For a duo, I might go with Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette between 1956 to 1960, and that's my bias kicking in. They were outstanding, no doubt, but there were other duos that have been named that were at least as good, if not a little better.
But for a trio? Between 1956 and 1960, a five year period, it didn't get any better than Spahn, Burdette, and Bob Buhl. In five years, that trio went 273-150 with a 3.14 ERA (1,292 earned runs allowed in 3,698 innings pitched). Spahn threw 17 shutouts, Burdette 18 and Buhl 10. Lew Burdette led the NL with 6 shutouts in 1956. Spahn led the NL with 4 shutouts in 1959. Actually, he finished in a three way tie for the league lead...with teammates Lew Burdette and Bob Buhl. They combined for 12 shutouts in 1959.
Spahn
1956 20-11 2.78 ERA
1957 21-11 2.69 ERA
1958 22-11 3.07 ERA
1959 21-15 2.96 ERA
1960 21-10 3.50 ERA (at age 39!)
105-58 3.00 ERA
Burdette
1956 19-10 2.70 ERA
1957 17-9 3.72 ERA
1958 20-10 2.91 ERA
1959 21-15 4.07 ERA
1960 19-13 3.36 ERA
96-57 3.36 ERA
Buhl
1956 18-8 3.32 ERA
1957 18-7 2.74 ERA
1958 5-2 3.45 ERA
1959 15-9 2.86 ERA
1960 16-9 3.09 ERA
72-35 3.04 ERA
That's pretty darned good. But what sucks even more is that the Braves could have been even better. After the 1953 season, the Braves traded Johnny Antonelli to the Giants for Bobby Thomson, who never really did anything in Milwaukee. Well, Antonelli did. He was 21-7 with a league leading 2.30 ERA in 1954. Now, there's no telling if he would have replicated that in Milwaukee, but the Braves could have had this in 1956:
Warren Spahn 20-11, 2.78 ERA
Johnny Antonelli 20-13, 2.86 ERA
Lew Burdette 19-10, 2.70 ERA
Bob Buhl 18-8, 3.32 ERA
Not quite having four 20 game winners like the Orioles did a little over a decade later, but pretty darned close. They'd have won 77 games. And they had offensive firepower to boot. Joe Adcock, Hank Aaron (in his third year), and Eddie Mathews combined for 101 home runs. I don't know, maybe they make it to three straight World Series. Oh well.
But back to the trio we did have. Between 1956 and 1960, even with Buhl only starting 11 games, winning 5 in 1958, that trio still averaged 18 wins each for the 5 years.
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Last edited by the 'stache; 03-14-2015 at 03:37 PM.
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