Rk	Year	#Matching
82	2009	0
83	2008	0
84	2007	0
85	2006	0
86	2005	0
75	2004	1
76	2003	1
87	2002	0
88	2001	0
89	2000	0
90	1999	0
91	1998	0
92	1997	0
93	1996	0
94	1995	0
95	1994	0
77	1993	1
78	1992	1
96	1991	0
97	1990	0
69	1989	2
79	1988	1
98	1987	0
99	1986	0
70	1985	2
66	1984	3
55	1983	6
61	1982	4
50	1981	9
62	1980	4
52	1979	7
48	1978	10
67	1977	3
56	1976	6
60	1975	5
68	1974	3
57	1973	6
71	1972	2
100	1971	0
101	1970	0
102	1969	0
103	1968	0
104	1967	0
105	1966	0
106	1965	0
107	1964	0
108	1963	0
109	1962	0
80	1961	1
63	1960	4
81	1959	1
72	1958	2
64	1957	4
65	1956	4
73	1955	2
58	1954	6
53	1953	7
74	1952	2
59	1951	6
45	1950	12
34	1949	16
51	1948	9
54	1947	7
47	1946	11
23	1945	20
16	1944	29
21	1943	24
20	1942	25
24	1941	19
35	1940	15
32	1939	17
25	1938	19
28	1937	18
29	1936	18
22	1935	23
33	1934	17
17	1933	28
18	1932	27
12	1931	32
13	1930	31
5	1929	42
7	1928	40
2	1927	48
3	1926	44
6	1925	42
1	1924	49
8	1923	40
4	1922	44
10	1921	35
11	1920	34
19	1919	27
9	1918	38
26	1917	19
36	1916	14
30	1915	18
37	1914	14
42	1913	13
49	1912	10
46	1911	12
38	1910	14
43	1909	13
27	1908	19
31	1907	18
39	1906	14
40	1905	14
44	1904	13
41	1903	14
14	1902	31
15	1901	31

10 Responses to “RIP: The Extreme Contact Starting Pitcher”

1. Gerry Says:
   March 9th, 2010 at 5:20 pm

   I'm not sure that we're talking about a type of pitcher as much as about a style of hitting. Strikeouts have gone up more because of the way batters swing than the way pitchers throw (in my opinion).

   I'm glad to see 1924 at the top of the list. That was the year Dazzy Vance struck out more batters than the next two pitchers (in his league) combined. Never happened before or since.

2. JDV Says:
   March 9th, 2010 at 5:47 pm

   I have to agree with Gerry. It used to be that the hitter's job was to make contact at all costs, because anything can happen when you put the ball in play. Today, it's more like 'make your swing count', because your salary is based on the number of big results, with little penalty for strikeouts. It's like taking a standardized test with instructions that say, "answer every question; there is no penalty for wrong answers".

3. Afternoon Links « Caught Looking Says:
   March 9th, 2010 at 6:07 pm

   [...] up today, Baseball Reference’s Stat of the Day looks into the death of the extreme contact pitcher. I’m real surprised Zach Duke [...]

4. salvo Says:
   March 9th, 2010 at 6:37 pm

   I was looking at this exact thing a week or so ago, and discussing it with a couple of buddies, and for us, the mystery wasn't so much that the extreme-low-K pitcher was so rare---strikeouts have been trending up forever, especially since after the early- to mid-'50s---but rather why, after pretty much zero extreme-low-K starters in the 1960s (they had been going rapidly extinct for a decade), all of a sudden several showed up in the mid-'70s, followed by a (relative) explosion of them from 1978-1983 or so...

   It's not as if the trends (hitting styles, etc.) that were developing and continuing through the 1960s all of a sudden reversed.. so what was it?

   I ended up settling on the introduction of the DH in 1973 acting as a temporary "speed bump" in the extreme-low-K-pitcher extinction process... the K rate dipped across both leagues in the mid-'70s, but more dramtaically in the AL, and it was longer to recover than in the NL. And as it turns out, with the exception of Jim Barr with the Giants, the bulk of the extreme-low-K starters were in the AL....

5. Steve Lombardi Says:
   March 9th, 2010 at 7:40 pm

   Interesting points, through and through, Salvo.

6. wboenig Says:
   March 10th, 2010 at 11:10 am

   Randy Jones is an extreme example of a contact pitcher; he is the only pitcher since 1928 to rack up 300+ innings in one season (1976) while still striking out fewer than 100 batters.

7. Andy Says:
   March 10th, 2010 at 2:02 pm

   Rueter was a classic low-strikeout guy.

8. Rich Says:
   March 10th, 2010 at 2:40 pm

   "I have to agree with Gerry. It used to be that the hitter's job was to make contact at all costs, because anything can happen when you put the ball in play."

   Except for the fact that the great hitters always tend to strike out a lot. Putting the ball in play cause "anything can happen" is a nice strategy for little league because the fielders are so awful, but it doesn't really work in the major leagues when fielders make just about every play.

   Also, pitchers ARE trying to strike more batters out because they realize there's no luck involved with a strikeout.

9. DavidRF Says:
   March 10th, 2010 at 3:39 pm

   Rich, JDV agrees with you. Notice he used the world "used to be".

   Times really have changed. You just have to think check out the AB/SO list and see where the top three active hitters rank on the all-time list. Juan Pierre (16.43) is #196th, Placido Polanco is #296th (14.09), Paul Lo Duca (13.19) is 339th. These guys seem like scientific hitters to me, but none of them are in the same galaxy as Joe Sewell (62.56) or Lloyd Waner (44.92).

   On the pitchers side, I would have thought from watching Carlos Silva that he'd have to be an extreme contact pitcher, but somehow he managed to strikeout 3.5 to 4 batters per 9 IP.

10. Baseball-Reference Blog » Blog Archive » When Will We Never See One Super Contact Hitter? Says:
    March 10th, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    [...] with Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Season Finder, and doing the flip-side of yesterday's fun, I looked for how many times each season, since 1901, has a batter qualified for the batting title [...]