Nitknee

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fairgambit said:
Agreed, but Elroy Face went 18-1 (.947 winning percentage) in relief for the Pirates in 1959 and those numbers will likely never be equalled. Oddly, the Haddix 12 perfect innings for the Bucs was also in 1959.
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I love Elroy and grew up a mile from his home, but a lot of those wins were. a result of giving up the lead and then Pirates coming back.That’s when saves really became a benchmark for relievers.
 
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manatree

manatree

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Of the ones listed, I would say 30 wins in a season.

While I was too young to remember it, I’ve always been amazed at Carlton’s 1972 season.

27-10 (league leader in wins)
1.97 ERA (league leader)
41 starts (league leader)
30 complete games (league leader)
346.1 IP (league leader)
310 K (league leader)

The Phils won 59 games that year, meaning that Carlton won 46% of their games.
 
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NoSoup4U

NoSoup4U

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B and C

A still could happen on a fluke

also your title should say 'seasonal'

I thought when I opened the thread I was gonna see career 511 wins (heck even 300) wins or 4000k's
 
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Rick76

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I think all of these are highly unlikely to ever occur again.

I agree that Gibson's and Carlton's single seasons will never be achieved again.

And I'll add in Robin Roberts pitching 250 innings year in/year out and 30 complete games and then throwing a couple innings in relief a few days after a CG.
 
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Blair10

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manatree said:
Of the ones listed, I would say 30 wins in a season.

While I was too young to remember it, I’ve always been amazed at Carlton’s 1972 season.

27-10 (league leader in wins)
1.97 ERA (league leader)
41 starts (league leader)
30 complete games (league leader)
346.1 IP (league leader)
310 K (league leader)

The Phils won 59 games that year, meaning that Carlton won 46% of their games.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the wonderful post.

You forgot to mention Steve Carlton won 15 consecutive games in 1972.

That 1972 season was the most dominant performance by a pitcher I’ve seen in my lifetime.
 
FHSPSU67

FHSPSU67

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B is most impressive to me!
And then they go and lose 4 straight to the New York Giants. Total deflation after Willie Mays's catch of Vic Wertz's line drive to deep center.
 
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Blair10

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saturdaysarebetter said:
Which of the following pitching feats is the most impressive to you and in your opinion the least likely to happen again?

A. A pitcher win 30 games in a season. Detroit Denny McClain in 1968 31 wins.

Previously done by Dizzy Dean in 1934 with 30 wins.

B. A pitching staff with four 20-game winners. Baltimore in 1971: Dave McNally 21 wins, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson all with 20 wins each.

Previously done by the 1920 Chicago White Sox.

C. A pitching staff with five 16-game winners. The 1998 Atlanta Braves: Tom Glavine 20, Greg Maddux 18, John Smoltz 17, Kevin Millwood 17, and Denny Neagle 16.

Previously done by the 1923 New York Yankees.
Click to expand...

The 1971 Baltimore Orioles team with four 20 game winners in the same season.

That was an amazing accomplishment.
 
WDLion

WDLion

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FHSPSU67 said:
B is most impressive to me!
And then they go and lose 4 straight to the New York Giants. Total deflation after Willie Mays's catch of Vic Wertz's line drive to deep center.
Click to expand...
Indians, not Orioles.
 
IrishHerb

IrishHerb

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Nitknee said:
How times have changed, Elroy was a carpenter in the winter in order to keep money coming in during the off season!
Click to expand...

In the old days a lot of pro athletes (in all sports) held other jobs in the off season. They didn't earn $millions back then.
 
Nittany.Lion

Nittany.Lion

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LB99 said:
All are impressive feats. I’ll add this.
Bob Gibson. 1968. 22-9 1.12 ERA 34 starts. 28 Complete games. 13 shutouts. 😳

For his career, Gibson appeared in 528 games. 255 were complete games. Unreal. Nobody is doing that today.
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528 appearances, 482 starts.

During his 1968 season, not once did his manager go to the mound and pull him for a relief pitcher. He was pulled 6 times for pinch hitters during the season. In 1968 alone, he had more complete games than Verlander, Scherzer or Kershaw have in their entire careers.

Gibson and McLain's dominant 1968 season ("The Year of the Pitcher") was the main reason the mound was lowered in 1969 to get more offense into the game. Also, McLain had run support of 5.23 runs/gm and 7 more starts while Gibson had only 3.03, explaining the win difference.
 
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LB99

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Nittany.Lion said:
528 appearances, 482 starts.

During his 1968 season, not once did his manager go to the mound and pull him for a relief pitcher. He was pulled 6 times for pinch hitters during the season. In 1968 alone, he had more complete games than Verlander, Scherzer or Kershaw have in their entire careers.

Gibson and McLain's dominant 1968 season ("The Year of the Pitcher") was the main reason the mound was lowered in 1969 to get more offense into the game. Also, McLain had run support of 5.23 runs/gm and 7 more starts while Gibson had only 3.03, explaining the win difference.
Click to expand...
Crazy impressive. And from what I hear, Gibson was mean. He had no problem throwing high and tight.
 
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WDLion

WDLion

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saturdaysarebetter said:
Which of the following pitching feats is the most impressive to you and in your opinion the least likely to happen again?

A. A pitcher win 30 games in a season. Detroit Denny McClain in 1968 31 wins.

Previously done by Dizzy Dean in 1934 with 30 wins.

B. A pitching staff with four 20-game winners. Baltimore in 1971: Dave McNally 21 wins, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson all with 20 wins each.

Previously done by the 1920 Chicago White Sox.

C. A pitching staff with five 16-game winners. The 1998 Atlanta Braves: Tom Glavine 20, Greg Maddux 18, John Smoltz 17, Kevin Millwood 17, and Denny Neagle 16.

Previously done by the 1923 New York Yankees.
Click to expand...
Drysdale 6 consecutive shutouts.

Hershiser 59 consecutive shutout innings.
 
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LionJim

LionJim

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LB99 said:
Crazy impressive. And from what I hear, Gibson was mean. He had no problem throwing high and tight.
Click to expand...
Oh, yes. One time he was in an elevator and an opposing batter joined him. The guy made the mistake of telling Gibson that he was going to have a hard time batting against him that night, really tried to butter him up. First pitch, Gibson put him down. If I had to pick one pitcher to win one game for me, I’d pick Gibson, no question.
 
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kgilbert78

kgilbert78

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LB99 said:
As a baseball enthusiast, I feel like I missed out by not experiencing that era of baseball.
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I was indeed fortunate. My first game was at old Connie Mack when I was 9 (1965). Sandy Koufax was pitching, and we were right behind the Dodger bullpen. Sadly, the program and ticket were lost. But not the memories.
 
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