One hit wonders/Freak years

[rats60]

Irv "Young Cy" Young won 20 games as a rookie for a team that only won 51 games and led NL pitchers with 9.9 Pitching WAR. He pitched 5 more seasons and he had an ERA+ below 100 all 5 finishing with a career ERA+ of 88 and 11.6 WAR.

In 1914 Bill James went 26-7 with a 1.90 ERA, ERA+ 150, finished 3rd in MVP voting as he helped the Braves win a World Championship and accumulated 7.9 WAR. He pitched 3 other seasons and went 11-14 and accumulated 0.4 WAR.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Not the same thing but it always freaked me out that Yaz 3 seasons of 40 or more home runs, but none between 30 and 40, and actually only one season between 23 and 40.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Dick Hughes. 16 game winner in 1966, won 4 games otherwise. Ron Bryant won 24 in 1973 and a total of 3 after that.

[egri]

Angel Berroa, the 2003 Rookie of the Year, never had a good season after. Dave "Boo" Ferriss won 46 games in two years for the Red Sox, then injured his arm and was never the same.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by rats60

Irv "Young Cy" Young won 20 games as a rookie for a team that only won 51 games and led NL pitchers with 9.9 Pitching WAR. He pitched 5 more seasons and he had an ERA+ below 100 all 5 finishing with a career ERA+ of 88 and 11.6 WAR.

In 1914 Bill James went 26-7 with a 1.90 ERA, ERA+ 150, finished 3rd in MVP voting as he helped the Braves win a World Championship and accumulated 7.9 WAR. He pitched 3 other seasons and went 11-14 and accumulated 0.4 WAR.

Irv Young screwed up the E98 & E97 sets forever when they called him Cy Young.

[KJA]

Danny Jackson in 1988

[cgjackson222]

Two more pitchers:

Dick Ellsworth went 22-10 with a 2.11 ERA (league leading 167 ERA+) and an absurd 10.2 bWAR in 1963.

Ellsworth only had one other winning season, and ended up with a 115-137 record with a league average ERA+ of exactly 100.


The year before Ellsworth's monster year, Bobby Schantz led the League with 24 wins to only 7 losses, an ERA of 2.48 (159 ERA+) and a league leading 8.8 bWAR on his way to an MVP. He would never win more than 11 games again.

[packs]

Evan Gattis had a brief career with a couple productive seasons but his 2015 season was kinda freaky. He had 12 triples in his entire career but hit 11 of them in 2015 as a catcher and finished tied for third while also hitting 27 homers.

[KJA]

John Tudor in 1985 with 10 shutouts, probably the last time a pitcher has at least 10 in a season.

[Fred]

Chase Headley 2012