Most Career Post-Season Starts With Game Score >70
Posted by Steve Lombardi on October 3, 2011
Here are the starting pitchers with 5+ career post-season games with a Game Score greater than 70:
| Rk | Player | #Matching | W | L | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curt Schilling | 7 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.78 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 58.0 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 62 | 0.69 |
| 2 | Orel Hershiser | 7 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.63 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 57.1 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 49 | 0.72 |
| 3 | John Smoltz | 6 | Ind. Games | 5 | 1 | .833 | 0.71 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 50.2 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 48 | 0.71 |
| 4 | Andy Pettitte | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.58 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46.2 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 39 | 0.75 |
| 5 | Christy Mathewson | 6 | Ind. Games | 5 | 1 | .833 | 0.32 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 57.0 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 0.68 |
| 6 | Cliff Lee | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.54 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 59 | 0.58 |
| 7 | Bob Gibson | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.65 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 55.0 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 66 | 0.73 |
| 8 | Whitey Ford | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.34 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 53.2 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 34 | 0.76 |
| 9 | Josh Beckett | 6 | Ind. Games | 4 | 2 | .667 | 0.73 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 49.1 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 58 | 0.67 |
| 10 | Eddie Plank | 5 | Ind. Games | 2 | 3 | .400 | 0.80 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 45.0 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 27 | 0.78 |
| 11 | Mike Mussina | 5 | Ind. Games | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.97 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37.0 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 46 | 0.70 |
| 12 | Catfish Hunter | 5 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.65 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 41.2 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 0.77 |
| 13 | Tom Glavine | 5 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.46 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39.0 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 29 | 0.59 |
| 14 | George Earnshaw | 5 | Ind. Games | 3 | 1 | .750 | 0.63 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 43.0 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 37 | 0.72 |
| 15 | Mike Cuellar | 5 | Ind. Games | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1.64 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 44.0 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 34 | 0.73 |
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So, who is the greatest post-season starting pitcher of all-time?
October 3rd, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Don't you need to consider all starts post-season starts before crowning the "greatest"?
October 3rd, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Clearly it's not Schilling, he only "won" 5 out 7 +70 starts!
October 3rd, 2011 at 2:45 pm
this stat is kinda meaningless without considering total starts in the post season.
October 3rd, 2011 at 3:33 pm
According to WPA, it goes:
1) Schilling
2) Smoltz
3) Pettitte
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/9/26/2449377/mariano-rivera-king-of-postseason-wpa
October 3rd, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Gibson had 9 starts in all, and I bet the other three weren't all that much below 70, either.
October 3rd, 2011 at 3:54 pm
My first thought for the greatest single postseason performance is Randy Johnson in 2001. He was 5-1 with 2 complete game shutouts and an ERA of 1.52. Won 3 games in the WS alone. He struck out 47 batters in 41.1 innings.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:02 pm
@6, Christy Mathewson would beg to differ.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:07 pm
Koufax. 7 starts, 57 IP, 36 H, 11 BB, 61 K, 0.95 ERA, 0.825 WHIP. These numbers are Rivera-esque, only as a starter, not 1 inning per outing.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Schilling, Smoltz, and Pettite are all HOF worthy in my book because their play-off performances give them a major boost. None have quite enough regular season credentials but what they did in the play-offs should give them the boost they need.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:20 pm
@7: Rivera often goes more than 1 inning in postseason.
For me it has to be Christy Mathewson on his performance in the 1905 WS alone. He pitched three complete game shutouts in Games 1, 3, and 5. He struck out 18 and walked only one batter in 27 innings. That's insanity in any run-scoring environment.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:26 pm
For me it has to be Christy Mathewson on his performance in the 1905 WS alone. He pitched three complete game shutouts in Games 1, 3, and 5. He struck out 18 and walked only one batter in 27 innings. That's insanity in any run-scoring environment.
Yeah, but a 0.00 ERA in 1905 is still only an ERA+ of 116....
