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

[saturdaysarebetter2]

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.

 

[Conewago]

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.

Notably, McClain wasn't even the best pitcher that year. The World Series proved that. Gibson had a better year and so did Tiant (who should be in the HoF), who had better pitching but played with much less overall support in Cleveland.

Of the 3, the first 2 both seem very unlikely to happen again. All 3 of those are highly dependent on team support. I'm not sure which I find most impressive.

 

[bison13]

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.

None of them will ever happen again, but the thirty game winner is the least likely.

 

[WaylonJ]

D. None of the above.

Johnny Vander Meer threw back to back no-hitters. You want to beat that, pitch three in a row. Good luck.

 

[AWS1022]

D. None of the above.

Johnny Vander Meer threw back to back no-hitters. You want to beat that, pitch three in a row. Good luck.

Cy Young’s win total is probably the least likely record to ever be broken in any sport.

 

[WaylonJ]

Cy Young’s win total is probably the least likely record to ever be broken in any sport.

Can't argue with that either. None of the records referenced above are likely to ever happen again.

 

[JoeLion]

I think Harvey Haddix and his 11 innings of no hit will never be touched.

 

[bvillebaron]

Cy Young’s win total is probably the least likely record to ever be broken in any sport.

👍👍👍

 

[fastlax16]

Since he was brought up in the original post. How about Jim Palmer's record. Only pitched to earn a world series win in 3 different decades?

 

[saturdaysarebetter2]

Since he was brought up in the original post. How about Jim Palmer's record. Only pitched to earn a world series win in 3 different decades?

That one could be done. Pitch at the end of one decade say 1969 when you're young and you're in your 13th season in 1981.

 

[harbest]

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.

While I don't see pitchers winning 20 games a season let alone 30, I don't think you'll see a pitcher have a single season overall like Bob Gibson had in 1968. His record 22-9 was average for that period, but when you look at his other statistics, they are other worldly. 49 earned runs in 304 innings pitched! What pitcher these days even comes close to 300 innings pitched.

 

[gamblepsu]

If you put it as a caveat that a STARTING Pitcher wins 30 games, then I'd agree. Otherwise, I could see some weird instance where someone might pick up that many coming in at the 3rd or 4th inning of a bunch of games on a team that just throws bullpen games...

 

[Still in State College]

Any record that has to do with high totals will not be matched.

In 1968 Bob Gibson had 28 complete games in 34 starts. In 2024 MLB had 28 complete games in 4,848 Starts. Gibson had 13 shut outs and MLB (2024) had 16 shut outs.

I know times are different, but he was extraordinary 17 seasons 255 complete games but yet only 255 wins in 17 seasons. Goes to show how hard 300 wins is. Which is also why we have likely seen our last 300 game winner.

 

[jimarnp]

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.

It would seem that 5 difficult events lining up to occur would seem somewhat more difficult than 4 slightly more difficult events and 1 very difficult event. — So 5, 16+ game winners IMO

 

[Ian]

Greatest staff ever was that Oriole starting four. No bullpen either in those days. Check out their IP. Greatest pitchers were Nolan Ryan and Bob Gibson.

 

[bdroc]

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.

Of those I'd pick B.

But I'd pick Cy Young's 749 carrer complete games. Better yet Will White's 75 complete games in a single season. Last year's leader had 2.

 

[Lion_Backer]

This individual pitcher's performance for the 1972 Phillies, Steve Carlton deserves mention in this thread.

Pitching for a 97-loss team​

Steve Carlton’s 1972 season is one of the greatest performances by a pitcher in the last 100 years. The National League Cy Young Award winner, Carlton went 27-10 for a last-place Phillies team that finished 37 1/2 games out of first place.

Any way you measure it, Lefty’s season was one of the ages. For those who cling to traditional stats, Carlton led the league in wins with 27, ERA at 1.91, and strikeouts with 310. He was remarkably durable – his 41 starts and 30 complete games also paced the Senior Circuit, as did his 346 1/2 innings pitched.

The 1972 97-loss Phillies were dismal. Carlton was the pitcher of record for 45.7% of his team’s wins. Carlton’s winning percentage was .730. The rest of the staff combined for a .269 mark. The only pitcher since Carlton to win as many as 27 games in a season is Bob Welch whose 1990 A’s team won 103 games.

 

[bdroc]

Greatest staff ever was that Oriole starting four. No bullpen either in those days. Check out their IP. Greatest pitchers were Nolan Ryan and Bob Gibson.

Of course they had a bullpen. Golf carts with team helmets for a roof brought relief pictures to the mound.


https://images.app.goo.gl/vBQmo3hFYxHbJtQW7

 

[Ian]

Orioles had around 70 CG and 14 saves…

 

[roswelllion]

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.

I'll pick B, but the one I don't think anyone will ever come close is most complete games. Pitchers these days seldom go more than 6-7 innings.

 

[blair10]

This individual pitcher's performance for the 1972 Phillies, Steve Carlton deserves mention in this thread.

Pitching for a 97-loss team​

Steve Carlton’s 1972 season is one of the greatest performances by a pitcher in the last 100 years. The National League Cy Young Award winner, Carlton went 27-10 for a last-place Phillies team that finished 37 1/2 games out of first place.

Any way you measure it, Lefty’s season was one of the ages. For those who cling to traditional stats, Carlton led the league in wins with 27, ERA at 1.91, and strikeouts with 310. He was remarkably durable – his 41 starts and 30 complete games also paced the Senior Circuit, as did his 346 1/2 innings pitched.

The 1972 97-loss Phillies were dismal. Carlton was the pitcher of record for 45.7% of his team’s wins. Carlton’s winning percentage was .730. The rest of the staff combined for a .269 mark. The only pitcher since Carlton to win as many as 27 games in a season is Bob Welch whose 1990 A’s team won 103 games.

In addition, Steve Carlton won 15 consecutive games as a starter in 1972. That 1972 season I witnessed the most dominant season by a pitcher in my lifetime. Lefty was incredible in 1972. The fact that he accomplished so much with a very bad supporting cast was simply remarkable.

 

[blair10]

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.

My vote goes to the four 20 game winners on the Baltimore Orioles in 1971. That will not happen again in my opinion.