Mulder: Best Mound Add'n Since '54
near as i can tell, mark mulder is the best starting pitcher the cards have acquired in the last 50 offseasons — on paper, anyway. see data at end of post.
his won-loss record alone — 17-8 last year, 51-24 over the last three years — makes him a rare pickup. the last time the cards added a 17-game winner to their rotation was 1972, when they acquired rick wise from the phillies . . . . for a guy named carlton. wise had gone 17-14 in 1971 pitching for the god-awful phillies and distinguished himself by throwing a no-hitter and hitting two dingers in the game for good measure. in the three seasons before he joined the cards wise went 45-41 — not bad when you consider the phillies were an aggregate 79 games under .500 during that span. and he won 32 games in his two years in st louis, making the all-star team one year. so he worked out pretty well. but carlton . . . . . well, you know.
aside from mulder and wise, the cards haven’t added a 17-game winner to their rotation since before 1950.
they have, however, made some splashy pickups, including darryl kile, andy benes, pat hentgen, todd stottlemyre, john tudor, lary sorenson, bryn smith, and chuck finley. most of these guys were very productive in cardinal red, but none came equipped with anything near mulderesque credentials.
benes came to st louis in 1996 burdened with a 76-77 career mark and an aggregate of just 32 wins (against 38 losses) over the three previous years; he went 52-37 for the cards in two tours of duty and helped the team to four division titles. hentgen brought an impressive 105-74 career mark but was already sliding, viz. just 38-33 cumulative in the three years immediately before he joined stl; he went a shaky 15-12 for the cards in 2000 and has won just 11 games in the 21st century. kile washed ashore in st louis after two seasons adrift at coors field, which years dragged his career record down to 92-95. but even if we set those two castaway seasons aside, kile brought a a mediocre 71-65 non-coors career mark to busch. as a cardinal he went 41-24.
before mulder, the cards’ best incoming sp of the last 50 yrs was ken hill, who returned to st louis from montreal as a free agent in 1995 after three outstanding seasons — the last of which, a 16-5, 3.32 performance in 1994, was cut short by the strike. entering his second stl stint, hill was 41-21 over the three prev years and 64-52 for his career, with a 3.49 era. he proceeded to stink up the joint, going 6-7 with a 5.06 era in 18 starts in 1995. the cards, having seen enough, dealt him to cleveland for david bell.
so that auspicious acquisition didn’t exactly work out. . . . . nor did another hopeful signee of that offseason, danny jackson. he'd gone 14-6 with a 3.27 era in '94; grant him the balance of his starts from that aborted season, and he'd probably have equaled mulder's 17 wins. but djax flopped even worse than ken hill: 2-12 with a 5.90 era.
no recent card offseason acquisition can come close to mulder's three-year won-loss record of 51-24. the most proximate analog is vic raschi, whom the cardinals purchased from the yankees in february 1954 for $85,000. from 1951-53 raschi was 50-22 for the world champs, with a 3.13 era. a four-time all-star and three-time 20-game winner, he brought a gaudy .706 career winning percentage to st louis — 120 wins, 70 losses. he also owned five world series victories, the most in mlb history at the time.
after going 13-6, 3.33 for the world champion yankees in 1953, raschi joined a strong card’nl rotation anchored by harvey haddix, who in 1953 led the nat'l league in shutouts (6), finished third in wins (20) and innings pitched (253), and was fourth in era (3.06) and complete games (19). the cards' returning sps also included gerry staley (18 wins, 5th in the nl), vinegar bend mizell (13 wins and 173 whiffs, third-best in the loop), and al brazle (a league-leading 18 saves). coming off a strong 3d-place finish, st louis hoped raschi would get them back to the world series for the first time since 1946.
but look out: raschi stunk, logging an 8-9 mark with a 4.73 era, and the cards stumbled to 6th place at 72-82. they dumped raschi after one start in 1955 and he caught on with kansas city, going 4-6 with a 5.68 era. so ended his career.
vic raschi's lifetime won-lost percentage of .667 (132-66) remains the 13th-best in mlb history.
stl off-season hires, 1954-2004:
BEST 1-YR RESUME (wins)
Mulder 05: 17-8, 4.43
Wise 72: 17-14, 2.88
Hill 95: 16-5, 3.32
D Jackson 95: 14-6, 3.26
Stot'myre 96: 14-7 4.55
Raschi 54: 13-6, 3.33
Suppan 04: 13-11 4.19
Sorenson 81: 12-10, 3.68
Tudor 85: 12-11, 3.27
Falcone 76: 12-11 4.17
Hermanson 01: 12-14, 4.77
BEST 3-YR RESUME (wins)
Mulder 05: 51-24, 3.72
Raschi 54: 50-22, 3.13
Sorenson 81: 45-36, 3.59
Wise 72: 45-41, 3.39
Hill 95: 41-21, 3.05
Purkey 65: 40-24 3.05
Kile 00: 40-37, 5.12
Tudor 85: 38-33, 3.68
Hentgen 00: 38-34, 4.43
his won-loss record alone — 17-8 last year, 51-24 over the last three years — makes him a rare pickup. the last time the cards added a 17-game winner to their rotation was 1972, when they acquired rick wise from the phillies . . . . for a guy named carlton. wise had gone 17-14 in 1971 pitching for the god-awful phillies and distinguished himself by throwing a no-hitter and hitting two dingers in the game for good measure. in the three seasons before he joined the cards wise went 45-41 — not bad when you consider the phillies were an aggregate 79 games under .500 during that span. and he won 32 games in his two years in st louis, making the all-star team one year. so he worked out pretty well. but carlton . . . . . well, you know.
