Countdown to Spring Training - 44 Days
The 1979 season, just the third in franchise history, has stood the test of time as the worst in the history of the organization. The club finished manager Roy Hartsfield's last season with a record of 53-109, but today we are less concerned with that record then we are with the record number of complete games pitched by that year's staff - all 44 of them.
While it's almost inconceivable for the modern fan to imagine a season in which the starting pitchers combine to throw 44 complete games, back in the late 70's and early 80's it was really nothing too special.
Tom Underwood was the leader of that team's staff, as his nine wins, 3.69 ERA and 12 complete games were all best on the team. Right behind him in all of those categories was Ray Lemanczyk who finished the year with eight wins, a 3.71 ERA and 11 complete games (including three complete game shutouts). Lemanczyk's numbers become all the more impressive when you consider the fact that he made just 20 starts. It's not every day that you run into a pitcher that finishes more than half the games he starts.
Dave Stieb, in his rookie season, pitched in with seven complete games of his own, and he was the only member of the starting rotation to finish the season with a .500 record, going 8-8. Baylor Moore was next on the club with five complete games, while Jim Clancy and three others finished the season with two complete games each.
The 1979 Blue Jays' 44 complete games were fifth most of the 14 teams in teams in the American League that year. Perhaps nothing highlights how the game has changed more than the fact that the 2011 also finished their season with the fifth most complete games of any team in the American League - though last year's staff recorded just seven.
To further explore how the game has changed with the evolution of the bullpen, one must look no further than the Blue Jays franchise history to see what has happened.
Through their first seven full seasons, from 1977 through 1984 (discounting the strike-shortened season of 1981), the Blue Jays never finished a season with fewer than 34 complete games. Of those seven seasons, they finished with at least 40 complete games four times. Since 1984, however, the Blue Jays have never had a staff finish a season with more than 18 complete games. Four times ('90, '02, '04, and '06) they finished with a total of six complete games, and in 2010 they recorded just five complete games - fewest in franchise history.
So today we tip our caps to the 1979 Blue Jays, and recognize the efforts of a pitching staff that did all they could to bring some wins to Toronto - 44 times.
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