Amazing.
Lifetime baseball fan here, never heard this story. Thanks for posting.
CG has been dropped as a stat for some time now, I don’t know how long. America has gone the way of the complete game as I see it.
6 innings is now considered a quality start.
I recall when it was shameful to have a team ERA above 4.0.
Bingo. A different time, a different mindset.
Before that it was pretty much expected that a pitcher go the distance.
I can certainly understand why they did go the relief pitcher route, but why did it take so long to think of this?
I know that it was a big deal to get the Rolaids "relief" firehat trophy.
But again, I think 1970s.
Heck now we have one inning specialists. Some guy who comes in, throws 101mph fastballs, then gets yanked the next inning. Still makes a couple of million per year for his efforts, though.
That’s a great story!
As soon as I saw it was about complete games, I immediately thought of the Phillies Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts. He threw a total of 305 complete games during the ‘50s and ‘60s, including 45 shutouts. Things were different in the olden days.
One of my favorite Robin Roberts stories occurred on May 13, 1954, when Roberts gave up a lead-off home run to Reds player Bobby Adams and then retired 27 consecutive batters to win the game 8–1.
By the way, Robin Roberts was the first Phillies baseball card I ever got out of a pack of Topps cards. That was in 1960.