While I had the data assembled about tough games and not-so-tough games, I also took a look at pitcher’s records in tough games and easy games.    Every start of a pitcher’s career from 1953 to 2012 was scored on a 1 to 5 scale, 5 being the toughest games and 1 the easiest.   "5" games are ALL on the road, and all against very tough opponents, post-season quality opponents.   "1" games are all at home, and all against weak opposition.   The other groups are mixed—

                "4" games are against .500+ teams on the road and post-season quality opponents at home,

                "3" games are .500+ teams at home and sub-.500 teams on the road,

                "2" games are sub-.500 teams at home and truly bad opposing teams on the road. 

 

                Roughly 20% of games are in groups "1" and "5" combined, and the other 80% are pretty evenly distributed among the other three groups.    From here on, I’ll break it down to questions and answers:

 

Q.  Who was the toughest pitcher ever in the toughest games?

A.  Juan Marichal.    I think I wrote about this once before, but when I was in college I had an argument with my friend Tony Bandle about Juan Marichal in tough games.   Tony was a St. Louis native and a Cardinal fan, and he was arguing that Bob Gibson was the greatest pitcher in baseball, not an unreasonable argument in the fall of 1968.   Being contrarian, perhaps, I was arguing for Juan Marichal, pointing out that Marichal had won more games than Gibson every season since 1963.

                OK, said Bandle, but Marichal has piled up a lot of wins against the teams like the Mets and the Astros, which were the bad teams in the NL at that time.  The argument degenerated from there.

                Anyway, here is the last word on that; if you see Tony, tell him about it.   In 46 career starts facing championship-quality opposition on the road, Juan Marichal was 29-9 with a 2.24 ERA—by far the best record of any pitcher over the last 60 years in those games; the best winning percentage and the best ERA, and it ain’t close.

                Actually, Clayton Kershaw has a 1.85 ERA in those games, but that’s only 11 starts, and Chad Billingsley is at 1.97, but that’s only 14 starts.      Let’s say we use 20 starts to qualify.   The number two man to Marichal is a guy who was a teammate of Marichal’s the first half of his career, Gaylord Perry; Perry in his career was 35-22 with a 2.56 ERA, and Perry actually had the most starts of any pitcher in these games, 68.    The top ten in ERA:  Marichal, Perry, Mario Soto, Dave Stieb, Pedro Martinez, Phil Niekro, Ray Culp, Don Robinson, Dave McNally and Tom Seaver.  Seaver is interesting, in that he has one of the best ERAs facing post-season quality teams in road games (2.92), but a very poor won-lost record (13-22).

                Jon Lester is 12-3 in those games, 22 starts, which I guess is a better winning percentage than Marichal, but half as many starts and he, of course, is still active.   Bartolo Colon is 15-5 in those games, Steve Avery was 12-4, Sandy Koufax 18-8, Bret Saberhagen 14-6, and James Baldwin was 10-5.    Dave McNally was 19-11, Bob Welch 19-11, Carlos Zambrano was/is 13-7, David Cone 13-7, King Felix 12-7, David Wells 23-14.    Frank Lary, who was famous for beating the Yankees, was 18-11 in those games.     Camilo Pascual was 19-12, and Tom Glavine 31-20.

 

Q.  Who was notably BAD in those games?

A.  Blyleven.   Blyleven and Marichal were both right-handed pitchers, both Hall of Famers, both with fantastic strikeout/walk ratios.   But whereas Marichal dominated the best teams in road games, Blyleven in those starts was 15-34 with a 4.63 ERA.

                Blyleven has the most losses in those games, and the worst winning percentage of any pitcher with 36 or more starts.   There are 87 pitchers in the study who had 36 or more starts under those conditions; Blyleven’s won-lost record is the worst of those 87.

                But there are, of course, lots of pitchers who were worse than Blyleven in those games, but just in fewer starts.   Jason Bere, facing the highest quality opponents in road games, was 1 and 10 with 9.49 ERA in 62 innings.   Bryan Rekar was 0-7, 9.46.   Bo Belinsky was 2-10 with an ERA of 8.00 (apparently "B" names do very badly in this category), and Jose Lima was 4-16 with a 7.68.   Al Downing—not a bad pitcher—was 1-14 with a 5.01 ERA when facing quality opposition on the road.

