More Tuesday Trivia: LHP best seasons by WAR
 

Who had the 10 all-time best single seasons by left-handed pitchers according to BRef WAR?

I'm going by the version of WAR that doesn't consider their hitting.

(Try to guess, rather than looking it up, of course.)

Let's get the obvious ones out of the way first--Steve "Lefty" Carlton, Lefty Grove, and Sandy Koufax.

Clayton Kershaw?

OK, great start.

Carlton is #3 (1972)
Grove is #8 (1936)

Koufax, believe it or not, is just outside the top ten: his best season (1963) is tied for #12.

That's two down, eight to go...

Good guess but Kershaw does not make the list..

I guess I might as well give a hint here: Carlton's season is the most recent of the top ten.

Spahn?

Another good guess but Spahn doesn't make it either. His best season (1947) is tied for #29 on the list.

Last guess for now is Wilbur Wood, who had some monster years with the White Sox.

I guess that's not surprising. Because of the huge number of innings they used to pitch, most of the really high WAR seasons for pitchers are pre-1900.

Hal Newhouser. Carl Hubbell must be on there somewhere too.

Yes!

Wilbur Wood is #4 (1971). He had a 1.91 ERA with 22 complete games that year.

Newhouser is right! His 1945 MVP season is tied for #6 on the list.

Hubbell's highest rated season (1936) comes in at #24.


There are six seasons remaining...

This leads me to another hint:

Five of the remaining six seasons on the list were in the 19th century. The other one happened in the 20th century and this person is a HOFer...

Plank?

Another good guess but no.

RJ

EDITED TO ADD: The Big Unit, if I was unclear

Ron Guidry

Herb Score

Johnson's 2002 season is tied with Koufax at #12. (Highest by a lefty since Carlton in '72.)

Also solid guesses (they do appear a bit further down the list) but no.

Rube Waddell?

Whitey Ford

Going very old-time, but Matt Kilroy for the old Orioles had a couple of great years

Both correct!

Waddell's 1904 season is tied for #6 on the list.

Matt Kilroy's 1887 season is #9 all-time.

We're now missing only #1, #2, #5 and #10.

Another hint: Two of the remaining players appear in the Old Judge (N172) set.

Thinking through the 19th century pitchers they're all righties I believe -- Keefe Nichols Clarkson Radbourn Galvin Welch Rusie McCormick Bond. No clue.

With this clue, I think Toad Ramsey from Louisville had one really good season.

Yes!

Ramsey's 1886 season is #2 on the list. He pitched 66 complete games that year (tied with Matt Kilroy for most all-time in a season by a lefty) and had a 2.45 ERA.

We're now missing only #1, #5 and #10.

Bobby schantz?

Ruth had a couple top notch seasons with Boston.

The remaining 20th Century left-handed pitcher is in the Hall Of Fame.

It is not Shantz.

Ruth would make the list if using overall WAR (including batting) but this one uses the pitching-only version, so Ruth doesn't make the cut.

The HOFer that took awhile to guess was Waddell - the remaining pitchers are non-HOFers.

So, we're still looking for the #1, #5, and #10 seasons.

A couple more hints:

-Seasons #1 and #10 were accomplished by the same pitcher in consecutive seasons for an American Association team.

-#5 was accomplished later when there was only one major league, prior to the formation of the American League. It happened in a year when offense went way up due to a change in pitching distance.

I'm ashamed that I don't have any idea who they are...as an ole' portsider my own self - I have always had a fascination with LHPs, but, I've gotten rusty...had forgotten Toad Ramsey altogether.

Lee Richmond, author of the very first Perfecto- he, I remember.

Seems like Ted Brittlestein (and I'm sure that's spelled incorrectly) had a big year way back...



anxious to see the answer.

My sole source for such information is BBR, and I just 'cheated' and could not find BRef WAR listed...you have my permission to call me stupid.
.

Lee Richmond had one incredible season in 1880 but it's further down the list.

Your second guess is close enough that the judges will give to you: :) Ted Breitenstein's 1893 season with the St. Louis Browns is #5 on the list. League-wide ERA was 4.66 that year but Breitenstein put a 3.18 over nearly 400 innings.

He didn't make it into the Mayo Cut Plug 1895 set and he was too late for the Old Judge set. I'm not even sure there are any cards of him - anybody seen one?

This leaves just one more name, who has #1 and #10 on the list...

Gotta admit I looked through the Old Judge book to figure it out but would’ve sworn the answer was Lady Baldwin, who must still come top 15

I know the answer, but since I believe I used 'help' in my research and then just made a stab at it...I will stay silent and allow a more legit 'guesser' to step up.

I'm glad you mentioned Baldwin - he has the #11 season on the list (just barely below #10).

Southern league! Very cool.

Spoiler Alert: Here's the Answer:
 

Ed Morris





.

Ed Morris is indeed #1 (and #10.) In 1885 he pitched 581 innings with a 2.35 ERA for the Alleghenys (Pittsburgh). He started 63 games, finished all of them and went 39-24. In 1886 he won 41 games in 63 starts with an ERA of 2.45 over 555.1 innings.

Here is the top ten in card form: