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Dipsy Horses

Posted by Steve Lombardi on December 27, 2009

A simple list via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Season Finder - teams, since 1901, with four or more pitchers who had 130+ strikeouts in a given season. Here's the squads to do it...

Rk Year Lg Tm #Matching  
1 2004 NL Chicago Cubs 5 Matt Clement / Greg Maddux / Mark Prior / Kerry Wood / Carlos Zambrano
2 2003 NL Florida Marlins 5 Josh Beckett / Carl Pavano / Brad Penny / Mark Redman / Dontrelle Willis
3 2003 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 5 Kevin Brown / Eric Gagne / Kazuhisa Ishii / Hideo Nomo / Odalis Perez
4 1998 NL Atlanta Braves 5 Tom Glavine / Greg Maddux / Kevin Millwood / Denny Neagle / John Smoltz
5 1988 NL New York Mets 5 David Cone / Ron Darling / Sid Fernandez / Dwight Gooden / Bob Ojeda
6 1968 NL Houston Astros 5 Mike Cuellar / Larry Dierker / Dave Giusti / Denny Lemaster / Don Wilson
7 1966 AL Cleveland Indians 5 Gary Bell / Steve Hargan / Sam McDowell / Sonny Siebert / Luis Tiant
8 2009 NL Chicago Cubs 4 Ryan Dempster / Rich Harden / Ted Lilly / Carlos Zambrano
9 2009 AL New York Yankees 4 A.J. Burnett / Joba Chamberlain / Andy Pettitte / C.C. Sabathia
10 2009 NL San Francisco Giants 4 Matt Cain / Tim Lincecum / Jonathan Sanchez / Barry Zito
11 2008 AL Chicago White Sox 4 Mark Buehrle / John Danks / Gavin Floyd / Javier Vazquez
12 2008 NL Cincinnati Reds 4 Bronson Arroyo / Johnny Cueto / Aaron Harang / Edinson Volquez
13 2004 NL St. Louis Cardinals 4 Chris Carpenter / Jason Marquis / Matt Morris / Woody Williams
14 2003 NL Chicago Cubs 4 Matt Clement / Mark Prior / Kerry Wood / Carlos Zambrano
15 2003 NL Philadelphia Phillies 4 Kevin Millwood / Brett Myers / Vicente Padilla / Randy Wolf
16 2001 NL Chicago Cubs 4 Jason Bere / Jon Lieber / Kevin Tapani / Kerry Wood
17 2001 NL New York Mets 4 Kevin Appier / Al Leiter / Glendon Rusch / Steve Trachsel
18 1999 NL Atlanta Braves 4 Tom Glavine / Greg Maddux / Kevin Millwood / John Smoltz
19 1999 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Kevin Brown / Darren Dreifort / Chan Ho Park / Ismael Valdez
20 1999 AL New York Yankees 4 Roger Clemens / David Cone / Orlando Hernandez / Hideki Irabu
21 1999 NL San Diego Padres 4 Andy Ashby / Matt Clement / Sterling Hitchcock / Woody Williams
22 1998 NL Chicago Cubs 4 Mark Clark / Kevin Tapani / Steve Trachsel / Kerry Wood
23 1998 AL New York Yankees 4 David Cone / Orlando Hernandez / Andy Pettitte / David Wells
24 1998 NL San Diego Padres 4 Andy Ashby / Kevin Brown / Joey Hamilton / Sterling Hitchcock
25 1997 NL Atlanta Braves 4 Tom Glavine / Greg Maddux / Denny Neagle / John Smoltz
26 1997 NL St. Louis Cardinals 4 Alan Benes / Andy Benes / Matt Morris / Todd Stottlemyre
27 1996 AL Boston Red Sox 4 Roger Clemens / Tom Gordon / Aaron Sele / Tim Wakefield
28 1996 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Pedro Astacio / Ramon Martinez / Hideo Nomo / Ismael Valdez
29 1996 NL St. Louis Cardinals 4 Alan Benes / Andy Benes / Donovan Osborne / Todd Stottlemyre
30 1995 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Tom Candiotti / Ramon Martinez / Hideo Nomo / Ismael Valdez
31 1993 NL Houston Astros 4 Doug Drabek / Pete Harnisch / Darryl Kile / Mark Portugal
32 1992 NL Montreal Expos 4 Mark Gardner / Ken Hill / Dennis Martinez / Chris Nabholz
33 1990 NL New York Mets 4 David Cone / Sid Fernandez / Dwight Gooden / Frank Viola
34 1989 NL Montreal Expos 4 Kevin Gross / Mark Langston / Dennis Martinez / Pascual Perez