                Joe Niekro, whose brother was one of the best pitchers in those games, was 11-27 with a 4.86 ERA.   Jim Colborn was 3-19.    Chuck Rainey made only three starts of that type, but was 0-3 with a 14.09 ERA in those three starts.   The record is notable in two ways:  the worst ERA, and the fewest starts.    With 100+ career starts, Rainey by random luck should have had about ten to twelve starts against championship-quality opponents on the road.

Q.  Who started the most/least often in those games?

                Francisco Barrios, a Mexican pitcher who died of a drug overdose in mid-career, made fewer career starts than Chuck Rainey, same era, but pitched 19 times on the road against post-season quality teams.     That was the highest percentage of any pitcher.

                Tom Griffin was a phenom with the Astros in 1969, struck out 200 batters in 188 innings.   Strikeout rates were a lot lower then.     Griffin made 34 of 191 career starts under those conditions, the highest percentage of any pitcher with 150 starts.   It’s actually a remarkably high percentage, which can be illustrated in this way.   Jim Barr (same era) has the highest percentage for a pitcher with 250 or more starts—but Barr was 34 of 252.   No more super-tough starts than Griffin, 61 more starts—and Barr still has the highest percentage in his bailiwick.    Frank Lary, the Yankee Killer, was 38 of 292 (the highest percentage with more starts than Barr), and Sam McDowell was 45 of 346, the highest percentage with more than 300 starts. 

                On the other end of the scale is Chuck Rainey.   Matt Young made only 6 of 163 career starts on the road against tough teams.    Young was a lefty who threw a fastball that started off the plate away from a right-handed batter and then tailed back over the plate.   It’s a pitch you see a lot now, but almost nobody threw it in the 1980s.     Storm Davis is at 4% (10 of 239), and Jimmy Key is low (21 of 389).    Jeff Suppan Sandwiches was very low (25 of 417).  

 

Q.   Who was the most dominant pitcher facing a bad team in a home game?

A.  Drysdale.    Drysdale was 31-8 with a 1.97 ERA, facing a bad team in a home game.   Among the 262 pitchers who pitched 162 or more innings in those games, that’s the best ERA.   Guidry was 18-3, 1.99 ERA, Orel Hershiser 25-9, 1.99, Mike Scott 19-5, 2.09 ERA, Koufax 24-7, 2.11.

                Of course, you have a park effect here, whereas there was no park effect in the earlier stat.   When you focus solely on road games, as we were before, you have no park effect; when you focus entirely on home games, as we are doing here, then you get pitchers who pitched in pitcher’s parks.

                Drysdale’s 31-8 won-lost record against weak teams and at home isn’t the best in the group.   Warren Spahn was 31-7 in those games, in the data that I have, which begins in 1953.   Whitey Ford was 32-7 in those games, David Wells 32-7.

                Jered Weaver through 2012 has an 0.93 career ERA in those games, twelve starts.   Jon Lester is 10-0 in his career when facing a bad team in Fenway Park.

 

Q.  Who was notably poor in those games?

A.  Jeff Weaver, Jered’s older brother, was 7-16 with a 5.63 ERA when facing a bad team in his home park.    Terry Mulholland was 7-12, 5.98 ERA.    If you define the parameters right, the two brothers are best and worst in those games.  

                Steve Trachsel—a 143-game winner in his career (143-159)—was 11-19 with a 4.58 ERA when facing a bad team in his home park.   If he had dominated in those games the way he should have, his career won-lost record would be over .500.

 

Q.  Who pitched a lot in those kind of games?

A.   We have partial-career data for Mike Garcia, data starting in 1953, but in the data we have, Garcia made 20% of his career starts (32 of 164) at home against a bad team, which is an astonishing percentage.   Bob Turley, 1957 Cy Young Award winner, was at 17%; we have almost-complete data for him, and Paul Splittorff was at 14%, which is the highest we have for a pitcher with 300 or more starts.

                Another Royal is on the other end of that one.   Brian Bannister, the Royals pitcher of a few years ago who was very interested in sabermetrics, may be interested to learn that, in his entire career, he made only 3 starts against a bad team in his home park—three of 114.    Whereas Josh Towers, with fewer career starts, got 16 of those plum assignments.  

                Suppose that we broaden the discussion now to "tough" and "easy" games, but not the very toughest and the very easiest.    In this next part of the discussion, "tough" games are

                1)  Games against .500+ teams on the road, and

                2)  Games against .570 and better teams, whether at home or on the road.  

