Mark Davis
Davis carved out a Hall of Fame career despite never winning more than eight games in a season, revolutionizing the closer role when most relievers still pitched multiple innings. His 1989 Cy Young campaign with San Diego tells the story perfectly: just seven decisions but a microscopic 1.85 ERA that was literally twice as good as league average.
The submarine-style righty accumulated 51 wins across 18 seasons by doing something unprecedented — making closing games an art form. His 624 career appearances came almost exclusively in high-leverage situations, where traditional win-loss records become meaningless.
Davis proved that dominance isn't measured in innings pitched but in moments seized. His career 104 ERA+ across nearly two decades shows remarkable consistency for someone throwing from such an unorthodox arm angle.
Career · Hitting
15 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | PHI | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.000 | 140 |
| 1981 | PHI | 9 | 11 | 0 | 1 | .091 | .322 | 47 |
| 1983 | SF | 20 | 30 | 0 | 1 | .133 | .379 | 53 |
| 1984 | SF | 46 | 46 | 0 | 4 | .130 | .384 | 54 |
| 1985 | SF | 77 | 12 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .667 | 93 |
| 1986 | SF | 67 | 8 | 0 | 0 | .125 | .375 | 52 |
| 1987 | SF | 64 | 30 | 0 | 1 | .233 | .567 | 76 |
| 1988 | SD | 62 | 10 | 1 | 2 | .200 | .773 | 111 |
| 1989 | SD | 70 | 13 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 1990 | KC | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1991 | KC | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1992 | ATL | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 1993 | PHI | 60 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .500 | 68 |
| 1994 | SD | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1997 | ML4 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 625 | 167 | 1 | 9 | .156 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
15 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | PHI | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 149 | 5 | 1.286 |
| 1981 | PHI | 9 | 43.0 | 1 | 4 | 7.74 | 46 | 29 | 1.698 |
| 1983 | SF | 20 | 111.0 | 6 | 4 | 3.49 | 111 | 83 | 1.288 |
| 1984 | SF | 46 | 174.7 | 5 | 17 | 5.36 | 71 | 124 | 1.460 |
| 1985 | SF | 77 | 114.3 | 5 | 12 | 3.54 | 110 | 131 | 1.137 |
| 1986 | SF | 67 | 84.3 | 5 | 7 | 2.99 | 132 | 90 | 1.150 |
| 1987 | SF | 63 | 133.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.99 | 107 | 98 | 1.368 |
| 1988 | SD | 62 | 98.3 | 5 | 10 | 2.01 | 185 | 102 | 1.139 |
| 1989 | SD | 70 | 92.7 | 4 | 3 | 1.85 | 200 | 92 | 1.047 |
| 1990 | KC | 53 | 68.7 | 2 | 7 | 5.11 | 75 | 73 | 1.791 |
| 1991 | KC | 29 | 62.7 | 6 | 3 | 4.45 | 88 | 47 | 1.500 |
| 1992 | KC | 27 | 53.0 | 2 | 3 | 7.13 | 52 | 34 | 1.981 |
| 1993 | SD | 60 | 69.7 | 1 | 5 | 4.26 | 98 | 70 | 1.766 |
| 1994 | SD | 20 | 16.3 | 0 | 1 | 8.82 | 51 | 15 | 2.020 |
| 1997 | ML4 | 19 | 16.3 | 0 | 0 | 5.51 | 79 | 14 | 1.592 |
| Career | 624 | 1145.0 | 51 | 84 | — | — | 1007 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.