Neyer's top 10 MLB seasons of all time

[frostwyrm]

I like Pedro's 2000 especially. He allowed .167/.213/.259 for the season. That's well down into pitcher level hitting. Essentially Pedro was the equivalent of a normal pitcher pitching to a lineup of 9 pitchers for a whole season.

[TruffleShuffle]

I like Pedro's 2000 especially. He allowed .167/.213/.259 for the season. That's well down into pitcher level hitting. Essentially Pedro was the equivalent of a normal pitcher pitching to a lineup of 9 pitchers for a whole season.

 

that's insane. 0.737 WHIP, and Fenway is a HITTER'S park. he was lucky that year - BABIP against was only .237 - but his numbers were just completely ridiculous. I remember that stretch of years from '97 to '03, if he was pitching, you really wanted to watch the game. especially in '99 and '00. one of those games was great in '99, i remember even the yankee fans were in awe, he went into yankee stadium and pitched a 17 strikeout game, with a home run by chili davis the only hit against. The only other baserunner reached on a HBP.

 

Here are some of his starts that year:

 

7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K

7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 12 K

7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K

9 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 17 K

9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 K

9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K

8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K

7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K

8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 12 K

9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 K

7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K

9 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K

7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 9 K

8 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K

7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K

9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 K

8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K

8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K

 

 

I mean, a lot of guys in baseball don't have that many great starts in a career... he did it in a season.

 

 

A couple more fun facts:

-BR explains sOPS+ as "OPS+ of this split relative to the major league OPS for this split." So basically it's the OPS+ against a given pitcher.

 

His sOPS+ overall was 21

Against LHP he had a line against of .150/.190/.216/.406 for an sOPS+ of 1

[OleMissCub]

 

7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K

7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 12 K

7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K

9 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 17 K

9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 K

9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K

8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K

7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K

8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 12 K

9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 K

7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K

9 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K

7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 9 K

8 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K

7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K

9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 K

8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K

8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K

 

That's simply unbelievable. Thanks for digging those stats up.

[CubinNY]

I like Pedro's 2000 especially. He allowed .167/.213/.259 for the season. That's well down into pitcher level hitting. Essentially Pedro was the equivalent of a normal pitcher pitching to a lineup of 9 pitchers for a whole season.

 

that's insane. 0.737 WHIP, and Fenway is a HITTER'S park. he was lucky that year - BABIP against was only .237 - but his numbers were just completely ridiculous. I remember that stretch of years from '97 to '03, if he was pitching, you really wanted to watch the game. especially in '99 and '00. one of those games was great in '99, i remember even the yankee fans were in awe, he went into yankee stadium and pitched a 17 strikeout game, with a home run by chili davis the only hit against. The only other baserunner reached on a HBP.

 

Here are some of his starts that year:

 

7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K

7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 12 K

7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K

9 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 17 K

9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 K

9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K

8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K

7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K

8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 12 K

9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 K

7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K

9 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K

7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 9 K

8 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K

7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K

9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 K

8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K

8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K

 

 

I mean, a lot of guys in baseball don't have that many great starts in a career... he did it in a season.

 

 

A couple more fun facts:

-BR explains sOPS+ as "OPS+ of this split relative to the major league OPS for this split." So basically it's the OPS+ against a given pitcher.

 

His sOPS+ overall was 21

Against LHP he had a line against of .150/.190/.216/.406 for an sOPS+ of 1

it's even sicker (is that a word) when you consider his size. He's listed at 5"11' but he's probably around 5"8' or 9'.

[Tracer Bullet]

Even though I loved Sosa, one of my favorite Pedro memories was watching him absolutely toy with Big Mac and Sosa back-to-back in the ASG.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Don't worry, Juan Cruz will be just like Pedro.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

1. Barry Bonds, 2001: .328/.515/.863, 259 OPS+, 73 HR, 137 RBI, 177 BB, 129 runs*

2. Babe Ruth, 1921: .378/.512/.846, 239 OPS+, 59 HR, 44 2B, 16 3B, 171 RBI, 177 runs, 145 BB, 17 SB

3. Barry Bonds, 2002: .370/.582/.799, 268 OPS+, 46 HR, 110 RBI, 117 runs, 198 BB*

4. Babe Ruth, 1920: .376/.533/.849, 256 OPS+, 54 HR, 137 RBI, 158 runs, 150 BB

5. Mickey Mantle, 1956: .353/.464/.705, 210 OPS+, 52 HR, 130 RBI, 132 runs

6. Honus Wagner, 1908: .354/.415/.542, 205 OPS+, 10 HR, 19 3B, 39 2B, 109 RBI, 100 runs, 53 SB

7. Ted Williams, 1941: .406/.553/.735, 235 OPS+, 37 HR, 120 RBI, 147 BB, 135 runs & (only K'd 27 times)

8. Pedro Martinez, 1999: 23-4, 2.07 ERA, 0.923 WHIP, 313 K's, 5 complete games, 243 ERA+

9. Babe Ruth, 1923: .393/.545/.764, 239 OPS+, 41 HR, 131 RBI, 151 runs, 170 BB, 45 2B, 13 3B, 17 SB

10. Lefty Grove, 1931: 31-4, 2.06 ERA, 1.077 WHIP, 175 K's, 4 shutouts, 219 ERA+

[questionmarkgrace]

