The following situation has happened on many occasions in a baseball game: second part of the eighth inning with the visiting team winning by three runs, a reliever enters and is attacked, the locals taking the lead by one. In the next and final chapter the visitors take the lead again and manage to close the final inning without runs thanks to the work of their closer who replaced the previous battered pitcher. Under the rule, the pitcher who missed is awarded the win. That borders on the absurd. Both the games won and lost for pitchers are not determined by their level of effort, but by a rule.
The importance given to that section, which cannot be called statistics, has been changing, especially due to the wisdom of a generation with an open mind that applies logic. For example; in 1959 Early Wynn won the Cy Young Award, then only awarded one for both leagues, over Sam Jones. This one completed more episodes, 270.2, with a better ERA, 2.83, than that one (255.2/3.17), which was also the leader in bases on balls granted, but Wynn registered 22-10 wins and losses and Jones 21-15. In contrast, in 2010 in the American League, Félix Hernández was credited with thirteen wins versus twelve losses, but led both leagues in PCL (2.27), beating David Price (19-6/2.72) and CC in the voting for the award. Sabathia (21-7/3.18).
The line of games won and lost was created by Henry Chadwick in 1884 and the first time that it was included in a publication as referring to the work of pitchers was in 1888 by The Sporting News, with the following comment: “It seems that the entire responsibility of the The outcome of a game rests on the shoulders of the shooter and we do not believe that this assessment will become popular even if it bears the paternity of a scholar such as the gentlemanly Mr. Chadwick. It is very difficult to accept that a pitcher who has been hit freely and has not achieved what it takes to win, receives the credit of a victory.”
And I repeat, this was written in 1888!
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