Best & Worst Single Tiger Seasons

[DaYooperASBDT]

Billfer assembled some lists in his blog:
http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2007/02/best-tigers-pitching-seasons/

You can look up his work. Here are his "Top Ten" lists:

Best Season, Tigers Starting Pitcher (IP x ERA):
1 Hal Newhouser 1945 24
2 Hal Newhouser 1946 25
3 Dizzy Trout 1944 29
4 Hal Newhouser 1944 23
5 Hank Aguirre 1962 31
6 Bobo Newsom 1940 32
7 Denny McLain 1968 24
8 Ed Siever 1902 27
9 Dizzy Trout 1946 31
10 Harry Coveleski 1916 30

[DaYooperASBDT]

Best Offensive Seasons (OPS+ x PA)
1. Ty Cobb, 1917 (age 30)
2. Norm Cash, 1961 (age 26)
3. Ty Cobb, 1911 (age 24)
4. Ty Cobb, 1910 (age 23)
5. Ty Cobb, 1909 (age 22)
6. Ty Cobb, 1912 (age 25)
7. Ty Cobb, 1915 (age 28)
8. Harry Heilman, 1923 (age 28)
9. Hank Greenberg, 1937 (age 26)
10. Ty Cobb, 1916 (age 29)

[Yoda]

Year and age? Could you post the actual results as well? :p

[Walewander]

If it were up to me, the Cy Young would go to the pitcher who brings down the league ERA the most... Theoretically, A 2.45 over 250 innings could beat out a 2.35 over 220 innings just as a 2.70 over 300 innings might beat out that 2.45...

[Yoda]

