Most Wins By A Pitcher with a W-L Record Below .500

[petrel]

I just read that Rollie Fingers is supposedly only one of two pitchers in the Hall of Fame with a losing record. Fingers finished with a 114-118 lifetime record as a reliever. (The other pitcher is Satchel Paige -- his losing record stems from his time in the majors.)

Is there any other pitcher in baseball with a lifetime W/L record below .500 who was more wins than Fingers? If there is, are all these pitchers in the modern era, and if they aren't, who is the modern record holder? I've been trying to figure out who holds this record, but can't find it on line or in the record books I own.

--Pet

[Utter Chaos]

I just read that Rollie Fingers is supposedly only one of two pitchers in the Hall of Fame with a losing record. Fingers finished with a 114-118 lifetime record as a reliever. (The other pitcher is Satchel Paige -- his losing record stems from his time in the majors.)

Is there any other pitcher in baseball with a lifetime W/L record below .500 who was more wins than Fingers?


Name Years Wins Loses
Jack Powell 1897-1912 245 254
Bobo Newsom 1929-1953 211 222
Bob Friend 1951-1966 197 230
Jim Whitney 1881-1890 191 204
Tom Zachary 1918-1936 186 191
Chick Fraser 1896-1909 175 212
Murry Dickson 1939-1959 172 181
Danny Darwin 1978-1998 171 182
Bill Dineen 1898-1909 170 177
Pink Hawley 1892-1901 167 179
Red Donahue 1893-1906 164 175
Mike Moore 1982-1995 161 176
Bump Hadley 1926-1941 161 165
Ted Breitenstein 1891-1901 160 170
Mark Baldwin 1887-1893 156 165
Rudy May 1965-1983 152 156
Jim Slaton 1971-1986 151 158
Tom Candiotti 1983-1999 151 164
Bob Knepper 1976-1990 146 155
Stan Bahnsen 1966-1982 146 149
Bobby Witt 1986-2001 142 157
Bert Cunningham 1887-1901 142 167
Kevin Gross 1983-1997 142 158
Woodie Fryman 1966-1983 141 155
Mike Morgan 1978-2002 141 186
Jim Clancy 1977-1991 140 167
Red Ehret 1888-1898 139 167
Steve Trachsel 1993-2006 134 143
Floyd Bannister 1977-1992 134 143
Steve Renko 1969-1983 134 146
Mark Gubicza 1984-1997 132 136
Danny MacFayden 1926-1943 132 159
Tom Hughes 1900-1913 131 175
Win Mercer 1894-1902 131 164
Harry Howell 1898-1910 131 146
Ned Garver 1948-1961 129 157
Larry Benton 1923-1935 127 128
Bob Rush 1948-1960 127 152
Jon Matlack 1971-1983 125 126
Clarence Mitchell 1911-1932 125 139
Terry Mulholland 1986-2006 124 142
Dick Ruthven 1973-1986 123 127
Pat Dobson 1967-1977 122 129
Ed Brandt 1928-1938 121 146
Tully Sparks 1897-1910 121 136
Jeff Fassero 1991-2006 121 124
Johnny Vander Meer 1937-1951 119 121
Ken Raffensberger 1939-1954 119 154
Bob Groom 1909-1918 119 150
Bill Singer 1964-1977 118 127
Jimmy Ring 1917-1928 118 149
Tommy Thomas 1926-1937 117 128
Thornton Lee 1933-1948 117 124
Pedro Ramos 1955-1970 117 160
Joe Horlen 1961-1972 116 117
Earl Hamilton 1911-1924 116 147
Kid Carsey 1891-1901 116 138
Jaime Navarro 1989-2000 116 126
Dick Ellsworth 1958-1971 115 137
Sherry Smith 1911-1927 114 118
Fritz Ostermueller 1934-1948 114 115
Toad Ramsey 1885-1890 114 124
Ron Kline 1952-1970 114 144
Rollie Fingers 1968-1985 114 118
Hal Carlson 1917-1930 114 120

[petrel]

Utter Chaos,

Many thanks. It looks like Jack Powell straddles two centuries with his 254 losses. This would put Bobo Newsom in second place, with all of his 230 losses in the 19th century. Good to see Bobo again!

It looks like the current active most-losses-and-more-losses-than-wins player is Steve Trachsel, with 139 W and 149L, as of this writing.

--Pet

[Cucamongadan]

Trachsel certainly had a fine outing against the Angels yesterday (1.2 innings, 9 hits, 5 runs, would have been more runs if not for some over-eager base-running by the Angels).

I've seen the case made for Bobo to the hall of fame. I think John Holway has an article of same.