Up on the blog today, we have a 1979 "expanded league leader" card celebrating the top three ERA men in the American League for 1978:
Guidry was unstoppable that season, cruising to an incredible 25-3 record, helping the Yankees win their second straight championship while setting a new MLB record .893 winning percentage for 20+ win seasons, which still stands today.
Along with his 25 wins, “Louisiana Lightning” led the league with his nine shutouts and 1.74 earned run average, while finishing second with 248 K’s, a new Yankee record that stood until last season when Gerrit Cole topped the mark.
That all resulted in a Cy Young Award while coming in second for the MVP, which arguably should have been his. Just a legendary season for the whip-it from Lafayette, Louisiana.
Lost in the Ron Guidry performance in 1978, the wonderful season the second place finisher in ERA had in his first year with the Texas Rangers, former N.L. Rookie of the Year Jon Matlack, who posted an excellent 2.27 ERA while going 15-13 over 35 appearances, completing 18 starts while striking out 157 batters.
Matlack, who spent the first seven years of his Big League career with the New York Mets, was as solid as they came between 1972 and 1980, regularly putting in 200+ innings of work a year with double digit wins for some pretty bad teams.
By the time he hung them up he finished with 125 wins and 1516 K's, with 30 shutouts and a very nice 3.18 ERA.
In third place, the man who had the misfortune of having his best Big League season in 1978, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Mike Caldwell, who along with his 22 wins and six shutouts, posted an ERA of 2.36 over 293.1 innings.
Incredibly Caldwell completed 23 of his 34 starts, the top mark in the A.L. that year, even picking up a save as he also made three relief appearances over the course of the season.
That year would begin a six-year run for him that saw double-digit wins and 200+ innings every year except the strike-year of 1981, when he still tossed 144.1 over 23 starts.
Three great starters right here!