The best starting pitching staffs in the last 100 years

By John Baranowski
Updated: March 24, 2021

Pitching, pitching, pitching. You may have heard the saying, “You can never have enough pitching.” Obviously, if you are going to have good pitching it begins with your starting pitching staff.

Which starting pitching staff was the best ever? A few that come to mind right away were the Atlanta Braves of the ‘90s. Beginning in 1991, the Braves made the post-season in 13 of the next 14 seasons. Despite their great starting pitching, the Braves won only one World Series.

The ’71 Baltimore Orioles with four 20-game winners is another group that is often mentioned. They also did not the World Series that year. The 1954 Cleveland Indians starting pitching staff is legendary as well, but they did not win the World Series either.

I guess that’s proof that starting pitching will give your team a chance, but a team needs more than just starting pitching.

I considered and reviewed every team that made it to the World Series and some other notable ones that did not. After viewing all the statistics, teams after the Dead Ball Era were only considered. As you’ll see, considering teams before and after 1920 is more an apples-to-oranges comparison than an apples-to-apples one.

All the statistics listed below were found in baseball-reference.com as well as the players listed as starting pitchers for their respective teams. If you disagree with someone that is listed as a starting pitcher, take that up with baseball-reference.com.

How do you compare and rate starting pitching staffs? Do you base it on how good a pitching staff was by the number of 20-game winners it had? If a team had one 20-game winner and the other starters won 13 games each but another team had four 19-game winners, do you still think the team with the one 20-game winner had the superior pitching staff?

Is a starting pitching staff like a chain and only as strong as its weakest link? Do you judge a starting pitching staff on its weakest link? If so, that doesn’t bode well for the ’73 Oakland Athletics. They had three 20-game winners: Jim Catfish Hunter (21), Ken Holtzman (21) and Vida Blue with 20, but their fourth starter was John Blue Moon Odom, and he went 5-12 that year with a 4.49 ERA. How could any World Series winner and particularly the 1973 Oakland A’s have a starter seven games under .500?

If that is a major factor in your decision on basing the best of starting pitching staffs, those eliminated would include:

1934 St. Louis Cardinals (Bill Hallahan 8-12)

1942 New York Yankees (Marv Breuer 8-9)

1951 Cleveland Indians (Bob Chakales 3-4)

1961 Cincinnati Reds (Ken Hunt 9-10)

1961 New York Yankees (Bob Turley 3-5 and Bud Daley 8-9)

1964 Chicago White Sox (Ray Herbert 6-7 and Fred Talbot 4-5)

1968 St. Louis Cardinals (Larry Jaster 9-13)

1969 New York Mets (Don Cardwell 8-10 and Jim McAndrew 6-7)

1972 Oakland Athletics (Vida Blue 6-10)

1973 Oakland Athletics (John Blue Moon Odom 5-12)

1974 Oakland Athletics (Glenn Abbott 5-7)

1974 Los Angeles Dodgers (Al Downing 5-6)

1977 New York Yankees (Ken Holtzman 2-3)

1980 Houston Astros (Ken Forsch 12-13)

1985 Los Angeles Dodgers (Rick Honeycutt 8-12)

1985 Kansas City Royals (Bud Black 10-15)

1988 New York Mets (Bob Ojeda 10-13)

1989 Oakland Athletics (Curt Young 5-9)

1992 Atlanta Braves (Mike Bielecki 2-4)

1993 Atlanta Braves (Pete Smith 4-8)

1999 Atlanta Braves (Odalis Perez 4-6)

2002 Atlanta Braves (Jason Marquis 8-9)

2002 New York Yankees (Ted Lilly 3-6)

2003 New York Yankees (Jeff Weaver 7-9)

2011 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Oswalt 9-10)

2014 Detroit Tigers (Drew Smyly 6-9)

What are some other ways to compare starting pitching staffs? What would be some gold standards that distinguish great starting pitching staffs from good ones? How about 80 wins from your starters? Obviously, not an easy accomplishment, but 25 of the 30 teams in the World Series during the Dead Ball Era had starting pitching staffs that won 80 or more games.

