The year before, pitchers were in complete dominance of the
game. Fan interest was waning, however, so both leagues took steps
to help the hitters out. For one thing, the pitching mound was
lowered. Also, the strike zone was shrunk back to what it had been
before rule changes in 1963 (at least, I'm assuming that it was shrunk; one
never knows what goes on between the league and the umpires).
Offense did rebound fairly substantially, though some pitchers
continued to have great years, including nine who had 20+ wins.
There isn't too much difference between the best pitcher on
this list, and the weakest. Seaver pitched as well as anyone, and
had the best won-loss record; he is a good choice to win the award.
This was his first of three Cy Young Awards, and to
be honest, he could easily have won two or three more. Seaver was
clearly the greatest pitcher of the post-Koufax era; he was as
dominant as Gibson and Marichal, and lasted long enough to win 311
games in his career.
As for Gibson and Marichal, they were both at their peak as
well, and it is difficult to tell the difference between the two.
Marichal had a slightly better ERA, and twice as many shutouts, so
I'll give him the edge. Next, I'll take Phil Niekro, who at age 30
had his first 20+ win season. Niekro pitched for Atlanta, and this
was a rare year in which the Braves actually had a good season; as
a result, Niekro had a career high in wins.
Despite being 30 years old, Niekro's career was just getting
underway. He was a knuckleball pitcher, and they usually only get
a chance when a team is desperate for pitching. The rest of
Niekro's career would be erratic; he had the misfortune of pitching
in Fulton-County Stadium in Atlanta (the "Launching Pad", where
pitchers go to die), and of pitching for the Braves, who stunk throughout
the 1970's. Nevertheless, Niekro always pitched well, surviving the
elements and his own periodic control problems. He pitched until he
was 48 years old, and won 318 games in his career. He is a worthy
member of the Hall Of Fame.
Some guys had career years, including Bill Hands of Chicago
and Larry Dierker of Houston (a team he would later manage). Bill
Singer was 25 years old, and appeared to be a worthy successor to
the departed Don Drysdale. But Singer burned himself out, and made
only 16 starts next season. The Dodgers eventually gave up on him;
Singer did manage to win 20 games again for the Angels, but his career
fell apart after that. He retired with more losses than wins,
though he did start the first game in the history of the Toronto
Blue Jays.