                In this part of the discussion, "easy" games are:

                1)  Games against sub-.500 teams at home, and

                2)  Games against truly bad teams, whether at home or on the road.

                Defining "tough" and "easy" games that way, we have much larger data samples. Back to the Q and A format.

 

Q:  Who was the most effective pitcher in tough games?

A:  Whitey Ford.    Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal, but. . .Whitey Ford.

                Again, we don’t quite have complete career data for Ford.   In the data that we have, Ford made 149 "tough" starts in his career.   He was 72-36 with a 2.66 ERA in those games—the best won-lost record, and the best ERA.   Sandy Koufax was 55-31 in those games, 3.00 ERA, and Marichal was 90-60, 3.10 ERA. 

                Among pitchers with 100 or more career starts (not 100 career starts in tough games, but 100 career starts total), the only pitchers with sub-3.00 ERAs in tough starts are Whitey Ford and Clayton Kershaw.  Dean Chance had a 3.04 ERA in tough games, but was 37-46.    David Price actually has a better winning percentage than Ford (28-12, .700), and Jon Lester is 34-18 in tough games.   But, of course, you can’t compare partial-career records with full-career records.

                Bob Gibson, the most famous big-game pitcher of my lifetime, was actually just 81-75 in tough starts—which, of course, is actually a very good record in those games.  73% of pitchers have losing records in tough starts, as we have defined tough starts here.    81-75 is a good record, but it’s not as good as Curt Schilling (79-44), Bob Welch (68-43), Tom Glavine (107-70), Kenny Rogers (68-45), Roy Halladay (73-49), Dwight Gooden (58-39), Randy Johnson (82-57), John Smoltz (67-47) or Mike Mussina (85-61).    Maddux and Glavine have the most wins in tough games—Maddux 108-80, Glavine 107-70.   Gaylord Perry was also 107-99. 

 

Q.  Who was ineffective in tough starts?

A.  Nolan Ryan had a 3.40 ERA in tough starts, but was 93-123.     Blyleven was 80-105, 3.79.   Don Sutton was 91-105, 3.91 ERA.  Those are the poorest records among big-name pitchers.

                Among all pitchers, Carlton Willey had the worst won-lost record, 6-25.   John Maine is 4-16 with a 6.60 ERA in tough games.    Moe Drabowsky was 8-30, and Pete Broberg was 7-26, 5.77 ERA.   

                Rick Honeycutt was 17-47 in tough starts.  

 

                Here is a chart of career records in "tough starts" and "easy starts".   It includes

                a)  Hall of Fame pitchers, and

                b)  Some pitchers who were more effective in tough starts than they were in easy starts:

 

