NEW YORK – 1962. Jim Bunning, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, is preparing for a game in New York at Yankee Stadium in 1962. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images)

Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Fame Starting Pitcher, Jim Bunning. Bunning had a 17-year pitching career and had his best moments and years with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. He also spent the later part of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1955-1971):

224-184 W-L 3.27 ERA 3,760.1 IP 2,855 K 1.179 WHIP

  • 9x All-Star

I’ll start with the word Durability. Bunning took the mound 30 times a year while throwing over 200 Innings thirteen times. Bunning went eleven straight years without missing a scheduled start. Early in his career, the Tigers discovered he had an excellent curveball, a sneaky fastball, and a confusing delivery. While he wasn’t regarded as a power pitcher, Bunning was very successful. Bunning led the league in Strikeouts three times and twice in Innings Pitched & Shutouts. Bunning won 17 or more games seven times and had six seasons with an ERA under 3.00. Bunning pitched in a time when starters finished games more frequently, having ten seasons in which he reached the double digits in Complete Games. Not only did Bunning throw a no-hitter in both leagues, he was the 2nd pitcher to win 100 games and toss 1,000 strikeouts in each league; the first pitcher was Cy Young. 

         Very often, Bunning pitched in some bad luck games, losing five 1-0 decisions in one of his years. Also, if you consider that Jim Bunning never appeared in a postseason play due to being on an average to below-average team, Jim Bunning was likely robbed of the chance of reaching 300 Wins. That also didn’t help him receive votes for the Cy Young Award. Despite never winning an ERA title, leading the league in WHIP, or winning a Cy Young, he had a Hall of Fame-worthy career showing dominance at times. At his retirement, he was 2nd all-time in Strikeouts behind Walter Johnson, arguably the greatest pitcher ever. Shockingly, his number isn’t retired by the Tigers. However, the Phillies retired his #14 jersey in 2001. While it took 25 years after his retirement, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996 via the Veterans Committee. 

References:

  1. Jim Bunning via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bunning#
  2. Jim Bunning Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bunniji01.shtml
  3. The National Baseball Hall of Fame Almanac 2017 Edition: pgs 76-77