Show Us Your Perfect "9"

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Posted By: <b>bruce Dorskind</b><p><br /><br />Only nine pitchers in the history of MLB have pitched 10 or more seasons without<br />ever experiencing a losing season.<br /><br />Whilst we do not have representative examples of any of these pitchers' rookie<br />or key baseball cards in our collection, it would be fun to view each of them.<br /><br />Spud Chander appears the least often as the 1940 Playball set is the only standard<br />issue which sports his card. The other issues are Cuban cards and Exhibits.<br /><br /><br />The ranking of the "Perfect 9" (in terms of number of seasons) is:<br /><br />Deacon Phillippe 1899-1911<br />Urban Shocker 1916-1928<br />Dizzy Dean 1930. 1932-41. 1037<br />Andy Pettitte 1995-2006 ONLY ACTIVE PITCHER ON THE LIST<br />David Foutz 1884-1894<br />Spud Chandler 1937-1947<br />Jay Powell 1995-2005<br />Joe McGinnity 1899-2008<br />Babe Ruth 1914-21, 1930, 1933<br /><br /><br />Quite a group, indeed.<br /><br /><br />Bruce Dorskind<br />America's Toughest Want List

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Posted By: <b>bruce Dorskind</b><p><br /><br />We just happened to check the PSA Population Report.<br /><br />There are only 11 cards of the 1940 Spud Chandler which have ever been<br />graded and only 1 PSA 7 and 1 PSA 8.<br /><br />Does anyone know why this card is so very, very scarce?<br /><br /><br />Bruce Dorskind<br />America's Toughest Want List

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>The paper used for 1940 Play Balls appears to be soft, so finding a 9 would be very difficult. There are a number of sets where low quality paper was used.

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Posted By: <b>Justin</b><p>I think putting Babe Ruth on that list is reaching, becuase he was only a full time pitcher for about 4-5 seasons. The rest were sporadic appearances. But otherwise that's a pretty interesting fact, and kind of surprising, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. <br /><br />Also Jay Powell? Weird

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Posted By: <b>Patrick McHugh</b><p>That is amazing.

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>I saw the same list and it only pertained to players who never had a losing season. The ones you cited did, early in their careers.

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Posted By: <b>Bobby Binder</b><p>Here is what you missed so far: I assume if a player has a 5-5 season it is not considered losing.<br /><br />Addie Joss

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Posted By: <b>dennis</b><p>interesting, but one of those stats that is basicaly useless,luck or good teams play a large part in their success, not sheer talant.for a list of the real guys over 500 for 10 years or more,but not for entire career... here you go<br />1. grover cleveland alexander 19 years his 1st year he was 0-3<br />2.greg maddux 14 <br />3.ford 14<br />4.matty 12<br />5.marichal 12<br />5.clemens 12 & 10 only guy to do it 2x<br />6.hubbell 12<br />7. feller 11<br />8.walter johnson 10<br />8.r. johnson 10<br />8. sutton 10<br /><br />i'm sure i missed some<br />

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Posted By: <b>Bobby Binder</b><p>For the first 21 years Pete Alexander never had a losing season. In his last season in a part time role he was a loser.

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Posted By: <b>Ted Zanidakis</b><p>Besides his 1940 Play Ball card, he can be found on a 1940's exhibit card. However, his card is extremely tough to find. <br />Chandler's 1940 PB card is the 1st card on the Hi# sheet....therefore, making it a tougher card than others in this set.<br /><br />Here's a nice picture of him from the 1947 Yankee Stadium photo pack....<br /><br />TED Z<br /><br /><img src="http://www.freephotoserver.com/v001/tedzan/chandler.jpg">

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Posted By: <b>bruce Dorskind</b><p><br /><br />Whilst Joss never had a losing season, and he was, 5-5 in his final year,<br />he was not on our list for a very good reason.<br /><br />He only pitched in the Major Leagues for 9 years. Our list was limited<br />to players who pitched at least one game in a season in 10 or more<br />years and never had a losing season.<br /><br />Certainly a few of the names on the list "were more lucky than great"<br />but as Vince famously stated<br /><br />"Luck is what happens when preparation meets ability.<br /><br />Some of the greats mentioned by other Board members had a string<br />of losing seasons towards the end of their career. Juan Marchiel<br />for example had three losing seasons in his last four years in the Big Leagues.<br /><br />Thanks Ted for the insight on the rare Spud Chandler 1940 Play Ball. We have<br />never seen a high grade example at a show, at a major auction or on E-Bay.<br />Your input was quite helpful. <br /><br /><br />Bruce Dorskind<br />America's Toughest Want List<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>Bruce Babcock</b><p><img src="http://photos.imageevent.com/uffda51/1880ssepiaissues/websize/N370%20Lone%20Jack%20Foutz.jpg">