First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Buddy	Black	Tough	97	605.2	37	36	.507	298	172	3.82
Buddy	Black	Easy	95	593.1	35	36	.493	280	170	4.07
Jim	Bunning	Tough	183	1272.1	69	69	.500	971	350	3.36
Jim	Bunning	Easy	179	1255.1	87	55	.613	1000	322	3.18
John	Butcher	Tough	38	244.2	14	11	.560	103	70	4.05
John	Butcher	Easy	42	255.2	14	19	.424	122	70	4.51
Steve	Carlton	Tough	246	1723.0	92	99	.482	1350	659	3.75
Steve	Carlton	Easy	242	1801.0	122	79	.607	1495	611	3.01
Roger	Clemens	Tough	213	1473.0	89	69	.563	1359	524	3.34
Roger	Clemens	Easy	236	1653.1	132	47	.737	1630	494	2.69
Ray	Culp	Tough	97	622.2	41	37	.526	469	219	3.47
Ray	Culp	Easy	93	633.1	37	33	.529	471	269	3.65
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Ron	Darling	Tough	112	706.1	44	37	.543	474	279	3.95
Ron	Darling	Easy	132	829.0	48	36	.571	555	314	4.04
Don	Drysdale	Tough	164	1125.1	61	56	.521	824	279	3.24
Don	Drysdale	Easy	159	1214.2	84	44	.656	863	300	2.38
Adam	Eaton	Tough	83	477.1	32	28	.533	322	194	4.77
Adam	Eaton	Easy	55	307.2	15	20	.429	240	97	5.32
Dennis	Eckersley	Tough	137	954.1	52	53	.495	646	240	3.63
Dennis	Eckersley	Easy	135	918.0	58	45	.563	586	226	3.92
Whitey	Ford	Tough	149	989.2	72	36	.667	611	324	2.66
Whitey	Ford	Easy	170	1164.2	91	33	.734	742	410	2.95
Bob	Gibson	Tough	181	1394.2	81	75	.519	1098	510	3.14
Bob	Gibson	Easy	178	1394.1	102	53	.658	1174	448	2.67
Tom	Glavine	Tough	234	1518.1	107	70	.605	869	546	3.60
Tom	Glavine	Easy	218	1423.0	105	61	.633	886	457	3.27
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Mudcat	Grant	Tough	93	649.0	37	30	.552	350	213	3.49
Mudcat	Grant	Easy	112	751.2	47	38	.553	368	272	3.72
Don	Gullett	Tough	55	364.0	23	16	.590	223	138	3.31
Don	Gullett	Easy	70	465.1	37	18	.673	307	162	3.33
Bill	Gullickson	Tough	131	891.0	52	47	.525	446	229	3.60
Bill	Gullickson	Easy	117	762.1	54	36	.600	401	165	3.95
Roy	Halladay	Tough	162	1107.2	73	49	.598	873	237	3.36
Roy	Halladay	Easy	123	886.0	76	24	.760	675	146	2.83
Cole	Hamels	Tough	75	481.1	26	20	.565	426	130	3.27
Cole	Hamels	Easy	67	440.2	36	17	.679	428	105	3.53
Aaron	Harang	Tough	106	637.2	40	37	.519	517	203	4.08
Aaron	Harang	Easy	92	558.1	36	30	.545	455	170	4.17
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Ken	Hill	Tough	97	606.2	38	33	.535	374	283	3.63
Ken	Hill	Easy	103	668.0	46	31	.597	404	256	3.72
Burt	Hooton	Tough	128	860.1	52	44	.542	482	238	3.18
Burt	Hooton	Easy	125	810.1	43	43	.500	453	241	3.33
Catfish	Hunter	Tough	173	1166.2	67	66	.504	672	378	3.83
Catfish	Hunter	Easy	157	1133.1	82	49	.626	699	266	3.07
Ferguson	Jenkins	Tough	222	1554.1	93	96	.492	1059	358	3.56
Ferguson	Jenkins	Easy	193	1470.1	102	57	.642	1091	294	3.21
Tommy	John	Tough	235	1523.1	89	78	.533	722	431	3.73
Tommy	John	Easy	224	1498.2	96	66	.593	746	399	3.13
Randy	Johnson	Tough	180	1193.2	82	57	.590	1365	471	3.76
Randy	Johnson	Easy	220	1554.1	128	45	.740	1855	503	2.70
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Sandy	Koufax	Tough	112	747.2	55	31	.640	689	249	3.00
Sandy	Koufax	Easy	118	834.2	64	30	.681	948	306	2.58
Frank	Lary	Tough	115	820.0	50	42	.543	398	265	3.57
