Quote:
Originally Posted by G1911
To get Walter to the wins lead he’d need 95 wins. If we give him 95 wins, and deduct 95 losses, he’d be 512-184. That’s a winning percentage that seems unlikely even for Walter on the best teams. Young just pitched so many innings that I don’t think any team change would take his title away and give it to any other pitcher.
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Admitting to some prejudice on the matter, I've never understood how Cy Young--one of the all-time great pitchers, without question--gets a pass on his first ten seasons taking place in the 19th century. If you're going to assign a starting date for "modern" baseball, 1901 and the beginning of the two major leagues would seem to be a logical choice. We don't give Hoss Radbourn the record for wins at 59 or Will White the record for complete games at 75, because the game was too different when they pitched. Even the rules hadn't solidified: the distance from the rubber to the plate was 50 feet through 1893. If you start in 1901, the record book for career pitching feats looks quite different. Are there any other baseball records accepted from the 19th century? If not, why are those? I suppose the answer would be that Young proved himself a great pitcher in the 20th century, also, but is that enough?