1938 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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The 1938 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

I have recently updated Player won-lost records to include more recent play-by-play data that was released by Retrosheet this summer. This includes play-by-play data for the majority of games played in three seasons prior to 1940. The most recent of these three seasons is the 1938 season.

This article takes a closer look at the 1938 season through the prism of Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1938

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.

		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Jimmie Foxx	22.4	13.0	3.4	4.8	1	Mel Ott	24.5	17.3	3.3	5.0
2	Mel Ott	24.5	17.3	3.3	5.0	2	Jimmie Foxx	22.4	13.0	3.4	4.8
3	Hank Greenberg	23.7	14.5	3.3	4.8	3	Hank Greenberg	23.7	14.5	3.3	4.8
4	Rudy York	18.0	11.4	3.2	4.4	4	Joe DiMaggio	23.7	17.1	3.0	4.7
5	Red Ruffing	18.6	13.4	3.2	4.4	5	Arky Vaughan	23.7	18.3	2.8	4.5
6	Joe DiMaggio	23.7	17.1	3.0	4.7	6	Rudy York	18.0	11.4	3.2	4.4
7	Big Bill Lee	20.3	15.2	3.0	4.4	7	Big Bill Lee	20.3	15.2	3.0	4.4
8	Arky Vaughan	23.7	18.3	2.8	4.5	8	Red Ruffing	18.6	13.4	3.2	4.4
9	Mel Harder	16.9	12.5	2.6	3.8	9	Ival Goodman	22.1	16.2	2.5	4.1
10	Bill Dickey	15.2	10.1	2.5	3.6	10	Joe Cronin	21.9	17.2	2.5	4.0

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.

		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Mel Ott	25.2	16.6	4.0	5.6	1	Mel Ott	25.2	16.6	4.0	5.6
2	Jimmie Foxx	22.1	13.4	3.1	4.5	2	Arky Vaughan	23.7	18.3	2.8	4.5
3	Hank Greenberg	23.4	14.8	3.0	4.5	3	Jimmie Foxx	22.1	13.4	3.1	4.5
4	Arky Vaughan	23.7	18.3	2.8	4.5	4	Hank Greenberg	23.4	14.8	3.0	4.5
5	Red Ruffing	18.0	13.9	2.6	3.8	5	Harlond Clift	21.2	15.5	2.6	4.1
6	Harlond Clift	21.2	15.5	2.6	4.1	6	Joe DiMaggio	23.0	17.8	2.4	4.0
7	Joe DiMaggio	23.0	17.8	2.4	4.0	7	Red Ruffing	18.0	13.9	2.6	3.8
8	Rudy York	17.1	12.3	2.3	3.5	8	Indian Bob Johnson	23.2	18.5	2.1	3.8
9	Indian Bob Johnson	23.2	18.5	2.1	3.8	9	Charlie Gehringer	21.7	17.8	2.0	3.6
10	Charlie Gehringer	21.7	17.8	2.0	3.6	10	Joe Cronin	21.4	17.6	2.0	3.6

As of August, 2013, Retrosheet has released play-by-play data for just over half of all major-league games played in 1938 (57.9% to be precise). The next two tables mirror the previous two tables except that Player won-lost records have been scaled to a consistent 154-game season. This scaling is done at the level of the team, so, for example the Player won-lost records of all of the members of the NL-pennant winning Chicago Cubs are adjusted up based on the 117 games for which I have play-by-play data (i.e., the numbers for all Cubs players are simply multiplied by 154/117 = 1.316); adjustments are not based on the number of games played by individual players.

The top 10 players in normalized pWOPA, pWORL, eWOPA, and eWORL in 1938 are shown in the next four tables.