Cnt Player **ERA ** Year Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS Pit Str
----+-----------------+--------+----+---+---+--+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----
1 Hal Newhouser 195 1945 24 DET AL 40 36 29 8 2 25 9 .735 2 313.1 239 73 63 110 212 1.81 5 1261 0 2 10 0
2 Ed Siever 191 1902 27 DET AL 25 23 17 4 2 8 11 .421 1 188.1 166 73 40 32 36 1.91 0 0 2 1 0 0
3 Hal Newhouser 188 1946 25 DET AL 37 34 29 6 2 26 9 .743 1 292.2 215 77 63 98 275 1.94 10 1176 1 0 8 0
4 Hank Aguirre 185 1962 31 DET AL 42 22 11 2 13 16 8 .667 3 216 162 67 53 65 156 2.21 14 877 792 24 1 7 5 8 7 16 3 1 0 1 4 .205 .267 .290 .557 52
5 Al Benton 175 1945 34 DET AL 31 27 12 5 4 13 8 .619 3 191.2 175 68 43 63 76 2.02 7 811 2 0 3 0
6 Bobo Newsom 169 1940 32 DET AL 36 34 20 3 1 21 5 .808 0 264 235 110 83 100 164 2.83 19 1101 3 2 2 0
7 Dizzy Trout 168 1944 29 DET AL 49 40 33 7 6 27 14 .659 0 352.1 314 104 83 83 144 2.12 9 1421 4 0 2 0
8 Hal Newhouser 161 1942 21 DET AL 38 23 11 1 14 8 14 .364 5 183.2 137 73 50 114 103 2.45 4 789 2 0 2 0
9 Hal Newhouser 161 1944 23 DET AL 47 34 25 6 10 29 9 .763 2 312.1 264 94 77 102 187 2.22 6 1271 1 2 4 0
10 Mark Fidrych 158 1976 21 DET AL 31 29 24 4 2 19 9 .679 0 250.1 217 76 65 53 97 2.34 12 996 923 21 2 3 3 12 5 32 13 16 0 0 6 .235 .277 .301 .578 66
11 Dizzy Trout 155 1946 31 DET AL 38 32 23 5 6 17 13 .567 3 276.1 244 85 72 97 151 2.34 11 1142 3 1 2 0
12 Denny McLain 154 1968 24 DET AL 41 41 28 6 0 31 6 .838 0 336 241 86 73 63 280 1.96 31 1288 1206 38 5 2 6 10 3 28 19 5 1 0 3 .200 .243 .317 .560 72
13 Justin Thompson 151 1997 24 DET AL 32 32 4 0 0 15 11 .577 0 223.1 188 82 75 66 151 3.02 20 891 807 32 3 1 2 5 10 25 20 11 7 0 4 .233 .289 .354 .643 68
14 Virgil Trucks 148 1949 32 DET AL 41 32 17 6 8 19 11 .633 4 275 209 95 86 124 153 2.81 16 1133 4 0 3 0
15 Tommy Bridges 147 1943 36 DET AL 25 22 11 3 3 12 7 .632 0 191.2 159 57 51 61 124 2.39 9 774 0 0 3 0
16 Joe Yeager 147 1901 25 DET AL 26 25 22 2 1 12 11 .522 1 199.2 209 105 58 46 38 2.61 4 0 8 0 2 0
17 Ed Summers 147 1908 23 DET AL 40 32 23 5 8 24 12 .667 1 301 271 112 55 55 103 1.64 3 1195 20 1 5 0
18 Ed Killian 146 1907 30 DET AL 41 34 29 3 7 25 13 .658 1 314 286 103 62 91 96 1.78 2 1302 13 0 2 0
19 Bobo Newsom 145 1939 31 DET AL 35 31 21 3 4 17 10 .630 2 246 222 100 92 104 164 3.37 14 1050 2 0 4 0
20 Hal Newhouser 145 1948 27 DET AL 39 35 19 2 4 21 12 .636 1 272.1 249 109 91 99 143 3.01 10 1146 1 0 5 0
21 Harry Coveleski 145 1916 30 DET AL 44 39 22 3 4 21 11 .656 2 324.1 278 105 71 63 108 1.97 6 1248 11 1 5 0
22 Virgil Trucks 144 1942 25 DET AL 28 20 8 2 8 14 8 .636 0 167.2 147 64 51 74 91 2.74 3 721 2 1 7 0
23 Tommy Bridges 144 1942 35 DET AL 23 22 11 2 1 9 7 .563 1 174 164 66 53 61 97 2.74 6 742 4 0 5 0
24 Jim Bunning 143 1957 25 DET AL 45 30 14 1 4 20 8 .714 1 267.1 214 91 80 72 182 2.69 33 1081 980 30 5 5 11 10 8 15 8 9 0 1 4 .218 .277 .360 .637 76
25 Dizzy Trout 142 1943 28 DET AL 44 30 18 5 14 20 12 .625 6 246.2 204 83 68 101 111 2.48 6 1019 0 0 6 0
----+-----------------+--------+----+---+---+--+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----
