Best H/9IP, minimum 300 IP
Posted by Andy on May 29, 2009
On yesterday's post we've talked a lot about Bob Gibson's 1968 season in which he pitched 304.2 innings and allowed only 198 hits. Would you believe that this is NOT the best hit rate for a guy with at least 300 IP?
Cnt Player **H/9** IP Year Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Pit Str +----+-----------------+---------+-----+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+ 1 Sandy Koufax 5.79 335.2 1965 29 LAD NL 43 41 27 8 2 26 8 .765 2 216 90 76 71 382 2.04 160 26 1297 1205 29 7 4 5 13 3 13 16 4 1 0 11 .179 .227 .280 .507 52 2 Bob Gibson 5.85 304.2 1968 32 STL NL 34 34 28 13 0 22 9 .710 0 198 49 38 62 268 1.12 258 11 1161 1075 23 0 6 7 15 2 18 6 5 0 0 4 .184 .233 .236 .469 47 3 Ed Walsh 5.89 369.2 1910 29 CHW AL 45 36 33 7 7 18 20 .474 5 242 90 52 61 258 1.27 189 5 1386 4 2 6 0 4 Nolan Ryan 5.98 332.2 1974 27 CAL AL 42 41 26 3 1 22 16 .579 0 221 127 107 202 367 2.89 118 18 1392 1165 38 6 3 9 12 4 24 28 21 3 0 9 .190 .313 .279 .592 76 5 Vida Blue 6.03 312 1971 21 OAK AL 39 39 24 8 0 24 8 .750 0 209 73 63 88 301 1.82 185 19 1207 1103 28 3 3 4 9 3 23 7 7 0 1 10 .189 .251 .272 .523 55 6 Walter Johnson 6.03 346 1913 25 WSH AL 48 36 29 11 11 36 7 .837 2 232 56 44 38 243 1.14 259 9 1305 9 0 3 0 7 Pete Alexander 6.05 376.1 1915 28 PHI NL 49 42 36 12 7 31 10 .756 3 253 86 51 64 241 1.22 225 3 1435 10 0 2 0 8 Mordecai Brown 6.17 312.1 1908 31 CHC NL 44 31 27 9 12 29 9 .763 5 214 64 51 49 123 1.47 160 1 1180 5 0 6 0 9 Sandy Koufax 6.19 311 1963 27 LAD NL 40 40 20 11 0 25 5 .833 0 214 68 65 58 306 1.88 159 18 1210 1135 28 6 7 3 13 1 9 11 1 0 1 6 .189 .230 .271 .501 54 10 Walter Johnson 6.32 369 1912 24 WSH AL 50 37 34 7 13 33 12 .733 2 259 89 57 76 303 1.39 242 2 1426 16 0 11 0 11 Jack Coombs 6.32 353 1910 27 PHA AL 45 38 35 13 6 31 9 .775 1 248 74 51 115 224 1.30 182 0 1388 7 0 10 0 12 Rube Waddell 6.33 328.2 1905 28 PHA AL 46 34 27 7 11 27 10 .730 0 231 86 54 90 287 1.48 179 5 1300 10 2 10 0 13 Walter Johnson 6.37 370 1910 22 WSH AL 45 42 38 8 3 25 17 .595 1 262 92 56 76 313 1.36 183 1 1402 13 0 21 0 14 Eddie Cicotte 6.39 346.2 1917 33 CHW AL 49 35 29 7 9 28 12 .700 4 246 76 59 70 150 1.53 174 2 1288 3 2 1 0 15 Babe Ruth 6.40 323.2 1916 21 BOS AL 44 41 23 9 3 23 12 .657 1 230 83 63 118 170 1.75 158 0 1300 8 1 3 0 16 Gaylord Perry 6.42 322.1 1974 35 CLE AL 37 37 28 4 0 21 13 .618 0 230 98 90 99 216 2.51 144 25 1262 1127 34 7 7 6 19 12 27 12 6 3 0 2 .204 .269 .313 .582 67 17 Addie Joss 6.42 325 1908 28 CLE AL 42 35 29 9 6 24 11 .686 2 232 77 42 30 130 1.16 205 2 1244 2 0 6 0 18 Denny McLain 6.46 336 1968 24 DET AL 41 41 28 6 0 31 6 .838 0 241 86 73 63 280 1.96 154 31 1288 1206 38 5 2 6 10 3 19 19 5 1 0 3 .200 .243 .317 .560 72 19 Mordecai Brown 6.46 342.2 1909 32 CHC NL 50 34 32 8 15 27 9 .750 7 246 78 50 53 172 1.31 193 1 1302 7 0 9 0 20 Claude Hendrix 6.51 362 1914 25 CHI FL 49 37 34 6 12 29 10 .744 5 262 91 68 77 189 1.69 174 6 1371 5 0 9 0 21 Bugs Raymond 6.55 324.1 1908 26 STL NL 48 37 23 5 8 15 25 .375 2 236 116 73 95 145 2.03 116 2 1247 14 0 9 0 22 Nolan Ryan 6.57 326 1973 26 CAL AL 41 39 26 4 2 21 16 .568 1 238 113 104 162 383 2.87 122 18 1355 1172 53 5 2 7 7 7 24 37 10 4 0 15 .203 .302 .303 .605 77 23 Christy Mathewson 6.57 390.2 1908 27 NYG NL 56 44 34 11 10 37 11 .771 5 285 85 62 42 259 1.43 168 5 1499 3 0 2 0 24 George McQuillan 6.58 359.2 1908 23 PHI NL 48 42 32 7 6 23 17 .575 2 263 87 61 91 114 1.53 157 1 1409 6 0 5 0 25 Gaylord Perry 6.64 342.2 1972 33 CLE AL 41 40 29 5 1 24 16 .600 1 253 79 73 82 234 1.92 170 17 1345 1235 43 9 16 12 15 1 27 5 8 0 0 11 .205 .261 .296 .557 68
Nope, Koufax gets the top slot on this particular list. Notice that the only pitchers on here to approach modern day are Koufan, Gibson, Ryan, and Perry. Of course, that's mainly due to the fact that nobody pitches 300 innings in a season any more (plus hit rates are too high...)
