There is much that is confirmed and much revealed in the table above. As many would expect, pitchers like Bob Gibson and Tom Seaver elevated their game when the race was hot and time was short. Koufax and Drysdale also pitched marvelously during pennant races (in Koufax's case, more than the numbers above indicate), which is why the Dodgers won those mad N.L. scrambles in '63, '65 and '66.

I imagine many would be surprised at the disparity between Schilling's October numbers and his September numbers. Jack Morris and John Smoltz are two others whose September records don't quite match their October achievements and reputations.

What follows is a brief examination of the Septembers, good and bad, of these pitchers. Click on the pitcher's name to go to a season-by-season breakdown of their performances in pennant races.

Roger Clemens didn't really distinguish himself down the stretch in tight races. He was great in August, and slightly better in Septembers in which his team was out of the race or cruising to a division title. His best September was probably 1991 when he went 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA for the Red Sox as they faded after trailing the Blue Jays by only 1.5 games with 12 to play.

Don Drysdale pitched in seven tight pennant races for the Dodgers and pitched well. But it was probably his performances down the stretch in '65 and '66 that propelled him into the Hall. Drysdale was 9-2 with a 1.83 ERA in 16 starts as he and Koufax became legends. Oddly, Drysdale didn't perform as well when pitching against the other contenders in September, as the parenthetical notations in the linked chart indicate. For instance, he made a total of four starts against the Dodgers arch-nemesis, the Giants, in the '62, '65 and '66 N.L. pennant races and didn't win any of them. But the numbers don't lie. The Dodgers always seemed to win those tight races in the mid-'60s because they had Drysdale and Koufax.

Whitey Ford's numbers don't include his rookie season in 1950 (the detailed game logs aren't yet available for 1950 at Baseball-Reference.com or Retrosheet.org), when he was plugged into the legendary Reynolds/Raschi/Lopat rotation in mid-season and proceeded to win 9 of 10 decisions, including four in September. Ford was consistently solid, if unspectacular, when the Yankees found themselves in the unusual position of not having wrapped-up the pennant by September. His best Septembers were in '55, '62 and '64, in each of which he was 3-1 with ERAs of 2.33, 2.68 and 1.84, respectively.

Who didn't expect Bob Gibson to be spectacular down the stretch in September? I was initially surprised to see only four tight Septembers in Gibson's career, but then recalled that the '67 and '68 Cards waltzed to the N.L. pennant and were never challenged in September. Gibson, like Drysdale, was not infallible, however, taking a no-decision in a critical game the Cards ultimately lost to the Dodgers in '63 and losing to the Reds in '64. I mention these games not to criticize Gibson (whose seven consecutive complete-game World Series victories place his big-game credentials beyond reproach), but to emphasize how extraordinary is Guidry's 6-0 record against the other contenders in tight races.

Randy Johnson was simply "lights out" in September when a post-season berth was at stake. The 22-2 record and 2.39 ERA are obviously spectacular. Both of Johnson's losses came in September 2000, the second of which occurred on the last day of the season, long after the D'backs had been eliminated. Johnson had eight non-decisions, in which his team went 2-6, but he generally pitched well in those non-decisions, compiling a 3.04 ERA over 50.1 innings. Johnson is the flip of Schilling - he was magnificent in September races but rather pedestrian in October (7-9, 3.50 ERA in 121 innings). Still, anyone who would question Johnson's big-game bona fides should consider that he was 20-0 in five September races (which excludes 2000).

Sandy Koufax's numbers tell a tale of two Koufax's. There was the pre-'63 Koufax, who was 3-8 with a 5.08 ERA, and the '63 to '66 Koufax, who was 16-3 in 24 September starts with a 1.54 ERA in 192.1 innings. Whoa. In games against other contenders, Koufax lost to the Pirates at the beginning of September in 1965 and took a no-decision in a game the Dodgers lost to the Giants in early September 1966 - again, this is not to quibble with the astounding record of Koufax in his prime, but to illustrate that while even Gibson and Koufax could lose head-to-head matchups with other pennant race contenders, Guidry never did.