aside from mulder and wise, the cards haven’t added a 17-game winner to their rotation since before 1950.
they have, however, made some splashy pickups, including darryl kile, andy benes, pat hentgen, todd stottlemyre, john tudor, lary sorenson, bryn smith, and chuck finley. most of these guys were very productive in cardinal red, but none came equipped with anything near mulderesque credentials.
benes came to st louis in 1996 burdened with a 76-77 career mark and an aggregate of just 32 wins (against 38 losses) over the three previous years; he went 52-37 for the cards in two tours of duty and helped the team to four division titles. hentgen brought an impressive 105-74 career mark but was already sliding, viz. just 38-33 cumulative in the three years immediately before he joined stl; he went a shaky 15-12 for the cards in 2000 and has won just 11 games in the 21st century. kile washed ashore in st louis after two seasons adrift at coors field, which years dragged his career record down to 92-95. but even if we set those two castaway seasons aside, kile brought a a mediocre 71-65 non-coors career mark to busch. as a cardinal he went 41-24.
before mulder, the cards’ best incoming sp of the last 50 yrs was ken hill, who returned to st louis from montreal as a free agent in 1995 after three outstanding seasons — the last of which, a 16-5, 3.32 performance in 1994, was cut short by the strike. entering his second stl stint, hill was 41-21 over the three prev years and 64-52 for his career, with a 3.49 era. he proceeded to stink up the joint, going 6-7 with a 5.06 era in 18 starts in 1995. the cards, having seen enough, dealt him to cleveland for david bell.
so that auspicious acquisition didn’t exactly work out. . . . . nor did another hopeful signee of that offseason, danny jackson. he'd gone 14-6 with a 3.27 era in '94; grant him the balance of his starts from that aborted season, and he'd probably have equaled mulder's 17 wins. but djax flopped even worse than ken hill: 2-12 with a 5.90 era.
no recent card offseason acquisition can come close to mulder's three-year won-loss record of 51-24. the most proximate analog is vic raschi, whom the cardinals purchased from the yankees in february 1954 for $85,000. from 1951-53 raschi was 50-22 for the world champs, with a 3.13 era. a four-time all-star and three-time 20-game winner, he brought a gaudy .706 career winning percentage to st louis — 120 wins, 70 losses. he also owned five world series victories, the most in mlb history at the time.
after going 13-6, 3.33 for the world champion yankees in 1953, raschi joined a strong card’nl rotation anchored by harvey haddix, who in 1953 led the nat'l league in shutouts (6), finished third in wins (20) and innings pitched (253), and was fourth in era (3.06) and complete games (19). the cards' returning sps also included gerry staley (18 wins, 5th in the nl), vinegar bend mizell (13 wins and 173 whiffs, third-best in the loop), and al brazle (a league-leading 18 saves). coming off a strong 3d-place finish, st louis hoped raschi would get them back to the world series for the first time since 1946.
but look out: raschi stunk, logging an 8-9 mark with a 4.73 era, and the cards stumbled to 6th place at 72-82. they dumped raschi after one start in 1955 and he caught on with kansas city, going 4-6 with a 5.68 era. so ended his career.
vic raschi's lifetime won-lost percentage of .667 (132-66) remains the 13th-best in mlb history.
stl off-season hires, 1954-2004:
BEST 1-YR RESUME (wins)
Mulder 05: 17-8, 4.43
Wise 72: 17-14, 2.88
Hill 95: 16-5, 3.32
D Jackson 95: 14-6, 3.26
Stot'myre 96: 14-7 4.55
Raschi 54: 13-6, 3.33
Suppan 04: 13-11 4.19
Sorenson 81: 12-10, 3.68
Tudor 85: 12-11, 3.27
Falcone 76: 12-11 4.17
Hermanson 01: 12-14, 4.77
BEST 3-YR RESUME (wins)
Mulder 05: 51-24, 3.72
Raschi 54: 50-22, 3.13
Sorenson 81: 45-36, 3.59
Wise 72: 45-41, 3.39
Hill 95: 41-21, 3.05
Purkey 65: 40-24 3.05
Kile 00: 40-37, 5.12
Tudor 85: 38-33, 3.68
Hentgen 00: 38-34, 4.43
posted by L Boros at 4:37 PM
<< Home