Tuesday Trivia: Most shutouts in a single season

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Great guess! Bob Gibson had 13 shutouts in 1968, the year before they lowered the mound. He is tied for the 3rd most Jack Coombs who had 13 in 1910.

The only other live-ball era players with double digit shutouts in a single season are Sandy Koufax (11 in 1963), Dean Chance (11 in 1964), Mort Cooper (10 in 1942), Bob Feller (10 in 1946), Bob Lemon (10 in 1948), Jim Palmer (10 in 1965), Juan Marichal (10 in 1975), and John Tudor (10 in 1985).




Good guess. Ed Walsh had 11 in 1908, the year he had 40 wins.




Well, when you hear the other guy with 16 shutouts, you might feel like he shouldn't be counted because you have to go WAAAY back.
But it was in the National League, which makes it legitimate to me.

Al Spalding the year he won 50?

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Al Spalding the year he won 50?

Al Spalding won 52 games in 1874 and 54 games in 1875. But the most shutouts he ever had was 8 in 1876.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Al Spalding won 52 games in 1874 and 54 games in 1875. But the most shutouts he ever had was 8 in 1876.

I guess they weren't watching his pitch count.

[cgjackson222]

HINT: He is widely credited as having pitched the first no-hitter in National League, and by some historians' standards MLB history. This no-hitter occurred in the same year as his 16 shutouts.

It should be noted that some historians claim that a different pitcher, Joe Borden, who had pitched a no-hitter the year prior in the National Association League also pitched the first no-hitter in NL history, but contemporary newspaper accounts do not support that.


Here is the account of the no-hitter by our trivia answer during his 16 shutout season:

"The Globe-Democrat yesterday morning announced the fact that the St. Louis Base Ball club intended accomplishing the greatest feat in the annals of the game, if sharp play could bring about the result prayed for, which was nothing less than the whitewashing of the famous Hartford nine for the third consecutive time. They did it and thereby covered themselves with glory and sent their admirers into ecstacies. A large crowd was present to witness the discomfiture of the Dark Blues. In the matter of the toss, luck for the first time in a long while deserted McGeary, which was considered a favorable omen for Hartford, but, as the sequel showed, failed to prove such. St. Louis won the game in the first two innings by the fine batting of Clapp and Blong, and four unfortunate errors by their opponents. In the last seven innings Bond was so well supported that the Browns could not possibly increase their score. XXXXXXX's pitching, and the magnificent backing given it by the fielders, won the day for St. Louis. For the first time in the annals of the League, nine innings were played without a single base hit being placed to the credit of one of the teams. The Hartford's utterly failed to do anything whatever with XXXXXXX's twisters. Weak infield hits and easy flies were the order of the afternoon on their side, and a chance for an out was rarely missed. XXXXXXX has good reason to be proud of his record. His associates, especially Clapp, whose beautiful batting was a marked feature of the game, did fairly off Bond's curves, and thereby won the game. Three such games as have been played during the past week by the St. Louis and Hartford Clubs have never been witnessed, the scores being 2 to 0, 3 to 0, and 2 to 0, all in favor of St. Louis. They will be placed on record as the most wonderful struggles in the history of the national pastime. When it is stated that until last Tuesday Hartford had not been whitewashed this season, and that for twenty-seven consecutive innings they were retired by the Browns without scoring, and almost in one-two-three order, some idea of the magnificent manner in which they must have fielded the stinging hist of such men as Burdock, Higham, Ferguson, and the other Blue Legs can be formed.
-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 16, 1876

[clydepepper]

I had to peek, so I won't reveal the answer.


I will admit to having dropped, in the darkness of the Museum at Cooperstown (in 1999), a very worn-out baseball 'signed' by this guy...just to see if anyone reacted once it was discovered...and I have no idea if it caused any fuss at all.
But, it was fun...'back in the day'.


.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

I had to peek, so I won't reveal the answer.


I will admit to having dropped, in the darkness of the Museum at Cooperstown (in 1999), a very worn-out baseball 'signed' by this guy...just to see if anyone reacted once it was discovered...and I have no idea if it caused any fuss at all.
But, it was fun...'back in the day'.


.

Sorry for the dumb question, but when you say you "dropped" a baseball, do you mean "dropped" literally, like on the floor, or does dropped mean something else?

[cgjackson222]

HINT Not sure how helpful this will be because he didn't go by his middle name, but the pitcher in question's first and middle name were named after a founding father/very famous president that lived in Virginia near Washington DC. Instead of being called by his given name, he was usually referred to as "Grin" because he seemed perpetually happy.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Sorry for the dumb question, but when you say you "dropped" a baseball, do you mean "dropped" literally, like on the floor, or does dropped mean something else?

I thought it would be fun to give someone 'something to discover'- I actually dropped it gently to the floor in a dark corner fairly close to the display of Cy Young's 500th Win ball.