Second Trivia Question

[oldjudge]

i am a pitcher. Through the first three years of my career I was 32-48. However during the last 8 years of my career I was 120-88, albeit with a higher than 3.00 ERA. Who am I, and did I make it to the HOF? Please do not look this one up and post an answer.

[rhettyeakley]

My first guess is Red Ruffing as he was TERRIBLE when he first made the Majors and eventually eased into a serviceable payer later.

Rather similar to Dazzy Vance in that it took him forever to finally "get it", Vance's first quality Major League season came after turning 30 years old.

[oldjudge]

Not Ruffing or Vance. As a clue, I think most will find the answer surprising.

[oldjudge]

Another clue-The highest three salary years of this pitcher's career were his last three when he made $20,000 per annum. Prior to that, his highest salary was $12,000/yr.

[oldjudge]

Last clue-The pitcher spent his entire career with one team, had 34 career saves, and had a K/BB ratio of almost 3/1.

[Peter_Spaeth]

With 150 wins I am guessing no on the HOF. This certainly is not Koufax or Dean.

[darwinbulldog]

But we can't really conclude from the information provided how many career wins he had. We're told he had 32 in his first 3 seasons and that he had 120 in his final 8 seasons, but for all we know he could have had an 8-year career (120 total career wins, 32 of which came in his first 3 seasons) or a 22-year career (152 wins already noted at the beginning and end of his career plus another 11 seasons worth of wins not addressed in the OP).

[stlcardsfan]

Hoyt Wilhelm? And yes on HOF.

Re-read and saw only one team. He played on about 12.

[darwinbulldog]

I'm almost certain this isn't correct, but I know he had a 20-win season as a reliever one time, so I'm gonna say Roy Face, not of Hall of Fame fame.

Edited to add: Okay, I checked. Not Face, and it was only 18 wins that season. Shows what I know.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

But we can't really conclude from the information provided how many career wins he had. We're told he had 32 in his first 3 seasons and that he had 120 in his final 8 seasons, but for all we know he could have had an 8-year career (120 total career wins, 32 of which came in his first 3 seasons) or a 22-year career (152 wins already noted at the beginning and end of his career plus another 11 seasons worth of wins not addressed in the OP).

Oh. OK. From the other clues it could be a dead ball era pitcher of great longevity who started out with a lot of losses and lingered through a bit of a decline, maybe Young or Johnson. PS can't be Young, was on more than one team.

[mb2005]

I think I figured it out....I won't spoil it, but a further clue is that "K/BB of almost 3/1" is a little misleading. It is closer to about 2.5/1 if it's the pitcher I am thinking of...

[damonh23]

man 34 career saves and $20k a salary really throwing me off...guy must have pitched in the early 70s since saves became a stat in 1969..maybe its a Luis Taint type...Red Sox?

[darwinbulldog]

Alright I looked it up. And yes I was surprised.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by mb2005

I think I figured it out....I won't spoil it, but a further clue is that "K/BB of almost 3/1" is a little misleading. It is closer to about 2.5/1 if it's the pitcher I am thinking of...

Right, which itself is surprising, no?

[frankbmd]

It is not Jesse Burkett.

[oldjudge]

Peter is right (kinda)--it is Walter Johnson. Pretty surprising till you look at all the numbers.