So, the other day, I got thinking about the San Francisco Giants. Dunno why, maybe saw an old highlight or something. And the thought popped into my head: who were their 20-game winners? You know, guys who really carried the pitching staff back in the day.
My first instinct was just to grab my phone, but I stopped myself. Thought it’d be more fun to try and remember. Like a little brain exercise. Okay, Juan Marichal, obviously. He was a machine. Gaylord Perry, yeah, gotta be him too, even with the spitball stuff. Those two jumped out right away.
Digging Through Memory
Then it got fuzzy. I started picturing old baseball cards I had as a kid. Trying to recall the stats on the back. Was there someone in the 70s? Maybe the 80s? My mind kept drawing a blank for a bit. It’s funny how memory works, isn’t it? You think you know something, but retrieving it is another story.
I spent a good ten minutes just staring at the wall, trying to pull names out. Started thinking about more recent guys. Lincecum! Yeah, Timmy, he had that amazing stretch. Won the Cy Young twice. Surely he hit 20 wins at least once? Felt pretty sure about him.
It bugged me that I couldn’t nail down more. Felt like I should know this. I follow the team, you know? So, I gave up on the pure memory test and went to my old bookshelf. Got this Giants almanac type book I picked up years ago at a garage sale. Dusty as anything.
The Actual Process
Okay, here was the actual “practice” part, if you wanna call it that:
- Pulled out the book. Sneezed twice.
- Flipped through the index. Looking for “pitching records” or “season leaders”.
- Found a section on year-by-year stats. Bingo.
- Started scanning the ‘W’ column for pitchers, year by year, specifically looking for numbers 20 or higher.
It took longer than expected. The print was small, and I kept getting sidetracked by old team photos and weird stats from like, the 1960s. Found Marichal, found Perry. Confirmed Lincecum did it. Saw some names I vaguely recognized but hadn’t thought of, like Mike McCormick and Ron Bryant. Jason Schmidt, too, more recently.
Here’s the thing, though. Going through that process, flipping pages, seeing the names and years… it wasn’t just about finding a list. It made me think about how rare it actually is. Especially now. You just don’t see guys hitting 20 wins like they used to. The game’s changed so much with pitch counts, bullpens, all that.
It made me feel kinda nostalgic, I guess. Remembering watching some of those guys pitch, or hearing stories from my dad about Marichal’s high leg kick. It’s more than just a number. It represents a kind of workhorse pitcher that’s becoming a fossil.
So yeah, that was my little project. Started with a simple question, ended up being a trip down memory lane and a bit of a reflection on how baseball, and maybe even sticking power in general, has shifted. Didn’t just get a list of names, got a bit of perspective too. Weird how things work out.