These starting pitching staffs post-1920 also achieved it:

99 – 1931 Philadelphia Athletics

93 – 1954 Cleveland Indians

92 – 1923 New York Yankees

91 – 1922 New York Yankees

91 – 1932 New York Yankees

88 – 1931 St. Louis Cardinals

88 – 1990 Oakland Athletics

88 – 1998 Atlanta Braves

87 – 1920 Chicago White Sox

86 – 1928 New York Yankees

86 – 2001 Seattle Mariners

85 – 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates

85 – 1934 St. Louis Cardinals

85 – 1942 New York Yankees

84 – 1930 Philadelphia Athletics

84 – 1963 New York Yankees

83 – 1944 St. Louis Cardinals

82 – 1927 New York Yankees

82 – 1946 Boston Red Sox

82 – 1951 Cleveland Indians

82 – 1962 San Francisco Giants

81 – 1935 Chicago Cubs

81 – 1971 Baltimore Orioles

81 – 1989 Oakland Athletics

80 – 1921 New York Yankees

80 – 1939 New York Yankees

80 – 1940 Cincinnati Reds

Another method might be the percentage of a team’s wins the starters had. A starting pitching staff that produces 80 percent of a team’s wins is impressive. During the Dead Ball Era, 25 of the 30 teams that made the World Series had starting pitching staffs that won at least 80% of their team’s games.

Which starting staffs met that criteria since 1920?

96.8 – 1922 New York Yankees

93.9 – 1923 New York Yankees

92.5 – 1931 Philadelphia Athletics

90.6 – 1920 Chicago White Sox

89.5 – 1934 St. Louis Cardinals

88.2 – 1951 Cleveland Indians

87.1 – 1931 St. Louis Cardinals

85.4 – 1990 Oakland Athletics

85.1 – 1928 New York Yankees

85.0 – 1932 New York Yankees

83.8 – 1954 Cleveland Indians

83.0 – 1998 Atlanta Braves

82.5 – 1942 New York Yankees

82.4 – 1985 Kansas City Royals

82.4 – 1930 Philadelphia Athletics

82.0 – 2005 Houston Astros

81.8 – 1989 Oakland Athletics

81.6 – 1921 New York Yankees

81.1 – 1974 Oakland Athletics

81.0 – 1935 Chicago Cubs

80.6 – 2013 Detroit Tigers

80.2 – 1971 Baltimore Orioles

80.0 – 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers

80.0 – 1940 Cincinnati Reds

80.0 – 1928 New York Yankees

As you can see, that is an exclusive group and not as easily accomplished in the post-Dead Ball Era.

As much as you want your starters to win games, it goes without saying they should not lose them either and that results in a high winning percentage. Starting pitching staffs with a .700 winning percentage or better:about:blankREPORT THIS AD

.741 2001 Seattle Mariners

.732 1927 New York Yankees

.728 1944 St. Louis Cardinals

.723 1971 Baltimore Orioles

.721 1954 Cleveland Indians

.720 1942 New York Yankees

.717 1986 New York Mets

.711 1932 New York Yankees

.708 1939 New York Yankees

.708 1997 Atlanta Braves

.704 1998 Atlanta Braves

.702 1923 New York Yankees

.701 2018 Boston Red Sox

Wins and winning percentage are certainly tied to starting pitching, but they can also be tied to good fielding and hitting. Earned Run Average is more of a pitchers-only statistic. In the dead ball era that lasted till 1919, every team that made the World Series had a starting pitching staff with a combined ERA under 3.00. Three in fact, had a starting pitching staff with a combined ERA under 2.00: The 1907 Cubs (1.52), the 1906 Cubs (1.63) and the 1910 Philadelphia Athletics (1.70).

Starting pitching staffs that had an ERA under 3.00:

2.34 1942 St. Louis Cardinals

2.39 1968 St. Louis Cardinals

2.40 1933 New York Giants

2.40 1925 Washington Senators

2.46 1972 Oakland Athletics

2.48 1944 St. Louis Cardinals

2.56 1985 Los Angeles Dodgers

2.64 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers

2.65 1964 Chicago White Sox

2.68 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers

2.72 1942 New York Yankees

2.74 1975 Los Angeles Dodgers

2.75 2011 Philadelphia Phillies

2.78 1968 Detroit Tigers

2.78 1969 New York Mets

2.80 1997 Atlanta Braves

2.84 1963 New York Yankees

2.86 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates

2.86 1954 Cleveland Indians

2.89 1971 Baltimore Orioles

2.90 1986 Houston Astros

2.92 1988 New York Mets

2.92 1992 Atlanta Braves

2.94 2016 Chicago Cubs

2.94 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers

2.94 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers

2.95 1974 Oakland Athletics

2.95 1969 Baltimore Orioles

2.97 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers

2.97 1998 Atlanta Braves

2.98 1940 Cincinnati Reds

Run production has increased in modern times and after 1968, the pitching mound was lowered to give hitters a better chance to succeed. Those recent starting pitching staffs that had an ERA under 3.00 would appear to be a more impressive accomplishment than those of long ago.

