Somebody check my dice! In my 1966 replay, starting pitchers are dominant!
It all started with Dodger Claude Osteen’s shutout on April 29th followed by Sandy Koufax’s no-hitter on April 30th against the Reds. On that same day, Houston’s Larry Dierker (right) battled for a five-hit shutout vs Ken Johnson and the Braves (these games were played a while ago, by the way).
The next day, Bob Gibson and Don Sutton both pitched complete game shutouts. After a game of rest in the MLB, there were THREE shutouts on May 3rd by Clay Carroll (ATL), Tommie Sisk (PIT) and Tug McGraw (PHI). Chris Short pitched one for Philly on May 4th. Finally on May 5th, two more. Larry Jackson had a no-hitter broken up in the 7th inning but he maintained his shutout for the win for the Phillies. Houston’s Turk Farrell even put one together to avoid a sweep against the Cubs.
By my count, that’s eleven shutouts in seven days and at least one each day. Keep in mind, the 1966 NL is a 10-team league so at max, there are only five going on in one day.
You’ll see some of the aforementioned pitchers in the ERA leaders now.
| Player | Team | IP | ERA |
| McGraw, Tug | NYM | 18 | 0.00 |
| Dierker, Larry | Hou | 27 | 1.00 |
| Maloney, Jim | Cin | 25 | 1.80 |
| Gibson, Bob | StL | 34 2/3 | 1.82 |
| Marichal, Juan | SF | 34 | 1.85 |
| Koufax, Sandy | LA | 43 | 1.88 |
| Blass, Steve | Pit | 31 | 2.03 |
| Sutton, Don | LA | 39 | 2.08 |
| Ellsworth, Dick | Chi | 27 2/3 | 2.28 |
| Osteen, Claude | LA | 38 | 2.37 |
McGraw, by the way, has only pitched just two games and hurled two shutouts.
Just like in real life, Los Angeles is the team to beat. They’ve gotten off to a great start with their tough pitching and defense.
| Team | Wins | Losses | Pct. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 15 | 4 | .789 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 11 | 8 | .579 | 4 |
| Houston Astros | 12 | 10 | .545 | 4 1/2 |
| New York Mets | 7 | 7 | .500 | 5 1/2 |
| San Francisco Giants | 9 | 10 | .474 | 6 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 8 | 9 | .471 | 6 |
| Atlanta Braves | 10 | 12 | .455 | 6 1/2 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 8 | 10 | .444 | 6 1/2 |
| Chicago Cubs | 7 | 12 | .368 | 8 |
| St Louis Cardinals | 7 | 12 | .368 | 8 |
By the way, if anyone is wondering about the discrepancy in games played by each team, you’re not the only one. The Mets have 14 total games and some teams like the Astros, have already played 22. I’m playing the actual games played and never fear, it matches up. The Mets just must have had a few rainouts.
