Free Baseball's Best Decade by Carroll Conklin Page B

starting pitcher has to be exceptional on a consistent basis to wind up the season with an ERA under, say, 2.50. Two or 3 bad outings may be allowed; more than that, and he won’t have enough good outings to log double-digit losses and still have an ERA in the low 2.00s.
    It’s amazing, then, to consider that in 1972, Gaylord Perry lost 16 games for the Cleveland Indians and still had an ERA of 1.92. How did he do that? Not by pitching every fifth day with today’s pitch limit priority. Perry made 40 starts, had 29 complete games, pitched 342 innings and had 5 shutouts. (He also won 24 games and the American League Cy Young award.)
    It’s hard to imagine any of today’s pitchers putting up those kinds of numbers, or even attempting to talk the team’s management into letting them try. That’s also why it’s hard for me to argue (if I had to) that today’s pitchers, or those of a decade ago, are comparable to the pitchers of the 1960s.
    Yes, the pitchers of the 1960s had an advantage in the higher mound and longer strike zone. But I believe a bigger advantage for the pitchers of half a century ago was the pervasive mentality that shutouts and wins and complete games were more important than quality innings, and relievers were something aces almost never relied on.
     

    Hall of Fame left-hander Warren Spahn probably could not amass the performance numbers he achieved if he were pitching today. From 1957-1963, Spahn won 147 games and led the league in complete games all 7 seasons, averaging 21 victories and 21 complete games per season. He finished 60% of the games he started over that period.

    The Top Winning Pitchers for Each Decade (1920s-1940s)
     
    1920s
Burleigh Grimes
190
Eppa Rixey
166
Grover Alexander
165
Herb Pennock
162
Waite Hoyt
161
     
    1930s
Lefty Grove
199
Carl Hubbell
188
Red Ruffing
175
Wes Ferrell
170
Lefty Gomez
165
     
    1940s
Hal Newhouser
170
Bob Feller
137
Rip Sewell
133
Dizzy Trout
129
Bucky Walters
122
     

    Lefty Grove was the only southpaw since 1900 to win 30 or more games in a season, going 31-4 for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1931. Only 3 right-handers have had 30-win seasons since 1920: Jim Bagby (31-12 for the Cleveland Indians in 1920), Dizzy Dean (30-7 for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1934), and Denny McLain (31-6 for the Detroit Tigers in 1968).
     

    After losing 22 games for the Phillies in 1920, Eppa Rixey was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, where he averaged 17 victories over the next 8 seasons.
     

    Burleigh Grimes had more wins than any other major league pitcher in the 1920s.
     
     
    Yankee aces Herb Pennock (left) and Waite Hoyt combined for more than 320 victories during the 1920s.
     

    Grover Alexander won 165 games during the 1920s, after winning more than 200 prior to 1920.
     

    Only 2 pitchers have won 15 or more games in 18 seasons: Cy Young and Greg Maddux.
     

    Giants’ left-hander Carl Hubbell dominated the National League during the 1930s, leading all NL pitchers in victories (188), strikeouts (1.281) and earned run average (2.71).
     

    Wes Ferrell was a 5-time 20-game winner for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox during the 1930s.
     
    1920s – Burleigh Grimes, baseball’s last legitimate spitballer, was also the winningest pitcher during the 1920s, collecting 190 victories by winning 20 or more games 5 times. Eppa Rixey won 20 or more games for the Cincinnati Red 3 times during the 1920s. In 1927, Grover Alexander won 21 for the St. Louis Cardinals at age 40. Herb Pennock, who started the decade with the Boston Red Sox, was traded to the Yankees in 1923 and won 124 games for the Bronx Bombers through the rest of the 1920s. Waite Hoyt was also traded to the Yankees by the Red Sox, and won 136 games for New York from 1922 to 1929.
    Who almost made the list? Urban Shocker at 156, Eddie Rommel at 154, George Uhle at 152.
     
    1930s – Lefty Grove won more games than any other major league pitcher in the 1930s, and had more decade wins than all major