Quiz – Expansion Era Pitchers (solved)

What is the season statistical feat achieved by only these pitchers since 1961?

Hint: none of these pitchers achieved this feat more than once

Congrats to –Bill ! He identified the players in today’s quiz as the only pitchers since 1961 with a season win total matching or exceeding their age. No pitcher has managed this feat since Roger Clemens recorded 24 wins as a 23 year-old in 1986, a year after 20 year-old Dwight Gooden also won 24 games.

Wally Bunker, at age 19, is the youngest to do this since the 19th century, while Steve Carlton is the oldest in our list with 27 wins at age 27 in 1972. The last pitcher to do this more than once – Hal Newhouser in 1944-46 with 29, 25 and 26 wins, aged 23-25. Bob Feller is the only other three-peater in the live ball era with 24, 27 and 25 wins aged 20-22 in 1939-41. The last pitcher to do this aged 30 or older – Lefty Grove with 31 wins at age 31 in 1931.

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mosc
mosc
10 years ago

Did they only accomplish it once because it had to do with their first ERA-qualifying season?

Does it have anything to do with Win percentage?

John Autin
Editor
10 years ago
Reply to  mosc

mosc — Although I am not officially authorized to answer for Doug, I’m pretty sure the answers to your questions are “no” and “no.”

Doug
Doug
10 years ago
Reply to  mosc

Thanks John,

John is correct. Not about ERA or W-L%.

It would certainly be possible for a pitcher to accomplish the feat more than once.

--bill
--bill
10 years ago

number of win is equal to or greater than age?

John Autin
Editor
10 years ago
Reply to  --bill

bill, that is a true statement. I don’t know if that’s what Doug was after, but I’d guess so.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
10 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

I think Bill is right. Not only are their wins equal to or greater than their ages but no other pitchers in the expansion era have done it.

Doug
Doug
10 years ago
Reply to  --bill

You guys are good.

Well done –bill

--bill
--bill
10 years ago
Reply to  Doug

I got one! Awesome!

Usually these quizzes just kick my butt. I enjoy working on them, though, and I appreciate y’all posting them.

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
10 years ago

These guys all have seasons with many (at least 12) CGs for an expansion-era pitcher. Is that at all involved in combination with another stat?

Phil
10 years ago

I remember Jamie Moyer winning 46 games one year—why isn’t he on the list?

Darien
10 years ago
Reply to  Phil

Quiz is explicitly “since 1961.” Moyer’s 46-win year was in 1935.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
10 years ago

Oldest pitcher with wins greater than his age: Joe McGinnity won 35 games in 1904 at age 33.

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
10 years ago

Perhaps more impressively, the award for most wins more than age probably goes to Smoky Joe Wood, who won 34 games at age 22 in 1912.

no statistician but
no statistician but
10 years ago

Well—Old Hoss Radbourn won 59 at age 29, almost as good as winning 29 at 59.

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
10 years ago

Due to inconsistent rules, I’ve come to think that such “basic” stats as pitchers’ wins and losses can’t be considered from before 1901. In Old Hoss’s 1884 59-win, age-29 season, there were no restrictions whatsoever on pitching delivery, and the “pitcher’s box” was a 6 ft by 4 ft rectangle situated 10.5 ft closer to home plate than today’s pitching rubber.

John Autin
Editor
10 years ago

I’ll take John Lackey over Joe Wood for this prize. Name another infant with a 19-win season.