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:39 pm
@7 I've got some bad news for you...my grandpa was the original Jimbo, so I'm going to just have to call you, Jimbo. Anyway, concerning Schilling, Smoltz & Petitte...their playoff mastery certainly does enhance their HOF chances. However, I think that Schilling & Smoltz's regular season stats are worthy regardless. 200+ wins, 3000k, HOF caliber WAR, etc. It pains me to say this, but...even with his post-season stats, I don't think that Andy is going to be elected to the HOF...even with 100+ more wins than losses. And, I always was very fond of Petitte and his unassuming nature.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:41 pm
On the other hand, Mike "Moose" Mussina does deserve and will get into the HOF.
October 3rd, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Correction: Comment 11 should be directed @8
October 3rd, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Schilling would be my initial thought, especially considering that he was excellent over a period of over a decade in a high run-scoring environment.
October 3rd, 2011 at 5:25 pm
@8: All those guys will get in eventually, in my opinion. Maybe they're not inner-circle HOFers but not everyone can be Greg Maddux or Tom Seaver or Cy Young.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Schilling will likely get into the HOF because of his playoff performances. also his 1992 season shows how unappreciated pitching statistics other than wins were. he was only 14-11 but with a 150 ERA+, 0.990 WHIP, 5.4 WAR and no CYA votes. not great numbers but certainly worthy of some votes.
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:43 pm
It's really hard not to tab Gibson with that "greatest" moniker. In his three Series {1964, 1967 and 1968}, he managed to turn even the more jaded observers {of which, I will admit, I was until his '67 performance} into a grudging believer. Whenever he [itched against the Reds, I was wishing he'd spurned baseball to become the next Goose Tatum.
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:19 pm
You beat me to it. It's hard for me to take anybody but Gibson. I grew up before Sabermetrics but I bet he'd stand up pretty well to that test.
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:22 pm
I guess the historical context of pitching in the mid to late sixties might hurt Gibson. D@mn Sabermetrics.
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:53 pm
Not sure I would call him the greatest ever, but Cliff Lee's 59 strikeouts versus 1 walk in 50 innings (on the above list) is hard to ignore.
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:10 pm
No surprise that the only two pitchers on the list without a CG are the ones that had Rivera in the pen.
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:21 pm
It's hard to compare stats from eras, especially now that there are so many more postseason games played, but Bob Gibson looks to be the greatest still. Here are his stats from his World Series appearances: 2nd in wins (7), 3rd in K/9 (10.2), 6th in IP (81), 2nd in K (92), tied for 7th in GS (9) and tied for 3rd in CG (8) and tied for 4th in Shutouts (2).
October 3rd, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Yeah, if Gibby had had LCS, let alone Division Series, he'd have double figures in +70 starts. Pettitte had all of those, with all the times the Yankees were in the WS.
October 3rd, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Bob Gibson was the best.
October 3rd, 2011 at 10:42 pm
@11
Haha... some interesting food for thought though.
2011 NL: 4.13 R/G
1905 NL: 4.10 R/G
October 4th, 2011 at 12:09 am
2011 NL: 3.81 ER/G (0.63 errors/team game)
1905 NL: 2.95 ER/G (1.90 errors/team game)
Errors may cause a pitcher to lose some wins but they also lower your ERA.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:09 am
@11, @18.
Have to mention Mickey Lolich in '68. Like Mathewson in 1905, Lolich had 3 complete game victories, albeit none by shutout. Still, he struck out 21, walked only 6 and allowed only 5 ER over those 27 innings.
And, he beat Gibson to win game 7.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:21 am
@28.
Just looked up Lolich's game scores. In 5 career post-season games, his game scores were 78, 64, 74, 65 and 77.
He pitched 9 innings 4 times, and into the 11th inning the other time (game 1 of the '72 ALCS). His only loss was 3-2 in that 11-inning game, after a blown save by Chuck Seelbach.
Pretty solid stuff.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:34 am
In five of Eddie Plank's six post-season starts, he had a game score over 70, yet pitched in tough luck, going just 2-3 in those 5 games, and 2-5 overall (including one relief appearance).
His 3 losses were 1-0 twice, and 3-0 in 10 innings. He had identical 81 game scores in his 2 wins, both by 3-1 scores.
October 4th, 2011 at 7:58 am
Where's AJ Burnett???????
October 4th, 2011 at 9:50 am
@11
So because three complete game shutouts in the WS
only scores an ERA+ of 117, you choose to denigrate
the accomplishment.
