6. Best/worst after win No. 200
Remember how Marichal’s record fell off after winning No. 200? That brings up some questions. Who did the best/worst after winning 200? Who had the biggest fall off? Did anyone actually get better in terms of winning percentage?
Let’s limit this to people with more than 50 decisions after their 200th win, or else the answer will be someone like Charlie Root, who went 1-0 between his 200th win and retirement.
Among those guys, the best winning percentage belongs to Roger Clemens, who went 154-73 (.678) after his 200th win. Prior to that he won only at a .643 clip. (Pause for people to mutter a steroids-related comment.) Yeah, but he also had much better run support later in his career, too.
Next-best winning percentage after joining the club: Red Ruffing. Huh. Ruffing is a guy who lost 90 games before winning 40. Pitching for terrible Red Sox teams, Ruffing had an even worse winning record. Then he went to terrific Yankee teams and had an even better winning percentage. Weird.
Plus Ruffing also aged really well. He went from 200-184 (.521) to 73-41 (.640) in his final years. And yes, that’s the biggest improvement in winning percentage for anyone with at least 50 decisions after the 200th win.
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1. Dag Nabbit has the talking pillow Posted: August 08, 2011 at 05:43 PM (#3895479)Waite Hoyt's 200th was his first win in 3 months.
6,380 attended Blyleven's 200th win.
Whitey Ford was 0-4 w/ 3 Ks in his 200th win.
Hal Newhouser's 200th was his last win with the Tigers.
Charles Finley's 200th win was in his last game.
Kenny Rogers came against Mark Prior, who surrendered six runs in the first inning. Rogers later doubled off a reliever.
Mickey Lolich did his in a rain-shortened complete game.
Wes Ferrell is involved in two of these games. Ted Lyons beat him for one. And Lefty Grove won #200 in relief of Wes Ferrell. THeir Red Sox took an early 10-1 lead over the opposing A's, and Ferrell seemed determined to blow it. Grove pitched the last 6.1 IP, allowed two runs and won 11-9.
Bob Welch did his on Opening Day
Burleigh Grimes had a 12-0 lead by the middle of the third inning of his. It's nice to pitch against the Phillies in 1928.
Earl Whitehill led 14-0 after four inning against Washington in his game.
When Lew Burdette won in relief, the losing pitcher was Jim Bouton. Burdette was an Angel at the time, still the only person to win his 200th as an Angel. There's a stump-the-bar trivia question for you.
Charlie Root did it in relief: he pitched the final 8.2 innings of a nine-inning game. The Cubs won 6-4 and he allowed two of the four opposing runs. Quick hook.
The Yankees have had the most guys win #200 for them: 12 in all, including 11 since 1919.
The following teams have only had one guy win #200 for them, since 1919 anyway: Arizona, StB/Baltimore, Angels, Expos/Nationals, Mariners, Blue Jays.
Seven pitchers have won #200 against the Browns/Orioles since 1919, the most of any team. (George Uhle, Hal Newhouser, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, Jerry Reuss, David Wells, Andy Pettitte). No one has ever done it against the Cardinals; not since 1919 anyway.
The Yanks had two guys do it in the same week once - Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown.
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