Wednesday, March 26, 2008 |
Joe Posnanski's Wearing Shades
2. Fernando ValenzuelaPosnanski goes on to observe that "surprisingly few of them even came close" to winning 300 games, perhaps because of the temptation to overuse their young stars.
Wins by 26: 113
Total wins: 173Had a couple of OK seasons after hitting 27 years old — won 13 twice — but nothing approaching great. Looking back, it’s understandable — look at those innings. He threw 285, 257, 261, 272, 269, 251 in the six years leading up to his 27th year. It’s no wonder he broke down. I’m never been a big fan of pitch counts, but for guys like Tommy Lasorda (and proteges like Dusty Baker) they might not be a bad thing*.
...
3. Frank Tanana Wins by 26: 102.
Total Wins: 240
Had to totally reinvent himself from a Sam McDowell type to a Jamie Moyer precursor to get to 240 wins. I will write a full Tanana post at some point this summer because he’s the favorite pitcher of a friend of mine, but it’s worth saying that in 1977 Tanana threw 14 consecutive complete games (five of them were shutouts) and considering that he was a strikeout guy, an effort pitcher at that time, that had to mean a LOT of pitches on a 23-year-old arm. I mean, seriously, 14 consecutive complete games. Those managers back then were like the slave masters in “The Ten Commandments.” I wonder if they had whips.
4. Bert Blyleven
Wins by 26: 122
Total Wins: 287Blyleven, like Tanana, had two very distinct periods in his career. He missed almost the entire 1982 season (31st year). Unlike Tanana, though, he did it more or less the same way — with lotsa lotsa curveballs. Blyleven actually came closer to winning a Cy Young Award in the years after his injury — he twice finished third. And even with his incredible longevity, of course, Bly still did not win 300, and because of this and other absurdities he’s still not in the Hall of Fame.
Labels: history
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