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Did Ken Holtzman have the greatest pitching season ever ?
Goldenage
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in Sports Talk
In 1967 Holtzman was 9-0 with a 2.53 era in 12 starts.
What other pitcher had a better UNDEFEATED season than Holtzman ?
Starters only.
Hubbell won 24 straight one year but lost a few. Here are some of the greatest seasons ever by starting pitchers.
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No. Not close. Tim Burke in 1987 was best, but if you restrict it to starters then I'd go with Max Fried in 2020. The immortal Earl Hamilton in 1918 and Pascual Perez in 1987 are also contenders, if you insist on a full season. Interesting to note that the 1987 Expos have two of the top 15!
What were their records. ?
I think Clemens got to 20-0 back in 2001, but ended up 20-3
pitcher wins are not a good individual metric though.
overall, gibson in 68, maddux in 94-95, pedro 99-00, clemens 97 were all much better seasons regardless of "their" records
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
https://forums.collectors.com/home/leaving?allowTrusted=1&target=https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/870453-the-10-most-dominating-pitching-seasons-in-mlb-history.amp.html
1913
36 wins 7 losses 1.16 era
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Tom Zachary was 9-0 with a 2.21 ERA as a starter in 1929. He was also 3-0 as a reliever. His 12-0 is the best record without a loss in baseball history.
Because he split duty, he doesn't really qualify but I felt like mentioning him anyway.
He also gave up Babe Ruth's 60th homer in 1927.
7-0 for Burke, Fried, and Perez. Hamilton was 6-0. If you restrict the list to players who started 100% of their games, lost zero, and started at least 12 games, you can get Holtzman up to second best, but there are only three seasons like that. Holtzman was better than 2006 Randy Wolf, but I can't find any way to exclude Kirk Rueter's 1993 (8-0) season.
Not sure why he wouldn't. The Yankees won more games in Zachary's starts than the Cubs did in Holtzman's. Aaron Small in 2005 is similarly a lot better than Holtzman's 1967.
A comparison of the three seasons:
https://stathead.com/tiny/4D7rH
Bottom line is that you have to resort to ridiculous gymnastics to come up with a list that has Holtzman anywhere near the top.