Wins are a fickle thing for pitchers. They are one of the most commonly-cited measures of a pitcher's ability, and leading the league in wins is part of the Pitching Triple Crown. Cy Young Award winners almost always have high win totals, which isn't surprising, considering the award is named after the greatest winner in baseball history. However, what do wins really tell us? Obviously, there are 9+ players contributing to the team's effort, so it's not just the pitcher who has a say in the outcome of the game. As a result, there are bound to be imbalances: a pitcher can allow 9 runs in 5 innings one day and earn the win, and then in his next start lose a 1-0 one-hitter. These tend to balance out over time, but it makes for some curious individual games. What I have done below is list the top 10 greatest games ever pitched by a losing pitcher. A few are well-known, others aren't - some were pitched by Hall of Famers, and some by relatively unknown journeymen. Either way though, they represent 10 of the greatest pitching efforts that, in the end, went all for naught.
#10: Ted Lyons, May 25, 1929. 21 IP, 24 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Normally, 24 hits and 6 runs doesn't exactly scream "great pitching performance," but it's not too bad when spread out over 21 innings. In this matchup between the Tigers and White Sox at Comiskey Park, two great pitchers faced off: George Uhle for Detroit and future Hall of Famer Ted Lyons for Chicago. The White Sox started out with 2 in the first inning, but the Tigers took the lead right after that, scoring 3 in the second and 1 in the third. The White Sox responded with 3 in the fifth, before the Tigers tied it up in the top of the seventh, at 5-5. I'm sure none of the spectators saw this as a great pitcher's duel, but after the seventh, that's what it turned into. Both pitchers went on to pitch 13 shutout innings, before the Tigers finally scored a run in the top of the 21st. Detroit then brought on a relief pitcher with the unfortunate name of Lil Stoner to close out the game, and handed Ted Lyons a loss in one of the best-pitched games of his career. Sure, he got of to a rocky start, but those 13 consecutive shutout innings have to say something. Still, there were nine other pitchers who managed to do even better, and still lose.
#9: Al Jackson, August 14, 1962. 15 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 K
This involves the 1962 Mets, so you know it's not going to end well for their pitcher. Jackson lost 20 games with the Mets in 1962, but this was probably the toughest of those losses. Facing Dallas Green of the Phillies, the Mets took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, but didn't score again until the seventh inning...of their next game. The Phillies, on the other hand, tied the game in the fifth, but then their bats got quiet for a while. They switched pitchers twice, with the eventual winning pitcher, Jack Baldschun, throwing a paltry 4.1 innings compared to Jackson's effort. Jackson scattered just six hits throughout his 15 innings, although two in the top of the 15th, plus a catching error at first base, allowed the Phillies to finally take the lead.
#8: Kevin Appier, July 27, 1993. 9 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
Although not quite at the same level as a no-hitter, a complete game one-hitter is still a fairly significant pitching performance, and almost a guaranteed win, especially when the pitcher also allows just one other baserunner - a walk to a batter who is then thrown out trying to seal second base. However, for Kevin Appier of the Royals, allowing just one hit wasn't enough - that one hit happened to be a home run to Texas's Rafael Palmeiro. The Royals, although collecting 9 hits off Kenny Rogers, were unable to score a run, and the victory went to the aforementioned Rogers instead, despite a stellar one-hitter on Appier's part.
#7: Carl Hubbell, April 29, 1936. 16.1 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
Carl Hubbell was in his prime in 1936, winning the MVP Award, not to mention this blog's
Retroactive NL Cy Young Award, and one of his best pitching performances was this game. Going up against the Cardinal's good but unspectacular Roy Parmelee, future Hall of Famer Hubbell matched him for the first 9 innings, with neither starter allowing a run. This double shutout continued until the 12th, when Hubbell's Giants finally scored a run. Their lead didn't last long, though, because Hubbell promptly gave up a run to the Cardinals in the bottom of the inning. Thus tied 1-1, the stalemate continued until the bottom of the 16th, when the Cardinals finally won the game 2-1. One of their runs was unearned, but the box score is unclear about who was responsible for that error, or which run was unearned.
#6: Warren Spahn, July 2, 1963. 15.1 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Warren Spahn was no stranger to tough losses - despite winning more games than any post-1920 pitcher, he also had his share of losses that he should've won. of the 60 or so games that I came up with on my initial list, three of those were lost by Spahn. However, none were quite as heartbreaking as this tough loss to the Giants. It was certainly a pitching matchup that lived up to its billing of two future Hall of Famers: 42 year old Warren Spahn of the Braves, against 25 year old Juan Marichal of the Giants, at San Francisco. The lineups were equally impressive. Not counting the pitchers, the Braves had two future Hall of Famers in their lineup: Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews. The Giants countered with Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Orlando Cepeda, for a total of seven Hall of Famers between the two teams. Despite these impressive batters, though, they could do nothing against either the young pitcher or the aging veteran. For the first 15 innings, neither team scored a run. In the top of the 16th, Marichal shut out the Braves again, but in the bottom of the innin, Spahn finally cracked. He got Harvey Kuenn to fly out to center, but the next batter was Willie Mays. Mays's hit his first home run off of Spahn, in 1951, and 12 years later he hit number 383 to win the game for the Giants.
