Quote:
Originally Posted by aro13
What you are really doing is comparing Johnson and Mathewson to the rest of their teams pitchers. The record of the starting pitcher has nothing to do with the quality of the other pitchers on the staff, it has to do with the run support received. If Johnson received significantly less run support then Mathewson that would matter. If Johnson pitched on a staff that was considerably weaker then the staff that Mathewson pitched with that would not matter at all in comparing them.
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Actually, the quality of the other pitchers on the staff have a real, though indirect effect on the record of a given starting pitchers' record:
The burden of being the team's ace is not only that you are almost always going against the opponents' best, which means, on average, less offensive support, but also starts frequently moved up to get more total starts.
Back in the 'day', ace starters would routinely pitch on two days rest and even one in extreme situations. Lesser pitchers' starts would be passed over to accommodate more starts by the ace - plus those same aces would always be available for relief appearances on their day or days of rest.
All this definitely impacts great pitchers' records, so for Someone like Johnson to do all he did is even more amazing.
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