		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Jimmie Foxx	23.0	13.4	3.5	5.0	1	Mel Ott	24.9	17.5	3.3	5.0
2	Mel Ott	24.9	17.5	3.3	5.0	2	Jimmie Foxx	23.0	13.4	3.5	5.0
3	Hank Greenberg	23.6	14.4	3.3	4.8	3	Hank Greenberg	23.6	14.4	3.3	4.8
4	Rudy York	17.9	11.4	3.2	4.4	4	Joe DiMaggio	23.2	16.8	3.0	4.6
5	Red Ruffing	18.2	13.1	3.1	4.3	5	Arky Vaughan	24.0	18.6	2.8	4.5
6	Big Bill Lee	20.3	15.2	3.0	4.4	6	Big Bill Lee	20.3	15.2	3.0	4.4
7	Joe DiMaggio	23.2	16.8	3.0	4.6	7	Rudy York	17.9	11.4	3.2	4.4
8	Arky Vaughan	24.0	18.6	2.8	4.5	8	Red Ruffing	18.2	13.1	3.1	4.3
9	Mel Harder	17.0	12.6	2.6	3.8	9	Ival Goodman	22.6	16.5	2.6	4.1
10	Ival Goodman	22.6	16.5	2.6	4.1	10	Joe Cronin	22.5	17.6	2.5	4.1

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.

		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Mel Ott	25.5	16.9	4.0	5.7	1	Mel Ott	25.5	16.9	4.0	5.7
2	Jimmie Foxx	22.7	13.7	3.2	4.6	2	Jimmie Foxx	22.7	13.7	3.2	4.6
3	Hank Greenberg	23.3	14.7	2.9	4.5	3	Arky Vaughan	24.1	18.5	2.9	4.6
4	Arky Vaughan	24.1	18.5	2.9	4.6	4	Hank Greenberg	23.3	14.7	2.9	4.5
5	Red Ruffing	17.7	13.6	2.6	3.8	5	Harlond Clift	21.0	15.3	2.6	4.0
6	Harlond Clift	21.0	15.3	2.6	4.0	6	Joe DiMaggio	22.6	17.5	2.3	3.9
7	Rudy York	17.0	12.3	2.3	3.5	7	Red Ruffing	17.7	13.6	2.6	3.8
8	Joe DiMaggio	22.6	17.5	2.3	3.9	8	Indian Bob Johnson	23.2	18.5	2.1	3.8
9	Indian Bob Johnson	23.2	18.5	2.1	3.8	9	Joe Cronin	22.0	18.1	2.1	3.7
10	Joe Cronin	22.0	18.1	2.1	3.7	10	Charlie Gehringer	21.5	17.7	2.0	3.6

For the 1927 and 1931 seasons, the top 10 leaderboards are littered with Hall-of-Famers, most of them all-time greats. In 1927, 14 of the 16 players in the top 10 in (adjusted) pWOPA, pWORL, eWOPA, or eWORL are in the Hall of Fame. In 1931, it's 14 Hall-of-Famers out of 17 total players.

Of the 15 names in the preceding four tables, however, less than half of them are Hall-of-Famers: 7 out of 15. And it's not just a couple of guys slipping into the bottom of one table: non-HOFers are at the top of all four tables! Ival Goodman
Based on the above tables, the top player in the major leagues in 1938 in (normalized) context-neutral player wins over positional average and replacement level and second in pWOPA and pWORL was Cincinnati Reds right fielder Ival Goodman. Ival Goodman!? Yep, Ival Goodman.

Seriously? Well, probably not.

For those who don't know - and I assume that's most of you - Goodman played for 10 seasons from 1935 - 1944, the first 8 with the Reds. He was the Reds' regular right fielder for the first six years of his career, 1935 - 1940, which included two Reds pennant winners in 1939 and 1940. Goodman led the league in triples his first two seasons in the majors and hit 10 or more triples in each of his first five seasons. He made two All-Star teams, in 1938 and 1939, and probably did, in fact, have his finest season in 1938, in which he batted .292/.368/.533 with career-highs of 30 home runs, 92 RBI, and 103 runs scored.

That's all well and good. But the only thing in which Ival Goodman led the NL in 1938 was HBP (with 15). He was 5th in the NL in OPS (.901) and 8th in plate appearances (648). Again, those are good numbers. Ival Goodman was a good player having a very good year in 1938. But Jimmie Foxx batted .349/.462/.704 with 50 home runs and 175 RBI. Hank Greenberg hit 58 home runs, drove in 146 runs and scored 144. In Goodman's National League, Johnny Mize hit .337/.422/.614 and Mel Ott hit .311/.442/.583 with an NL-leading 36 home runs and 116 runs scored. Why does Goodman show up ahead of all of these guys?