Greg Maddux's September record doesn't quite stack up with his overall regular season record, but on the other hand it didn't seem to prevent Atlanta from winning the N.L. East every year. It's Maddux's below par post-season record that really sticks out on his resume, but that won't matter either when it comes to Cooperstown - 355 career wins in the age of the five-man rotation begins and ends the discussion of Maddux's qualifications for the Hall.

I've covered Jack Morris' record - September, October and otherwise. I've got no problem with Jack Morris' 40%+ vote tallies each year in HOF voting. But if Jack is a 40%+ guy, why isn't Ron Guidry's mug on a plaque in Cooperstown?

No one pitched in more September races than Jim Palmer - he might have logged more than 500 innings in tight races but for the fact that the Orioles had already wrapped up league or division titles in '66, '69, '70 and '71 by the time September rolled around. The September Palmer was the same Palmer the Orioles could always count on - rock steady. He pitched in four tight A.L. East division races while in his prime in the '70s, losing some big games in '72, pitching well but with tough luck in '74 and '75, and going a spectacular 6-0 (1.44 ERA) in September 1977 as the Orioles battled the Yankees and Red Sox for the AL East title.

I've discussed Mr. Bloody Sock. He had seven cracks at September glory. He was good in '93, 2000 and 2001, and mediocre to poor in the rest. He never blazed through September like Seaver in '69, Palmer in '77 or Guidry in '77 and '78. But he saved his best for October, and he loved the cameras and microphones and spotlight.

Tom Seaver had an epic September in 1969 for the Miracle Mets (6-0, 0.83 ERA) and two great Septembers in '80 and '81 for the Reds (a combined 9-1 with a 2.24 ERA). In between he was 11-7 for the Mets and Reds over four Septembers with a 3.91 ERA. Seaver had particular trouble in September starts against other contenders, winning only four of 15 such starts after his victory over the Cubs in September 1969. He stumbled badly in '70, going 1-2 in six starts, the two losses coming to ultimate division champion Pittsburgh in the last 10 games of the season, the second of which all but eliminated the Mets. Seaver was roughed up in both starts, giving up a total of 17 hits in just 9.2 innings. Seaver's 26-8 record and outstanding ERA attest to his status as a clutch September performer, and his relative lack of success against other contenders only demonstrates that Seaver, like everyone other than Guidry and Randy Johnson, was not infallible in a pennant race.

John Smoltz's September numbers don't quite stack up with his fabulous October record. He was 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA in seven starts in his first September race in '91, but precisely .500 thereafter. As with Maddux, however, it didn't seem to prevent the Braves from prevailing in the N.L. East every year.


Luis Tiant is included in this analysis because (i) he was a great pennant race pitcher, (ii) his career numbers compare quite favorably to Jack Morris' and (iii) he polled far better than Guidry in HOF voting (even getting 30.9% in his first year of eligibility in 1988) but far short of Jack Morris. He was consistently excellent in September for the Red Sox in the '70s and downright spectacular in '72, pitching three shutouts and six complete game victories, and going 4-2 against the other three contenders in the race (the Yankees, Orioles and Tigers). In my book he's more deserving of the Hall than Morris or Blyleven. He also raises another variant of that same old question: if Luis Tiant merited 30% support for the Hall, why couldn't Ron Guidry top 9%?

Catfish Hunter pitched in three pennant races for the A's ('72, '73 and '74) and two for the Yankees ('77 and '78). He was 13-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 23 starts in Septembers for the A's as they were on their way to three consecutive World Series titles. Throw in Hunter's ALCS and WS performances in '72, '73 and '74 and Hunter's Sept/Oct record for those three championship teams was 20-5 with a 2.38 ERA in 246 innings. In case anyone wondered why Catfish was considered one of the premier big game pitchers of his era, this is why. Maybe his career win total and ERA were marginal by HOF standards, but when you are the best September/October pitcher in three different pennant races and post-seasons the Hall of Fame opens its doors. Just ask Koufax and Gibson.