RA Dickey this season finished 20-6 for a 74-88 team: 14 over .500 for a team that was 14 under. How unusual is that accomplishment? I ran through the past century looking for examples, focusing on pitchers who (1) won 15 or more games and (2) finished 5 or more games over .500 (3) for a team that was below .500 when they didn’t pitch. I came up with 73 75 examples; I’m sure there are more I missed, but I think I got the major ones. The chart below is ranked by multiplying the pitcher’s number of games above .500 by the team’s number of games below .500 the rest of the time (“x”); the “TOT” column adds the two:
UPDATED: Per comments, added Nolan Ryan’s 1973 and 1974.
Pitcher | Year | W | L | G Over | W(T) | L(T) | G Under | TOT | x |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steve Carlton | 1972 | 27 | 10 | 17 | 59 | 97 | -55 | 72 | 935 |
Walter Johnson | 1911 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 64 | 90 | -38 | 50 | 456 |
Tim Lincecum | 2008 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 72 | 90 | -31 | 44 | 403 |
RA Dickey | 2012 | 20 | 6 | 14 | 74 | 88 | -28 | 42 | 392 |
Cliff Lee | 2008 | 22 | 3 | 19 | 81 | 81 | -19 | 38 | 361 |
Ray Scarborough | 1948 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 56 | 97 | -48 | 55 | 336 |
Roger Clemens | 1997 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 76 | 86 | -24 | 38 | 336 |
Bob Feller | 1946 | 26 | 15 | 11 | 68 | 86 | -29 | 40 | 319 |
Aaron Harang | 2007 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 72 | 90 | -28 | 38 | 280 |
Ted Lyons | 1930 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 62 | 92 | -37 | 44 | 259 |
Roy Face* | 1959 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 78 | 76 | -15 | 32 | 255 |
Pat Hentgen | 1996 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 74 | 88 | -24 | 34 | 240 |
Cy Young | 1907 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 59 | 90 | -37 | 43 | 222 |
Grover Alexander | 1920 | 27 | 14 | 13 | 75 | 79 | -17 | 30 | 221 |
Bobby Shantz | 1952 | 24 | 7 | 17 | 79 | 75 | -13 | 30 | 221 |
Walter Johnson | 1910 | 25 | 17 | 8 | 66 | 85 | -27 | 35 | 216 |
Grover Alexander | 1914 | 27 | 15 | 12 | 74 | 80 | -18 | 30 | 216 |
Roy Halladay | 2002 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 78 | 84 | -18 | 30 | 216 |
Al Leiter | 2003 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 66 | 95 | -35 | 41 | 210 |
Steve Trachsel | 2003 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 66 | 95 | -35 | 41 | 210 |
Clayton Kershaw | 2011 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 82 | 79 | -13 | 29 | 208 |
Walter Johnson | 1919 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 56 | 84 | -34 | 40 | 204 |
Brandon Webb | 2008 | 22 | 7 | 15 | 82 | 80 | -13 | 28 | 195 |
Nolan Ryan | 1974 | 22 | 16 | 6 | 68 | 94 | -32 | 38 | 192 |
Bob Feller | 1941 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 75 | 79 | -16 | 28 | 192 |
Johnny Marcum | 1935 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 58 | 91 | -38 | 43 | 190 |
Roger Clemens | 1987 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 78 | 84 | -17 | 28 | 187 |
Javier Vazquez | 2007 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 72 | 90 | -25 | 32 | 175 |
Tex Hughson | 1944 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 77 | 77 | -13 | 26 | 169 |
Steve Blass | 1968 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 80 | 82 | -14 | 26 | 168 |
Ted Lyons | 1927 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 70 | 83 | -21 | 29 | 168 |
Jerry Koosman | 1968 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 73 | 89 | -23 | 30 | 161 |
Roger Clemens | 1992 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 73 | 89 | -23 | 30 | 161 |
Gaylord Perry | 1972 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 72 | 84 | -20 | 28 | 160 |
Brandon Webb | 2006 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 76 | 86 | -18 | 26 | 144 |
Vean Gregg | 1911 | 23 | 7 | 16 | 80 | 73 | -9 | 25 | 144 |
Tom Seaver | 1975 | 22 | 9 | 13 | 82 | 80 | -11 | 24 | 143 |
Cy Young | 1908 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 75 | 79 | -14 | 24 | 140 |
Gaylord Perry | 1978 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 84 | 78 | -9 | 24 | 135 |
Pedro Martinez | 1997 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 78 | 84 | -15 | 24 | 135 |
