Quiz – “10-40, Good Buddy” (solved) |

All of these pitchers had a career winning record with 100 ERA+, all played in the American League, and all but three played for the Yankees. But, what distinguishes these pitchers among all others since 1914?

Rk	Player
1	Dwight Gooden
2	Dave Ferriss
3	Vic Raschi
4	Tim Hudson
5	Tiny Bonham
6	Roger Clemens
7	Chien-Ming Wang
8	Mike Mussina
9	Barry Zito
10	Hank Borowy

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/15/2015.

Congratulations to Richard Chester! He knew that these ten pitchers were the fastest to win 40 starts from the beginning of their careers. Specifically, they are the only pitchers since 1914 to do so within their first 75 games.

Incidentally, if you’re thinking that the old CB radio sign-off was 10-4 and not 10-40, you are right. Except ten-four is actually short for ten-forty, the police code for acknowledging a received radio transmission.

Here are how these pitchers fared in the victorious starts in the first 75 games of their careers.

Rk	Player	Wins		ERA	CG	SHO	IP	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	SB	CS	Tm
1	Dwight Gooden	46	Ind. Games	1.07	25	13	380.0	11	92	395	0.89	30	10	NYM
2	Dave Ferriss	44	Ind. Games	2.07	42	11	396.0	12	97	147	1.10	3	3	BOS
3	Vic Raschi	43	Ind. Games	2.10	38	10	364.1	19	117	187	1.06	8	6	NYY
4	Tim Hudson	43	Ind. Games	1.88	4	2	312.0	20	90	267	0.97	24	6	OAK
5	Tiny Bonham	43	Ind. Games	1.65	40	12	381.1	11	54	123	0.93	5	8	NYY
6	Roger Clemens	42	Ind. Games	2.30	17	4	336.2	25	91	310	0.96	15	12	BOS
7	Chien-Ming Wang	41	Ind. Games	2.44	2	1	287.2	11	55	129	1.09	12	11	NYY
8	Mike Mussina	41	Ind. Games	2.04	11	6	322.1	20	71	199	0.98	10	10	BAL
9	Barry Zito	40	Ind. Games	1.65	4	3	273.0	18	99	248	1.02	13	12	OAK
10	Hank Borowy	40	Ind. Games	1.53	36	9	364.1	11	108	174	1.09	9	6	NYY

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/15/2015.

Incidentally, yet another Yankee is on pace to join this group. In his 37th game, Masahiro Tanaka picked up career win no. 22 today in Toronto. So, he’s half-way to 75 games and could get there by the end of next season.

0 0 votes

Article Rating

9 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Richard Chester

9 years ago

Is it a game accomplishment in the WS?

Author

Doug

No, not in the World Series.

The Goof

Does it involve winning percentage in the early part of their careers?

Reply to The Goof

Only indirectly.

Looks like it’s something like most wins in his first x number of games for a RH AL pitcher.

Reply to Richard Chester

Definitely on the right track.

Except, I’m pretty sure Gooden wasn’t in the AL in his first x games.

Reply to Doug

I ran most wins in first 100 games from start of career in the live ball era. They all had 52 wins but so did 6 others. Perhaps the 10-40 in the title is somewhat of a clue.

I made the same run for first 75 games. They all had 40+ wins and 40+ starts, no one else did.

Mark

Bucco fan here – unless I’m reading something wrong somewhere, our favorite young ace Gerrit Cole still has a chance here: 37-20 in 69 career starts (so an outside chance he could knock out joining the group by the end of this season, and/or move up the list by 75). Good stuff here as always, Doug!