I believe that the answer, unfortunately, is that, by sheer dumb luck, I have play-by-play data for Ival Goodman's best games and am missing play-by-play data for many of Ival Goodman's worst games.

Overall, I have play-by-play data for 145 games in which Ival Goodman played in 1938, less than half of the 145 total games he played.

In 1938, Goodman's three favorite parks to hit in were Brooklyn (Ebbetts Field), New York (Polo Grounds), and Chicago (Wrigley Field), where he put up OPS's of 1.214, 1.270, and 1.035, respectively, in a combined 30 games. I have play-by-play data for 90 of Goodman's 139 plate appearances at these three ballparks (64.7%).

In 1938, Goodman's three least-favorite parks to hit in were in Boston (Braves Field), Pittsburgh (Forbes Field), and Philadelphia (Shibe Park), where he put up OPS's of 0.677, 0.645, and 0.569, respectively. I have play-by-play data for 43 of Goodman's 107 plate appearances at these three ballparks (40.2%).

In between these two extremes, I have play-by-play data for 145 of Goodman's 318 plate appearances at home (Crosley Field), where he put up a respectable .868 OPS.
note: Baseball-Reference has batting splits by ballpark based on box scores even for games without play-by-play data.

Overall, I have data for 297 of Ival Goodman's 648 plate appearances in 1938, 45.8%. But I have play-by-play data for 95 of Goodman's 166 hits, 57.2%. For the games from which I calculated Player won-lost records, Ival Goodman really did hit like the best player in the National League. Unfortunately for him (and the Reds), he played in 0 additional games in 1938.

Oh, well. It was still kind of fun to learn a little something about a player that I hadn't heard of before.

Big Bill Lee

While Ival Goodman's appearance in the above tables is something of a data anomaly, the appearance of Big Bill Lee is probably much more legitimate. First, I have play-by-play data for more of Lee's 1938 season: 44 of 44 games.

But second, and more importantly, Big Bill Lee, while a fairly mediocre pitcher for much of his career, was legitimately great in 1938. As the ace of the NL pennant-winning Chicago Cubs, Lee led the National League in pitcher wins (22), games started (37), shutouts (9), and ERA (2.66).

Unfortunately for Lee, he never had another season anywhere close to that good. After one more season as an above-average starter in 1939 (at age 29), Lee spent the next eight years as a mostly below-average starting pitcher for bad baseball teams.

But in 1938, Big Bill Lee was a legitimately great pitcher.

1938 Postseason

The 1938 World Series was one of the more lopsided World Series, fairly representative of the relative histories of the two participants, with the New York Yankees sweeping the Chicago Cubs in four straight games.

The star of the World Series, as measured by Player won-lost records, was Red Ruffing, with two complete-game victories in which he allowed a combined 3 runs.

	1938 World Series: Top Player Performances
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
Red Ruffing	NYA	1.8	0.7	0.7
Frankie Crosetti	NYA	1.4	0.4	0.6

Best of 1938 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over Positional Average in various aspects of the game. The numbers in this section have all been normalized to 154-game seasons. As above, this adjustment is based on team games for which I have play-by-play data, not individual player games.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1938 in eWOPA by factor were as follows.

	Batting
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Jimmie Foxx	17.7	9.8	3.7

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

See my earlier discussion about why this probably over-rates Ival Goodman's batting in 1938. Jimmie Foxx, on the other hand, was, of course, a legitimately great hitter who had a legitimately great 1938 season.