35 1987 AL Kansas City Royals 4 Mark Gubicza / Danny Jackson / Charlie Leibrandt / Bret Saberhagen
36 1986 NL New York Mets 4 Ron Darling / Sid Fernandez / Dwight Gooden / Bob Ojeda
37 1984 NL Pittsburgh Pirates 4 John Candelaria / Jose DeLeon / Larry McWilliams / Rick Rhoden
38 1975 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Burt Hooton / Andy Messersmith / Doug Rau / Don Sutton
39 1971 AL Chicago White Sox 4 Tom Bradley / Bart Johnson / Tommy John / Wilbur Wood
40 1971 NL St. Louis Cardinals 4 Steve Carlton / Reggie Cleveland / Bob Gibson / Jerry Reuss
41 1970 NL Atlanta Braves 4 Pat Jarvis / Jim Nash / Phil Niekro / George Stone
42 1970 AL Boston Red Sox 4 Ken Brett / Ray Culp / Gary Peters / Sonny Siebert
43 1969 NL Chicago Cubs 4 Bill Hands / Ken Holtzman / Fergie Jenkins / Dick Selma
44 1969 NL Houston Astros 4 Larry Dierker / Tom Griffin / Denny Lemaster / Don Wilson
45 1969 NL Pittsburgh Pirates 4 Steve Blass / Dock Ellis / Bob Moose / Bob Veale
46 1968 AL Cleveland Indians 4 Sam McDowell / Sonny Siebert / Luis Tiant / Stan Williams
47 1968 AL Minnesota Twins 4 Dave Boswell / Dean Chance / Jim Kaat / Jim Merritt
48 1968 AL Oakland Athletics 4 Chuck Dobson / Catfish Hunter / Jim Nash / Blue Moon Odom
49 1967 AL Cleveland Indians 4 Steve Hargan / Sam McDowell / Sonny Siebert / Luis Tiant
50 1967 AL Detroit Tigers 4 Mickey Lolich / Denny McLain / Joe Sparma / Earl Wilson
51 1967 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Don Drysdale / Claude Osteen / Bill Singer / Don Sutton
52 1967 AL Minnesota Twins 4 Dave Boswell / Dean Chance / Jim Kaat / Jim Merritt
53 1967 NL San Francisco Giants 4 Juan Marichal / Mike McCormick / Gaylord Perry / Ray Sadecki
54 1966 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Don Drysdale / Sandy Koufax / Claude Osteen / Don Sutton
55 1965 NL San Francisco Giants 4 Bobby Bolin / Juan Marichal / Gaylord Perry / Bob Shaw
56 1964 NL Cincinnati Reds 4 Joey Jay / Jim Maloney / Jim O'Toole / John Tsitouris
57 1962 AL Boston Red Sox 4 Gene Conley / Bill Monbouquette / Dick Radatz / Earl Wilson
58 1960 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Don Drysdale / Sandy Koufax / Johnny Podres / Stan Williams
59 1959 NL San Francisco Giants 4 Johnny Antonelli / Sam Jones / Mike McCormick / Jack Sanford
60 1946 AL Detroit Tigers 4 Fred Hutchinson / Hal Newhouser / Dizzy Trout / Virgil Trucks
61 1905 AL Philadelphia Athletics 4 Chief Bender / Andy Coakley / Eddie Plank / Rube Waddell
62 1904 AL Philadelphia Athletics 4 Chief Bender / Weldon Henley / Eddie Plank / Rube Waddell
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/27/2009.

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So, it's only been done 62 times since 1901. And, the Dodgers have done in 8 times. Note that, prior to 1946, it was only done twice - by the 1904-05 Philadelphia Athletics. And, last season, the Yankees, Giants and Cubs pulled the trick. Speaking of the Cubs, since 2001, they've done this 4 times. I wonder if all those home day-games, combined with batters being more whiff-happy these days, has anything to do with that? Either that, or, the Cubs braintrust these days likes pitchers who make batters swing and miss.

2 Responses to “Dipsy Horses”

  1. Sweet Uncle Lou’s “Friday” Roundup: The “Chicago Folk Heroes United” Edition | Hire Jim Essian Says:

    [...] did the 2004 Cubs not make the playoffs again? Oh, right. [...]

  2. JDV Says:

    Th '98 Braves quintet all surpassed 150 Ks as well.