Webb’s Elusive 20th Win

By the time you read this, my weekly entry to the Seamheads readers might be a moot point.  Brandon Webb takes the hill against the Arizona Diamondbacks with two failed attempts to pick up his 20th win.  Stuck at 19, if Webb fails to pick up his 20th win, he will join 23 other pitchers since 1956 to have multiple attempts at 20 wins but fail.

Unlike the difference between 14 and 15 wins, the difference between 19 and 20 wins is huge.  Since 1956, 104 players have fallen short of the magic number of 20 by just one win but only 23 have tried and failed more than once including a handful that had some shots in relief to pick up their 20th victory.

Nine players — Billy O’Dell (Giants, ’62), Gary Peters (White Sox, ’63), Jim Bunning (Phillies, ’66), Joe Horlen (White Sox, ’67), Dock Ellis (Pirates, ’71), Steve Blass (Pirates, ’72), Ed Figueroa (Yankees, ’76), Len Barker (Indians, ’80) and Rick Langford (Athletics, ’80) — failed to notch a win in two starts after picking up their 19th win and O’Dell received an additional shot in relief.

Nine players — Tom Brewer (Red Sox, ’56), Art Mahaffey (Phillies, ’62), Ken Holtzman (Athletics, ’74), Jim Bibby (Rangers, ’74), Nolan Ryan (Angels, ’77), Phil Niekro (Braves, ’78), Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers, ’82), Rick Reuschel (Giants, ’88) and Kevin Tapani (Cubs, ’98) — all failed to pick up a win in three starts after their 19th win.

If Webb fails to reach the milestone of 20 wins, he will join five pitchers since 1956 to make four or more appearances but stayed stuck on 19 wins:

Brooks Lawrence, Cincinnati Reds (’56)
Achieved 19th Win On September 15, 1956

Lawrence was a starter/reliever in 1956 and was 19-9 in 30 starts including his 19th win on September 15.  His start on the 15th was his last of the season and Lawrence spent the rest of ’56 in Cincinnati’s bullpen where he made five relief appearances.  The team had an opportunity to give him a win against the Brooklyn Dodgers on September 17 but failed to score in the top of the 10th.  Lawrence gave up a walk-off homer to Carl Furillo to lead off the bottom of the 10th which ended his best shot at his 20th win.  Lawrence finished 19-10 and never got close to 20 wins again.

Johnny Antonelli, San Francisco Giants (’59)
Achieved 19th Win On September 5, 1959

Antonelli had eight shots to pick up two wins, and four starts and a relief appearance to pick up his 20th win at the end of 1959.  Antonelli never came close to picking up that last win with only one quality start out of his four September outings.  The only quality start saw Antonelli go eight innings against the Reds on September 14 but he allowed three runs and left the game behind 3-1.  Antonelli finished the ’59 season at 19-10 but had already reached the 20-win mark in ’54 and ’56.

Jack Billingham, Cincinnati Reds (’74)
Achieved 19th Win On September 18, 1974

Billingham won 19 games in 1973 but failed to pick up his 20th win on the last game of the season.  In ’74, Billingham picked up his 19th win even earlier in the season but failed on four consecutive starts to pick up his 20th win.  On Sunday night’s telecast of Webb’s poor outing against the Dodgers, ESPN analyst Joe Morgan commented on how difficult it is to pick up that 20th win.  He must have been thinking about teammate Billingham’s self-destruction at the end of ’74 as he sought his 20th victory.  Billingham gave up five runs in two innings on September 17 against the Padres.  He gave up five runs (four earned) in just one-third of an inning against the Giants on September 21.  In his third start, Billingham went three and two-third innings while allowing six runs (five earned) against the Astros on September 26.  On the last day of the season, Billingham again lasted just one-third of an inning and allowed three runs which ended his shot at 20 wins.  He never again came close to 20 wins in his 13-year career but did help the Reds to World Series victories in ’75 and ’76.

Mike Mussina, Baltimore Orioles (’96)
Achieved 19th Win On September 7, 1996

Mussina won 16 games in the strike-shortened ’94 season and followed that with 19 wins in the strike-affected ’95 season.  In ’96, Mussina looked to be a sure thing for 20 wins as he picked up his 19th win with a complete game shutout against the Tigers on September 7.  After two rough starts, the Orioles gave Mussina serious run support on September 23 against the Brewers, with a five-run sixth that erased a 5-2 deficit.  Up 7-5, Mussina gave up a hit to lead off the eighth, then relievers Alan Mills and Jesse Orosco failed to hold down the lead and Mussina earned a no decision.  Mussina received one more shot on September 28 in Baltimore’s last game of the season and he pitched eight strong innings before handing Armando Benitez a 2-1 lead.  Benitez gave up a one-out home run to Ed Sprague which tied the game and handed Mussina another no decision although the Orioles won the game 3-2.  Mussina is just three wins away from his first 20-win season in 2008 but running out of opportunities to reach the magic number of 20.

Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros (’02)
Achieved 19th Win On September 8, 2002

In his second season, Oswalt picked up his 19th win with 19 games remaining in the season.  He pitched well enough to win on September 13 against the Cardinals but the team failed to deliver run support and Oswalt settled for a no-decision.  One bad inning on September 19 against the Brewers cost him his second attempt, and the Astros inability to score again against the Brew Crew cost him his third shot.  Oswalt took the hill against the Giants for the last game of the year but failed to make it past the third inning in their 7-0 loss.  Oswalt was forced to wait until ’04 to win 20 and then added a second 20-win season in ’05 thus erasing his near-miss in ’02.