The sun., 1910-01-30
LEADING BASEBALL PITCHERS
WINNING PERCENTAGE ES FOR 10
GAMES or MORE SINCE 1871
A. 6. spaldinG stnl Holds the Record OG
-s00-RadbOurne and CIarksOD with
S7 Games EACn Not Surpassed
Leaders Furnished by the Giants.

Looking back over the pitchers records
since baseball became an organized sport
for professionals it will be found that
only thirty boxmen have hung up the
highest percentage of victories IL they
pitched in more than twenty-five games.
1t was in 1871 that Dick Mcbride OF the
PhilSdelphia Athletics established a per
cent. Of .7Ss for twenty-five games and
led the profession. Since then the leading
pitchers have taken part in q greater
number Of contests, the record in this
respect being held by those famous
twirlers Charley Radbourne of the 1884
Providence team and John @. Clarkson
Of the 1880 Bostons. each OF whom pitched
seventy-two games for percentages OF
.s3s and .TS8 respectively. A. @. Spalding
still holds the highest winning percentage.
soc. hung up in 1875 when he was a mem
ber OF the Boston team.
Following the mark set by Mcbride
In 1871. Spalding led all pitchers for the
next five years. He was with the Bostons
in 1871, 1878. 1874 and 1875. after which he
became q member OF the Chicagoe in 1879.
In 1872 Spalding pitched forty seven
games for q percentage OF $50. In 1873
he took part in sixty games for .779. In
1874 his record was sixty games and III.
In 1875 he twirled sixty three games with
a percentage OF 500 and in 1879 he played
in sixty games for .7s3. Thomas Bond
supplanted Spalding as the National
Leagues star pitcher in 1877 and 1878.
Bond was q member OF the Bostons and
had the noted Charley Snyder behind
the bat. His record in 1877 was forty
v,ins ~~p,au aHd . r,~roopf a mn ~ aAR xvhila
in 1873 1t was fifty-nine games and .6s3.
John NJ. Ward was the leagues crack
twirler in 1879. He pitched sixty-fve
games for Providence that year and his
winning percentage was .702. Provi-
dence won the championship and Ward
was chiefly responsible for the honor.
Larry Corooran. short in stature but with
q great arm. helped Chicago TO win the
pennant in 1880 and 1881. His side part
ner in the box was Fred Goldsmith and
together they made monkeys of the other
teams In the league. Corcoran led all
the pitchers in those two years with fifty
ak games and .7os in 1880 and forty-hve
games and .eo7 in 1891. Goldsmith car
ried Oh the honors in 1882, when the
Chicagos won the pennant for the third
consecutive time. for he pitched forty
three games with a percentage Of .o5S.
Grasshopper Jim Whitney. California
phenomenon, pitched sixty-two games for
the champion Bostons In 1883 and had a
percentage of .sSs. Whitney was more than
ak feet tall. rs lean az bean pole, but a
powerful man physically. He had ter
rific speed and with the walk up" de-
livery in vogue in those days made life
miserable for his catchers. Radbourne
,xoxnd I. x,arit. ~. hrrna o. ,vorl, l., 1oaI
when he pitched seventy-two games for
a percentage Of .s3s and practically won
the pennant for Providence. The pre-
vious year saw Radbourne hang up a
record or thirty-seven consecutive games
in the box. twenty-eight being victories.
Radbourne was one Of the first pitchers
TO use change OF pace" He had perfect
control Of the ball and mixed up the fast
and slow ones in a most perplexing man
ner. He had plenty Of speed when he
his arm by making the men behind him
do their share OF the work. Headwork
in fact was his best quality, for he never
became ratified and on many occasions
he purposely handed out bases on balls
to prevent star batsmen from leading
OF in a subsequent inning. Radbourne
had a wonderful coworker in Charley
Sweeney. whose record of twenty-one
strikeouts in a game played against the
Bostons in 1883 still remains unequalled.
pitcher with the Chicagos in 1885. He
pitched seventy games, winning .745 per
cent. of them and showed superb science.
Clarkson was another student OF strategy.
He was not a big man physically, but he
had a head filled with brains and he knew
how to pitch. He was wise to the weak
points OF all the batsmen and was about
the coolest proposition imaginable when
under fire. Garrison. a native OF Cam
bridge, Mass. was delighted when the
Chicago Club sold his release to Boston
in 1859 for SO 900. and he promptly showed
his appreciation OF the deal by pitching
seventy-two games for q percentage OF
.736. The Giants nosed the Bostons out
Of the pennant that year. but it was not
the fault OF GARRISON, who practically
pitched his arm Oh in a game attempt to
keep the Hub team in front.
When Detroit won the National League
championship in 1885 the Wolverines
star pitcher was Lady Baldwin, a left
handler. Baldwin received this nickname
because OF his quiet habits. but he was
an iron man in the box and had nerves
Of steel. He pitched ffty-six games and
won rs per cent. Of them in Impressive
style. the Detroits playing with supreme
confidence behind him at all times
Although the Philadelphias did not
capture the pennant in 1887 they had the
leading pitcher in Charley Ferguson,
who officiated in thirty-five games for
a percentage OF $50. Ferguson was not
only a fine twirler but also a splendid
general player and batsman, and when
he died the baseball sharps said that it
would be many years before the game
could produce his equal.
Tim Keefe OF the Giants was the cham
pion pitcher in 1888. He took part in
fifty games with a winning percentage OF
.746. But he received much assistance
from Smiling Mickey Welch, who had a
record OF forty-seven games and SIT.
Koefe was an artist. Like Radbourne
and Clarkson he knew what a good
slow ball meant, and he worked it with
glittering success. Yet he had tremen-
dous speed and perfect control One OF
his fast shoots nearly killed John Bur-
dock in Boston that year, which caused
Sir Timothy to bride his speed in a
measure the rest Of the campaign. Keefe
had star catcher in Buck Ewing, con-
sidered by many veteran critics the best
backstop that ever donned a mask They
worked together like clockwork and
science was never lacking.
Tom Lovett OF the Brooklyns led the
pitchers in 1900, the Brotherhood veal,
when the National League was a wreck.
This did not mean that Lovett was not
q first class boxman, however, for he
had n rarNanfa no Of TQa Ror a..