There is no arguing the point. Iron Man Joe McGinnity and Christy Mathewson had the greatest season of any pitcher teammates in baseball history. In 1904, pitching for the New York Giants, Joe McGinnity started 44 games, and completed 38. He worked 408 innings, winning 35, losing 8, and saving 5, with a 1.61 ERA. No wonder he was called the Iron Man. Christy Mathewson started 46 games and completed 33. He worked 367 2/3 innings, winning 33, losing 12, and saving 1, with a 2.03 ERA. McGinnity had 43 decisions in 44 starts while Mathewson had 45 decisions in 46 starts.
Things Have Changed in 103 Years
A lot has changed in 103 years. In 2007, Dontrelle Willis led the majors with 35 starts, pitching 205 1/3 innings. Eight pitchers led the American League with 34 starts each. Fans love to make comparison, as do those in the media, but it is impossible to do more than merely cite the records when discussing 1904 records and 2007 records.
Jake Peavy, Iron Man McGinnity, and Christy Mathewson
In 1904, the National League had an ERA of 2.73 compared to a 4.43 ERA in 2007. Joe McGinnity’s 1.61 ERA was 1.12 less than the league ERA and Christy Mathewson’s 2.03 was 0.70 lower. In 2007, Jake Peavy’s National League leading 2.54 ERA was 1.89 lower than the league ERA. Simplistically, was Peavy more effective than either McGinnity or Mathewson?
Hits to Innings and WHIP
Wins are not the best way to evaluate a pitcher because so many factors are involved, but hits allowed compared to innings pitched and WHIP (Walks, Hits, Innings Pitched) give a more accurate picture of a pitcher’s effectiveness. McGinnity allowed 307 hits in 408 innings with a 0.963 WHIP. Mathewson allowed 306 hits in 367 2/3 innings with a 1.044 WHIP.
No World Series in 1904
The Giants were 106 and 47 in 1904, winning the pennant by 13 games over the Chicago Cubs. The Boston Americans won the American League pennant, but there was no World Series. During the summer, the New York Highlanders led the American League and it appeared that they would win the pennant, but 41game winner Jack Chesbro, on the last day of the season, made a wild pitch in the ninth inning against Boston that allowed the game winning and pennant winning run to score. The Giants did not want to play the cross town Highlanders and Boston winning the pennant changed nothing.
The New York Giants Declared World Champions
Giants’ manager John McGraw declared his team the World Champions. He claimed that the Giants were World Champions since they were champions of the only major league. If his team had played Boston, they would have faced some pretty good players, including thirty seven year old Cy Young, who led Boston’s pitching staff with 26 wins, 380 innings pitched, and a 1.97 ERA. Future Hall of Famer Jimmy Collins was the third baseman, but offense was at a premium. The Boston Americans hit .247compared to the New York Giants’ .262. Picking a winner in a World Series that was never played is an exercise in futility.
Thirty Game Winners
How good were McGinnity and Mathewson? It is impossible to know, but they were among the top pitchers of their era, and for many years, Mathewson and Walter Johnson were considered the top pitchers of all time. There will never again be a 30 game winner, much less two thirty game winners on the same team. Raw statistics make McGinnity and Mathewson the greatest pitching duo of all time, but it takes much more than raw statistics to evaluate pitchers.
References:
1904 National League