Roy Halladay | 2009 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 75 | 87 | -19 | 26 | 133 |
Larry Jansen | 1947 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 81 | 73 | -8 | 24 | 128 |
Brad Penny | 2007 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 82 | 80 | -10 | 22 | 120 |
Bill Bernhard** | 1902 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 69 | 67 | -10 | 22 | 120 |
Bob Forsch | 1977 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 83 | 79 | -9 | 22 | 117 |
Robin Roberts | 1954 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 74 | 79 | -13 | 21 | 104 |
Jim Kaat | 1975 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 75 | 86 | -17 | 23 | 102 |
Rick Reuschel | 1977 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 81 | 81 | -10 | 20 | 100 |
Randy Johnson | 1993 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 82 | 80 | -9 | 20 | 99 |
Rip Sewell | 1940 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 78 | 76 | -9 | 20 | 99 |
General Crowder | 1928 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 82 | 72 | -6 | 22 | 96 |
Russ Ford*** | 1914 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 80 | 71 | -6 | 21 | 90 |
Walter Johnson | 1913 | 36 | 7 | 29 | 90 | 64 | -3 | 32 | 87 |
Walter Johnson | 1917 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 74 | 79 | -12 | 19 | 84 |
Felix Hernandez | 2009 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 85 | 77 | -6 | 20 | 84 |
Robin Roberts | 1955 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 77 | 77 | -9 | 18 | 81 |
Bryn Smith | 1985 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 84 | 77 | -6 | 19 | 78 |
Fergie Jenkins | 1974 | 25 | 12 | 13 | 83 | 76 | -6 | 19 | 78 |
Bob Tewksbury | 1992 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 83 | 79 | -7 | 18 | 77 |
Ted Lyons | 1935 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 74 | 78 | -11 | 18 | 77 |
Fergie Jenkins | 1971 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 83 | 79 | -7 | 18 | 77 |
Roy Halladay | 2003 | 22 | 7 | 15 | 86 | 76 | -5 | 20 | 75 |
Jim Kaat | 1974 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 80 | 80 | -8 | 16 | 64 |
Ted Lyons | 1925 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 79 | 75 | -6 | 16 | 60 |
Ramon Martinez | 1990 | 20 | 6 | 14 | 86 | 76 | -4 | 18 | 56 |
Bill Gullickson | 1991 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 84 | 78 | -5 | 16 | 55 |
Wade Miller | 2002 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 84 | 78 | -5 | 16 | 55 |
Rick Reuschel | 1979 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 80 | 82 | -8 | 14 | 48 |
Roy Halladay | 2007 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 83 | 79 | -5 | 14 | 45 |
Nolan Ryan | 1973 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 79 | 83 | -9 | 14 | 45 |
Roy Oswalt | 2002 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 84 | 78 | -4 | 14 | 40 |
Walter Johnson | 1916 | 25 | 20 | 5 | 76 | 77 | -6 | 11 | 30 |
Bob Feller | 1947 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 80 | 74 | -3 | 12 | 27 |
Pedro Martinez | 2005 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 83 | 79 | -3 | 10 | 21 |
Walter Johnson | 1914 | 28 | 18 | 10 | 81 | 73 | -2 | 12 | 20 |
* – Relief pitcher
** – Pitched with two teams, also was 1-0 with his other team.
*** – Federal League
As you can see, there’s a lot of modern pitchers here (the 5-man rotation and lots of no-decisions makes it easier for a team to be bad with 1 really good pitcher) but also a fair number of guys with big workloads from earlier eras. Some of these guys were – unlike Dickey – the only good pitcher on a good offensive team, but not all of them. Two teams, the 2002 Astros (Miller & Oswalt) and 2003 Mets (Leiter & Trachsel), are actually represented twice here, reflecting the horrible dropoff of the rest of their rotations.
It’s unsurprising that 1972 Steve Carlton utterly dominates this list or that Walter Johnson – who averaged 12 wins over .500 while the rest of his team averaged 10 games under for the decade 1910-19 – makes multiple appearances, as do Roy Halladay, Roger Clemens and Ted Lyons, among others.
A historic season for Dickey. Appreciate it.
Shouldn’t Nolan Ryan’s ’74 season with the Angels be listed as well?
Good catch. Updating to add his 1973 & 1974.