The Philadelphia Athletics won their third straight pennant,
though they lost in the World Series to the Cardinals. Owner Connie Mack then ran
out of money, and began to sell off his best players, including
Grove. The Athletics eventually returned to the playoffs in 1971, a drought of
40 years.
As for Grove...I think a 31-4 record speaks for itself. This
was another big year for the hitters, so Grove's ERA is even more
impressive than it looks. The previous year Grove was 28-5; that's a two year
record of 59-9, which I think is the best two-year record ever.
During his career, Grove won an astonishing nine ERA titles (the
next best total is six). Even as an aging left-hander who had lost
his fastball and was pitching in Fenway Park, he still won more ERA
titles. In this survey, I've given Grove eight Cy Young Awards,
tied with Johnson for the most of any pitcher.
Lefty Gomez had his first great season. Gomez was really
weird, and I'll talk about him later, but he was a hell of a
pitcher. George Earnshaw was Grove's teammate with the Athletics;
he didn't reach the majors until he was 28, but was a solid pitcher
for several seasons.
Rube Walberg also pitched for the Athletics. He was a decent
pitcher for a long time; this was his best year. Walberg has almost
the same numbers as Wes Ferrell; I'll give Walberg the slight edge,
for pitching more innings and for playing with a champion.
