The Saturday Stumper Has Been Revealed

[frankbmd]

The cumulative statistics of two pitchers are listed below. At first glance they look quite similar. Who are they? This thread is on the appropriate section of the Forum. If no one answers this stumper correctly, the answers will be posted with images of the hurlers.

Wins Pitcher A = 246 Pitcher B = 239
Losses Pitcher A = 142 Pitcher B = 216
Innings Pitcher A = 3441 Pitcher B = 3768
Hits Pitcher A = 3276 Pitcher B = 3723
Runs Pitcher A = 1436 Pitcher B = 1754
Walks Pitcher A = 812 Pitcher B = 744

Please do not answer unless you know both answers.

[mybuddyinc]

I know A , but don't know B

[quinnsryche]

Is pitcher B a major leaguer? Only 3 Finger Brown and David Wells have 239 wins but neither has 216 losses.

[frankbmd]

I was going to add Pitcher C to the question, but that would have made it too difficult.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Note the word "cumulative" -- i.e., career to date. Baseball reference gives cumulative statistics, so I suppose someone could look up every pitcher with more than 250 wins and see if at any point in his career he was 239-216. Else it's an even trickier trick question.

[kamikidEFFL]

I know a but b I have no clue

[Peter_Spaeth]

Joe McGinnity. LOL. Sunday morning indeed it's all over as we speak.

[Peter_Spaeth]

And here are both your images.

[frankbmd]

Pitcher A is Joe as a major leaguer primarily with New York





Pitcher B is Joe as a minor leaguer with many teams pitching well into his 50s





McGinnity is the only Hall of Famer, I think, to have played more in the minor leagues than the majors.


Part 2 of the Stumper introduces Pitcher C and compares him to Pitcher A+B


Wins Pitcher A+B = 485 Pitcher C = 511
Losses Pitcher A+B = 358 Pitcher C = 316
Innings Pitcher A+B = 7209 Pitcher C = 7356
Hits Pitcher A+B = 6999 Pitcher C = 7092
Runs Pitcher A+B = 3190 Pitcher C = 2147
Walks Pitcher A+B = 1556 Pitcher C = 1217


Now Part 2 will not keep anyone up all night, especially Peter who worked many hours on Part 1.

The comparison of the two careers I find eerily similar although the McGinnity did not pitch in the majors until the age of 28 and the majority of his minor league career spanned his life from age 38 until age 54.

Had McGinnity started started at an earlier age in the majors, there might not be a Cy Young Award, but rather an "Iron Man" McGinnity Award.

Seldom discussed on this forum in my tenure, Mr. McGinnity seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of prewar HOF hurlers.

And for those of you who found McGinnity's numbers on Baseball Reference, you were all just one click away from solving the Stumper.

[Wildfireschulte]

Great Stumper - are there any good books about Iron Man?

[Peter_Spaeth]

He is discussed extensively in Frank Burke++, "My Life and Times in the Pre-War Era."

[cdn_collector]

Can't speak to whether or not it's any good as I haven't read it, but I know McFarland Pub has a book about the Iron Man:


http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2...-0-7864-4203-4


Cheers,

Richard.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

He is discussed extensively in Fr@nk Beeyouarkayeteetee, "My Life and Times in the Pre-War Era."

Available for only $29.99 almost nowhere.

[Bosox Blair]

He was one of the true greats...with a timeless nickname to go along with it:

[Wildfireschulte]

I found a write-up titled "The Sunset Years of Joe McGinnity" in SABR's 2001 The National Pastime #21 - Joe parlayed his Giant's earnings by buying various minor league teams and acting as player-manager.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

He is discussed extensively in Frank Burke++, "My Life and Times in the Pre-War Era."

Of course, Frank was already coaching when Joe came up....

[Peter_Spaeth]

Frank's early medical training included blood letting and leeches.

[frankbmd]

Those were the days, my friend.