This question from Pete was two questions that I rolled into one since the answer is the same for both. At first the question of who is the pitcher who has 283 career wins with 16 Gold Gloves and is NOT in the Hall of Fame led me to initially say that the answer was Mike Mussina. The answer was incorrect. Mussina had a career 270-153 record with 7 Gold Gloves. My next answer would prove correct.
Jim Kaat had a 283-237 career record with a total of 16 Gold Gloves in a row from 1962-1977. 14 were in American League with the Twins and White Sox while his last 2 were with the Philadelphia Phillies. The only pitcher with more Gold Gloves than Jim Kaat is Greg Maddux who has a total of 18 Gold Gloves.
For the second question: Who won the most games in the 1960's, I joked to Pete that it surely couldn't have been Jim Kaat which got a big laugh out of him. It is Jim Kaat with a catch. The question wasn't quite correct. Pete says he said A.L. but I didn't hear it.No matter, the following is still interesting.
Jim Kaat led the American League in wins during the 1960's with a record of 142-119 during that decade. The amazing thing is that with 142 wins during the 1960's and a total of 283 wins, Kaat is not in the Hall of Fame. There are 40 pitchers that are in the Hall with less wins than Kaat. I'm not totally sure why he didn't garner the 75 percent vote needed for enshrinement into Cooperstown. Kaat pitched the bulk of his career in an era where pitchers started and finished their games regardless if they won or loss. Kaat has a total of 180 complete games to his name.
The honor of the most wins among all pitchers within the American AND National Leagues belongs to "The Dominican Dandy" Hall of Famer Juan Marichal. Marichal posted a 191-88 record from 1960-1969 winning 20 games or more 7 times for an average of 19 wins and 9 losses per season. Another astounding fact of all this is that Marichal NEVER won the Cy Young Award. The Cy Young award was given to one pitcher for both leagues from 1956-1966. From 1967 on, the award was awarded to the best pitcher in the American League and the best pitcher in the National League.
There you go. Until the next round of trivia questions.
Sisco Kid.
For Further Reading
- Click Here to Access Jim Kaat's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access Juan Marichal's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
Just found this post. Totally agree that Kaat belongs in the HoF. He was also a heck of a hitter, and maybe one of the best all-around athletes to pitch in the major leagues. And for those who poo-poo his w-l record simply because he pitched so many years, duh, he lasted because he was effective. There's a similar argument against Tommy John, who also belongs in the Hall. You'll find the HoF case for both of them (as well as for Vada Pinson and, yes, Bobby Richardson) at 1960s Baseball (www.1960sbaseball.com).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Carroll. There is a big disparity in the way today's HOF voters see pitchers from the 1960's to the 1980's. What I think they fail to realize that there was not the reliance on bullpens and speciality relievers then that there is now. Pitchers in that era finished the games in which they started often taking the loss. I agree, it showed their effectiveness and longevity. Pitchers today just do not pitch the amount of innings that the pitchers in the 60's-80's did to amass the amount of complete games.
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