Today on the blog,
we move on to the pitching leaders of the 1976 season, expanded to show
the top three in each category on a 1977 card, beginning with the
National League and top three in victories:
We begin with San
Diego Padres ace Randy Jones, who took home the N.L. Cy Young Award that
year, helped by his league-leading 22 victories, while also pitching to
a 2.74 ERA over 40 starts, completing 25 of
them, with five shutouts and an ironman 315.1 innings of work.
It was a wonderful
follow-up season to his 1975 campaign that saw him lead the league in
ERA with a 2.24 figure, winning 20 games and tossing six shutouts,
leading him to a second-place finish in the Cy Young
race.
Sadly arm-troubles
derailed his career soon after, never winning more than 13 games in any
of his six remaining seasons in the Big Leagues, retiring at only 32
years of age.
In second place with 21 wins, a tie with the New York Mets Jerry Koosman and Los Angeles Dodgers ace Don Sutton.
For Koosman, it was a
career-year for a man who put in a wonderful 19-year career, going
21-10 with a 2.69 ERA over 34 appearances, with three shutouts and 200
strikeouts, those numbers giving him a second
place finish in the Cy Young Race.
For Sutton, it was
the only time over his Hall of Fame 23-year career that he’d win 20+
games in a season, appearing in 35 games while posting an ERA of 3.06,
with four shutouts and 161 strikeouts over 267.2
innings, all good for a third-place finish for the Cy Young hardware.
By the time he was
done in 1988, the man would finish with 324 wins, a 3.26 ERA, 58
shutouts and 3574 strikeouts over 774 games, completing 178.
I couldn’t even
believe there were those who felt he wasn’t necessarily a Hall of Famer
when his eligibility came up, citing him as a “compiler” because of the
length of his career.
Makes no sense to me!
Luckily the BBWA came to their senses and voted him after, but only AFTER five years of eligibility!
