Steve Stone
Stone's 1980 Cy Young Award came out of nowhere, marking one of the most unexpected individual seasons in baseball history. The journeyman right-hander had never posted an ERA below 3.95 in his previous nine seasons, yet suddenly dominated for the White Sox at age 33 with a 25-7 record and 3.23 ERA.
That magical season represented a complete statistical outlier. Stone's career ERA+ of 93 means he was consistently below league average throughout his decade-long career, making his Cy Young triumph even more remarkable. His 107-93 overall record tells the story of a reliable but unspectacular pitcher who caught lightning in a bottle for one unforgettable year.
The contrast between his career numbers and that singular peak makes Stone a fascinating case study in baseball's unpredictability. His 1980 campaign remains one of the greatest one-year transformations by any pitcher in the modern era.
Career · Hitting
11 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | SF | 24 | 34 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .128 | 19 |
| 1972 | SF | 27 | 34 | 0 | 0 | .118 | .261 | 39 |
| 1973 | CWS | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1974 | CHC | 42 | 58 | 0 | 2 | .121 | .271 | 39 |
| 1975 | CHC | 34 | 72 | 0 | 3 | .111 | .297 | 42 |
| 1976 | CHC | 17 | 21 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .286 | 42 |
| 1977 | CWS | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1978 | CWS | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1979 | BAL | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1980 | BAL | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1981 | BAL | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 340 | 219 | 0 | 7 | .100 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
11 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | SF | 24 | 110.7 | 5 | 9 | 4.15 | 83 | 63 | 1.491 |
| 1972 | SF | 27 | 123.7 | 6 | 8 | 2.98 | 109 | 85 | 1.181 |
| 1973 | CWS | 36 | 176.3 | 6 | 11 | 4.24 | 88 | 138 | 1.389 |
| 1974 | CHC | 38 | 169.7 | 8 | 6 | 4.14 | 87 | 90 | 1.468 |
| 1975 | CHC | 33 | 214.3 | 12 | 8 | 3.95 | 94 | 139 | 1.297 |
| 1976 | CHC | 17 | 75.0 | 3 | 6 | 4.08 | 86 | 33 | 1.213 |
| 1977 | CWS | 31 | 207.3 | 15 | 12 | 4.51 | 88 | 124 | 1.486 |
| 1978 | CWS | 30 | 212.0 | 12 | 12 | 4.37 | 84 | 118 | 1.321 |
| 1979 | BAL | 32 | 186.0 | 11 | 7 | 3.77 | 106 | 96 | 1.323 |
| 1980 | BAL | 37 | 250.7 | 25 | 7 | 3.23 | 119 | 149 | 1.297 |
| 1981 | BAL | 15 | 62.7 | 4 | 7 | 4.60 | 78 | 30 | 1.436 |
| Career | 320 | 1788.4 | 107 | 93 | — | — | 1065 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.