CC Sabathia turns 32 today - and his 186 Ws most wins by a pitcher his age since Catfish Hunter in 1978.
Catfish had an amazing 210 wins as of his 32nd birthday - then went 12-6 in 118 IP in 1978, then 2-9 with a 5.31 ERA in 1979 and was done.
Catfish went 111-49 from 1971-75, winning 20+ each year in an avg of 291 IP per yr (the A's also won the WS in 1972-74, with the flamboyant Hunter and his moustache at the top of the rotation. It amuses me that young fans now don't get how he made the Hall of FAME).
Then he turned 30, and was practically done. He bulldogged a 17-15 season with a 98 ERA+, then went 6-9 with an 84 ERA+ before turning 32 (See above).
Don't necessarily see a parallel for CC; just found it interesting.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last eight pitchers with at least 186 wins before turning 32 are all in the Hall of Fame: Bob Feller (208, 1950), Hal Newhouser (200, 1953), Robin Roberts (206, 1958), Don Drysdale (202, 1968), Juan Marichal (191, 1969), Ferguson Jenkins (191, 1975), Jim Palmer (194, 1977) and Hunter.
CC a bit behind them in Ws, but several didn't last much longer...
Catfish had an amazing 210 wins as of his 32nd birthday - then went 12-6 in 118 IP in 1978, then 2-9 with a 5.31 ERA in 1979 and was done.
Catfish went 111-49 from 1971-75, winning 20+ each year in an avg of 291 IP per yr (the A's also won the WS in 1972-74, with the flamboyant Hunter and his moustache at the top of the rotation. It amuses me that young fans now don't get how he made the Hall of FAME).
Then he turned 30, and was practically done. He bulldogged a 17-15 season with a 98 ERA+, then went 6-9 with an 84 ERA+ before turning 32 (See above).
Don't necessarily see a parallel for CC; just found it interesting.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last eight pitchers with at least 186 wins before turning 32 are all in the Hall of Fame: Bob Feller (208, 1950), Hal Newhouser (200, 1953), Robin Roberts (206, 1958), Don Drysdale (202, 1968), Juan Marichal (191, 1969), Ferguson Jenkins (191, 1975), Jim Palmer (194, 1977) and Hunter.
CC a bit behind them in Ws, but several didn't last much longer...
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