Cnt Player **ERA ** Year Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS Pit Str
----+-----------------+--------+----+---+---+--+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----
26 Jim Bunning 142 1960 28 DET AL 36 34 10 3 1 11 14 .440 0 252 217 92 78 64 201 2.79 20 1024 923 43 4 7 11 23 6 19 11 12 0 0 2 .235 .291 .355 .646 76
27 Tommy Bridges 142 1940 33 DET AL 29 28 12 2 1 12 9 .571 0 197.2 171 89 74 88 133 3.37 11 843 0 0 5 0
28 Fred Hutchinson 141 1949 29 DET AL 33 21 9 4 5 15 7 .682 1 188.2 167 70 62 52 54 2.96 18 762 1 0 5 0
29 Tommy Bridges 140 1932 25 DET AL 34 26 10 4 7 14 12 .538 1 201 174 95 75 119 108 3.36 14 881 1 1 6 0
30 Tommy Bridges 140 1933 26 DET AL 33 28 17 2 4 14 12 .538 2 233 192 102 80 110 120 3.09 8 984 6 1 2 0
31 Tommy Bridges 140 1939 32 DET AL 29 26 16 2 2 17 7 .708 2 198 186 87 77 61 129 3.50 11 840 6 0 4 0
32 Dave Rozema 140 1977 20 DET AL 28 28 16 1 0 15 7 .682 0 218.1 222 87 75 34 92 3.09 25 890 837 28 6 4 7 6 5 22 11 15 0 2 2 .265 .298 .403 .701 85
33 Frank Lary 139 1958 28 DET AL 39 34 19 3 4 16 15 .516 1 260.1 249 91 84 68 131 2.90 20 1085 992 33 5 4 12 7 5 31 5 4 1 0 4 .251 .305 .355 .660 82
34 Don Mossi 139 1961 32 DET AL 35 34 12 1 1 15 7 .682 1 240.1 237 97 79 47 137 2.96 29 981 920 40 2 3 0 7 7 30 2 4 1 2 1 .258 .292 .400 .692 87
35 Schoolboy Rowe 138 1940 30 DET AL 27 23 11 1 4 16 3 .842 0 169 170 68 65 43 61 3.46 15 706 1 0 2 0
36 Tommy Bridges 137 1936 29 DET AL 39 38 26 5 1 23 11 .676 0 294.2 289 141 118 115 175 3.60 21 1272 5 1 6 0
37 Al Benton 136 1942 31 DET AL 35 30 9 1 4 7 13 .350 2 226.2 210 87 73 84 110 2.90 9 954 0 0 5 0
38 Hooks Dauss 136 1925 35 DET AL 35 30 16 1 3 16 11 .593 1 228 238 110 80 85 58 3.16 11 990 4 1 1 0
39 Hal White 136 1942 23 DET AL 34 25 12 4 7 12 12 .500 1 216.2 212 80 70 82 93 2.91 6 933 5 0 1 0
40 Herman Pillette 136 1922 25 DET AL 40 37 18 4 3 19 12 .613 1 274.2 270 110 87 95 71 2.85 6 1183 15 0 6 0
41 Dizzy Trout 136 1939 24 DET AL 33 22 6 0 6 9 10 .474 2 162 168 82 65 74 72 3.61 5 716 4 1 5 0
42 Steve Gromek 134 1954 34 DET AL 36 32 17 4 4 18 16 .529 1 252.2 236 85 77 57 102 2.74 26 1049 12 0 1 0
43 Earl Wilson 134 1966 31 DET AL 23 23 8 2 0 13 6 .684 0 163.1 126 49 47 38 133 2.59 16 641 591 21 5 1 4 6 2 19 8 3 1 0 5 .213 .265 .347 .612 78
44 Tommy Bridges 134 1941 34 DET AL 25 22 10 1 2 9 12 .429 0 147.2 128 66 56 70 90 3.41 10 630 1 1 2 0
45 Denny McLain 134 1965 21 DET AL 33 29 13 4 2 16 6 .727 1 220.1 174 73 64 62 192 2.61 25 881 807 23 6 1 2 9 1 16 9 5 0 2 3 .216 .273 .352 .625 81
46 Denny McLain 134 1969 25 DET AL 42 41 23 9 0 24 9 .727 0 325 288 105 101 67 181 2.80 25 1304 1215 42 9 7 4 11 7 25 24 9 0 2 5 .237 .278 .348 .626 77
47 Jack Morris 133 1979 24 DET AL 27 27 9 1 0 17 7 .708 0 197.2 179 76 72 59 113 3.28 19 806 734 27 2 4 4 3 6 30 14 4 0 1 9 .244 .301 .364 .665 77
48 Art Houtteman 132 1950 22 DET AL 41 34 21 4 6 19 12 .613 4 274.2 257 112 108 99 88 3.54 29 1147 8 1 2 0
49 Firpo Marberry 132 1933 34 DET AL 37 32 15 1 5 16 11 .593 2 238.1 232 98 87 61 84 3.29 13 990 1 1 1 0
50 Hal Newhouser 132 1947 26 DET AL 40 36 24 3 4 17 17 .500 2 285 268 105 91 110 176 2.87 9 1216 2 0 11 0

