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The first thing to hit you when you stepped into the batter's box was the stare. It came out from under the bent brim, with the only the eyes being visible behind the curtain of impossible shadow that fell across the scowl on his face. That stare could look right into the soul of a hitter and know almost instantaneous whether or not he had him out before he even threw a pitch.
And more often than not, he did.
For those of you familiar with the Oakland Athletics of the late 1980's and early 1990's, you know that while the press chose to spotlight the exploits of the Bash Brothers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, that these teams dominated because of one simple rule; pitching wins ballgames.
And no other pitched on those staffs better personified that mantra than Dave Stewart.
Quick pop quiz for the baseball fans out there; who was the last pitcher to win 20 games in four consecutive seasons? If you said Dave Stewart, you would have won a lollipop. From 1987 to 1990, Stewart went an amazing 84-45 with a 3.20 ERA, 41 complete games, and 718 strike-outs.
|
Year
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
ERA
|
G
|
CG
|
SHO
|
IP
|
H
|
ER
|
SO
|
ERA+
|
WHIP
|
Awards
|
|
16 Yrs
|
168
|
129
|
.566
|
3.95
|
523
|
55
|
9
|
2629.2
|
2499
|
1154
|
1741
|
100
|
1.344
|
|
|
162 Game Avg.
|
13
|
10
|
.566
|
3.95
|
41
|
4
|
1
|
205
|
195
|
90
|
136
|
100
|
1.344
|
|
|
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
ERA
|
G
|
CG
|
SHO
|
IP
|
H
|
ER
|
SO
|
ERA+
|
WHIP
|
Awards
|
|
1987
|
20
|
13
|
.606
|
3.68
|
37
|
8
|
1
|
261.1
|
224
|
107
|
205
|
113
|
1.259
|
CYA-3
|
|
1988
|
21
|
12
|
.636
|
3.23
|
37
|
14
|
2
|
275.2
|
240
|
99
|
192
|
118
|
1.270
|
CYA-4,MVP-22
|
|
1989
|
21
|
9
|
.700
|
3.32
|
36
|
8
|
0
|
257.2
|
260
|
95
|
155
|
112
|
1.277
|
AS,CYA-2,MVP-14
|
|
1990
|
22
|
11
|
.667
|
2.56
|
36
|
11
|
4
|
267.0
|
226
|
76
|
166
|
144
|
1.157
|
CYA-3,MVP-8
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What makes Stewart's statistics even more impressive is the fact that he never finished higher than second in the Cy Young voting, despite consistently winning games and leading the league in complete games twice during the span. Each year, there always seemed to be at least one pitcher who out-shined the erstwhile Oakland ace. Here are the voting results:
1987
|
Rank
|
|
Tm
|
Vote Pts
|
1st Place
|
Share
|
WAR
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
ERA
|
CG
|
SHO
|
SV
|
SO
|
WHIP
|
ERA+
|
|
1
|
Roger Clemens
|
BOS
|
124.0
|
21.0
|
89%
|
9.1
|
20
|
9
|
.690
|
2.97
|
18
|
7
|
0
|
256
|
1.175
|
154
|
|
2
|
Jimmy Key
|
TOR
|
64.0
|
4.0
|
46%
|
7.1
|
17
|
8
|
.680
|
2.76
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
161
|
1.057
|
164
|
|
3
|
Dave Stewart
|
OAK
|
32.0
|
2.0
|
23%
|
4.0
|
20
|
13
|
.606
|
3.68
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
205
|
1.259
|
113
|
1988
|
Rank
|
|
Tm
|
Vote Pts
|
1st Place
|
Share
|
WAR
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
ERA
|
CG
|
SHO
|
SV
|
SO
|
WHIP
|
ERA+
|
|
1
|
Frank Viola
|
MIN
|
138.0
|
27.0
|
99%
|
7.4
|
24
|
7
|
.774
|
2.64
|
7
|
2
|
0
|
193
|
1.136
|
154
|
|
2
|
Dennis Eckersley
|
OAK
|
52.0
|
1.0
|
37%
|
2.2
|
4
|
2
|
.667
|
2.35
|
0
|
0
|
45
|
70
|
0.867
|
163
|
|
3
|
Mark Gubicza
|
KCR
|
26.0
|
0.0
|
19%
|
7.5
|
20
|
8
|
.714
|
2.70
|
8
|
4
|
0
|
183
|
1.187
|
149
|
|
4
|
Dave Stewart
|
OAK
|
16.0
|
0.0
|
11%
|
4.2
|
21
|
12
|
.636
|
3.23
|
14
|
2
|
0
|
192
|
1.270
|
118
|
1989
|
Rank
|
|
Tm
|
Vote Pts
|
1st Place
|
Share
|
WAR
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
ERA
|
CG
|
SHO
|
SV
|
SO
|
WHIP
|
ERA+
|
|
1
|
Bret Saberhagen
|
KCR
|
138.0
|
27.0
|
99%
|
9.2
|
23
|
6
|
.793
|
2.16
|
12
|
4
|
0
|
193
|
0.961
|
180
|
|
2
|
Dave Stewart
|
OAK
|
80.0
|
1.0
|
57%
|
3.4
|
21
|
9
|
.700
|
3.32
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
155
|
1.277
|
112
|
|
3
|
Mike Moore
|
OAK
|
10.0
|
0.0
|
7%
|
5.1
|
19
|
11
|
.633
|
2.61
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
172
|
1.142
|
142
|
1990
|
Rank
|
|
Tm
|
Vote Pts
|
1st Place
|
Share
|
WAR
|
W
|
L
|
W-L%
|
ERA
|
CG
|
SHO
|
SV
|
SO
|
WHIP
|
ERA+
|
|
1
|
Bob Welch
|
OAK
|
107.0
|
15.0
|
76%
|
2.7
|
27
|
6
|
.818
|
2.95
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
127
|
1.223
|
125
|
|
2
|
Roger Clemens
|
BOS
|
77.0
|
8.0
|
55%
|
10.3
|
21
|
6
|
.778
|
1.93
|
7
|
4
|
0
|
209
|
1.082
|
211
|
|
3
|
Dave Stewart
|
OAK
|
43.0
|
3.0
|
31%
|
4.9
|
22
|
11
|
.667
|
2.56
|
11
|
4
|
0
|
166
|
1.157
|
144
|
Needless to say, Stewart was easily the most dominating pitcher of the period. Put aside the four-consecutive 20-win seasons for the time being. Of the group above, Stewart was the only player to finish in the top-four of the Cy Young voting during each year of that period and the only one to do so twice in the same period aside from Clemens. That alone is huge when you consider that we are talking about Clemens during his utmost dominance, before Brian McNamee, not to mention Frank Viola and Bret Saberhagen.
So to you Dave Stewart, we here at The Baseball Big Brother Project offer you a tip of the cap!
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