31 Wins, Presidential Notes

Seven pitchers have won exactly 31 games in a big leagues season. That number will remain the same for a long time, perhaps eternally.

Two times that pitchers won 31 were in presidential election years.

The first time was in 1920 when Jim Bagby Sr. of the eventual world champion, Cleveland Indians turned the trick.

48 years later (1948/forty eight was the only other Cleveland baseball title season) Dennis McLain won 31 games for the eventual world champion Detroit Tigers.

Certainly corruption surrounded the two men, (Warren Harding in 1920 and R.M. Nixon in 1968) that won those presidential elections.

Additionally, since most in life is relative, recent history has improved the historical rating of each.

Jim Bagby Sr. pictured above, won 31 and lost 12 for the title winning 1920 Indians.

His (10-1), 30th win of the season came against the Tigers, with whom McLain would also win 31 those aforementioned 48 years later, doing so with half (6) the number of losses Bagby accumulated.

Since Bagby won 31, only Lefty Grove also 31 (he lost 4 as the great Al “Grampa” Lewis often intoned on my cable tv show), Dizzy Dean (the last NL pitcher to do so, also likely to be that way for a long if not eternal period of time. Time eternal??) and McLain have won 30 or more games in a season.