Ron Guidry Was The Greatest Big-Game Pitcher Of His Generation


Ron Guidry participated in five pennant races with the Yankees between 1977 and 1985 where a spot in the post-season hung in the balance (there was nothing at stake for the Yankees in September in the strike interrupted '81 season because they already had a playoff spot locked up by virtue of leading the division when the strike occurred in mid-June).

Guidry's record during these five pennant races was quite simply astounding. This consistent and amazing success in tight pennant races is perhaps the most compelling argument for Guidry's inclusion in the Hall, relatively brief career notwithstanding.

Ron Guidry made 30 starts in September during these pennant races. He won 26 of them. Let me clear: he didn't merely win 26 of 30 DECISIONS. He won 26 of 30 STARTS.

Guidry did a season's worth of pitching in his five September pennant races in his prime - 245.2 innings. He won 26 and lost 4 in 30 starts. He struck out 181 and walked 60. His ERA was 2.67. All but 6 of these 30 starts came with the Yankees leading or trailing by 5.5 games or less. All but one of these 30 starts came before the Yankees had clinched or been eliminated (Guidry's last start of 1983 came after elimination). Every start but one during the '77 and '78 pennant races - when Guidry was as at his most dominant - came when the difference was 3.5 games or less. He pitched five shutouts and had two other 7 inning starts in which he didn't surrender a run.

He started six games in September against the teams the Yankees were battling for a post-season berth. He faced the Red Sox in September '77, the Red Sox three times in Sept/Oct of '78, the Orioles in '83 and the Blue Jays in '85. He was 6-0 with a 1.97 ERA in those six starts.Guidry made four starts in the World Series and was 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA. His post-season record was 5-2 with a 3.02 ERA in ten starts. In the 40 biggest starts of his career - 10 in the post-season and 30 in September during pennant races - he was 31-6 with a 2.74 ERA in 308.1 innings. In the 40 biggest starts of his career Guidry was basically Denny McLain in his historic 1968 season.

Click here for a comparison of the September pennant race records of many of the greatest pitchers in the last 60 years. No one can match Guidry's astounding 26 wins in 30 starts. Perhaps only Randy Johnson can claim to have been as dominating in the heat of a pennant race.

Related Posts: The Best Big-Game Pitcher Of His Generation; Guidry's Extraordinary Big-Game Record; Big Games, Big Pitchers; The Biggest Games Of Their Lives