[DaYooperASBDT]

If it were up to me, the Cy Young would go to the pitcher who brings down the league ERA the most... Theoretically, A 2.45 over 250 innings could beat out a 2.35 over 220 innings just as a 2.70 over 300 innings might beat out that 2.45...Agreed. I don't think a reliever should ever get the Cy Young.

[DaYooperASBDT]

Is it fairly easy to calculate a "WHIP+" statistic? The ERA+ is helpful, but ERA can be misleading at times. Case in point - Verlander's 2006.

[Yoda]

I can see both sides. I do agree with Walewander. That's a solid point. But there are relievers who deserve it as well. If you're constantly being thrown into a close situation where runners are on base, you have very little margin for error. It's a much greater high-stress situation. I can easily aregue that being a starter is a bit easier. You aren't having to clean up after other people all the time.

[Yoda]

Is it fairly easy to calculate a "WHIP+" statistic? The ERA+ is helpful, but ERA can be misleading at times. Case in point - Verlander's 2006.

What was misleading about it?

[DaYooperASBDT]

ERA is a good measure, as the best pitchers will have low ERA, but Verlander did have a higher WHIP, so either he was a bit lucky or his defense bailed him out somehow?

Personally, I like to look at ERA, BAA, and WHIP, especially when trying to project future performance. Justin will have to probably lower his WHIP to ensure similar ERA to last season.

[Yoda]

I think the fact that he has some of the best stuff in the league is a better indication of future performance than any stat, especially since he's only played one season. I agree with you in most instances, because most players don't really stand out from the rest. I think Justin does though, so I don't look at last year's numbers. His stats were a bit misleading last year anyhow because of the low k-rate.

And I do agree about the misleading ERA. I was expecting you to say it should have been lower for some reason.

[DaYooperASBDT]

Yeah, there are better examples than JV. If he is past the blister problems, that breaking ball, combined with his fast one, will be a lethal combination. And if his stamina improves, his walks could also decrease quite a bit.

[berneree]

If I had to rate 5 statistics in order of importance.....ERA, WHIP, Wins, K/IP, BAA....

1) WHIP
2) BAA
3) ERA
4) K/IP
5) Wins

I really think ERA is going to be downgraded in the next 25 years, as much as Wins have been downgraded in the last 25 years.

[DaYooperASBDT]

However, I am guessing that ERA is better correlated to WHIP, as opposed to winning percentage vs. ERA ??

[chasfh]

I can see both sides. I do agree with Walewander. That's a solid point. But there are relievers who deserve it as well. If you're constantly being thrown into a close situation where runners are on base, you have very little margin for error. It's a much greater high-stress situation. I can easily aregue that being a starter is a bit easier. You aren't having to clean up after other people all the time.

The people are BP have developed a statistic called "Leverage" to determine just how stressful a situation is for a reliever coming in. A closer starting the ninth with a 1-run lead will generate a higher LEV than a closer coming in with a 3-run lead, and of course one of the highest LEV situations would be you're up one run, bottom of the ninth, and coming in with bases loaded and no out. In that way you can properly gauge a pitcher's contribution to the team effort, and in fact it helps really point to the value that guys like Joel Zumaya provide coming in during high leverage situation than he might in typical closer situations that just about any halfway decent pitcher could convert the vast majority of the time.

There's no doubt that a valuable reliever is worth more than his weight in gold (and I mean that literally: average reliever: 210 pounds; gold price this morning: $670/ounce, total worth: $2,251,200). But I don't think a great reliever is ever more valuable than a great starter. A great closer typically works 5% to 6% of his team's innings, while a great starter can work 15% or more. That's a difference of nearly 1/10 of a season, and a reliever cannot save enough runs to overcome what a starter can save them. Also, while Yoda is correct that some relievers are brought into stressful situations repeatedly, a starter will face similarly stressful situations, sometimes several of them, almost every time they start a game. Therefore, I don't believe that starters and relievers should be viewed in the same context, since their roles and value propositions are so different from one another. I would be amenable to splitting up the Cy Young into two awards -- one for starters and one for relievers, and I bet people would accept that pretty quickly.

I too think ERA is misleading for a few reasons: different eras (Freddie Fitzsimmons's ERA of 4.26 in 1930 was 17% better than average; Jim Maloney's 3.61 in 1968 was 17% worse than average), subjectivity to exculpation for bad pitching (e.g., pitcher gets two outs, next runner on by error, pitcher gives up eight runs on doubles and homers -- he gets a pass with no earned runs), and just plain luck (high runners strand rate = low ERA versus H/9, BB/9, HR/9, etc.). On the other hand, it is pretty hard to have a 3.00 ERA and suck, or a 6.00 ERA and be good. As long as you understand the slight flakiness of the stat, you can still use it as a reasonable shorthand to describe a pitcher's performance.

[DaYooperASBDT]

Well said Chuck, the reliever would not even have the tight situation, if the starter had not gotten the ball to him with a lead, in the first place.

Good point also on un-earned runs. But like you said, ERA is useful. I like to have both ERA and WHIP, at a minimum, and BAA for the wilder guys.