Frank	Lary	Easy	104	722.0	47	38	.553	371	188	3.45
Jon	Lieber	Tough	109	703.1	40	38	.513	480	139	4.21
Jon	Lieber	Easy	111	696.2	38	42	.475	503	123	4.35
Esteban	Loaiza	Tough	116	718.0	43	32	.573	469	203	4.17
Esteban	Loaiza	Easy	121	733.1	49	41	.544	485	206	4.68
Jim	Lonborg	Tough	124	799.0	48	45	.516	452	258	3.64
Jim	Lonborg	Easy	129	798.0	54	41	.568	489	270	4.24
Greg	Maddux	Tough	234	1523.2	108	80	.574	968	332	3.51
Greg	Maddux	Easy	254	1773.1	127	71	.641	1250	324	2.78
Juan	Marichal	Tough	178	1333.2	90	60	.600	882	288	3.10
Juan	Marichal	Easy	147	1135.0	78	40	.661	757	219	2.64
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Jason	Marquis	Tough	80	472.2	31	28	.525	295	173	4.61
Jason	Marquis	Easy	113	654.2	41	45	.477	389	252	4.80
Pedro	Martinez	Tough	132	888.1	57	36	.613	1008	240	3.11
Pedro	Martinez	Easy	132	875.0	68	28	.708	981	241	2.87
Jack	Morris	Tough	161	1136.0	66	69	.489	712	450	4.14
Jack	Morris	Easy	184	1321.2	100	53	.654	850	452	3.64
Mike	Mussina	Tough	189	1228.0	85	61	.582	988	308	4.06
Mike	Mussina	Easy	180	1195.1	96	47	.671	961	230	3.55
Phil	Niekro	Tough	254	1852.2	98	104	.485	1170	648	3.40
Phil	Niekro	Easy	229	1651.1	102	76	.573	1033	508	3.26
Bobby	Ojeda	Tough	81	501.2	32	30	.516	285	157	3.79
Bobby	Ojeda	Easy	82	515.1	32	30	.516	305	179	4.00
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Vicente	Padilla	Tough	88	528.2	40	29	.580	382	180	4.03
Vicente	Padilla	Easy	64	376.2	26	21	.553	279	123	4.47
Jim	Palmer	Tough	172	1277.0	78	59	.569	665	433	3.16
Jim	Palmer	Easy	180	1357.1	101	40	.716	785	440	2.44
Gaylord	Perry	Tough	257	1908.1	107	99	.519	1202	498	3.18
Gaylord	Perry	Easy	220	1616.1	101	69	.594	1111	391	3.15
Bob	Purkey	Tough	109	754.0	46	41	.529	276	156	3.75
Bob	Purkey	Easy	85	567.2	36	31	.537	212	158	3.95
Robin	Roberts	Tough	170	1243.1	61	80	.433	577	237	3.75
Robin	Roberts	Easy	139	1050.0	69	45	.605	583	170	3.23
Nolan	Ryan	Tough	260	1767.2	93	123	.431	1883	945	3.40
Nolan	Ryan	Easy	255	1811.1	121	74	.621	1964	898	2.85
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Bret	Saberhagen	Tough	120	785.0	54	34	.614	534	159	3.27
Bret	Saberhagen	Easy	126	876.1	54	43	.557	602	147	3.30
Curt	Schilling	Tough	162	1128.0	79	44	.642	1057	240	3.43
Curt	Schilling	Easy	146	1056.1	79	44	.642	1054	194	3.31
Jason	Schmidt	Tough	110	700.0	41	38	.519	581	267	3.57
Jason	Schmidt	Easy	103	651.0	49	29	.628	630	263	3.86
Tom	Seaver	Tough	223	1626.1	87	87	.500	1193	517	3.13
Tom	Seaver	Easy	221	1632.1	121	53	.695	1291	485	2.77
Warren	Spahn	Tough	129	952.2	67	49	.578	395	250	3.36
Warren	Spahn	Easy	147	1129.1	85	43	.664	568	264	2.85
Dave	Stieb	Tough	146	994.1	62	48	.564	575	384	3.31
Dave	Stieb	Easy	129	878.0	53	46	.535	528	298	3.73
Rick	Sutcliffe	Tough	138	925.1	62	50	.554	588	346	3.93
Rick	Sutcliffe	Easy	126	814.0	54	38	.587	552	333	4.15
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	W	L	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Luis	Tiant	Tough	182	1259.2	76	62	.551	823	379	3.34
Luis	Tiant	Easy	161	1126.0	83	40	.675	769	352	2.86
Carlos	Zambrano	Tough	105	662.2	46	29	.613	547	314	3.60
Carlos	Zambrano	Easy	106	653.1	45	36	.556	597	289	3.72

