Stats and Ranks
Some Interesting Stats and Facts
- 2nd lowest ERA by a Phillies pitcher with 200+ innings from 1918-2008.
- Gave up 2 runs or less in 34 of his 42 appearances
- Pitched 12 games in which he pitched 9 innings and gave up 1 run or fewer
- Despite his low ERA he actually had 4 poor starts in which he gave up a total of 18 runs in 14 innings. For the remaining 27 starts, he gave up only 36 runs and his ERA was 1.63.
- Did not allow a run, and only gave up 2 hits, in 11 relief appearances including 2 saves.
- With 2 outs and runners in scoring position, he held opponents to a .191 average for the season.
Why He’s Here
1964 will always be remembered as the year the Phillies collapsed at the end, but it would be tough to blame Chris Short for that. Short is not a very well known Phillies pitcher, especially for one that sits 4th on the all-time Wins list for the Phils with 132. However, the 6′4” lefty was very, very good for the Phillies from 1962 – 1968. His best season came in 1964 though, when he really had one of the best seasons for a lefty pitcher ever. From 1920-2008, only 8 other lefties put up the base numbers that Short did in 1964. 220 innings, 2.20 ERA, 1.02 WHIP.
If it wasn’t for 2 fireballers from LA in Koufax and Drysdale, Short would have led the NL in ERA, WHIP and H/9. He has many reasons for his success, but the main crux of it was that he was just damn hard to get a hit off of, no matter who was up, where they were playing or what the situation was. Left handed batters hit .217 against him while righties hit .218. While pitching at home, opposing hitters had a .218 average. Away? .217. He got better as the inning went on, with a .241 OBA with 0 outs, .219 with 1 out and .189 with 2 outs. With RISP, .209. In the 16 9th innings he pitched in? .146.
The brilliance of Short and fellow ace Jim Bunning weren’t enough to win the pennant, as they finished 1 game behind the eventual World Champion St. Louis Cardinals after blowing a huge lead at the end of the season. Manager Gene Mauch panicked late in the year and Short and Bunning were pitched on 3 days rest 19 times in September and their performance suffered as a result. Short still pitched well, with a 3.00 ERA in 60 innings of work, but it wasn’t enough to stop the collapse. Had he been pitched on normal rest, his ERA for the season would have probably been below 2.00. In today’s playoff system, the ‘64 Phils would have been the 2nd seed and a very tough out with that 1-2 punch. Short would continue his success with the Phillies and for the 7 seasons from 1962-1968 he would average 228 IP, 15 wins and a 2.90 ERA.
Previous ‘Top-20 Seasons’ Entries
#16 – John Denny, 1983
#17 – Tug McGraw, 1980
#18 – Greg Luzinksi, 1977
#19 – Gavvy Cravath, 1913
#20 – Lenny Dykstra, 1993
Five pitchers that just missed (and criteria for rankings)
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“Styles” Short, so nicknamed because he brought and wore one downscale suit with him for major league travel, was a REAL Phillie, moreso than Dec. ‘63 Detroit import Jim Bunning. The Delaware native contributed to and endured the infamous ‘61 23 game losing streak, suffered the heartbreak of ‘64, pitched with metronomial form and fluidity (and KO arm power) throughout his Phillies days (’59-’72) with All-Star distinction. The smaller-media era in which he pitched and his humble personality kept his profile relatively low in comparison to contemporaries he sometimes bested. He takes a back seat only to Carlton in lefties I’ve seen pitch for Phillies. A sad early end at 53 due to an aneurysm. A very fine pitcher.
Thanks again, Pete.
By the way, Short wore #41 … Mahaffey #28, Culp #37, Bennett #23, Bunning #14 and Baldschun #27 … testing, testing (my synapses).
Chris Short left a long term impression as a very good pitcher. And of course other things about 1964 stand out more, so its refreshing to read his impressive numbers, even for a pitching driven era.
However, I did look up the Cy Young voting from 1964. It does kind of bring you back to earth. I could only access the top 3, which was from the final years of 1 Cy Young, and Dean Chance of the 4th year Angels won, soon to be Phillie Larry Jackson, 24-11, was second, and Sandy Koufax was 3rd. Koufax won his 19 missing August and September. Classic hard to believe Harry material there. Not to Short the stylish left hander as By Saam used to call him, but while his numbers are terrific, they don’t carry the dominant flavor of what guys like Pedro and Maddux did over multiple years, or what Cavaath did in 1913 winning the freaking RBI crown by 33, or Babe smashing twice as many homers as his nearest competitor, or more than any club which he did around 1920. I guess what amazes me most is that as good as Short’s numbers were that year, they weren’t able to blow away the competition. I guess I’ve gotten used to lousy pitching numbers and forget how standard they were at one time.
Dean Chance did put up one of the best seasons in MLB history that year, regardless of era.
I don’t put much stock in the award voting – there are always a million things going on that cloud the voters from the basic facts.
Reason 1a why I don’t trust voting? Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941 while leading the league in HR and Runs as well and sporting a 1.287 OPS. The winner of that AL MVP? Joe DiMaggio, who was worse, sometimes significantly, that Williams in every single category except RBI, where he had 5 more.
Before I started this blog, I was working on a 100 greatest MLB seasons project, and was constantly shocked at how stupid some of the voters were (though in the case we were originally talking about, Chance did deserve it)
One year, Rafael Palmiero won a Gold Clove while playing for Texas. He was primarily a DH. Primarily is an understatement. He played 1 game at 1st base.
I mean just look at this year. 2 voters completely left Chris Carpenter off their Cy Young ballot. I totally agree with your point about awards being deceptive. Suffice to say that in 1964, Chris Short had an excellent season, and had a good amount of company in compiling great numbers that look even better with the way the game has changed.