This was Bucky Walters first big season; he was 30 years old,
a good definition of a late bloomer. He had pitched several years
for Philadelphia, and had pitched badly. He was then traded to
Cincinnati midway through the 1938 season, and something clicked.
He won the Triple Crown this year, and just missed repeating the
feat next year. He remained an outstanding pitcher for the Reds for
the next decade, and did not have another losing season until 1948.
This was probably Paul Derringer's best season; he set a
career high with 25 wins. It was the second of three straight 20+
win seasons for Derringer; both he and the Reds had come a long way
since 1933, when Derringer lost 27 games.
After the top two guys, there are no obvious choices. Luke
Hamlin had an indistinguished career with one big season. Curt
Davis had a great rookie year in 1934, then had a solid career in
which he won 158 games. There is nothing to distinguish them from
the others in the group except that they won twenty games, and were
hard workers. Davis worked especially hard, chipping in with 7
saves.