	Baserunning
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Harlond Clift	1.3	0.7	0.3
Stan Hack	1.6	1.1	0.2
Joe Gordon	0.9	0.5	0.2
Lloyd Waner	1.2	0.7	0.2
Red Rolfe	1.3	0.8	0.2
Lee Handley	1.4	0.9	0.2
Charlie Gehringer	1.1	0.7	0.2
Pete Fox	1.1	0.7	0.2
Lyn Lary	1.4	1.0	0.2
Tommy Henrich	0.9	0.5	0.2
Billy Herman	1.4	1.0	0.2

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Pitching
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Red Ruffing	12.7	10.0	2.7
Emil 'Dutch' Leonard	12.1	9.4	2.7
Mel Harder	12.9	10.3	2.6
Lefty Gomez	11.8	9.3	2.5
Lefty Grove	8.7	6.7	2.1
Thornton Lee	13.4	11.4	2.0
Bill McGee	11.1	9.2	1.9

	Fielding, P
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Johnny Murphy	0.4	0.2	0.3
Johnny Rigney	0.4	0.1	0.3
Claude Passeau	0.7	0.5	0.3

	Fielding, C
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Al Todd	1.8	1.4	0.4

	Fielding, 1B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Hank Greenberg	2.8	2.3	0.5

	Fielding, 2B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Pep Young	7.7	6.8	0.9

	Fielding, 3B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Red Rolfe	5.4	4.3	1.1

	Fielding, SS
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Frankie Crosetti	8.1	7.2	1.0

	Fielding, LF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
George Selkirk	4.3	3.3	1.0

	Fielding, CF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Vince DiMaggio	7.5	6.6	0.9

	Fielding, RF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Ben Chapman	6.9	5.9	1.0

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1938 Major-League leaders in eWOPA by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position, and include no contextual adjustments (expected or actual).

	Catcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Rudy York	12.8	9.4	1.7

	First Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Jimmie Foxx	20.8	12.9	2.7

	Second Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Charlie Gehringer	20.7	17.3	1.8

	Third Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Harlond Clift	21.5	16.3	2.4

	Shortstop
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Arky Vaughan	24.1	18.9	2.7

	Left Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Joe Medwick	22.5	18.6	1.5

	Center Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Joe DiMaggio	21.2	16.6	2.0

	Right Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Ival Goodman	22.2	17.5	1.9

	Starting Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Red Ruffing	13.1	10.2	1.4
Lefty Gomez	12.3	9.7	1.3
Emil 'Dutch' Leonard	12.4	9.9	1.2
Mel Harder	12.7	10.3	1.2

	Relief Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Harry Eisenstat	3.1	1.9	0.6

For relief pitchers, context-neutral records may not be the best measure of how good they are, as context can matter a great deal, depending on how a pitcher is used. Here are the top relief pitchers of 1938 in context, in terms of pWins and pWOPA.

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Top Relief Pitchers of 1938, based on pWORL
Charley Root	8.4	7.4	0.530	0.7	1.5
Johnny Murphy	6.1	4.9	0.557	0.8	1.4
Jack Russell	4.5	3.1	0.590	0.8	1.3
Bill V. Swift	7.8	7.3	0.517	0.5	1.3
Mace Brown	7.3	7.0	0.511	0.3	1.2

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.

	Pitcher Offense
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Red Ruffing	1.9	1.9	0.4
Clay Bryant	1.9	2.1	0.4
Hal Schumacher	1.4	1.3	0.4

	Pinch Hitter
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Frenchy Bordagaray	1.3	0.8	0.4

	Pinch Runner
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Pepper Martin	0.1	0.0	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1938

I conclude this look at the 1938 season by looking at three all-time great players who were regulars in 1938.

Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig played in every New York Yankees' game from June 2, 1925 through April 30, 1939. I have play-by-play data for 1865 of the 2,130 games of this remarkable streak.

The snapshot we get of Lou Gehrig's career from these three seasons is fairly representative of Gehrig's overall career. For the 1927, 1931, and 1938 seasons, Lou Gehrig had a combined batting line of .337/.443/.651 with averages of 40 home runs, 156 RBI, and 140 runs scored per 154 games. For the rest of his career, Gehrig batted .341/.448/.627 with 154-game averages of 34 HRs, 138 RBI, and 133 runs scored.

Based on the data I have, a typical season in Lou Gehrig's career looked something like this in Player won-lost records.

Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Lou Gehrig	154	22.6	13.7	3.4	4.9	22.2	14.1	3.0	4.5

Just for some perspective, here are the best seasons in the careers of some of the best first baseman of the past 60 years, adjusted to 154 games.

Player	Season	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Harmon Killebrew	1967	154	21.6	13.5	3.0	4.5	21.8	13.3	3.1	4.6
Willie McCovey	1969	154	22.8	12.5	3.9	5.4	22.0	13.3	3.1	4.6
Jeff Bagwell	1994	154	23.9	13.9	3.8	5.4	24.3	13.5	4.2	5.8
Frank Thomas	1994	154	20.7	12.7	3.2	4.7	20.8	12.6	3.3	4.8
Mark McGwire	1998	154	21.3	12.7	3.2	4.6	21.5	12.5	3.5	4.8
Albert Pujols	2006	154	25.0	13.6	4.7	6.0	23.7	14.9	3.4	4.7

Charlie Gehringer

Detroit Tigers' second baseman Charlie Gehringer was nicknamed "The Mechanical Man" because his performance was so consistent. Over 14 seasons from 1927 through 1940, Gehringer batted over .300 every season. He batted over .320 9 times in those 14 seasons; he collected 175 or more hits 9 times; he slugged over .500 7 times. I have calculated Player won-lost records for 4 of the 14 seasons of Gehringer's prime. And somehow, I missed every season he batted over .320, every season he had 175 or more hits, and every season he slugged over .500. Gehringer's top totals for those three things in the seasons for which I have Player won-lost records were .317 (1927), 174 hits (1938), and a .486 slugging percentage (1938). I also have 3 of his 4 lowest home run totals in that 14-season stretch (although I also have his peak home run season: 20 in 1938). I have only 1 of his 7 100-RBI seasons.

Gehringer played 144 or more games every season from 1928 - the year after the first year of Gehringer's for which I have play-by-play data - through 1938 (which I do have), except for one - 1931, the only year between 1928 and 1937 for which I have play-by-play data so far.

Even with all of that, the numbers that I do have for Gehringer stand up reasonably well to other Hall-of-Fame second basemen, on a per-game basis. Career averages per 154 games for Hall-of-Fame second basemen who started their career in 1947 or later are compared to Charlie Gehringer's 1927, 1931, & 1938 154-game average in the next table.

		Hall of Fame Second Basemen (per 154 games)
Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Charlie Gehringer	154	19.0	17.3	0.9	2.4	19.4	16.9	1.3	2.8
-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
Rogers Hornsby	154	23.1	16.8	3.1	4.7	23.2	16.7	3.2	4.8
Jackie Robinson	154	21.8	15.6	2.9	4.4	21.0	16.4	2.1	3.6
Joe L. Morgan	154	21.7	17.0	2.7	4.2	21.5	17.3	2.4	4.0
Joe Gordon	154	21.3	17.0	2.3	3.8	20.7	17.6	1.7	3.2
Bobby Doerr	154	21.8	17.8	2.2	3.8	21.0	18.6	1.4	3.0
Frankie Frisch	154	22.2	18.5	1.9	3.6	21.5	19.2	1.2	2.9
Tony Lazzeri	154	20.4	17.1	1.8	3.4	19.8	17.7	1.2	2.8
Billy Herman	154	21.7	18.8	1.6	3.3	21.0	19.5	0.9	2.6
Charlie Gehringer	154	20.4	17.5	1.6	3.2	20.6	17.3	1.8	3.4
Roberto Alomar	154	20.4	18.2	1.3	2.8	20.1	18.4	1.1	2.6
Ryne Sandberg	154	20.5	18.2	1.2	2.7	20.6	18.0	1.4	2.8
Nellie Fox	154	19.1	17.9	1.0	2.5	18.4	18.7	0.2	1.7
Rod Carew	154	18.4	16.2	1.0	2.4	18.4	16.2	1.0	2.4
Craig Biggio	154	19.4	17.6	1.0	2.4	19.3	17.7	0.9	2.3
Eddie Collins Sr.	154	18.7	17.4	0.6	2.0	18.8	17.2	0.7	2.2
Red Schoendienst	154	18.2	17.5	0.6	2.0	17.9	17.8	0.2	1.7
Bill Mazeroski	154	17.5	17.6	0.3	1.8	17.3	17.8	0.1	1.6

