McClain had a good year in 1968, but the Tigers won many of those 31 games for him. Gibson was dominant, with minimal run support.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/black...ge=keri/080221
Gibson's 22 wins are obviously fewer than McLain's.. In his 9 losses the Cards scored 12 runs. He only gave up 27 runs in the 9 losses. Twice he lost by 1-0 scores, once by 2-0. He won 4 1-0 games. In 13 of his wins the Cards scored 3 runs or less.
Dad went to game 1 of the WS that year, you guys post much more about McLain and I'll dig out his game 1 ticket stub... even today, watching the old video of that game 1, Gibson looked like a man pitching to little leaguers. I recall who won the Series overall, I got to go to game 6 and had tears in my eyes as a kid during that long 2nd inning. '06 was vindication.
In reading Mr. Thomas' book about Walter Johnson, and as much of a Gibson fan as I am, I'm satisfied that Johnson's 1.14 ERA season would have been even better had Johnson not allowed some runs in a regular season game that was jokingly played at the end of the season.
Truth is that Johnson, Mathewson, Waddell, Young, Brown, and others were powerfull. Can't imagine standing in against Wood or Grove would have been much fun, either.