Starting a fun new thread today on the blog, a 1970 "20-win club" sub-set that I hope to print up as a special set later in 2023, celebrating all the 20-game winners in the Majors in 1969, beginning with Chicago Cubs hurler Bill Hands:
I
always wanted to create a "20-win club" sub-set for the 1969 season
since an astounding FIFTEEN starters reached the plateau that year. Kind
of reminiscent of the 1977 Topps football "1000 Yard Rushers" call-out
that always stuck with me.
Hands
had himself a very nice 1969 campaign, winning 20 games for the first
time with a final record of 20-14 over 41 starts, posting an earned run
average of 2.49 over exactly 300 innings, with three shutouts and 18
complete games, giving the Cubs a fantastic 1,2,3 trip in Hands, Hall of
Famer Fergie Jenkins and All-Star Ken Hotlzman, who combined for 58
wins.
The
previous season was the first successful year of his thus-far brief
career, when he posted a record of 16-10 with a 2.89 ERA over 38
appearances, 34 of those starts, with four shutouts and 11 complete
games.
All told, he retired with a 111-110 record and 3.35 E.R.A in 374
career games between 1965 and 1975, pitching for the Giants, Cubs, Twins
and Rangers.