 

 

                As to who was better against weaker opponents. .. .well, most everybody was.   But here is a chart of some pitchers who were/are especially good when the going was good:

 

First	Last	Group	GS	IP	Win	Lo	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Erik	Bedard	Tough	69	383.1	17	30	.362	364	157	4.86
Erik	Bedard	Easy	68	395.0	30	15	.667	405	149	3.17
Rob	Bell	Tough	36	167.0	7	15	.318	93	84	7.98
Rob	Bell	Easy	33	195.0	10	6	.625	125	72	4.80
Sean	Bergman	Tough	35	167.2	6	15	.286	82	69	6.92
Sean	Bergman	Easy	40	232.0	16	9	.640	142	92	4.07
Wade	Blasingame	Tough	47	235.2	12	23	.343	133	119	5.77
Wade	Blasingame	Easy	41	264.0	18	7	.720	151	80	3.41
Vida	Blue	Tough	170	1119.0	63	70	.474	684	409	4.00
Vida	Blue	Easy	147	1039.2	71	39	.645	689	366	2.93
Bert	Blyleven	Tough	232	1615.2	80	105	.432	1189	460	3.79
Bert	Blyleven	Easy	245	1813.2	105	73	.590	1335	468	3.14
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	Win	Lo	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Tom	Brewer	Tough	90	580.2	26	43	.377	267	293	4.32
Tom	Brewer	Easy	72	521.1	42	15	.737	270	213	3.47
Pete	Broberg	Tough	44	243.1	7	26	.212	138	136	5.77
Pete	Broberg	Easy	47	286.0	17	19	.472	159	126	3.65
Kevin	Brown	Tough	155	1008.0	50	60	.455	737	311	3.88
Kevin	Brown	Easy	149	1048.1	77	42	.647	783	251	2.82
Don	Cardwell	Tough	123	734.1	33	65	.337	432	256	4.65
Don	Cardwell	Easy	85	590.1	35	23	.603	351	179	3.16
Larry	Dierker	Tough	118	772.2	36	54	.400	497	253	4.04
Larry	Dierker	Easy	92	659.1	46	33	.582	440	190	2.66
Moe	Drabowsky	Tough	54	303.2	8	30	.211	182	149	5.28
Moe	Drabowsky	Easy	48	309.0	18	19	.486	200	117	3.29
Scott	Erickson	Tough	132	822.1	36	57	.387	406	325	5.13
Scott	Erickson	Easy	129	849.0	61	43	.587	455	286	4.06
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	Win	Lo	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Yovani	Gallardo	Tough	46	270.1	15	20	.429	252	110	4.86
Yovani	Gallardo	Easy	52	327.1	28	11	.718	338	110	2.78
John	Halama	Tough	43	214.2	10	20	.333	123	77	6.37
John	Halama	Easy	38	221.2	22	7	.759	113	58	3.78
Jack	Harshman	Tough	58	341.2	19	27	.413	213	185	4.24
Jack	Harshman	Easy	63	488.0	35	14	.714	314	199	2.75
Tim	Hudson	Tough	150	962.1	58	50	.537	591	321	3.91
Tim	Hudson	Easy	143	972.0	79	28	.738	711	259	3.01
Sam	Jones	Tough	69	432.1	25	35	.417	369	223	4.00
Sam	Jones	Easy	66	501.0	37	12	.755	453	212	2.75
Mike	Kekich	Tough	47	253.0	8	27	.229	147	136	5.62
Mike	Kekich	Easy	41	247.1	16	10	.615	145	101	3.35
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	Win	Lo	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Steve	Kline	Tough	43	257.2	11	25	.306	73	77	4.65
Steve	Kline	Easy	35	264.2	19	9	.679	88	48	1.90
Al	Leiter	Tough	148	879.1	56	67	.455	708	431	4.23
Al	Leiter	Easy	120	750.2	57	27	.679	633	332	3.36
Ted	Lilly	Tough	119	660.1	38	53	.418	546	235	5.02
Ted	Lilly	Easy	102	610.2	44	28	.611	510	183	3.66
Jose	Lima	Tough	89	489.1	23	40	.365	244	150	6.58
Jose	Lima	Easy	85	542.0	39	24	.619	364	126	4.04
Derek	Lowe	Tough	119	711.1	37	54	.407	448	236	4.64
Derek	Lowe	Easy	143	871.1	72	46	.610	535	234	3.60
John	Maine	Tough	28	135.0	4	16	.200	109	76	6.60
John	Maine	Easy	33	193.0	18	9	.667	177	76	3.08
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	Win	Lo	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Doc	Medich	Tough	95	599.2	29	41	.414	273	196	4.68
Doc	Medich	Easy	95	653.2	47	31	.603	335	164	3.28
Joe	Niekro	Tough	179	1093.0	57	78	.422	511	411	4.31
Joe	Niekro	Easy	156	1053.2	71	53	.573	512	353	3.11
Jim	Perry	Tough	147	921.1	48	64	.429	401	309	3.94
Jim	Perry	Easy	182	1237.0	94	51	.648	582	335	3.11
Fritz	Peterson	Tough	123	775.2	40	59	.404	349	165	3.82
Fritz	Peterson	Easy	103	729.0	52	27	.658	340	109	2.60
Rick	Reuschel	Tough	202	1283.0	63	92	.406	762	384	3.75
Rick	Reuschel	Easy	161	1102.1	80	42	.656	634	261	3.13
Dick	Ruthven	Tough	118	714.0	27	60	.310	388	255	4.64
Dick	Ruthven	Easy	108	721.0	56	26	.683	414	265	3.64
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	Win	Lo	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Nolan	Ryan	Tough	260	1767.2	93	123	.431	1883	945	3.40
Nolan	Ryan	Easy	255	1811.1	121	74	.621	1964	898	2.85
Jack	Sanford, Fla	Tough	116	701.2	39	41	.487	391	268	4.22
Jack	Sanford, Fla	Easy	97	693.0	54	30	.643	441	235	2.66
Pete	Schourek	Tough	53	279.1	12	28	.300	188	99	5.51
Pete	Schourek	Easy	72	424.2	30	24	.556	303	142	3.73
Jeff	Suppan	Tough	126	739.0	31	56	.356	394	269	5.33
Jeff	Suppan	Easy	154	927.0	66	45	.595	510	285	4.53
Don	Sutton	Tough	253	1651.0	91	105	.464	1091	432	3.91
Don	Sutton	Easy	271	1972.1	125	80	.610	1335	473	2.83
Brett	Tomko	Tough	81	471.1	22	39	.361	283	169	5.44
Brett	Tomko	Easy	101	629.0	42	28	.600	443	168	3.93
Bob	Turley	Tough	74	462.1	21	37	.362	344	307	4.09
Bob	Turley	Easy	96	680.0	47	19	.712	509	411	2.92
First	Last	Group	GS	IP	Win	Lo	Pct	SO	BB	ERA
Ismael	Valdes	Tough	94	569.1	25	43	.368	366	188	4.76
Ismael	Valdes	Easy	76	516.0	34	25	.576	333	121	2.83
Justin	Verlander	Tough	83	545.2	39	30	.565	517	170	3.78
Justin	Verlander	Easy	73	493.1	47	8	.855	467	143	2.90
David	Wells	Tough	166	1038.1	71	55	.563	588	233	4.65
David	Wells	Easy	169	1173.1	94	37	.718	797	187	3.40
Early	Wynn	Tough	117	762.0	43	55	.439	448	323	4.43
Early	Wynn	Easy	126	947.2	73	28	.723	589	358	2.74

