Up on the blog today, we add former Baltimore Orioles ace Mike Cuellar to my 1970 "20-Win Circle" sub-set, celebrating all the 20-game winner in 1969:
Cuellar
had a breakout season in 1969, winning 23 games while posting a 2.38
earned run average and five shutouts over 39 starts, completing 18 with
182 strikeouts.
The man was as solid as they came over his career, which began in 1959 with the Cincinnati Reds as a 22-year-old.
He ended up putting in a nice 15-year career that saw him
win 185 games, post four 20+ win seasons, win a Cy Young Award (shared
with Tigers pitcher Denny McLain in 1969) and post four sub-3.00 E.R.A.
Seasons.
I never realized that even though he came up in 1959 with the
Cincinnati Reds, appearing in two games as a 22-year old, he didn't make
it back to the Major's until 1964 at the age of 27, now as a member of
the St. Louis Cardinals.
Considering his lifetime win total mentioned above, he could have
possibly approached 250 wins had he not missed those four-plus years in
the early-1960's.
His lifetime numbers nevertheless were impressive: the 185 wins mentioned above,
a 3.14 lifetime E.R.A., 36 shutouts and 1632 strikeouts over 453 games,
379 of which were starts, completing almost half of them with 172.