Do you know who pitched the most recent 300-inning season? Most fans will know right off that it was Steve Carlton in 1980:
Cnt Player Year IP Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Pit Str +----+-----------------+----+-----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+ 1 Steve Carlton 1980 304 35 PHI NL 38 38 13 3 0 24 9 .727 0 243 87 79 90 286 2.34 162 15 1228 1114 50 13 12 2 14 8 14 14 16 9 7 17 .218 .276 .327 .603 69 2 Phil Niekro 1979 342 40 ATL NL 44 44 23 1 0 21 20 .512 0 311 160 129 113 208 3.39 120 41 1436 1290 50 6 8 11 14 7 25 40 11 2 4 18 .241 .306 .384 .690 88 3 Phil Niekro 1978 334.1 39 ATL NL 44 42 22 4 1 19 18 .514 1 295 129 107 102 248 2.88 142 16 1389 1254 42 10 5 13 13 6 13 34 12 4 3 11 .235 .298 .323 .621 71 4 Jim Palmer 1977 319 31 BAL AL 39 39 22 3 0 20 11 .645 0 263 106 103 99 193 2.91 132 24 1269 1148 42 9 1 3 10 9 22 15 30 1 0 7 .229 .290 .344 .634 77 5 Steve Rogers 1977 301.2 27 MON NL 40 40 17 4 0 17 16 .515 0 272 122 104 81 206 3.10 122 16 1235 1121 44 10 3 5 18 9 23 24 13 4 1 14 .243 .294 .343 .637 77 6 Dave Goltz 1977 303 28 MIN AL 39 39 19 2 0 20 11 .645 0 284 129 113 91 186 3.36 120 23 1253 1149 41 14 4 2 7 5 26 18 16 6 1 9 .247 .302 .367 .669 82 7 Phil Niekro 1977 330.1 38 ATL NL 44 43 20 2 1 16 20 .444 0 315 166 148 164 262 4.03 111 26 1428 1236 44 9 12 8 11 8 26 47 32 4 3 17 .255 .344 .368 .712 88 8 Randy Jones 1976 315.1 26 SDP NL 40 40 25 5 0 22 14 .611 0 274 109 96 50 93 2.74 120 15 1251 1173 40 3 9 4 15 9 34 15 3 2 1 0 .234 .265 .311 .576 74 9 Jim Palmer 1976 315 30 BAL AL 40 40 23 6 0 22 13 .629 0 255 101 88 84 159 2.51 130 20 1256 1140 35 8 5 8 10 14 20 33 15 3 0 5 .224 .278 .321 .599 80 10 Gaylord Perry 1975 305.2 36 TOT AL 37 37 25 5 0 18 17 .514 0 277 127 110 70 233 3.24 116 28 1248 1159 45 7 6 4 11 3 15 12 17 2 0 5 .239 .284 .362 .646 82 11 Jim Palmer 1975 323 29 BAL AL 39 38 25 10 1 23 11 .676 1 253 87 75 80 193 2.09 169 20 1268 1172 37 10 4 2 10 4 32 29 11 1 0 4 .216 .266 .316 .582 68 12 Jim Kaat 1975 303.2 36 CHW AL 43 41 12 1 1 20 14 .588 0 321 121 105 77 142 3.11 125 20 1279 1172 51 6 0 9 11 10 31 4 12 2 2 0 .274 .321 .379 .700 95 13 Andy Messersmith 1975 321.2 29 LAD NL 42 40 19 7 2 19 14 .576 1 244 92 82 96 213 2.29 149 22 1276 1148 29 3 2 5 20 7 24 14 7 2 0 8 .213 .275 .301 .576 67 14 Catfish Hunter 1975 328 29 NYY AL 39 39 30 7 0 23 14 .622 0 248 107 94 83 177 2.58 144 25 1294 1191 38 5 4 5 7 8 17 15 14 0 0 7 .208 .261 .312 .573 62
From 1966 to 1975, it was common for at least 4 guys to do it per year, including 9 in 1969.
May 29th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
In modern day I believe you left off Vida Blue - who had a pretty good year in 1971.
May 30th, 2009 at 1:45 am
There's an 'unreachable' stat! Unless the lengthen the season....
June 1st, 2009 at 10:03 am
coming in at 16th on the list is my all-time favorite pitcher, Babe Ruth.
Ed Walsh and Bugs Raymond are the only guys on the list with a losing record.
With 202 and 162 walks in a season, of course Nolan Ryan is on the list twice. Who can get a hit when you're walked that often?