Mathewson pitched game the second shutout on 2 days
rest and the third on 1 day of rest.
How does that figure into ERA+?
ERA+ is a great tool. But it is not the end all, one still
needs to actually look at what happened.
October 4th, 2011 at 10:30 am
@32 - I'm pretty sure your sarcasm detector is off on comment 11...ERA+ isn't even defined for a 0.00 ERA. The fact that Mathewson "broke" the stat three games running is awesome, actually. I don't think any single year performance will ever exceed Mathewson's, and the career line is pretty impressive too (the 11 unearned runs in other years stand out even for his era - did his defense destroy him, or did they make a few 2 out errors followed by big rallies? )
October 4th, 2011 at 10:34 am
@32
He was joking about the ERA+ of 117.
ERA+ is undefined until a pitcher gives up his first earned run. You could say the ERA+ is effectivly "infinite" for that case I suppose but I don't want to get into a pedantic fight over math definitions. bb-ref usually leaves the ERA+ column blank when there are no earned runs.
Three shutouts gives an undefined ERA+ in any scoring context.
Mathewson's regular season ERA+ was 230 that year.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
@1: Don't you need to consider all post-season starts before crowning the "greatest"?
Here are all postseason starts with a 70+ Game Score as a percentage of all postseason starts. (I've added to Steve's list four pitchers with four 70+ postseason Game Scores: Sandy Koufax, Jim Palmer, Monte Pearson, and Red Ruffing.)
Monte Pearson, 4/4: 1.000
Eddie Plank, 5/6: .833
Bob Gibson, 6/9: .667
George Earnshaw, 5/8: .625
Sandy Koufax, 4/7: .571
Christy Mathewson, 6/11: .545
Cliff Lee, 6/11: .545
Josh Beckett, 6/13: .462
Mike Cuéllar, 5/12: .417
Red Ruffing, 4/10: .400
Orel Hershiser, 7/18: .389
Curt Schilling, 7/19: .368
Whitey Ford, 6/22: .273
Jim Palmer, 4/15: .267
Catfish Hunter, 5/19: .263
Mike Mussina, 5/21: .238
John Smoltz, 6/27: .222
Andy Pettitte, 6/42: .143
Tom Glavine, 5/35: .143
October 4th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
I think Mike Scott wouold have made the list if the 1986 NLCS went to 7 games.
October 4th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
M. Rivera has pitched in 40 more playoff games than any other pitcher ever?
Wow.
October 4th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
@34 thanks. It went over my head. On edge for my Yanks tonight.
October 4th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
@35
Koufax's 3 other starts had game scores of 68, 62 and 50. I'll still take Sandy.
October 4th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
the 11 unearned runs in other years stand out even for his era - did his defense destroy him, or did they make a few 2 out errors followed by big rallies?
I just looked at one game, 10/9/12 vs the Red Sox when he allowed 6 runs, all unearned. (The game ended as a 6-6 tie after 11 innings; Big Six went the distance.)
In the first inning, the Sox scored three runs: one who reached on an error, and then two on a single with two outs when the inning should have been over. Trying to reconstruct the inning, I think there's a chance one run would have scored even if no errors were committed, just because a later force-out at home wouldn't have been available. (Reading a game description about exactly where the balls were hit would give more info than the PBP log.)
In the 5th, with one out, a base stealer was thrown out but apparently the Giants SS dropped the ball for an error. The next batter tripled him home. Mathewson then caught a break by getting a line drive DP.
In the 8th, with 2 outs, a runner on second scored on a shortstop error. No fault to Mathewson.
In the 10th, trying to hold a 1-run lead, Mathewson allowed a deep drive to Speaker, who then scored when the catcher dropped the throw home. The following batter doubled, so the run would have scored anyway.
Anyway, his defense didn't help him, with 5 errors, 4 of which contributed to the unER. But Mathewson didn't pitch well either, allowing 10 hits overall, and failing to mitigate the damage when he had a chance.
October 5th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
Gibson: 9 games, 81 IP. He did only go 8 innings once because they had to pinch hit for him, but he made up for it with a 10 inning complete game another time.
Game scores
1964: 56, 87, 55 on 2 days rest to win game 7 against the Yankees,
1967: 80, 82, 80
1968: 93, 81, 62