I'm glad someone mentioned that Gherig season. That was a gross oversight. Here are some more

 

Nap Lajoie: 1901 A's

 

.426 avg, 125 rbi's, 14hr (deadball era), 14 triples, 48 doubles, 350 total bases in 131 games

 

Roger Horsby 1925

 

.401 avg, 143 rbi, 39 HR, ops 1.232 playing second base!

[fromthestretch]

Babe in 1927: .356/60 HR/164RBI/.486 OBP/.772 slugging

 

Lou Gehrig in 1927: .373/.474/.765, 221 OPS+, 47 HR, 175 RBI, 52 doubles, 18 triples, 149 runs

 

THOSE GUYS BATTED BACK TO BACK!!!

 

How in the lord did Gehrig get any RBI's with Ruth batting in front of him?

 

A lot of those RBI were probably the result of driving in Ruth. If you take away the at-bats where Ruth homered, his OBP was still nearly .450. Considering the amount of times Ruth was walked (probably often with guys on base), Gehrig had plenty of opportunities.

[Burtonbell]

Pedro was sick...those numbers are just unbelievable.

[fromthestretch]

Pedro was sick...those numbers are just unbelievable.

 

He's the career leader in Adjusted ERA+...by a decent margin.

 

Pedro's at 161. Lefty Grove is second at 148.

 

That's for pitchers with a minimum of 1000 IP. Mariano Rivera is 47 innings away from topping that list (he currently has an Adjusted ERA+ of 194 :shock: ).

[PackLandVA]

From Wikipedia:

 

In 1978, Guidry posted a career year, one of the best in the modern era. Against the California Angels on June 17, he struck out a Yankee-record 18 batters. Guidry's 18-strikeout performance is usually cited as the launching pad of the Yankee Stadium tradition of fans standing and clapping for a strikeout with two strikes on the opposing batter.

 

For the season, Guidry went 25-3, in a season that is among the top 10 in baseball history. He led the league with a sparkling 1.74 ERA, 25 wins, a .893 winning percentage, 9 shutouts, 248 strikeouts, and 6.15 hits allowed per 9 innings pitched. He held batters to a .193 batting average, .249 on base percentage, and .279 slugging percentage. He was even tougher with 2 outs and runners in scoring position (.152/.221/.253), and in the 9th inning of games (.119/.200/.136).

 

Louisiana Lightning was pretty good.

[BudHouse]

While maybe not Top Ten, Elroy Face's 1959 season where he went 18-1 as a reliever and frequently pitched more than one inning is pretty special. Because the save rule has changed a bit, I don't know if a pitchercould get a save and a win back then or not.

[AlwaysaCub]

From Wikipedia:

 

In 1978, Guidry posted a career year, one of the best in the modern era. Against the California Angels on June 17, he struck out a Yankee-record 18 batters. Guidry's 18-strikeout performance is usually cited as the launching pad of the Yankee Stadium tradition of fans standing and clapping for a strikeout with two strikes on the opposing batter.

 

For the season, Guidry went 25-3, in a season that is among the top 10 in baseball history. He led the league with a sparkling 1.74 ERA, 25 wins, a .893 winning percentage, 9 shutouts, 248 strikeouts, and 6.15 hits allowed per 9 innings pitched. He held batters to a .193 batting average, .249 on base percentage, and .279 slugging percentage. He was even tougher with 2 outs and runners in scoring position (.152/.221/.253), and in the 9th inning of games (.119/.200/.136).

 

Louisiana Lightning was pretty good.

 

I don't think that's even the best pitcher season of the 70s.

 

1972 Phillies: 59-97. Note that this is only a 156 game schedule because of the ST strike, or they would have lost 100.

 

Now, Steve Carlton for that team:

Record: 27-10. That's 46% of his team's wins, almost half.

 

41 starts

346 innings

30 cgs

8 shutouts

310 strikeouts

.993 whip

1.97 era

6.68 hits/9

[snoodmonger]

some of those numbers are mind bottling

 

mind boggling too.

Yeah, mind-bottling. You know, when things are so crazy it gets your thoughts all trapped, like in a bottle.

 

 

This made me laugh.

 

 

And I'd forgotten how crazy pedro's numbers were.