 

                It would be neat, not to mention potentially useful, if we could generalize about the types of pitchers who are more dominant against weaker teams, and those who hold their effectiveness in the toughest starts against the best teams.     While I don’t want to be over-confident here, I would suggest the possibility that these charts show that the Whitey Ford/Tom Glavine/Buddy Black type pitchers do well in the toughest games, whereas the most opposite group dominates inferior competition but does less well against the very best teams.     The Ford/Glavine/Black type pitchers, are, of course, left-handers with good control.    John Candelaria was quite good in tough starts (54-43, 3.45 ERA.)     Ross Grimsley was 35-27 in tough starts, actually a better won-lost record than he had in "soft" starts.   Cole Hamels has been outstanding against tough opponents.   Teddy Higuera was 35-19 against tough opponents, 38-31 against soft opposition.    Bruce Hurst was 48-39 against the toughest opponents.    Jimmy Key was 48-35, 3.58 ERA against the strongest opponents.   Kirk Rueter in his career was 45-30 against the toughest opponents.    Claude Osteen—one game over .500 in a long career—was 67-66 in the toughest games.    Andy Pettitte is "just" 67-53 against the toughest teams, but holds the record for wins in the post season.

                Of course I am cherry-picking the data, and when you do that you can establish any pattern that you think might be in there, but. . .there would appear to be a large number of right-handed power pitchers who have done dramatically better against bad teams than against good teams:   Justin Verlander, Nolan Ryan, Bob Turley, Tom Seaver, Don Drysdale.   Overall, the winning percentage in this study was 120 points better against "soft" opponents than in tough games.  Tom Seaver was 195 points points better (.695 to .500).    Roger Clemens’ winning percentage was 174 points better against "soft" opponents than against strong opponents (.737 to .563).   Bob Gibson’s was 139 points better (.658 to .519).  Jack Morris was 165 points better (.654 to .489).   J. R. Richard was 136 points better (.661 to .525).    Again, I could be imagining it, but that’s the pattern I see.