Major League Baseball recognizes the player or players in each league [a] with the most wins each season. [b] In baseball, wins are a statistic used to evaluate pitchers. Credit for a win is given by the official scorer to the pitcher whose team takes and maintains the lead while he is the pitcher of record. If a game is tied or if the lead changes to the other team, all pitchers who have participated and exited the game to that point are unable to receive credit for the victory. A starting pitcher is ineligible for the win if he has not completed five or more innings of the game; instead, the scorer would award the victory to the relief pitcher who was "most effective... in the official scorer's judgment". [2]
The National League's first win champion was Albert Spalding, who led the senior circuit with 47 wins after leading the semi-professional National Association in each of its five seasons. Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young led the American League in wins in each of its first three years (1901–1903), amassing 33, 32, and 28 victories in those seasons for the Boston Americans. [3] Warren Spahn leads all players with 8 win championships for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves in his 21 seasons. [4]
Three players have led their league in wins six times during their careers. Grover Cleveland Alexander led the National League in victories six times, with a single-season career-high 33 wins in 1916. [5] In the American League, two pitchers have accomplished the same feat: Walter Johnson, whose 36 wins in 1913—his first season leading the league—were a single-season career high, [6] and Bob Feller. [7]
In addition to his three American League wins, Young also led the National League twice (1892, 1895) to amass the third-highest total of win championships in major league history. [3] Joe McGinnity and Tom Glavine also captured five wins titles in the National League. [8] [9] Pitchers who have led their league four times include Steve Carlton, [10] Roger Clemens, [11] Christy Mathewson, [12] Hal Newhouser, [13] and Robin Roberts. [14]
Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn holds the single-season record for the most games won in a major league season; he notched 59 victories in 1884. [15] There is a discrepancy in Radbourn's victory total in 1884. The classic MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia, as well as other sources credit Radbourn with 60 wins (against 12 losses), other sources place his win total as high as 62. He and John Clarkson (53 wins in 1885) are the only pitchers to exceed 50 wins in a single season in the current major leagues; Guy Hecker also accomplished the feat in the American Association. [15] The American League leader is Jack Chesbro, who won 41 games for the New York Yankees in 1904; his total is the highest since Major League Baseball's consolidation in 1901. [15] [16] The highest total in the National League since 1901 is Mathewson's 37 victories in 1908. [12] [15] The largest margin of victory for the title is 21 wins, achieved by Clarkson in 1889; he won 49 games, [17] while his closest competitors (Charlie Buffinton and Tim Keefe) won 28 each. [18] [19] The American League title's largest margin of victory is 16 wins—Ed Walsh notched 40 wins in 1908, [20] followed by Addie Joss and Ed Summers with 24 victories. [21] [22]
The number of wins required to lead the league each season has gone down significantly over the last century. For example, from 1900 to 1920, the average number of wins for the AL league leader was 30.8; from 1990 to 2010, it was 20.9.
Ties for the win championship are common. The most recent tie in the American League was in 2012, when Jered Weaver and David Price tied for the lead with 20 wins each, and the most recent tie in the National League was in 2011, when Ian Kennedy and Clayton Kershaw tied with 21 wins each. The most pitchers to share the title in a single season is six, accomplished in 2006 when Aaron Harang, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Brandon Webb, and Carlos Zambrano each won 16 games in the National League. In the American League, four pitchers shared the award in the strike-shortened 1981 season.
Year | Links to the corresponding "year in baseball" or "Major League Baseball season" article |
---|---|
Champion(s) | Player or players with the highest win total in the league |
W | Number of wins |
Runner(s)-up | Player or players with the second-best win total in the league |
League | Denoted only for players outside of the modern major leagues |
† | Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum |
Christopher Mathewson, nicknamed "Big Six", "the Christian Gentleman", "Matty", and "the Gentleman's Hurler", was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, who played 17 seasons with the New York Giants. He stood 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg). He was among the most dominant pitchers in baseball history, and ranks in the all-time top 10 in several key pitching categories, including wins, shutouts, and earned run average. In 1936, Mathewson was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its first five members.
In baseball, a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) over the same season. The term "Pitching Triple Crown" refers to the pitching achievement of leading a league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA).
In baseball and softball, a win–loss record is a statistic that indicates the number of wins and losses credited to a pitcher. For example, a 20–10 win–loss record would represent 20 wins and 10 losses.
Grover Cleveland Alexander, nicknamed "Old Pete" and "Alexander the Great", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played from 1911 through 1930 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938.
Charles Gardner Radbourn, nicknamed "Old Hoss", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for Buffalo (1880), Providence (1881–1885), Boston (1886–1889), Boston (1890), and Cincinnati (1891).
John Gibson Clarkson was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played from 1882 to 1894. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Clarkson played for the Worcester Ruby Legs (1882), Chicago White Stockings (1884–1887), Boston Beaneaters (1888–1892), and Cleveland Spiders (1892–1894).
In Major League Baseball, the 300-win club is the group of pitchers who have won 300 or more games. Twenty-four pitchers have reached this milestone. This list does not include Bobby Mathews who won 297 in the major leagues plus several more in 1869 and 1870 before the major leagues were established in 1871. The San Francisco Giants are the only franchise to see four players reach 300 wins while on their roster: Tim Keefe in the Players' League, Christy Mathewson and Mickey Welch while the team was in New York, and most recently Randy Johnson. Early in the history of professional baseball, many of the rules favored the pitcher over the batter; the distance pitchers threw to home plate was shorter than today, and pitchers were able to use foreign substances to alter the direction of the ball. Moreover, pitchers started games far more frequently than modern pitchers do; in the second half of the 1884 season Old Hoss Radbourn started every other game. The first player to win 300 games was Pud Galvin in 1888. Seven pitchers recorded all or the majority of their career wins in the 19th century: Galvin, Cy Young, Kid Nichols, Keefe, John Clarkson, Charles Radbourn, and Welch. Four more pitchers joined the club in the first quarter of the 20th century: Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Eddie Plank, and Grover Cleveland Alexander. Young is the all-time leader in wins with 511, a mark that is considered unbreakable. If a modern-day pitcher won 20 games per season for 25 seasons, he would still be 11 games short of Young's mark.
Charles G. Buffinton was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1882 to 1892. One of the workhorse pitchers of the 1880s, he won 20 games seven times and his 1,700 career strikeouts are the ninth-highest total of the 19th century.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1882 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1904 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1884 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1883 throughout the world.
Charles Joseph Sweeney was an American Major League Baseball pitcher from 1883 through 1887. He played for the Providence Grays, St. Louis Maroons, and Cleveland Blues, and is best known for his performance in 1884, when he won 41 games.
Matthew Aloysius "Matches" Kilroy was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. During his rookie season in 1886, he had 513 strikeouts, which remains the MLB single-season record.
Joseph H. "Cyclone" Miller was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He played just two seasons in the majors, but did play with four teams in three leagues. He stood at 5'9".
The Providence Grays went 84–28 during the 1884 season to win the National League championship. The team started out with two main pitchers, Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn and Charlie Sweeney. After Sweeney jumped to the Union Association in mid-season, Radbourn pitched most of the Grays' remaining games and led the team to the pennant. Radbourn won 60 games by himself, setting a Major League Baseball record that has never been broken.
In Major League Baseball, a shutout refers to the act by which a single pitcher pitches a complete game and does not allow the opposing team to score a run. If two or more pitchers combine to complete this act, no pitcher is awarded a shutout, although the team itself can be said to have "shut out" the opposing team.