On the blog today, we move on to the National League's top winners for 1972 in my on-going "Expanded League Leader" card series, featuring some big time studs of the era:
Of course we
start off with the great Steve Carlton, who led the world in everything
for 1972, winning 27 games on his way to the first of his four Cy Young
Awards.
The man was just incredible, especially given that the Philadelphia Phillies won only 59 games that year!
Coming
in second that year in wins was another future Hall of Famer, Tom
Seaver of the New York Mets who posted 21 victories, his third 20+ win
season of his young career.
The righty also posted his fifth
of what would end up being nine straight 200+ strikeout seasons, also
making his sixth straight All-Star team.
Tied for third among
N.L. pitchers with 20 wins apiece are Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Fergie
Jenkins and Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Claude Osteen.
For
Jenkins, it was his sixth straight 20+ win campaign, coming off a Cy
Young winning season in 1971 when he himself led the N.L. with his 24
wins, completing an incredible 30 of his 39 starts!
In Osteen, the Dodgers got a pitcher who put in his second career 20-win season, the first which came in 1969.
Osteen
paired his 20-wins with a nice 2.64 earned run average, along with four
shutouts while completing 14 of his 33 starts, tossing 252 innings.
Well there you go, four pitchers making the cut here on this card, as we go ahead and move on to the American League next week!
