1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: RANDY JONES

Time to add 1976 Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones to my on-going 1977 N.L. Centennial sub-set, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Senior League during our Bicentennial Year of 1976:

 

Jones’ season in 1976 was brilliant, as he cruised to a record of 22-14, with an ERA of 2.74, leading the league in wins, starts with a whopping 40, complete games with 25 and innings pitched with 315.1.
Along the way he also tossed five shutouts, starting the All-Star game for the N.L., and ending up 10th in MVP voting at the end of the year.

Jones made his Big League debut in June of 1973 and went on to post a record of 7-6, with a nice 3.16 earned run average over 20 appearances, 19 of them starts.
Though he would have a forgettable sophomore season in 1974 which saw him lead the National League with 22 losses, along with an ERA of 4.45, we all know how that could have easily been different had he pitched for a better team.
Regardless, over the next two seasons he arguably could have taken home the Cy Young BOTH times, as he’d go on to post records of 20-12 and 22-14, leading the league in ERA with a 2.24 in ‘75 and posting another nice 2.74 mark in his Cy season.

Though he’d play through the 1982 season, he’d never again taste success in the Majors, never winning more than 13 games in any season between 1977 and 1982, finishing with a record of 100-123, with a 3.42 earned run average over 305 appearances.

EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1977 N.L. VICTORIES

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!

1976 ALL-STAR GAME CARD: 1977

On the blog today, we celebrate the 1976 baseball All-Star game with a “missing” 1977 card, featuring the two starters, San Diego Padre Randy Jones and Detroit Tigers Mark Fidrych:

 

 

It was “business as usual” for the National League, as they took their fifth straight All-Star win, beating the American League 7-1, powered by home runs by George Foster and Cesar Cedeno, at Veteran’s Stadium in Philadelphia.

It was an extra festive occasion because of all the Bicentennial celebrations in the “City of Brotherly Love”, with added excitement because of the Major League star of the moment, Mark Fidrych.

The A.L. could only muster five hits off of N.L. pitchers, two by Rusty Staub, singles by Ron LeFlore and Mickey Rivers, and a solo-homer by young Boston Red Sox stud Fred Lynn.

The N.L. jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, tacking on two more runs in the third and three more in the eighth, keeping the game well out of reach from the start.

I’ll always remember this game, as it was the first All-Star game I saw as I was quickly becoming a baseball “junkie” at the age of seven, mesmerized by Fidrych, while rooting for my “hometown” heroes of Thurman Munson, Catfish Hunter, Rivers and Chris Chambliss.

SPECIAL- 1979 SAN DIEGO PADRES CY YOUNG WINNERS

Saw this photo floating around on Twitter this past week and remembered I had it stashed away for an eventual “special” 1979 card, so time to post it up:

By the time the 1979 season was opening up, the San Diego padres could boast two Cy Young winners on their pitching staff, Randy Jones, the 1976 winner, and Gaylord Perry, fresh off his astounding 1978 season that saw him win his second and becoming the first pitcher to win one in each league.
For Jones, his 1976 season was incredible as he completed 25 of 40 starts, throwing a league-leading 315.1 innings while hurling five shutouts.
He posted a record of 22-14 with an earned run average of 2.74, this after leading the National league with a 2.24 ERA the previous year when he finished second to New York Mets Tom Seaver for the Cy Young Award.
For Perry, he came over to San Diego as a 39-year-old with an impressive MLB resume already behind him, but immediately made his future Hall of Fame case by going 21-6, leading the league in wins, along with an ERA of 2.73 and two shutouts, out-distancing the NL field for his second Cy Young Award.
And while for both pitchers this was the last hurrah of sorts as their careers were winding down for different reasons: Jones arm troubles, Perry old-age, they both put San Diego on the map so to speak with stellar pitching performances.

A MISSING ROOKIE CUP- 1974 RANDY JONES

Next up in the “missing rookie cup” parade is the 1974 card for future Cy Young winner Randy Jones, who came up in 1973 and had himself an excellent freshman showing with the San Diego Padres:

Jones made his Big League debut in June of 1973 and went on to post a record of 7-6, with a nice 3.16 earned run average over 20 appearances, 19 of them starts.
Though he would have a forgettable sophomore season in 1974 which saw him lead the National League with 22 losses, along with an ERA of 4.45, we all know how that could have easily been different had he pitched for a better team.
Regardless, over the next two seasons he arguably could have taken home the Cy Young BOTH times, as he’d go on to post records of 20-12 and 22-14, leading the league in ERA with a 2.24 in ‘75 and posting another nice 2.74 mark in his Cy season.
His 1976 season was something, as he’d complete a league-leading 25 games (out of his 40 starts), while logging 315.1 innings, tossing five shutouts and facing 1251 batters. Incredible.
Sadly, all that work took a toll on his arm, and the following season he was reduced to just under 150 innings and only 27 appearances, seeing his ERA balloon to 4.58 before getting back to a 2.88 figure in 1978.
After a couple of more mediocre seasons in San Diego, he’d end up with the New York Mets, where he stumbles, posting a combined 8-18 record in 1981/1982, retiring at the young age of 32 after the ‘82 season.
All told, he finished his career with a record of 100-123, with a decent 3.42 earned run average over 305 appearances and 1933 innings pitched, with that 1976 Cy Young Award and a second place finish the year before.

CY YOUNG WINNERS- 1977 SUB-SET

We’re moving on to 1977 for my on-going “Awards” sub-set through the 1970’s, starting off with the 1976 Cy Young winners: Randy Jones in the National league and once again Jim Palmer in the American League:

In the N.L., Randy Jones took home the award after finishing as runner-up to Tom Seaver for the 1975 award.
Jones’ season in 1976 was brilliant, as he cruised to a record of 22-14, with an ERA of 2.74, leading the league in wins, starts with a whopping 40, complete games with 25 and innings pitched with 315.1.
Along the way he also tossed five shutouts, starting the All-Star game for the N.L., and ending up 10th in MVP voting at the end of the year.
Though he’d play through the 1982 season, he’d never again taste success in the Majors, never winning more than 13 games in any season between 1977 and 1982.
Over in the American League, once again we have the Orioles Jim Palmer, who took home his third Cy Young Award in four seasons, leading the league in wins (22), starts (40) and innings pitched (315), while tossing six shutouts and posting an ERA of 2.51.
Palmer wasn’t done yet as we all know, posting two more 20-win seasons while going on to win 268 games in the Major Leagues, eventually heading straight for the Hall of Fame with his induction in 1990.
Arguably (without much argument from me) the American League’s best pitcher in the wild decade of the 1970’s.