Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Fame pitcher Jack Chesbro, who also owns one of the greatest individual pitching seasons in the history of this game. He pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox. 

Jack Chesbro Career (1899-1909):

198-132 W-L, 2.68 ERA, 2,896.2 IP, 1.152 WHIP, 1,265 SO

While he had a history of being a “spitball.” He did also have a good fastball which featured a straight-over-the-top motion. Yes, for nine straight seasons, he didn’t just log in 206 or more Innings, he pitched over 300 three times, and in his 1904 season, he pitched in 454.2 Innings. I love talking about pitchers like Chesbro because of the number of innings they pitched through, which is unheard of in today’s game. 

What put Chesbro in the Hall of Fame was his incredible 1904 season:

41-12 W-L, 1.82 ERA, 454.2 IP, 0.937 WHIP, 239 SO

That season, he made 51 starts, 48 of which he pitched the entire game, and four other times made relief appearances. He led in Wins, Innings Pitched, Games, Games Started, and Complete Games. However, maintaining an ERA under 3.00 while asking to pitch well over 250 Innings a year, not to mention sometimes making Starts on back-to-back days, that’s incredible asking me.

References:

  1. Jack Chesbro Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chesbja01.shtml