#5: Andy Hassler, September 8, 1974. 9 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Not many pitchers can have a game ERA of 0.00 and still lose, but that's what happened to the Angels' Andy Hassler against the White Sox. It was a rough season for Hassler when it came to wins: he was 7-11, despite a very respectable 2.61 ERA. And none of those seven wins were quite as good as his one-hitter that allowed zero earned runs. Unfortunately, his own team couldn't pick up any runs against either Jim Kaat or Terry Forster, as the one hit that Hassler allowed - a double to Lee Richard in the third - resulted in a run when third baseman Dave Chalk made an error on a ground ball that could've otherwise been an inning-ending double play.
#4: Bob Smith, May 17, 1927. 22 IP, 20 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 9 BB, 5 K
This game, although not a record for either the longest game or the most innings pitched by one pitcher, is notable in that Smith's 22 innings pitched are the most in post-1920 baseball for a losing pitcher. Smith, pitching for the Boston Braves in Boston, allowed the Cubs to take a 3-0 lead by the fifth inning. However, the Braves got to Chicago starter Sheriff Blake in the sixth and seventh, and the Cubs went to their bullpen in the eighth. They then turned to Bob Osborn in the ninth, who pitched 14 scoreless innings to pick up the win. But, Bob Smith went the distance for the Braves, pitching all 22 innings before finally allowing a 4th run to Chicago. All in all, it must've been a frustrating day for Smith, who pitched the equivalent of 2.5 complete games, only to be rewarded with the loss.
#3: Dick Fowler, June 5, 1942. 16 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 6 K
Speaking of post-1920 records, Dick Fowler holds the record for most innings pitched by a losing pitcher who only allowed one run. (Isn't baseball amazing when we can identify the holders of such obscure records?) In any case, Fowler, pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics, was up against the St. Louis Browns. The Browns, for once in their existence, weren't bad in the World War II years, primarily because most of the able-bodied players were in the military, which meant St. Louis's roster stayed pretty much intact. But, Fowler wasn't too bad in this game either, and he and St. Louis starter Johnny Niggeling both went a full 9 innings without allowing a run. This continued into extra innings, but Niggeling was done after the 12th. He was replaced by George Caster, but Fowler kept pitching until the top of the 16th, when Browns centerfielder Wally Judnich tripled and was driven in by Chet Laabs. So, Fowler ended up with a loss, despite a game ERA of 0.56. He would go on to have a 6-11 record on the year, before enlisting in the Canadian Army. Interestingly, despite missing out on a shutout in this game, he would eventually get his revenge on the Browns when he returned from the war. In his first start since before the war, he pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the Browns in St. Louis. It was his first career shutout, and to this day the only MLB no-hitter pitched by a Canadian.
#2: Ken Johnson, April 23, 1964. 9 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
There have been 281 official no-hitters in Major League history. Of those, 271 were complete games, and of the complete games, 270 were won by the pitcher. The one remaining no-hitter, of course, belonged to Ken Johnson. It's not uncommon for no-hitters to not be shutouts, as there are six other ways for batters to reach base aside from a hit. However, for a pitcher to actually lose the game is, obviously, rare. In this particular game, Johnson's Astros faced Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds. Both pitchers pitched well, with neither team scoring a run until the top of the ninth. It started off easy enough, with Nuxhall grounding out to third, but the next batter, the previous year's Rookie of the Year, Pete Rose, reached on an error by Johnson. He made it to second on the error, and then advanced to third on a groundout (the play-by-play indicates that it was a 1-5-3 (pitcher to third base to first base) putout, but I'm not entirely sure how that actually played out. My guess is the ball glanced off Johnson before the third baseman picked it up. Either way, the next batter, Vada Pinson, reached on an error by, of all people, the Gold Glove Award-winning second baseman Nellie Fox, which allowed Rose to score. The Astros could do nothing in the bottom of the ninth, and Johnson simultaneously earned the no-hitter and the loss. It would easily be the greatest game ever pitched and lost, if not for an even more heartbreaking loss just five years earlier.
#1: Harvey Haddix, May 26, 1959. 12.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
This is the one game on this list that doesn't need the qualifier "and lost" to be considered the greatest game ever pitched. There is simply little doubt that what Pirates pitcher Harvey Haddix did in this game ranks among the most impressive pitching performances ever. Certainly, a perfect game is the ultimate sign of pitching performance. It's hard to get better than retiring every single batter you face. However, every "official" perfect game pitcher has faced, and retired, exactly 27 batters. No official perfect game has ever gone into extra innings. In this game, Haddix was perfect through nine innings, but Braves starter Lew Burdette was almost as good, allowing no runs either. So, the game continued into extra innings, with the two time defending NL champion Braves still unable to get a baserunner off of Haddix. However after 12 perfect innings, 3 more than any other pitcher in MLB history, the Braves finally reached base in the bottom of the 13th on an error by third baseman Don Hoak. The batter, Felix Mantilla, reached second on a bunt by Eddie Mathews, and the next batter, Hank Aaron, was understandably intentionally walked. The no-hitter was still intact, until the next batter, Joe Adcock, hit a home run. Well, sort of a home run. It left the playing field, but this is where it gets bizarre, because Hank Aaron left the basepaths, and Adcock passed him on his way around the bases. As a result, Adcock was considered out, and since the last base he legally reached was second, it only counted as a double. Mantilla scored regardless, which won the game, but because it was no longer a home run, Hank Aaron's run didn't count (if it's not a home run, the only runs that officially count are the ones needed to win the game), which meant instead of allowing 1 unearned run and 2 earned runs, Haddix officially allowed just one unearned run. But, a loss is a loss, and especially after pitching 12 perfect innings, is tough no matter how many or few runs you're ultimately charged with.
