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NO STAT IS SAFE. NO ERA IS FORGOTTEN.
VOL. 1, NO. 2 · MARCH 9, 2026 · EVERY MONDAY
ISSUE #002 · DEAD BALL
Cy Young — 511 Wins Are
Mathematically Unreachable
On October 1, 1903, the first World Series began — a best-of-9 between Boston and Pittsburgh. Cy Young
📅 THIS DATE IN
BASEBALL won 2 games.
THE STAT THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST 01
THE RECORD WAS IMPOSSIBLE BEFORE IT WAS EVEN FINISHED.
511 Career Wins. #2 Has 417. Nobody Active Will
Reach 300.
CY YOUNG WALTER JOHNSON PETE ALEXANDER
363 354 ~225
WARREN SPAHN ROGER CLEMENS ACTIVE LEADER
Cy Young won 511 games across 22 seasons. Walter Johnson is second at 417 — a 94-win gap. No active
pitcher has 200 wins. The five-man rotation and pitch counts made 300 wins structurally impossible. 511
exists in a different universe.
THE GAME YOU FORGOT 02
VS Philadelphia Athletics MAY 5, 1904
0 0 8 W 3–0
IP HITS WALKS K RESULT
The Perfect Game
THE FIRST PERFECT GAME OF THE MODERN ERA
Cy Young retired all 27 Athletics. He was 37 years old. He pitched seven more seasons after this. He also
threw two additional no-hitters and completed 749 of his career starts — 749. The 2025 MLB season
produced fewer than 50 complete games across all 30 teams.
ERA VS ERA 03
Could A Modern Pitcher Win 300 Games?
CY YOUNG · 22 SEASONS MODERN 300-WIN PACE
WINS PER SEASON NEEDED PER SEASON
23.2 18+
COMPLETE GAMES VS NEEDED SEASONS
749 17+
IP LAST TO REACH 300
7,356 Clemens, 2003
To win 300 in the modern era, a pitcher needs 17 seasons as a rotation ace at 18+ wins. The last to do it was
Clemens in 2003. 511 is not just unreachable — it's from a different sport.
Will any pitcher ever reach 300 wins again?
YES NO — ERA IS OVER 300 SHOULDN'T BE THE STANDARD 511 IS THE REAL IMPOSSIBILITY
THE COLDEST MOMENT 04
THE OTHER SIDE OF 511
He Also Holds The Record For Career Losses.
Nobody Talks About That.
Young's 511 wins come with 316 losses — also all-time record. He pitched so many innings, so
many years, he accumulated records on both ends. Career ERA: 2.63. Complete games: 74% of
starts. The wins and losses are both records because he just never stopped.
All us Youngs could throw. I used to kill squirrels with a stone. My arm went back
naturally.
— CY YOUNG
THE STAT VAULT 05
CAREER COMPLETE GAMES CAREER IP
The 2025 MLB season produced fewer Modern starters average ~180 IP/year.
than 50 across all 30 teams. Matching Young: 41 seasons.
CAREER NO-HITTERS SEASONS PITCHED
Including the first perfect game of the 1890–1911. His career spanned the dead
modern era at age 37. ball era's entire existence.
2.63 CAREER ERA
Across 7,356 innings.
THE FORGOTTEN MAN 06
OVERLOOKED · UNDERRATED · DESERVES MORE
Vic Willis
PIRATES / BOSTON · 1898–1910
HOF · 249 WINS · 2.63 ERA
249 Wins. Hall of Famer. Zero Name Recognition.
Vic Willis won 249 games, threw 388 complete games, and is in the Hall of Fame. His best year: 27-8 with a
2.50 ERA. His worst: 12-29 when Pittsburgh was terrible. The wins get erased by the loss total. The HOF
plaque doesn't.
THE CONNECTION:
Willis pitched in the same era as Young and was almost as dominant — just less famous. The gap
between legend and forgotten in the dead ball era is often just marketing.
COMING NEXT MONDAY
Next Monday: Honus Wagner's T206 card sold for $7.25M. But his .328 career average is the real artifact.
Who's Your Forgotten Man?
Reply with a player from any era who deserves more credit. Best answer gets featured next Monday.
All Eras. All Stats. No Debate.
Every Monday. No exceptions.