1916 American League - Babe Ruth, Boston Red Sox
People tend to forget that before Babe Ruth was a great hitter, he was a great pitcher. His pitching career was essentially over once he was sold to New York, but in the meantime he helped Boston win the World Series in 1915, 1916, and 1918. His 1916 season was definitely his best in terms of pitching though; he led the league in ERA, hits per 9 innings (6.396), shutouts (9), and ERA+ (158). He was also second in WAR (7.4 to Walter Johnson's 7.8), and third in wins and strikeouts. It could be argued that Johnson was as good as Ruth, but Ruth's lower ERA gives him the advantage. It has been argued that, had he not been moved to the outfield, Ruth might have ended up in the Hall of Fame as a pitcher. We'll never know for sure; he could've just as easily blown his arm out in 1920 and been yet another "no-name pitcher" who happened to have one good season.
1916 National League - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Philadelphia Phillies
33-12, 1.55 ERA, 167 K
For the second year in a row, not only was Grover Cleveland Alexander the best pitcher in the NL; he was a Triple Crown winner for the second year in a row. However, perhaps most impressive of all was his 16 shutouts. Not only did he tie a MLB record that will likely never be broken; he pitched ten more shutouts than anyone else in the NL in 1916. By way of comparison, Roy Halladay is the active MLB leader in career shutouts, with 20. It took Halladay 291 starts to pitch 16 shutouts; in 1916, it took Alexander 45 starts to do so, meaning he did not give up a single run in 35% of his starts. With that many shutouts, it's amazing that his ERA was even as high as 1.55. The only other pitcher to throw 16 shutouts in a season was George Bradley, way back when the NL was first founded in 1876. In the modern era, the next highest single-season total is 13, set by Jack Coombs in 1910 and Bob Gibson in 1968, and the most in the past 20 years is Cliff Lee, with 6 last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment