In 1968 he started 34 games and pitched 304 innings for 8.9 innings per game. Compare that to today’s buttercups whose arms might fall off of they go more than 5 innings.
yep, in the days before pitch counts and 5 man starting rotations, and “bullpen games”, pitchers racked up bigger stats than they can today.
McLain pitched 336 innings that year and had 28 complete games. I don’t know how many cortisone shots he got that year, but that’s what kept him going. McLain had another very good year in 1969, but after that his arm was shot.
Complete games by a starting pitcher are a rarity now. Most starters are limited to 100 pitches/game now. Kershaw pitched a great game last night, but was yanked after 8 innings. Had he pitched the 9th he may have a gotten a complete game shutout.
Don’t blame them — blame sabermetrics. The analytics guys determined that there is a significant dropoff in a pitcher’s performance the third time through the order. So now, even in the minor leagues (of which there will be fewer), they don’t let pitchers go through the order three times.
It’s stupid, but it’s data.