Another way to compare pitching staffs is how their ERA compared to others in the same league that year. Why? In 1968, pitching statistics were better throughout major league baseball, but which starting pitching staffs stood out in their respective year? The following starting pitching staffs had an ERA one run or more less than the average starting pitcher’s ERA in their league that year and how much lower it was than their league average:

1.89 1925 Washington Senators

1.38 1998 Atlanta Braves

1.36 1997 Atlanta Braves

1.26 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers

1.22 2016 Chicago Cubs

1.20 1948 Cleveland Indians

1.19 1938 New York Yankees

1.19 2011 Philadelphia Phillies

1.17 1939 New York Yankees

1.12 2001 Seattle Mariners

1.11 1944 St. Louis Cardinals

1.10 1964 Chicago White Sox

1.06 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers

1.05 1998 New York Yankees

1.04 1942 St. Louis Cardinals

1.01 1999 Atlanta Braves

1.00 1927 New York Yankees

1.00 1954 New York Giants

1.00 1985 Los Angeles Dodgers

You may be wondering about some other notable pitching staffs that did not get mentioned because they did not make any of my five gold starting pitching staff standards.

Those would include: The 1961 Dodgers, 1962 Dodgers, 1980 Astros, 1980 Orioles, 1993 Braves, 1998 Astros, 2002 Braves, 2002 Yankees, and the 2014 Tigers.

After digesting all those statistics, the gold standard of a four-man rotation to no one’s surprise would be the 1971 Orioles.

Mike Cuellar 20-9 3.08

Pat Dobson 20-8 2.90

Jim Palmer 20-9 2.68

Dave McNally 21-5 2.89

The Orioles quartet combined for an 81-31 record and an ERA of 2.89 and won 81 out of the Orioles 101 wins on the year.

The only other quartet to have four 20-game winners were the 1920 White Sox. They combined for a record of 87-46 and an ERA of 3.38. They won 87 out of their team’s 96 wins.

Red Faber 23-13 2.99

Eddie Cicotte 21-10 3.26

Lefty Williams 22-14 3.91

Dickey Kerr 21 – 9 3.37

Although back then, relievers were pitchers that were not good enough to be starters. As a result, starting pitchers were more likely to factor into a higher percentage of their team’s wins.https://c0.pubmine.com/sf/0.0.3/html/safeframe.htmlREPORT THIS AD

The starters for the 1942 Yankees, the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals, the 1954 Indians and the 1971 Orioles met four of my five gold standards. The ’42 Yankees, ’54 Indians and ’71 Orioles starters combined ERA was less than their league’s starting pitchers average but still within one run of their league’s average. The Yankees were 0.97 lower, the Indians 0.82 lower, and the Orioles 0.58.

The ’42 Yankees used six starting pitchers that year:

Tiny Bonham 21-5 2.27

Spud Chandler 16-5 2.38

Hank Borowy 15-4 2.52

Red Ruffing 14-7 3.21

Atley Donald 11-3 3.11

Marv Breuer 8-9 3.07

The 1944 Cardinals starters almost made all five of my gold standards but fell one percent short of winning 80 percent of their team’s games as they won 79 percent of them.

Mort Cooper 22-7 2.46

Max Lanier 17-12 2.65

Ted Wilks 17-4 2.64

Harry Brecheen 16-5 2.85

Red Munger 11-3 1.34

Interestingly, only one starting pitching staff met all five of my gold standards: 80 wins, an ERA under 3.00, an ERA at least one run less than their league’s average starting pitchers, a winning percentage of .700 or better and winning 80 percent of their team’s wins – the 1998 Atlanta Braves.

Tom Glavine 20-6 2.47

Greg Maddux 18-9 2.22

John Smoltz 17-3 2.90

Kevin Millwood 17-8 4.08

Denny Neagle 16-11 3.55

The 1998 Braves had only the second starting pitching staff in Major League Baseball history that had five 16-game winners or better.

The other team to have five 16-game winners were the 1923 New York Yankees.

Sad Sam Jones 21-8 3.63

Herb Pennock 19-6 3.13

Bullet Joe Bush 19-15 3.43

Waite Hoyt 17-9 3.02

Bob Shawkey 16-11 3.51

They were the only pitching staff to have five 16-game winners till the 1998 Braves did it. As good as those Yankees starters were, they only met three of my five gold standards having an ERA of 3.42 which was only 0.39 less than the average starting pitchers in the American League that year.

The 1954 Cleveland Indians starting pitching staff:

Early Wynn 23-11 2.73

Bob Lemon 23-7 2.72

Mike Garcia 19-8 2.64

Art Houtteman 15-7 3.35

Bob Feller 13-3 3.09

and the 1944 Cardinals would be comparable to the 1998 Braves for the best five-man starting pitching staffs.

As the numbers show, the best 4-man starting pitching staff was the 1971 Baltimore Orioles. The best 5-man starting pitching staff was the 1998 Atlanta Braves. The best 6-man starting pitching staff was the 1942 New York Yankees.