Ted Lyons and pitching on Sundays
From SABR member Tom Ruane at Retrosheet on December 7, 2011:
Ted Lyons turned 39 before the year began and so his manager decided that perhaps he should only work one day a week. That day was Sunday and during 1940, he started twenty times on that day, the most during the Retrosheet Era. He only started twice on any other day (once on a Monday following a rainout and once on a Saturday), and so his percentage of Sunday starts (90.9) was also the highest. Here are the pitchers who had more than half of their starts (ten minimum) on a Sunday (from 1918 to 2011):
Player Team Year TGS GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO W L ERA PCT Ted Lyons CHI A 1940 22 20 15 3 168.1 172 80 63 36 68 10 8 3.37 90.9 Ted Lyons CHI A 1941 22 17 14 2 142.1 159 76 66 34 56 8 9 4.17 77.3 Porter Vaughan PHI A 1940 15 10 4 0 67.1 73 50 36 36 37 1 6 4.81 66.7 Ted Lyons CHI A 1942 20 13 13 0 118.2 108 33 25 12 27 10 3 1.90 65.0 Ted Lyons CHI A 1937 22 14 8 0 113.1 124 56 50 32 27 9 2 3.97 63.6 Red Ruffing NY A 1942 24 15 9 1 118 121 50 47 29 52 8 4 3.58 62.5 Jim Turner CIN N 1940 23 13 8 0 104.0 109 37 32 12 31 8 5 2.77 56.5 Tommy Bridges DET A 1943 22 12 8 2 96.2 87 34 31 24 55 7 5 2.89 54.5 Ted Lyons CHI A 1939 21 11 8 0 86.2 97 43 33 8 34 6 4 3.43 52.4 Paul Derringer STL N 1931 23 12 10 2 106.1 97 28 25 30 78 9 3 2.12 52.2 Jesse Flores PHI A 1944 25 13 8 2 96.1 80 27 25 16 36 7 6 2.34 52.0I have no idea why Porter Vaughan started two-thirds of his games on a Sunday, but it was probably simply a coincidence. Since he only won one of them, we can probably rule out superstition. I also have no idea why the use of Sunday pitchers peaked during World War Two. It is true that weekend double-headers were in widespread use during the war.
This excerpt is part of Tom Ruane’s Retro-Review of the 1940s at Retrosheet.org. Read the full article here: http://www.retrosheet.org/Research/RuaneT/rev1940_art.htm
Originally published: December 7, 2011. Last Updated: December 7, 2011.