Baseball is full of “records that will never be broken”, but apparently one is the 1971 Orioles, with 4 20-game winners in their rotation. That season, the four (Cuellar, Palmer, Dobson, McNally) each pitched between 225-290 innings, and collectively threw 60 CG, a dozen of which were shutouts.
It’s worth noting all four had continued success in their rotation seasons which followed. Palmer, everyone knows—he was only 25 that year, so he dominated for about a decade more. But Mike Cuellar, who was in his mid-30s that year, was highly effective for several more seasons after. Dobson and McNally were effective starters for several more years, if they didn’t have careers as storied as Cuellar and Palmer.
Both Palmer and Dobson were strikeout pitchers, but the two lefties Cuellar and McNally largely pitched to contact. There wasn’t a ton of commonality in their approaches except they were trusted to run their game and see their starts through to completion. Just a 4-man rotation (with an occasional swingman for the doubleheader or rainout make up game), being allowed to finish the game they started.
Obviously, winning 20 games also requires an offense which will score runs and a defense which won’t cause huge innings through errors. This team had the two Robinsons, Paul Blair, Don Buford, Boog Powell…it was solid offensively and defensively. But it was a completely different mindset from today, where 5 complete is Mission Accomplished, and more than that is awarded AYSO ribbons.
But the pitchers have to be taught to pace themselves and build up endurance. The pitchers from travel ball through the minors are instructed to go all-out for a subset of a 9-inning game and empty the tank, and assume the bullpen will bring it home. More than a philosophical shift of an organization, it feels like an entire generation of pitchers will have to cycle through before a new crop comes along which can be developed and instructed differently.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. There are sandwiches and soft drinks in the foyer.
“The body isn’t offended by hard work nearly as often as it’s offended by surprise.” Words to live by.
Every once in a while, I get off a good line.
As Earl Weaver often said, it's easier to find four good starters than five. Earl was smart.
Louder, for the people in the back.
Baseball is full of “records that will never be broken”, but apparently one is the 1971 Orioles, with 4 20-game winners in their rotation. That season, the four (Cuellar, Palmer, Dobson, McNally) each pitched between 225-290 innings, and collectively threw 60 CG, a dozen of which were shutouts.
It’s worth noting all four had continued success in their rotation seasons which followed. Palmer, everyone knows—he was only 25 that year, so he dominated for about a decade more. But Mike Cuellar, who was in his mid-30s that year, was highly effective for several more seasons after. Dobson and McNally were effective starters for several more years, if they didn’t have careers as storied as Cuellar and Palmer.
Both Palmer and Dobson were strikeout pitchers, but the two lefties Cuellar and McNally largely pitched to contact. There wasn’t a ton of commonality in their approaches except they were trusted to run their game and see their starts through to completion. Just a 4-man rotation (with an occasional swingman for the doubleheader or rainout make up game), being allowed to finish the game they started.
Obviously, winning 20 games also requires an offense which will score runs and a defense which won’t cause huge innings through errors. This team had the two Robinsons, Paul Blair, Don Buford, Boog Powell…it was solid offensively and defensively. But it was a completely different mindset from today, where 5 complete is Mission Accomplished, and more than that is awarded AYSO ribbons.
But the pitchers have to be taught to pace themselves and build up endurance. The pitchers from travel ball through the minors are instructed to go all-out for a subset of a 9-inning game and empty the tank, and assume the bullpen will bring it home. More than a philosophical shift of an organization, it feels like an entire generation of pitchers will have to cycle through before a new crop comes along which can be developed and instructed differently.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. There are sandwiches and soft drinks in the foyer.
They also all threw in the mid-80s.