History Looks Good For Scherzer, Tigers
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) – If Max Scherzer wins his 14th consecutive game Monday, he will be just one of four players to do so since 1920.
Win-loss records do not always reflect the worth of a pitcher (see James Shields of the Kansas City Royals), but if history is any indication, having a pitcher with an excellent win-loss record often reveals a high-value team.
This may well be the case for the Detroit Tigers.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only Dave McNally, Johnny Allen and Roger Clemens have started a season 14-0 or better in the live ball era. McNally did it in 1969, Allen in 1937 and Clemens in 1986.
Three players comprise a small sample size, to be sure, but one can hardly ignore that two of those three pitchers took their teams to the World Series at the end of those career years.
McNally's 1969 Baltimore Orioles finished the season with a 109-53 record atop the AL East, and they swept the Minnesota Twins in the American League Championship Series before losing to the New York Mets in the Fall Classic.
Clemens' Boston Red Sox in 1986 also finished first in their division, the AL East. They went seven games in the ALCS against the California Angels and lost the World Series in seven to the Mets.
The Tigers, who made it to the Fall Classic in 2012 but got swept, have been considered a World Series favorite this season. Scherzer's undefeated record shows that Detroit, while far from perfect, is in good position to live up to those high expectations.
