Top 10 lists for pitchers

Maddux leads the Modern Era in wins, while Koufax is best in ERA

Aug 2, 2022

Today’s newsletter is going to be light on text — and heavy on lists.

Here’s the reason: I’ve accumulated all sorts of statistics from the first sixty-one seasons of baseball’s Modern Era (1961-2021). Some of these numbers have been cited in stories I’ve written about the era’s best (and worst) performances, but most have gone unused. You might say they’ve remained in my statistical cooler.

I’ve decided that today — my first entry for a new month — is a good time to thaw out some of those stats. So I’m presenting a series of 10 lists for pitchers.

Each of the first six lists focuses on the 10 best career performances in a selected category: wins, earned-run average, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, and strikeouts. The final four lists show the 10 unfortunate leaders in a series of negative statistics: walks, home runs allowed, hit batsmen, and wild pitches.

Each pitcher’s name is followed by his big-league span in parentheses. Keep in mind that these rankings are confined to the Modern Era. If a pitcher was active in 1960 or prior seasons — for instance, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, or Bob Gibson — only his stats from 1961 to the present are shown below.

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Wins

1. Greg Maddux (1986-2008), 355
2. Roger Clemens (1984-2007), 354
3. Steve Carlton (1965-1988), 329
4. Don Sutton (1966-1988), 324
4. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993), 324
6. Phil Niekro (1964-1987), 318
7. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983), 314
8. Tom Seaver (1967-1986), 311
9. Tom Glavine (1987-2008), 305
10. Randy Johnson (1988-2009), 303

Earned-run average (1,500+ innings)

1. Sandy Koufax (1961-1966), 2.19
2. Clayton Kershaw (2008-2021), 2.49
3. Don Drysdale (1961-1969), 2.83
4. Bob Gibson (1961-1975), 2.84
5. Tom Seaver (1967-1986), 2.86
5. Jim Palmer (1965-1984), 2.86
5. Andy Messersmith (1968-1979), 2.86
8. Juan Marichal (1961-1975), 2.90
8. Rollie Fingers (1968-1985), 2.90
10. Dean Chance (1961-1971), 2.92

Complete games

1. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983), 303
2. Fergie Jenkins (1965-1983), 267
3. Steve Carlton (1965-1988), 254
4. Bob Gibson (1961-1975), 251
5. Phil Niekro (1964-1987), 245
6. Bert Blyleven (1970-1992), 242
7. Juan Marichal (1961-1975), 238
8. Tom Seaver (1967-1986), 231
9. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993), 222
10. Jim Palmer (1965-1984), 211

Shutouts

1. Tom Seaver (1967-1986), 61
1. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993), 61
3. Bert Blyleven (1970-1992), 60
4. Don Sutton (1966-1988), 58
5. Steve Carlton (1965-1988), 55
5. Bob Gibson (1961-1975), 55
7. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983), 53
7. Jim Palmer (1965-1984), 53
9. Juan Marichal (1961-1975), 51
10. Fergie Jenkins (1965-1983), 49
10. Luis Tiant (1964-1982), 49

Innings pitched

1. Phil Niekro (1964-1987), 5,404.0
2. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993), 5,386.0
3. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983), 5,350.0
4. Don Sutton (1966-1988), 5,282.1
5. Steve Carlton (1965-1988), 5,217.2
6. Greg Maddux (1986-2008), 5,008.1
7. Bert Blyleven (1970-1992), 4,970.0
8. Roger Clemens (1984-2007), 4,916.2
9. Tom Seaver (1967-1986), 4,783.0
10. Tommy John (1963-1989), 4,710.1

Strikeouts

1. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993), 5,714
2. Randy Johnson (1988-2009), 4,875
3. Roger Clemens (1984-2007), 4,672
4. Steve Carlton (1965-1988), 4,136
5. Bert Blyleven (1970-1992), 3,701
6. Tom Seaver (1967-1986), 3,640
7. Don Sutton (1966-1988), 3,574
8. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983), 3,534
9. Greg Maddux (1986-2008), 3,371
10. Phil Niekro (1964-1987), 3,342

Walks

1. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993), 2,795
2. Steve Carlton (1965-1988), 1,833
3. Phil Niekro (1964-1987), 1,809
4. Charlie Hough (1970-1994), 1,665
5. Roger Clemens (1984-2007), 1,580
6. Tom Glavine (1987-2008), 1,500
7. Randy Johnson (1988-2009), 1,497
8. Tom Seaver (1967-1986), 1,390
8. Jack Morris (1977-1994), 1,390
10. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983), 1,379

Home runs allowed

1. Jamie Moyer (1986-2012), 522
2. Fergie Jenkins (1965-1983), 484
3. Phil Niekro (1964-1987), 482
4. Don Sutton (1966-1988), 472
5. Frank Tanana (1973-1993), 448
6. Bartolo Colon (1997-2018), 439
7. Bert Blyleven (1970-1992), 430
8. Tim Wakefield (1992-2011), 418
9. Steve Carlton (1965-1988), 414
10. Randy Johnson (1988-2009), 411

Hit batsmen

1. Randy Johnson (1988-2009), 190
2. Tim Wakefield (1992-2011), 186
3. Charlie Hough (1970-1994), 174
4. Roger Clemens (1984-2007), 159
5. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993), 158
6. Bert Blyleven (1970-1992), 155
6. Jamey Wright (1996-2014), 155
8. Jamie Moyer (1986-2012), 146
9. A.J. Burnett (1999-2015), 143
10. Pedro Martinez (1992-2009), 141

Wild pitches

1. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993), 277
2. Phil Niekro (1964-1987), 226
3. Jack Morris (1977-1994), 206
4. Tommy John (1963-1989), 187
5. Steve Carlton (1965-1988), 183
6. Charlie Hough (1970-1994), 179
7. Joe Niekro (1967-1988), 172
8. A.J. Burnett (1999-2015), 161
9. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983), 160
10. Felix Hernandez (2005-2019), 156

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