Bob Feller

When I had only calculated Player won-lost records going back to 1947, I wrote an article that looked at Player won-lost records for Hall-of-Fame players. Bob Feller showed up on the table of Hall-of-Famers, but he was toward the bottom of the list (which was sorted by career pWORL) with players who are either widely regarded as statistical mistakes or players for whom the bulk of their Hall-of-Fame case was prior to 1947. Bob Feller fell into this latter category.

With the addition of 1938 and the first seven years of the 1940s, we have a bit more of the Hall-of-Fame case for Bob Feller. Bob Feller's career Player won-lost records are shown in the next table. These results are not adjusted for missing games.

Season	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Bob Feller Basic Player Won-Lost Records
1936	17	13	4.4	2.9	0.603	0.8	1.2	3.8	3.6	0.513	0.2	0.5
1937	18	26	10.0	9.9	0.504	0.3	1.2	10.0	9.9	0.502	0.3	1.2
1938	19	39	19.7	16.6	0.543	2.0	3.5	18.1	18.2	0.500	0.4	1.9
1939	20	39	20.4	15.2	0.573	3.1	4.8	20.1	15.5	0.565	2.8	4.5
1940	21	43	25.0	16.6	0.602	4.9	6.7	23.9	17.7	0.574	3.7	5.5
1941	22	44	23.9	17.4	0.579	3.9	5.7	21.9	19.3	0.532	1.9	3.7
1942	23
1943	24
1944	25
1945	26	9	4.7	4.5	0.511	0.2	0.7	4.9	4.3	0.532	0.4	0.9
1946	27	48	27.3	20.0	0.577	4.3	6.6	26.1	21.2	0.551	3.1	5.4
1947	28	42	20.6	17.1	0.547	2.3	3.9	19.9	17.8	0.528	1.6	3.2
1948	29	44	18.9	18.3	0.509	0.7	2.4	18.7	18.5	0.503	0.5	2.1
1949	30	36	12.5	14.2	0.468	-0.5	0.6	13.6	13.1	0.509	0.6	1.7
1950	31	35	16.2	14.0	0.537	1.5	2.9	15.5	14.7	0.513	0.8	2.2
1951	32	33	17.3	13.2	0.567	2.4	3.7	15.0	15.4	0.494	0.2	1.5
1952	33	30	10.5	12.9	0.449	-0.9	0.2	11.1	12.3	0.474	-0.3	0.7
1953	34	25	10.4	9.6	0.520	0.7	1.5	9.8	10.3	0.488	0.0	0.9
1954	35	19	10.1	7.5	0.573	1.6	2.4	9.0	8.6	0.512	0.5	1.3
1955	36	25	3.5	4.6	0.432	-0.5	-0.1	4.0	4.1	0.493	0.0	0.4
1956	37	19	1.5	3.2	0.323	-0.8	-0.5	2.2	2.5	0.462	-0.1	0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)		569	257.0	217.6	0.542	26.1	47.2	247.6	227.0	0.522	16.6	37.7

As I said, we have more of Feller's career, but we're still missing quite a bit: 210.2 IP with 226 K's at ages 17-18 in 1936 and 1937, his breakthrough age-20 season in 1939 when he led the American League in pitcher wins, complete games, innings pitched, strikeouts, and H/9 (and walks), and -78 of the 183 games which Feller pitched in 1938 and 1940-46 (the majority from Feller's finest season, 1946, when he struck out 348 in a mind-boggling 371.1 innings while posting a 2.18 ERA). And, of course, Bob Feller's career is missing his age 23-25 seasons (and most of his age 26 season), not because of missing Player won-lost records, but because of World War II.

Still, at least there's a definite sense now of just how special a pitcher Bob Feller was.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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